Blue View – Hitting the Road in Blanche
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The basics are done and we’re ready to hit the road
If you read Marcie’s last blog, you know that we didn’t quite make our March 10 goal for leaving on our inaugural road trip in Blanche, our 2019 Ram Promaster. Covid-19 sidelined my brother Paul for a few days and it definitely slowed me down. With one big exception, however, we were able to get all the essential tasks completed by the 12th and we hit the road yesterday. Hopefully, by the time you read this, we’ll be somewhere in Arizona. Here’s how she looks now…
Armrest.
The armrest turned out well enough. There are a couple of small compartments under the armrest for pens, pencils, notepads, and other small items, and a large bin underneath for storing atlases, bird books, etc. We also added two cupholders to the front and hooks to hold a trash bag.
Counter.
Coffee maker on the new countertop
We modified the nice butcher-block countertop to fit in the new layout. It holds the coffeepot in transit.
Fridge and Toilet.
The 12v/120v fridge and portable toilet are in place and secure.
The fridge and toilet are ready
Wall Storage.
We added small wall shelves to hold much of our small, daily-use items – sunscreen, energy bars, wipes, sanitizer, spray bottle, water bottles, and a host of other things. The two alongside the bed also serve as a place to clip our small reading lights and personal fans.
We added some wall shelves
Underbunk Storage.
Under the bunk, we have four storage bins we’ll use for clothes, toiletries, shoes, and boots, electronics, etc. We also have a small, one burner propane stove that can heat water or soup when the weather is too nasty to cook outside. So far, there is room to spare for everything we think we need. Eventually, the plan is convert these to drawers as we had in Blue. Next to the storage bins are a trash bin (or perhaps laundry bin – haven’t really decided which yet), and a five-gallon jug for extra water.
Lots of storage under the bunk
Sideboards.
We use the sideboards alongside the bed to store our water jugs as well as bedside stuff like tissues, iPads, and phones.
Nine of Cups Nameboard.
We kept the nameboards from our sailboat Nine of Cups when she was sold and renamed. One is affixed on our bedroom wall at home, and we found a place for the other on Blanche.
Our old Nine of Cups nameboard
Bike Storage.
There’s just enough room to stow our bikes in the garage area.
The bikes stow nicely in the garage
Garage Storage.
We can stow eight large bins in the garage area. Three are devoted to food, kitchen stuff and cleaning supplies; one is for bike accessories – helmets, panniers, hydration packs, tools, pump, etc.; one for general tools; one for firewood; one for ???; and we have one spare that we will no doubt find a use for.
Plenty of storage in the garage
The only major item that we had planned on, but which didn’t get done was the diesel heater. I had originally planned to mount it in the garage area, but I ran into some complications with the spot I had chosen. I found another place to mount it, but the new spot will require more carpentry, a few holes in the floor, and routing fuel and electrical lines, all of which will require 4-5 days and several accessories that’ll have to be ordered. Instead, we’ll take extra blankets and flannel sheets to cope with the cool weather this trip.
Didn’t get the diesel heater installed
This six-week roadtrip should give us plenty of opportunity to figure out all the things we’ll want to add or change in addition to the heater. Come join us...