Date: Sat, 23 Mar 2013 12:08:23 -0500
Reply-To: mcneely4@COX.NET
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dave Mcneely <mcneely4@COX.NET>
Subject: Re: Beyond Vanagon-Keeping older vehicles!
In-Reply-To: <CAHTkEuLh4JEud=nvb3cHiJD9iGvjVGcrXhQTxxMvKNDoce-b1A@mail.gmail.com>
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Don, I do not have a motor home. I don't want one. I go where I go to get away from things that people with motor homes take with them. If a campground has electrical hookups, I look elsewhere. When the National Park Service started "privatizing" camp grounds and allowing generators, I found that a bad thing, not a good thing. I carry a bucket, biodegradable plastic bags, and poo powder for a toilet, and until recently I just carried a shovel for that purpose. I wash clothes in a bucket, though I haven't tried your method. On occasion, if I am out for weeks, I will visit a laundry. A bath now and again is good too, but if I have been doing a lot of swimming, I can go longer than otherwise.
My sister and brother-in-law recently "downsized" from a giant motor coach type motor home to one built on the largest Sprinter. Now they complain that the bathroom and the dishwasher are too small, and that they don't have a laundry. However, they like the television they have now better.
When I asked why they didn't just rent a hotel room when they travel, they said they like camping better, and that they are "saving money" this way. They paid well over $100K for the Sprinter based RV, and they stay in RV parks (never in National Park or other public campgrounds because they don't have the amenities they want), where they are jammed up with other RVs in a kind of parking lot environment. But, there is a restaurant on site, a "dog park," and paved walkways throughout the park. Pretty much like being in the city (and in some cases one is in the city). They have membership in some commercial RV club that runs such parks all over. They have visited National Parks, but always stay in the "club" park outside. Their experience with the National Park is to drive through them.
Oh well. mcneely
---- Don Hanson <dhanson928@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sat, Mar 23, 2013 at 7:52 AM, Dave Mcneely <mcneely4@cox.net> wrote:
>
> > And for those of us to whom a vehicle is simply a utilitarian device, ...
>
>
> Wait, you guys and gals with motorhomes, in addition to vanagons?....
> The motorhome is a vehicle but it isn't simply a utilitarian device.....not
> when it contains systems to wash your clothes, watch TV, run your electric
> blankets and the microwave, give you a hot bath in the whirlpool tub and do
> everything a house would do......
> I chatted recently with a lady from a Prevost million dollar 'vehicle' who
> was bemoaning the fact that her washer and drier were "Too Small" and she
> had to bring her laundry to the cleaners.....If she wanted 'simple' and
> utilitarian, she probably should have her limo driver drop her at a hotel
> and had her maid take out the laundry... forget that RV stuff....grin.
>
>
>
>
> >
> > One thing I definitely have learned on this list. What some like about
> > the Vanagon is constantly working on it. For them, what other reason is
> > there to have a vehicle?
> >
>
> There are certainly lots of folks on the list who seem to enjoy the
> hobby of working on their Vanagons as their main focus. The Vanagon is
> probably one of the more straightforward vehicles around to work on.
> .But some peoples' (here on the list) Vanagons are far from "Utilitarian",
> what with all complex systems they have from the factory and the additions
> that some owners install...
>
> Now my basic tin top with 'power nothing'....that is pretty basic and
> utilitarian. (Read: Cheap?)
> But start adding 'convenience and comfort' options and you begin to up the
> frequency and the complexity of the maintenance required.. AC, cruise
> control, power options, extra heaters, etc etc......those certainly reduce
> the utilitarianism and add to the number of things that will have to be
> worked on...
>
> Simple vehicles won't wash your clothes...(We used to do our laundry in
> Baja using a 5 gallon plastic bucket with a snap on lid. Fill it with
> soapy water, put in the dirty clothes and drive on a Baja road all
> day...clothes washed up just fine, no moving parts in that washer) They
> don't cool you off or let you drive down the freeway without your foot on
> the gas pedal. They don't show what is behind you on a remote video, you
> have to turn around and look, or sometimes even get out and check...You
> can't zap your pop tarts or record your favorite reality show....but you
> can usually just get in and go where you want to camp, take some stuff
> along and keep it all dry....all without much fuss...
> Don Hanson
>
> > mcneely
> >
--
David McNeely
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