Welcome to our

2018 Western Exploration

with Ernie Tortuga, our Sprinter van

This trip is done!. We headed out after Suwannee Bicycle's Spring Pedal 'n' Paddle Festival the beginning of May. We zigzagged across the southern states before visiting some friends in Arizona, and then rolling north to my sister and friends in Port Townsend and Sequim in Washington.

Our Alaska trip included Jasper and Banf and Glacier NP, but wind and rain caused us to short-change our enjoyment of the area, so we hope to give it another go on the way back, taking a more circuitous route including Vancouver Island (and two more ferries). This time, though, we'll forego tent camping with Ernie Tortuga, our Sprinter van.

We headed back through Colorado and Montana to see our many friends there and my Dearest Darling Daughter, before finding a route home away from the busy populated areas, a northern route back east with another jump in Canada before heading south and home, just to keep it interesting. We don't really have to be back until we start work on the trails before Suwannee Bike's Dog Days Festival in mid-August.

Plan, Year Three.

For Alaska, we had some hard dates we committed to, and we drove enough to meet our commitments. Which meant we spent less time at a number of places we found on the way, and skipped places we knew we didn't have time to see. It was a good plan, though it turned out I didn't need to plan every campground along the way. Sharon overrode every stop I planned as we drove each day, and it was a better trip for her decisions. Last year, I didn't plan our stops, Sharon continued to make it up as we drove, and it worked out delightfully.


So this year will be more like the past Summer, Sharon will decide where we stay as we go. I'm trying to improve my suggested stops, so she'll be more likely to settle for them. But she will be deciding how long we'll stay at each location. We realize finding a nice site on Friday and Saturday is more challenging than during the week, and Memorial Day weekend and Fourth of July will both be issues. There are several intermediate places we'd love to visit if the whim of the day allows it. We won't hit all of these, but .300 is a good average in baseball, ...

 So this is our initial plan. It will change right up to hitting the road, and then the actual will hopefully bear some vague similarity to the plan. As we drive, Sharon will decide if our destination is acceptable, or whether she finds another that is more appealing to her (or not full - we tend to make reservations later rather than sooner). We also aren't sure how long we'll stay at each spot, it will depend on how much Sharon wants to do at each place.

Our latest travel gear.

The Summer of 2016 we spent in a tent with our Subaru. The Summer of 2017 we spent in our newly purchased Mercedes Benz Sprinter Van. While waiting for the windows to arrive, we put in a floor and some wall insulation, and built a bed frame for over the bikes. This year our van, Ernie T, has got some nice upgrades that should make 2018 even nicer. This vehicle is the 3500 with a "Super High Roof" and an extended 170 in. wheelbase. What this means is that it's tall enough for me to stand up in it! We looked at the High Roof, but it was several inches shorter than me, and I don't need back pain from being hunched over. So we have the tallest van anyone offers that I can find. It's also longer than we really might need, but we can fit an 80" long bed and some space in front of it for living in. People who can sleep sideways in a van are very lucky, they also don't need such a tall vehicle. But we are who we are, and this fits us. We chose the 4-cyclinder engine after some research and a test drive around Jacksonville in one. I had no problem on the highway with the turbocharged engine, and we averaged 22.3 mpg on the trip. (Not as good as the Subaru's 28.0 in 2016, but we are definitely more comfortable.)

Our biggest improvement is the addition of a a Dometic roof a/c unit, a second battery, a solar panel to charge the second battery, and ac and dc outlets. Camping World of St. Augustine did the work over several weeks of frustrating communication. But once Victor got the materials and time, he did a wonderful job. On our Maritime trip we had "shore power" only 10 of 52 nights. We're looking forward to not having to worry about draining the starter battery. And while we didn't miss having a/c in Canada, we've already used it several times camping in Florida, and expect to use it more on our next trip.

 A big upgrade is our new ARB freezer, replacing a similarly sized Yeti cooler. We found the Yeti necessitated buying ice almost every day, and also draining the cooler about the same time. And while it had a nice basket for keeping some things dry, it seemed too much got too soggy. So now we will likely be enjoying drinks at the end of the day without ice, since we'll be much less likely to buy any. A bag was costing from $2 to $5, so we figure we're saving the cost of the Arb just in not buying bags of ice. The Arb works off of dc power, and the solar panel is sufficient to keep it charged for at least weeks at a time.

 Wall Cabinets! Sharon wanted cabinets over the floor cabinets. We tried to find someone to make them for us, but it ended that I spent time on YouTube and talking to lots of people, and eventually learned better techniques. They don't look too bad, and they offer space for plates and glasses and other lightweight things, and endless opportunities for us to inadvertantly bang our head on them.

 Drawers! Sharon wasn't happy with a clear plastic bins we stuffed our cabinets with. The bin you need is never on top, and getting the right one all too often leads to bins migrating to the countertops. We had a couple shelves, so I learned that as hard as it was getting the slides to work for them, it's was even harder to build 9 drawers in the two cabinets. But they're done, and they definitely look better than all that plastic.

 We put shelves over the wheel wells, over our foot locker, and another under the bed. We moved the bike brackets to one side, opening up a wider area for a big open box for random stuff. Then we put sliding shelves in to make the area easier to get to.

