Date:         Wed, 14 Oct 1998 17:09:59 -0700
Reply-To:     Nathaniel Merrill <nmerrill@PARAMETRIX.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Nathaniel Merrill <nmerrill@PARAMETRIX.COM>
Subject:      Trip report part two -long.
Comments: To: Vanagon@VANAGON.COM
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

In response to one request and a nod to all those who were afraid to raise their hands (or rather don't care:)... This is some more rambles about things I tried and learned on my two month, 9K mi trip.
The foam egg crate pad I purchased at the local Everything store (Fred Meyer) worked very well.  It was a twin bed (I think) size which needed to be trimmed a few inches on one dimension but the other was a perfect fit.  In order to close the Poptop this pad and the twin sized fitted sheet on it were folded/rolled back towards the rear of the Van three times creating a four- layered  thing (for lack of a better word)  This fit perfectly into the space which is left behind when the bed is folded (more or less-its only foam)  The roof needed a bit of a tug to latch but visual inspection from the outside during the process revealed no deflection of the roof.  As time progressed the foam pad adopted  its creases and the  folding was easy and the top closed with less resistance. 
A sun shower was a very nice thing to take after two (or 6)  days of driving and playing with out a shower.  outstanding even.   Fill the shower and place it in the roof tray/storage spot next to your wood pile and strap it down being careful not to pop the lid open (BTDT)  Leave it there all day etc.etc.  Actually a few hours of ok sun takes cold water to a point where 1-2 pots of boiling water added makes for a very warm shower.   We had a shower curtain hooked up this way... Two cheap plastic shower curtains hung by self stick velcro strips stuck  to the inside edges of the rear hatch (in the open position) and also hung by a clip from the metal strip which is the lower curtain  rod.  The shower curtains were also attached together with velcro to form a shower stall.   The sun shower was put on the rear hatch and the line run in to the shower.  I plan on a much more elaborate system at some point like not needing to move the sun shower around ext. but....  This was done even with two bikes on the Paulchen rack with the help of those nifty little PVC hatch strut locks.  This worked very well on all but rather windy days for obvious reasons.   in the future I may have stakes and line to pin out the stall.
 I also built a storage box that filled the space behind bench seat and was even with the height of the bench seat.  This box was covered with carpet on top and had lockable hatch openings from both the cabin side (half of the top opened) and from the hatch side.  It also had a "notch" to allow the side rear closet to open.  In addition,  the box front had the same slope as the angle of the Bench seat which allowed for the bench seat to be lowered into the "bed"  position.   On the front of the box ( facing into the cabin) I had a two inch thick foam pad (covered with cloth like the bench seat itself)  which was now the back rest of the newly expanded bench seat.  This was much more comfortable to lounge on than the upright sitting of the bench seat especially with two people on it.   This box contained all of the gear we carried with room to spare and I could lock it when away for a while 
(backpacking) as an extra measure of security (or rather more difficulty for a potential thief) 
This brings me to the problem of lighting in the Van.   While lounging either in the swivelled front passenger seat  or the (away from the cabinet) side of the bench seat  There was never enough light to read by.  At least when the top is up and the bed unfolded . This is in spite of the Dome light I installed in front of the skylight which is much brighter then the original strip light over the cabinets. .  I intend to install small lights  over the passenger seat as well as above the bench seat.  
I also installed a water filter system for the tank water.  I purchased a  half length cartridge style filter housing (like the ones for a house system but smaller) which I put in line with the line to the sink.  The filter housing holds a 5 inch (I think) carbon filter and fit into the "secret" or "wasted"  space to the left of the cabinet to the left of the fridge.  That is under the floor of the right hand "trunk" cabinet.  Never a bad tasting water!.
Thats all for now I think....
Bye
Nat 
Seattle 
91 silver syncro westy  (Sage?)