Packed and off! (Day 1 of big trip)

After slowly packing for something like two weeks, with piles of stuff and lists all over the place, we finally got everything into the car.

It looks bad, but consider everything we have:
Clothes for weather ranging from snow to summer
A Weber Q barbeque grille
Port-a-potty (in a closed box)
The 10x10 screen room
Two mountain bikes (the kayaks and paddles are on the van's Thule roof rack)
Equipment for biking, hiking, and kayaking

And in the end, there actually remained a bare spot of carpet on the floor. (Well, there was - we've covered it with stuff by now.)



And the obligatory start-of-trip odometer shot (note how we're thoroughly out of warranty on the van):


We drove to my parents in Pennsylvania, but didn’t camp in their driveway. On the way, we stopped for Portuguese food on the outskirts of East Stroudsburg. We’ve passed by it before, and thought it to be an unlikely place for such a restrauant, but finally stopped. Glad we did - it was really good.

Tom’s Diet Tip of the Day: When asked if you want a “half-portion” or a “full-portion,” get the half portion. I’ve got the full portion - and have enough pork and potatoes for three days. (It’s in the trailer frig.)

I would have taken a picture of the place - but when we left, it was pouring rain, so we made a mad dash to the van. The sudden downpour had dumped a lot of water - there were several inches of flood water in places. We drove though it slowly and got to my parents fine.

I've mentioned before how everyone in the campground watches (there isn't much else to do) as you back into a spot. I couldn't even back into my parent's driveway without their neighbor having a stare. Oh well - at least I didn't back over the mailbox.

Tom

Getting Hitched

We've been planning a big trip for years. We never quite got around to doing it though - until this year. Part of the planning for that trip was to find a suitable road trip vehicle.

We dabbled in looking at VW Eurovan Weekenders. The pop-top gives you a sleeping space up top, and there is another bed inside. You also get a little table and fridge.

There were a few problems with this idea. Eurovans sold really badly when they were new, often with big discounts. But when they stopped selling them after 2003, they were the "last of a kind." Prices for used ones hit brand-new levels, when you could even find one. (There is also a Eurovan camper, with a longer wheelbase, bigger fridge, and a sink and stove. They're even more money.)

We did find one, with low miles and a reasonable (ahem) price of $29k. But I couldn't do it - even for a VW, Eurovan reliability has been shaky. And I couldn't really live with the idea of driving a European plumber's van as a commuter-mobile. (Or especially Juliet driving it.)

But when we drove our Odyssey a few years later(we had driven it on a business trip to Maine before we bought it, the ultimate test drive), we fell in love. Comfortable, roomy, space inside for bikes and boats. It's been almost totally reliable, save normal maintenance, for the nearly 50k we've owned it.

So that was our tow vehicle. But we needed a hitch. To be more accurate, we needed a hitch, a wiring harness, and transmission and power steering coolers. Even buying them from a discount Honda parts place, it all came to nearly $700. (Yes, I could have saved maybe $150 by buying all aftermarket stuff, but this didn't take hours of web research - I have my limits - and it all fit right in place.)

The Odyssey is rated to tow 3500 lbs, far less than the T@B. It pulls it great. Thanks to the narrow trailer width, I don't need mirror extensions. The T@B's surge brakes mean I didn't need to wire in a brake controller either, helpful for towing (as the other pics in the blog attest) with company cars.

Towing ratings are forum flame-bait; you need asbestos underwear to read them, much less to post. Lots of folks have distain for minivans as tow vehicles. But it seems to me that a 4600-lb, long-wheelbase, 255-hp, stability-control-equipped, big disc-braked minivan should make one hell of a tow vehicle. So far, so (really) good.

Tom