It's the little things that count

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Len and Jo

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Joined
Apr 25, 2005
Posts
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In a 'B' (aka: van) there is limited space for needed and wanted things.  Joanne and I never thought we would be taking one of her sewing machines with us but we now are.  What "we really don't need it but it would be fun" thing are you giving up space for in your 'B'???  You know things that just make it more fun or the trip more relaxing.
 
How about a cat???  Does anyone w a 'B' size rig travel with a cat.  Joanne has always had cats since she was a kid.  We have not had one since the kids left home and our daughter took "her" cat with her.  Joanne would really like to get a kitten and get it used to traveling in the van.  Now with ALL the room we have in the van maybe now would be a good time to think about committing to a new member of our household again.

When we were on our PEI trip a few years back the people camping next (from Vancouver) to us for a few days in a Roadtrek had a cat.  It was trained to use a leash and could come outside sometimes.
 
Cats are so sweet and barely up take any room....however the bigger question is: where would you put the litter box?  ;D

Marsha~ who travels with 2 cats, 1 litter box and a 70# standard poodle dog
 
Jo has the same concern.

Since I have put a hole in the roof for the Fantastic  Vent, I was thinking I could install a cat walk on the roof.  Leave some claws in the cat and put some carpeting up there for he/she/it to hang on to.  :eek: :eek:.  Let the cars behind use worry about it.  ;D ;D  When it comes to cats Joanne's since of humor I am afraid isn't very long and she did not see the brilliance in that idea.  :'( :'(  Many times she does not seem to appreciate my true brilliance.  She just rolls her eyes.  Mumbles something about a "better or worse" vow and walks away.

I do think I could convert part of our hanging closet floor into a closed in litter box.  The other issue of course is making sure we (me) are ready for 10-15 year commitment to a cat again.
 
Roof cat walk, I love it.  But the picture of the cars behind you is even funnier.  I have a husband with the same "sense of humor" you have!!  The "better or worse" stuff gets thrown around here often.  However being an engineer, he can be too serious sometimes, so I'm grateful for the "odd" sense of humor now and then.

I have a friend who lives fulltime in a 5th wheel and she actually put a hole in her floor and put the litter box down in one of the underneath bays.  Cat can't get out and the litter box is out of the way.  She can get to it via the bay for cleaning.  I thought it was a good idea, myself.  Got any underneath open space?

Marsha~

 
Len and Jo said:
In a 'B' (aka: van) there is limited space for needed and wanted things.  Joanne and I never thought we would be taking one of her sewing machines with us but we now are.  What "we really don't need it but it would be fun" thing are you giving up space for in your 'B'???  You know things that just make it more fun or the trip more relaxing.

Our brand new 'Coleman' 52 quart 5 day cooler... ;D

I'll let ya'll know if the 20lb bag of ice really does last close to 5 days... :-\
 
Hit The Road Jack said:
Our brand new 'Coleman' 52 quart 5 day cooler... ;D

I'll let ya'll know if the 20lb bag of ice really does last close to 5 days... :-\

I have a similar size cooler that we bought when we were younger and brought more beer than food.  Those were the tenting days too.  The cooler would not fit in the trunk of the Civic, so we had to put it in the back seat.  Then we had a child, so we had to pick between him or the cooler.  It was a tough choice, but we took the cooler.  Seriously, we left the cooler behind. 

 
Hit The Road Jack said:
Our brand new 'Coleman' 52 quart 5 day cooler... ;D

I'll let ya'll know if the 20lb bag of ice really does last close to 5 days... :-\

I have one of those "5-day" coolers...I think they test them at ISO conditions, which would be 59F and 50% relative humidity.  From my three trips with it, the ice lasted about 3 days, with the last day being slush/water.  My last trip with it the days were about 85F and average humidity of about 70%.  It was stored outside.

As for the little things...before we purchased our A we tent camped a lot out of a series of cars we owned.  I found the best space saver for me was converting to a chamois to dry after showers.  I use one of those "sham wow" types and it works great with about 1/10 the volume of a normal towel.  Plus they dry in a heartbeat so you can use one for three people.  ;)
 
Mc2guy said:
I have one of those "5-day" coolers...I think they test them at ISO conditions, which would be 59F and 50% relative humidity.  From my three trips with it, the ice lasted about 3 days, with the last day being slush/water.  My last trip with it the days were about 85F and average humidity of about 70%.  It was stored outside.

As for the little things...before we purchased our A we tent camped a lot out of a series of cars we owned.  I found the best space saver for me was converting to a chamois to dry after showers.  I use one of those "sham wow" types and it works great with about 1/10 the volume of a normal towel.  Plus they dry in a heartbeat so you can use one for three people.   ;)

Well, our true test of efficiency will be this July, where interior temps in our 'Roadhouse' will reach around 105 while un-attended... :'(
 
Hit The Road Jack said:
Well, our true test of efficiency will be this July, where interior temps in our 'Roadhouse' will reach around 105 while un-attended... :'(

I have never seen 105F outside, and I wish my oven could go that low to make beef jerky.  Mid 90s is the highest we see in the Atlantic provinces and it's just for a few hours one afternoon.
 
