aka playing with Carlos...
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| Carlitos!! |
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| Josh removing the antiquated air-conditioning unit |
With Elliott battling a
post-Thanksgiving food induced coma and James weathering the high Sierra winter
storms in northern California, it was up to Josh and me (Brian) to design and
construct the storage unit in the back of our 1986 GMC Suburban. Knowing that this isn’t your average
road trip, Josh and I spent a considerable amount of time the day after
Thanksgiving sitting in the back of the rig bouncing storage designs off each
other while drinking PBRs. After
getting a good lay of the land, we agreed that among the more important
details, the storage unit needed to be:
(1)
Accommodating for four travelers while remaining spatially economical
(2) Relatively
thief resistant
(3) Comfortable
and homey to keep our spirits up for the duration of the trip
With these ideas in mind, we headed
over to Josh’s Grandpa’s house where we were going put pen to paper. Grandpa Courtney has years of
experience designing living spaces in the many RVs he’s owned over the years,
so it was no surprise when upon arrival he brought us into his workshop and
showed us a design he already had drawn out on graph paper. His design nearly matched ours and
within five minutes he had the table saw ripping apart boards we had brought over
from Josh’s house.
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| Safe box frame |
The
storage unit is ostensibly divided into two sections. The section nearest the backseat is approximately 36x36x20”
and is going to hold gear that warrants “protection.” It is an enclosed box that has a sliding door on the top
that can be padlocked when away from the vehicle. Although not completely thief proof, the design will
safeguard our gear in the inevitable smash and grab robbery.
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| The safe box fully enclosed |
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| Fixing the Coleman |
The
second section of the storage unit is going to store our kitchen items
including cooking utensils, food, and our 3-burner Coleman camp stove. Although this section is
unsecured, we are crossing our fingers in hopes that any thieves will be
uninterested in pots and pans.
As I mentioned before we wanted to
make our rig and homely as possible.
Back in college “family” dinners were a way for us to kick back, relax,
and eat good food with each other.
To keep this tradition alive we raised both storage sections off the
floor of the vehicle in order to slide a table underneath which we will then be
able to use to prepare meals and eat at.
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| Spice Rack |
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| The back with the table partially pulled out |
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| Brian fixed the stove!! |
Sidenote:
Because of our limited post-graduate funds, we created a
YouTube video detailing the construction of the storage unit. Considering the quality of
cinematography and overall aesthetic appeal, we are expecting this video to
become a YouTube sensation, providing funding for our adventures.
WATCH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GSPlWYfWO8&feature=youtu.be
Photos:
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| Josh raising the 'Burb |
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| Mr. Electron |
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| The back |
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| Cushy carpeting |
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| Coleman Stove compartment |
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