Our travel gear

      After a few months on the road, we realized we needed to upgrade our Sprinter. Sharon went back to work to pay for it all, while I started learning how to cut more wood to more efficient storage. We also returned to our local Camping World to complete the electrical setup they didn't finish before our Newfoundland trip. We likely put too much faith in their understanding of what we wanted/needed; they made some decisions that I
  • Air Conditioner
      • On our summer trip to the Maritimes we were lucky, we didn't miss not have a/c, the exhaust fan and screens were sufficient. But we knew that camping in Florida was not going to be so simple. We asked for a low profile unit, and Camping World agreed, then installed this behemoth. Sigh.
  • Solar Panel
  • Charge Controller
  • Power Inverter
      • We asked for solar, and Camping World installed a panel that failed after 3 months, then refused to stand behind it. So I went to Renogy and bought their flexible 160W panel and their Rover 20 Amp Charge Controller with Bluetooth. It installed easily (with help from my friend Stephen), and now I can monitor how well it's working from my phone, and it is doing a wonderful job. The power inverter gives us ac power from the spare battery through an outlet on top, and an extension cord forward.
  • Faucet
      • We upgraded our faucet to give us more flexibility, since we'll have pumped water, this one has a sprayer and hose and can get out of the way if need be.
  • Water Pump, Accumulator, and Silencing Kit
      • Manually pumping the water didn't work, so this is our solution. It works great, drawing the water from our tank to the faucet. The accumulator keeps the pump for running as you move the faucet handle, much like the tank of an air compressor lessens the running of the compressor. And the silencing kit works, Sharon finds the noise no problem!
  • Cooler
      • A good cooler is paramount for keeping food cold. There may be times going to the store isn't convenient, so have a quality cooler that keeps things cold for over a day is really important. We had a Yeti cooler that we bought last year with our dividend check and 20% off coupon for one item, so it wasn't as expensive as they usually are. RTIC coolers are supposedly just as efficient, but at a dramatically lower price. But both eventually have ice water that tends to soak everything. So we upgraded to a super efficient fridge that runs on DC or AC power, and intelligently handles both.
  • Lights
      • These puck lights are the best we've found. They dim, they're easy to turn on/off with just a touch, or control them all with the remote. The remote is also how the dimming is enabled. When you set the level on a puck it will remember that level when you touch it on/off. Battery operated, so you don't need to do any wiring, and we have them simply sticking to the surfaces.
  • 12 volt Fan
      • The air conditioner only works with shore power, and we like the option to camp without it. This fan gives us a nice battery powered breeze. In tandem with the vent fan and the sliding and rear door screens, we can keep the inside of Ernie T pretty comfortable in many situations.
  • 3 Qt. Instant Pot
      • Sharon read that this was the hot item this year, so I bought her one for her birthday. The small size fits nicely in a drawer, and it's big enough for our meals. The pressure cooker aspect is a great time saver, and it makes delicious rice and oatmeal and grits.
  • Surge Protector
      • RV'ing friends were unanimous that protecting yourself from bad campground power is well worth the price.
  • 5 Port USB Charger
      • This is the nicest multiport USB charger I've found running off 12 volt. We can charge both phones overnight, our salt night light, and room to recharge our Kindles or other items all at the same time.
  • Pioneer Receiver
      • The standard radio Ernie came with was poor. This is a huge upgrade, and wonderful. The HD radio is incredibly sensitive, better than any car radio I've ever had. Plus, it hooks seemlessly into my Android phone, so my downloaded Google Maps are displayed on the 7" screen for both of us to see. It also plays any of my audio apps for audiobooks or podcasts. And phone calls and texts work quite nicely, too. It also plays DVDs on the screen if we're settled in and don't want to read, and we have all my music on an SD card we leave in it. One silly feature is that the GPS directions volume can be set separately from the normal audio volume. Sharon goes nuts when the hears all the directiions at a loud volume, this one adjustment keeps her much calmer, and I can keep the audio reminders on.
  • Firgelli Full Extension Drawer Slides
      • These 40" slides are the basis for the two slididing shelves in the back of Ernie. They supposedly have a 400 lb capacity, so they should handle whatever we put on them. The shelves turned out to be pretty easy to build, and seem to work far better than any of my earlier attempts in the cabinets. In any case, they make the storage space under the bed far more accessible.

Reality is what it is...

Come back after the Suwannee Bicycle Association's Spring Pedal 'n' Paddle in White Springs FL. Better yet, join us for four days of cycling and camping and fun! I will try to update this spreadsheet as we progress along, wending our way across this beautiful land.

Blogging about our experience.

My thoughts as we progress through this adventure. My new blog is at
Tortuga Travelers Blog
Perhaps Google's free blogging tool will prove more resilient than Wordpress's free offering.

Seeing the United States from our Tortuga Sprinter.

Click to our photo albums. We will be trying to document our process and the beauty we find during our travels. We'll be adding albums as time and beauty allow. The best pictures will be in our year-end calendar, which will be printed by PrintingCenterUSA. You can check them out for greeting cards or postcards, or calendars. Drop a comment for a chance to pick up one of our calendars at the end of the year!
If you want more images, check out some of my other albums on Google Photos.

West 2018

A video slide show of our three month tour

A walk-through of the Version 2 upgrades

North Rim GC

The North Rim is the wooded side of the Grand Canyon

South Rim GC

The South Rim is the busier, more arid side of the Grand Canyon

Idaho

Three days, three campgrounds

Minnesota

Two State Parks and a National Forest