Blythe, California

We had planned to use the tent for camping again this year, but had a bright idea to make the Astro van a camping vehicle. After 3 months of brainstorming, engineering and constructing we had created a camping vehicle. This will allow camping in rainy & windy weather. If it gets too hot then it will mean hotels for comfort. Check out what we have done.

Dan built "chuck boxes" for the cooking & eating equipment, and canned & dry foods. These boxes stow under the bed platform he built. Large plastic tubs hold items not needed on a daily basis.

Stowing compartments for eye glasses, iPod, cell phone and personal flashlight. This one is great for access from the bed.

Closet and Colman thermoelectric cooler. We created the closed with PVC pipe and cotton duck fabric. This gave us more storage for clothing than expected. It is nice to have the clothing easy to access and not in luggage to search through. This also uses much less space. The cooler does away with the need for buying bags of ice and draining off the water on a daily basis.

Our first day out we camped at Peter McIntyre County Park on the Colorado River. We walked to the lake after dinner and noticed extensive gopher activity. This particular burrow hole is large enough for a person (or even a horse) to step into.

The lake is quite calm at this point, but is still moving rapidly enough to be cautious in the main stream. This is a pretty place.

There was a duck paddling around this dock, most likely hoping for a few morsels being tossed its way.

This first night gave us an opportunity to work out kinks in the usage and storage of items we will want to use in the evening, such as lap tops, reading materials and shoes.

All in all the Astro van/camper work very well.