Our Excellent Adventures

What can you do with only 88 hours to go before departing to the Land of the Midnight Sun? I want to be careful not to peak to early. I could easily be packed and just sit in the driver’s seat for 87 hours but the neighbor’s would talk . . .

• Still have to clean up my fishing gear. I am carrying some light tackle to hopefully catch some trout for lunch along the way. The big fish I’ll just buy and say I caught it.
• No languages to practice. The Rosetta Stone didn’t have any course for the tribal languages of the Yukon or Alaska.
• A friend from one of the Sprinter forums was “nice” enough to send me a link to the newspaper talking about this could be Alaska’s coldest summer ( http://www.adn.com/life/story/473786.html ). Thanks a lot! Just when I was picking out which shorts to wear! Hey, it will just make for better stories around the campfire (barbecue) when we get back.
• I have also been following (from their forum) some of the Sportsmobile gang that are up north. Everyone is having a blast!
• Do you want to see what life is like on the ferry? Go here and you can watch some short videos.
• Twiddle di dee, twiddle de dum . . .
• Oh yes, my wife has been busy getting all her work done so she can leave for a month so she hasn’t packed anything. Lucky her! She’ll get all the excitement on Tuesday night!
• I am still trying to figure out how much wine, gin, etc. I can carry through Canada. I hate the metric system!
• I am sure the price of diesel fuel will drop $2 or $3 dollars a gallon on September 1 - about when we are do back.
• I am going to buy mukluks for all the grand-kids - if they still make them in Alaska and not China.

Cocktail time.

Well, there will be sightings soon. The Sportsmobiles built for the State of Qatar ( دولة قطر ) are on their way. Yesterday Sportsmobile started loading the first to go and today more trucks come in for the second go-round.

On the way is 1 command center, 2 supply carriers, 2 canine units, 12 SAR personnel carriers and 3 trailers.

Loading took several tries as the carriers were not prepared  (although they had been told numerous times) for a 99″ height. Seems like every time some one doesn’t get the word!

The height requirement comes from the requirement that these Sportsmobile be loadable on a C-130 aircraft. This makes them deployable anywhere in the world.

It was a little nerve-racking watching the loading. To me, the driver did not look that good backing up. When I back up, I only use the mirrors (from years of hauling a bass boat), but I have never backed up on a rolling parking lot so I will cut him some slack.

Will this work? Doesn’t look right.

This worked but tomorrow different trucks will be there in order to carry more SMB’s on each truck.

Inside the people carrier their are seats with shoulder harnesses and a big refrigerator.The vehicles have 12 speeds forward and 2 speeds in reverse.

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Saturday we had a get-2-gether and a lots of fun. We had 5 or 6 Sprinters there, 2 from SMB. We also had 4 or 5 great 4wd Sportsmobiles and one owner with his Sprinter on the production line at SMB in Fresno. Lots to look at, learn about and talk about!

Tony was there with his Lopes 55 Special from Sportsmobile (the red one). That is quite the deal with the stereo system, satellite dish, etc. More on that here http://www.sportsmobile.com/3_bikes.html.

These are some pics silkwan (from a different forum) took - he apoligized for the contrast - too busy talking. Thank goodness someone was taking pictures!

After Saturday I decided to upgrade the bus’s shocks and sway bar. Also, as soon as I win the lottery, I am getting a CJ5 to pull behind our Sprinter so I can join some of the 4wd Sportsmobile parties. :^)

Had there been a contest, no doubt I would have won but there would have been some close seconds. One 4wd was about the same color as mine and just impeccable.

I am hoping the next get-2-gether we will have some different branded Sprinters and maybe a Class C or two.

I think almost everyone learned one thing or another about Sprinters, SMB 4w drives, how-to’s etc. We had lots of goodies, beer, water, etc. but the group seemed pretty shy about drinking so Tony and I helped make up for it. Hey, the kids wouldn’t even take cookies! Next time it will have to be a bbq. And somewhere shady!

Here is how the building progressed on the Sprinter. Sportsmobile did an excellent job.

PS. I am looking for some good slide show type program or widget for WordPress. I am not satisfied with this one but it is the best I could find so far.

Here are some photos of the finished Sprinter. Just some housekeeping things left to do. The folks at SMB West were great to work with. I had total control on the design right down to where the Sportsmobile logos went. Designing took a month and we made a couple of changes after it went on the line. Their advice was essential in the process and motivation was not profit driven but the desire to put a totally usable, unique design with a happy client on the road.

 A little better view of the solar panels. We have two Kyocera panels side by side that output 130 watts with maximum output 7amps each controlled by Blue Sky controller. The energy is stored in an AGM 4D battery and distributed by a 2000W Trip-lite inverter/converter.

 Now we can haul the grand kids around. The gaucho is covered with the same ultra leather as the driver and navigator seats use. We’ll use some colored pillow here to splash a little color around.

 The flush mount stove and microwave. A one piece counter top made of a corian type material and a pull out pantry shelf (foreground) adds to the usability of the galley.

           Cabinets above the galley were purposely kept narrow so we wouldn’t be tempted to store too much up high. The sliding door has two stops, one even with the counter and open all the way so the “cheftress” can look at the campsite while preparing our culinary delights.

 The door on the refrigerator will be reversed so it opens away from the galley. This is a 110v unit. We will not have to worry as much about being perfectly level as with our previous gas model. The counter top matches the galley and can be used for a lap-top, TV or stereo. There are no view blocking walls in the cockpit or galley area.

 Storage above the marine toilet. This is an open area with room on the right side for ice coolers, fishing poles, etc. The floor in this area does not have a carpet over-lay and there is a drain in the floor so, if necessary we could shower back here. I call this area the back porch.