Stopped for gas in Kansas somewhere. Thought I would post a quick update for you guys.
First off, driving an empty cargo van from Maine to Colorado isn't as fun as you might think :bike_rider:
At least alone, dead of winter and not set up to do anything but drive.
The cargo divider is a love/hate thing right now! The climate controls don't work in the van! Just before leaving we wired one of the switches to manually control the blower motor. The heat works but its On/off. Fortunately Mercedes (lets just call it what it is and not the Dodge marketing nameplate, all Dodge did was change the emblems!) has two fresh air vents in he the top of the dash that can be opened and cloaked manually. So this combined with the switch is how I regulate the temp in here. No way would this system keep it warm inside without the cargo divider! But....at 6'2" I can't put the seat in a totally comfortable position with the divider in the way!
I suppose it was inevitable that I was going to have to do a parking lot repair along the way. (That had to be done, not the optional ones I've down like wiring up the stereo that was unhooked)
The tail pipe let loose at the muffler. It was the rear support so get he muffler was hanging almost to the ground! Figured this out at 8:30pm on New Years eve! Only place open was Walmart! I picked up some stainless wire and a $5 multi tool! Back on the road in 10min. (Has to barrow a very big knife from a guy in he the parking lot to get my two little knives out of this package!)
Ghetto fix!
There was a LONG line of questionable looking people buying ammunition at 9pm last night at Walmart! I had just finished fixing the van when the clean sound of gunshots rang out at the other side of the parking lot (Kansas City BTW). Not fireworks! The very distinctive slightly muffled sound of gunshots! I bailed immediately! Fortunately I had some space left in the van to quickly toss in the dropped off piece of tailpipe!:coffeedrink:
Log story short, about 12:00am I was still out and away and unable to find a hotel room! Figured that since it was 40* out I would try crashing in the back of the van for a few hours and head out! BAD IDEA!
About 30 minutes later I was woken up by artillery fire! I apparently parked close enough to a MAJOR fireworks display that every explosion shook the van, rattled the windows and sent a huge shockwave through your body!! I swore they were setting them off right outside the door! I put up with it till they stopped and went back to sleep!
This is when the temp dropped to 14*! I brought a sleeping bag more for emergency use than a place to stay. I woke up FREEZING!
Climbed back into the cab and headed out! It was clear I was till too tired to drive so I pulled into a truckstop! Put the sleeping bag on the dash and leaned forward to sleep! Worked....but kinda painful! Too cold in he the back, not enough space in the front!
Grabbed some coffee and am back on the road!