Life on the road – Conversions almost complete

Wow, it’s been a long time since I have posted.  We have been on the road full time now for about 3 weeks.  Admittedly it started off a bit rough until we sort of found our groove, but things are finally settling down.  For all the fun we have had on our new adventure, we have certainly had some challenges along the way.  

First, some more pics of our conversion:  

Sadie testing out the supports on the new bunk frame.

Elijah pitched in and worked on painting the various colored stripes he wanted in his “Bat Cave” bunk.  

Me, framing out the spot for the VESA mount and new flat screen where the old CRT TV was in the front of the coach.  Adding flat screens in instead of CRT’s served two purposes.  First, CRT’s suck and why would I want those in our RV   

More importantly, dropping weight in the RV anywhere and everywhere you can is critical, and those old Tube TV’s are super heavy.  It’s a win-win which is why I pulled out the one from the front and the rear of the RV.  

Almost there……

On a side note, I was shocked at how expensive the mounts are for these things…  Cost half as much as the TV’s that you hang on them.  Logic is lost on me, but I needed something heavy duty that would hold it during the bouncing that ensues when you are driving down the road.

I don’t think pictures ultimately capture the way the RV came out, but here are some shots to give a general view of our new home:

Yeah, these next two pictures definitely suck, but it’s hard to capture good pictures in a narrow space.  

At this point we have done all of the remodeling efforts, and are really just finalizing some of our technology solutions and our Veg oil conversion.  At this point via sponsorship from JefaTech Solutions, I have installed a WiFi booster antenna connected to the Batwing antenna on the roof.  This antenna runs to a customized router inside the RV that then serves to “repeat” wireless Access points it finds.  The antenna we have boosts the range for picking up Access points by up to 1 mile.  Another sponsored product we received was a SOHO amplifier kit (from Wilson Electronics) that utilizes an external antenna, and internal antenna, and an amplifier in order to boost 3G data and voice signals four our phones.  This product looks amazing, however I have not been able to quite get mine implemented correctly yet.  I hope to have this rectified soon.  

We are currently in the Galveston area of TX as we await for our parts to arrive at American Greenfuels.  After getting price quotes on a number of systems designed to allow for Waste Vegetable oil (from restaurants) to be pumped into an on board tank system and then run through as fuel in the RV, we decided on a Golden Fuel System to be installed by American Greefuels in Houston, TX.  We first swung through to meet with Bud Barber and staff so that he could finalize measurements at his shop.

The parts are scheduled to arrive at the shop soon and we are hoping to be underway with having the conversion done beginning around 8/23/2010.  In the interim, we have taken up residence primarily at Galveston Island State Park.

This is a great place to hang out while we await the final step in our RV conversion.  Wouldn’t be our first choice of places to stay in August, but we are making the best of it.

I could go on and on with pictures and things that we have had challenges with thus far, but I’ll save some of that for another post.  One which I hope will be a lot sooner in coming along.  All I can say for certain is that all of us are enjoying our new found freedom, regardless of the new challenges.  We are so excited about getting on the road and exploring new places (and old ones) all across the country. 

Keep following your dreams everyone!