Camper Vans and Hail Storms

Our camper van is my favorite possession! I’ve wanted one for many years. Finally, last year on my 50th birthday, John gave me a little toy van with a promise for a real one soon.

After a nation-wide hunt, he found the perfect van. It’s a 2012 Nissan cargo van, with a high roof – it’s 6 foot high, tall enough for us to easily stand up in it. The previous owner had already started the process of converting it to a camper van.

Most importantly, the previous owner had installed 2 large solar panels on the roof and a large pack of batteries under the bed.

The solar panels provide a generous amount of power to run things while the van is parked.

For example, in addition to charging our phones and laptops, we can run lights, an electric cooler, a microwave, an electric hot plate, an electric blanket and even an air conditioner – all while parked with the engine off.

The cooler (for refrigeration of food) runs constantly. The other appliances we turn on as needed. So far we’ve not had any issues with running out of power, although we haven’t needed the air conditioner yet.

The previous owner also installed a ceiling vent and fan, a sink and counter on one side, and a narrow bed on the other side.

John has since significantly expanded the width of the bed with a fold-down section (pictured) and a removable section (not pictured). When assembled, it takes up all the remaining space in the van and sleeps two quite comfortably. When folded down, it reverts to a seating bench. John has also added a significant amount of storage space and has plans for more.

We have also installed a composting toilet, which is a wonderful thing to have. No more searching for non-existent rest stops in middle of no-where New Mexico (and no-where Arizona, and no-where Utah, and all the other unpopulated areas we like to go). No more shitting in the woods in a hailstorm or mosquito swarm. For those of you who don’t backpack, let me tell you, an indoor toilet is one of the greatest inventions of humanity (that and painkillers). Here’s a photo; the toilet is installed at the very back of the van, at the foot of the bed. And the amazing thing? It does not stink!! (By the end of the week our garbage stunk, and the dog stunk, and we probably stunk, but the toilet didn’t!)

Future upgrades we have planned for the van include more storage racks bolted to the walls, larger tires for more clearance when on forest roads, and improved lighting.

Playing “My van is better than your van” on the freeway 😝

I told John that our van may well mark the end of my backpacking days. He laughed. But seriously, why trudge for miles at a snail’s pace with 40 lbs on your back only to sit trapped in a hailstorm in a tent, when you could day-hike with a light pack much farther, and then return to sit out the hailstorm in the comforts of your tiny home? (If you’re wondering why do any of it at all, I can’t help you there. Perhaps it’s an acquired taste.)

What, you think I’m exaggerating about the hail? Well, don’t forget it also comes with thunder and lightening.

Outrunning the lightening in Utah, June 2015:

2 full days trapped in a small tent during almost unrelenting rain, hail, thunder and lightening, Utah, June 2016:

Waiting out the hail and lightening under a rock ledge in New Mexico, May 2017: (He shouldn’t look that happy, right?)

Waiting out the hail under a rock ledge in Colorado, August 2017: (He’s not looking as happy this time.)

Luckily that time we had a van to go back to!