Hit the Road Jack,

I did look that ice chest model up on the net.  Looks like the wall on the chest might be in the range of 2.5" to 3.0" thick.  They also state that it will keep ice in the solid state UP TO 5 days.  What I couldn't find is a statement of how many pounds of ice are required inside the cooler to last so that the cooler will stay cold at 90F for 5 days.  It will be interesting to hear how your cooler performs. 

Our cooler model only has about 1" of insulation and measures maybe 32" x 16" x 16".  We did make a 5 sided cozy for it out of the aluminumized bubble wrap insulation.  Double thickness on all 5 sides.  It maybe adds a day to the cooler time.  We also have found the Fantastic Vent to be a big help.  We leave that on when we leave the van to help reduce the heat buildup on sunny days.  The internal van temperature on those days could get well above 90F, indeed I have seen get into the 100-110F range or higher.
 
56kz2slow said:
I have never seen 105F outside, and I wish my oven could go that low to make beef jerky.  Mid 90s is the highest we see in the Atlantic provinces and it's just for a few hours one afternoon.

July temps in Florida are mid to high 90's...the inside temp of our 'B' will surely reach 105...heck! even now our night-time temps stay in the low 80's... ::)


BTW, I love almost all types of Jerky...beef being my fav... :p
 
Hit The Road Jack said:
July temps in Florida are mid to high 90's...the inside temp of our 'B' will surely reach 105...heck! even now our night-time temps stay in the low 80's... ::)


BTW, I love almost all types of Jerky...beef being my fav... :p

That's a good idea, make the beef jerky in the car with the windows rolled up.  It would be like a solar oven.
 
Len and Jo said:
Hit the Road Jack,

I did look that ice chest model up on the net.  Looks like the wall on the chest might be in the range of 2.5" to 3.0" thick.  They also state that it will keep ice in the solid state UP TO 5 days.  What I couldn't find is a statement of how many pounds of ice are required inside the cooler to last so that the cooler will stay cold at 90F for 5 days.  It will be interesting to hear how your cooler performs. 

Our cooler model only has about 1" of insulation and measures maybe 32" x 16" x 16".  We did make a 5 sided cozy for it out of the aluminumized bubble wrap insulation.  Double thickness on all 5 sides.  It maybe adds a day to the cooler time.  We also have found the Fantastic Vent to be a big help.  We leave that on when we leave the van to help reduce the heat buildup on sunny days.  The internal van temperature on those days could get well above 90F, indeed I have seen get into the 100-110F range or higher.

High Len!

I just may fabricate an insulated stand/cooler center for the 'Coleman'...efficiency to a 'B' owner is always critical.

I'll let you know how this cooler performs with and without the insulated stand/cooler center... ;D
 
Len and Jo said:
In a 'B' (aka: van) there is limited space for needed and wanted things.  Joanne and I never thought we would be taking one of her sewing machines with us but we now are.  What "we really don't need it but it would be fun" thing are you giving up space for in your 'B'???  You know things that just make it more fun or the trip more relaxing.

In my original design/fabrication of our 'Roadhouse' I included a litter-box accommodation for our 'Sambo' (male cat)...however we now have added 'Tango & Cash' (2 litter-mate boys) to the mix, which would make travel in our 'B' intolerable to say the least... ???
 
I can't travel without my camera ... make that cameras. And of course their related lens and other assorted "stuff". My camera kit generally consists of a luggage size suitcase plus two camera bags, and two tripods. Let me see did I forget anything?? Oh, yes ... let's not forget the laptop computer and its' related equipment. (WiFI hotspot, thumb drives etc.) Then there are my DVD movies and shows that I travel with. Usually several dozen DVD's at a time depending on how long I am away. Spare GPS ... one built in and the other portable, not to mention an assortment of paper maps, depending on the trip.

I also have to take a CPAP machine. That is a giant pain but a necessity at the moment. I have both 110V and 12V adapters for that. And lastly ... two cell phones. One US and one CDN ... not to mention dozens of batteries and various chargers for all the various equipment. Sometimes it looks like and jungle in there with wires running all over the place.

These are the things that are MUST HAVE when I travel. Everything else is optional.  ;D
 
My better half does want me to take a sleeping test and really feels I need a CPAP.  So far though she has not grabbed me by the ear.
 
Len and Jo said:
My better half does want me to take a sleeping test and really feels I need a CPAP.  So far though she has not grabbed me by the ear.

Hey Len ... Sleep Apnea is something not to fool around with. Can be very serious as I found out. I never heard of SA until we were visiting friends and my snoring and breathing (or should I say lack of breathing) scared the heck out of them. They expressed concern and I made an appointment right away. I have been using the CPAP since 1992. The good news is the as I lose weight ... which is a whole other story ... I can ditch the CPAP. I know this from past experience. I have about another 15 pounds to go and should be ready to give it up ... hopefully for the last time. It would help if I didn't like food so much. :p

If you do wind up with a CPAP machine make sure that it has the 12V plug adapter unless you know for sure that you will have 120V power all the time.

Good luck on that ... the sleep test that is ...
 
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