[at-l] Contemplating national parks tour--have questions

[Mara Factor]

In the last three years I've owned three mid to late '90s Ford Taurus
wagons.  I've used them for touring and road tripping all over the US.
 They're much more economical than RVs and other such vehicles.
They're also a lot less conspicuous than many of the alternatives.

The rear seats fold flat and leave a lot of room to crash in the back.
 Even with my 6'6" sleeping pad, there's extra length in there.  I
usually just fold the larger side of the 60/40 split seat down, sleep
on the big side, and leave the other as is with all my gear.

With just me in the car, there's plenty of room for me and all my gear
inside the car.  I store stuff on one side so the other sleeping side
can be avialable and not have to be set up each night.

Getting in and out isn't hard but it's not the easiest.  If you lift
the rear door (trunk) up, it's easy to crawl in.  If you go in through
the back seat door, you've got to watch your head as the folded seat
means less head room.

I use a piece of mosquito netting over the rear window (held on with
magnets) to allow me to have the rear window up for fresh air, the
lights on, and still keep the bugs at bay.

Ideally, I would get a standard minivan and leave the rear seat(s?) at
home - or get one where the seats fold into the floor.  I saw a getup
once where someone had a cot in the back.  They could store stuff in
boxes under the cot, sleep on the cot, and use the other side of the
van for additional storage.  Plus, it was much easier to get around
inside the van than the car.

Standard vans and cars are much easier to maneuver.  You can go
anywhere in towns and be able to park easily.  I did have the
opportunity to see a roadtrek-type vehicle being used by a couple
once.  It was very nicely outfitted (stove, toilet, fridge, a/c and
heat, table, bed, and lots of nice cabinetry) but it seemed overkill
for my needs.  As we ended up caravanning together for a few days, we
tended to take my vehicle for going into town but then used theirs (a
4wd model) to go into an area where 4wd was required.

For a car, if I was a bit more ambitious, I might have even made an
attempt at putting curtains up around the rear compartment for a bit
of privacy.  But, that just never seemed to be an issue for me - even
in Walmart lots I've parked in.  Vans often have privacy glass so
that's probably not an issue.

Jim and Ginny have been making a pickup with a cap work for years.
For two people, it's wider and probably offers more room than the car.
 Not sure how it would compare to a van.  The one downside I see to
the pickup is the need to go outside to get in the back.  In bad
weather, I've been known to crawl through to the back of my car from
the front seat.  It's not pretty but it's possible.  :-)

On the positive side, (and I'm not sure about Jim and Ginny's), but
the nice thing about a pickup, or even some types of cars, could be
4wd or all-wheel drive.  There are places you might be able to go with
those capabilities that I couldn't go with my cars.  But the few
places I encountered where I wished I had that capability were few
enough that I couldn't justify driving such a vehicle all the time.
For those, I could have just rented a jeep for a day if necessary.
Thankfully, those times when I wished I had the capability, I seemed
to be able to make do without, either because I was with others and
their vehicles or because I just took the bad road very slowly and
made it through with front wheel drive.

One thing I have noticed about all sorts of different types of RVs,
conversion vans, WV sleeper vans...  Most people who have them have
all sorts of stories about how they had to deal with all the problems
that popped up.  Of course, they end up meeting all sorts of pepopel
that way but it does seem to take time from their trips when they have
to find appropriate places to get stuff fixed.

Mostly, I've avoided such problems and my time in shops with just my
cars has mostly been limited to oil changes en route.

Mara
Stitches, AT99

On 11/1/08, Bruce W. Calkins <blackwolfe at charter.net> wrote:
> > (1) Has anyone had any experience buying a class B vehicle,
>
>  > like a Roadtrek, using it on a long trip, and then reselling it
>
>  > afterward?
>
>
> I suggest you communicate with Stitches.  She uses a stationwagon for her
>  wanderings.  They are much cheaper and at least 80% as comfortable.
>
>
>
>
>  > (3) Any advice on rooftop carriers?
>
>
> A) A royal pain in the posterior.
>
>  B) A major hit to fuel economy.
>
>  C) The high centered weight will adversely affect handling.
>
>
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