1. To New Mexico - Overnight stops in Georgia, Arkansas, and Texas

Day 1: Saturday, July 12

Earlier this week I feared I would not be able to go on this trip. For the first time in 156,000 miles, the Westy's engine refused to start. Called AAA and they sent a tow truck 2 1/2 hours later to take the van to the Coral Gables Ford dealer. All this on July 7th, my birthday!

Two days and about $800 later the Westy and I were reunited, and I went to work to summerize it. When one lives up north, winterizing is a pretty standard affair. But how does one summerize a Westy so that one will be reasonably comfortable when the temperature exceeds 100F with a humidity of 65%+ in Florida, and below 30% out west?

The first step was installing a Fantastic Fan. It's a slight improvement to get the accumulation of hot air out from the apex of the tent.

But more important, I think, is to keep the sun from heating the interior. The privacy curtains that GTRV installs are pretty useless for insulation. I bought three windshield sun deflector shields for a total cost of less than $20. The largest one is perfect for the windshield.

I trimmed the second one so that it will cover the large side window, either on the left or the right side, depending on the position of the sun.

I used the third shield to make two panels for the rear windows.

Bought an insulated heavy-duty blanket from REI to fit over the front part of the pop-up roof. Cut a hole for the Fantastic Fan and taped one short end of the blanket to a 5' section of PVC pipe for easy rolling up. Hooks and rubber bands hold the assembly in place.

Bought thin insulating foil from REI to line the front and side curtains. I'm not sure that this is going to work -- probably will need to buy a heavier blanket and ask Antje to make up new curtains for the front side windows.

Also spent $5 on mosquito screen materials and about $15 for heavy-duty magnets (both at Home Depot). Antje hemmed the screens for me -- never marry a woman who doesn't know how to operate a sewing machine!

The final summerization step was to figure out how to bring the cold air from the air conditioner to the front of the rear bench. Using a wire coat hanger I fashioned a frame to fit over the air outlet of the AC. Bought a flexible aluminium ducting tube at Home Depot and used alu foil to make up something that resembles a funnel -- connected at one end to the wire coat hanger frame and the ducting tube at the other end. The assembly looks like this

and is reasonably effective for bringing the cold air to where it is needed.

Anyway, equipped with a new fuel pump and hopes for a somewhat coolish van I hit the road this morning at 7:45 AM. Sunshine and 85F at departure. Today's drive was nothing special -- about 480 miles on I-95, the Florida Turnpike, and I-75.

Found my way to the Reed Bingham State Park near Adel, GA. $17.40 got me a level site with electricity, water, and TV hook-up. Was on the road for 8 hours, stopping only for refreshments at a Starbucks and to get gasoline near Valdosta, GA for $1.339/gal.

The summerization measures worked reasonably well to keep the van about 8 degrees cooler than the 95F outside. Early in the evening a thunderstorm cooled everything off and I grilled a couple of hot dogs for dinner.

Day 2: Sunday, July 13

No, the snowman above doesn't mean I encountered a snow storm in my journey. It's just the closest my symbol library comes to hail -- of which I got a lot. More about that later.

Slept poorly. I always assumed that no-see-'ums were only to be found in Florida. Wrong -- their home base is the Reed Bingham state park in Georgia. I had made the mistake of setting the fan to blow air into the van rather than exhaust it. Found out quickly that blowing cold air in also meant blowing the little suckers right into the van. It's really annoying to have to crawl into a sleeping bag when the temperature in the van is above 80F.

It cooled off towards morning and I got up at 6 AM. No more enjoyable breakfast, I'm supposed to live "healthy" and muffins, butter, and preserves are no longer permitted. Why? Well, here is the sad story:

Wife, doctor, and social pressure convinced me that I ought to give up smoking. So I did. And gained 20 pounds. And gave the good doctor the opportunity to diagnose the onset of type II diabetes and a "fat liver". So no more sweets, well-buttered English muffins, and adult beverages.

Was on the road by 8:15 AM and it was a comfortable 73F. Not for long. As I made my way to Alabama the thermometer kept climbing. It was 95F by the time I got to Birmingham, and 98F when I hit Jasper. Started on I-75 and then took US 280 to Americus, Fort Benning, Opelika, AL, and Birmingham.

My plan had been to spend the night at a campground in Jasper, but I got there about three hours early and also didn't like the idea of spending the afternoon sitting in the van or at the picnic table in 95F temperature. Decided to continue towards tomorrow's destination while enjoying the van's excellent air conditioning.

US 78 is sort of a mixed blessing. Scenic in part, four lanes in part, lots of road construction sections, no campgrounds along the way. Slightly better in Mississippi, but by then the thunderstorms started. At times the visibility was about 25', and then the hail started! A short stretch on the Natchez Trace was not to be enjoyed -- mostly white knuckle navigating around fallen tree limbs and vehicles that had run off the road.

Got gasoline in Houston, MS for $1.459/gal and averaged 15.5 mpg on the last tank.

There were no campgrounds along my route, so had no choice but to press on. Made it to Lake Chicot SP by 8 PM Central Time. The park is quite attractive with good facilities, swimming pool, playground, boat launch, fishing, etc. 127 sites, only one of which was occupied. $7.40 got me a very pleasant and level site with water and electricity. Was on the road for 12 3/4 hours and drove 640 miles.

Obviously, that's a lot of miles for a day's journey. But given the unpleasant heat, I really prefer to keep driving in the air conditioned comfort of the van. Plus, I really don't expect to see much scenic beauty off the superslab until I get to New Mexico.

Day 3: Monday, July 14

Hot and humid -- that's about the best way to describe the day. It was 80F when I hit the road at 8:30 AM and 105F when I called it a day in Abilene, TX some 9 1/2 hours and 575 miles later.

Starting out there is a pretty drive along the shores of Lake Chicot and then it is just a short drive on US 82 and US 165 to Louisiana. Picked up I-20 at Monroe and stayed on the superslab for the rest of the day. I-20 is not your typical ugly, boring, and billboard-lined interstate. It's quite pretty east of Dallas and in much better condition that what I remember I-40 to be like in Louisiana.

Went way beyond my planned overnight stop west of Dallas. My goal right now is to get to higher elevations as soon as possible. The van is comfortable to drive and the air conditioning works very well. Abilene had to be the overnight stop since there weren't any campgrounds marked on my Map 'n Go print-out for quite a distance west of town.

I stayed at the Abilene KOA and it cost me $25.20 after discount. KOAs are expensive and the campsites are usually quite narrow. Yet I like them when there are no state parks nearby because one can count on clean facilities, security, and a predictable ambience.

Waited until after sunset and some cooling off before grilling a couple of hot dogs for dinner. Then watched a movie on TV and went to bed around 11 PM.

Bought gasoline at $1.459/gal and averaged only 15.4 mpg on the last tank.

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