Trip Stats / Handy hints for roadtrip around USA

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Skip this if you are not interested but just for reference I thought that I would share some details about the car and the way I have been travelling - most of it relates to the US but also to Canada.

Car: 1989 V6 4.2L Chevy Astro Van

Features: The Americans really love their cars and it was a surprise to find out that a car of this age had great features and they nearly all worked! Power steering/windows/locks/mirrors, cruise control, front/rear AC, drinkholders etc etc

Sleeping: The plan was to install a bed in the back. To do this I went to Home Depot (equivalent of our Bunnings) and based on measurements I got a piece of chipboard cut the same size as the back of the car. I also got it cut down the middle and then hinged the two halves together. The backseats of the Astro fold down so if I wanted to sleep in the back then I would unfold the bed and place it on top of the seats. There was ample storage for food/clothes etc underneath the seats. When I wanted to use the extra seats, I could fold the bed in half and slide it under the seats. With the front seat inclined forward a few inches I could stretch out fully in the back.

I bought a new Thermarest in Vancouver and this is what I used to sleep on. If you enjoy camping and like to carry light weight equipment then you can't go wrong with a Thermarest. It folds up to virtually nothing, weighs less than a kilo and in my opinion is just as good as sleeping on a bed. They are expensive in Australia ($100-$200) but because they are made in Washington, they are half the price here.

I have posted some statistics that I have kept track of along the way - it shows where I have been sleeping. Notice that I have spent quite a few nights in the Walmart parking lot. Walmart allows, if not encourages, RV/caravan and car camping. Most of the nights I have spent there have been shared with at least a dozen mobile homes, all conglomerated in the corner of the carpark, where Walmart has kindly provided 24hr security cameras. Some of these 'buses/driving homes' are absolutely enormous and they seem to be everywhere in the US. I met one guy that gave me a tour of his moderate sized bus. His bus was equipped with panels, that at the push of the button, will extend an entire wall (ie. Including everything with the wall - kitchen, toilet etc) 3-4ft out of the side of the bus. Some buses have three wall extensions that will create a bedroom equivalent to the size of a home bedroom. Hot showers, satellite tv, security cameras,, full kitchens and pet rooms truly make these mobile 'homes'. Some crazy people even carry along their fine china.

As I mentioned in an earlier report, Walmart is an enormous chain here and I think they have been clever in targeting the mobile home market. What is it that you do when you arrive at a Walmart? Inevitably buy goods. Having said that, I have slept at Walmart a total of 12 times and spent less than $50 there. Most of the time, I will wake up use their wash room (as they are called here), brush my teeth and then buy some milk and fresh fruit. Im normally joined by mobile home people walking their dogs around the Walmart carpark. Half of the Walmarts visited have been 24 hours - would you think that there would be many people shopping for groceries at this time? You wake up at 3am to find a parking lot half full of cars. Go figure!?

Sleeping on the streets in some states/national parks/cities is illegal so I generally find out whether it is before I do it. I sleep on the streets a fair bit and generally people don’t see me because I have tinted windows. Common sense prevails when choosing a spot to stay the night - generally cars in the US are parked along the side of the road so joining one of these helps you remain inconspicuous.

Technology: I use my IPAQ PDA extensively here and have found that wireless locations are frequent in North America. I bought a foldup keyboard from Ebay that attaches to the IPAQ and for writing reports, statistics, emails, picture viewer/editor, contact database, calculator, MSN, sound recorder and web browser. A program call skype enables you to dial a person through the internet to their landline phone. Wireless is generally found at airports, cafes, libraries, parks, businesses and other tourist locations.

I bought a mobile phone which basically didn’t cost me anything and I should be able to take the phone back home after 3 months. Both the phone and IPAQ have car chargers so battery usage is not a problem.

Driving navigation: Driving around the US is easy! A $5 US roadmap from Walmart is pretty much all I have needed. The town plans travelling from city to city become very predictable and you can generally sense where Walmart, city center, automotive repairs, gym etc are going to be. If you can't find them then you just ask someone and hope that they understand you. Streets in the most cities are labeled intuitively, 1st St, 2nd St, 3rd St or 1st Ave, 2nd Ave, 3rd Ave etc with streets running east to west and avenues running north to south. All major interstate/state highways are numbered (good for me being an engineer) with odd numbered highways running north south, even number highways running east west. How is that for structure?! They even add another dimension in that higher numbered even highways are further north and higher numbered odd highways are further east. Ie. Interstate 90 runs east west through the norther states, Intersate 15 runs north south through the western states. The famous route 66 runs east to west through the center of the US. Understand all that?

Personal Hygene: I will talk about this later when I actually get some! haha. Just joking.

Mike

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