In September 2020 I traded an aging and ailing Nellie the Newmar Class A motorhome for a travel trailer I christened “Hunker Downs.” Soon thereafter I embarked on a new RVing chapter that is well-suited for pandemic life: Volunteer Camp Hosting.

Three months after arriving at El Capitan State Beach in Santa Barbara, I got itchy. In Nellie I turned the key and went whenever I felt like it; with Hunker Downs, I had no big truck to tow it (not to mention any desire to do so), so my traveling mojo was off. I tried a couple of short trips with hotel stays, but I missed having my own home with me. But as long as the pandemic was still around, and as long as I was volunteering, the travel trailer made a lot of sense otherwise.

Only one solution worked for me: I needed an escape pod that would deploy from the mothership.

I spent a month looking at vintage Class Cs like Chinooks, Dolphins, and Sunraders, and I came pretty close to buying one from a woman in Ventura, but I was outbid by a couple of thousand dollars. In retrospect, I’m glad; my perfect RV had not found me yet.

In late July I saw an ad on Craig’s List for a 2004 Ford Econoline Van with 65,000 miles and a deck on top.

A deck on top? Are you kidding me? Is this thing ME or what?

The van was built out by Sportsmobile, who has been customizing van interiors since the 1960’s. The original Fresno location is now known as Field Van, but there are still Sportsmobile locations in Indiana, Texas and Arizona.

(Photo by Michelle Arrants)

I drove to Sacramento to see it, where I was met in a church parking lot by a member of the seller’s family and a mobile mechanic I had hired. The mechanic gave the van his seal of approval. I phoned the seller in Florida and told him I would take it; I just needed the title before transferring the cash.

The seller’s brother-in-law, who drove the van from Marysville to Sac, stared at me blankly. In the two days since the title had been delivered to his home by the seller, they had promptly lost it.

The guy in Florida understood that I couldn’t possibly pay him without the title, and I was headed back to Santa Barbara. Bless his heart, he told me to just take the van. Surely the title would show up at his sister’s house in a day or so.

Since I drove my car to Sac, I made arrangements to have the van shipped from my friends Scott and Michelle’s driveway (thanks again, you guys!) to El Cap, and that’s a story in and of itself. I’m amazed it actually arrived, and in one piece!

Sofa King Awesome!

The first thing I did was order an inflatable sofa – the Chester from Blofield. Here’s Marsha from Seattle on Stearn’s Wharf in Santa Barbara in August.

Initially I thought I would deflate and inflate it every time I moved the van, but I abandoned that notion pretty quickly and bought a big cargo net. We get a lot of attention driving down the road!

Anticipation Is Making Me Wait

Blame it on the pandemic. Blame it on lax state government. Whatever the reason, it took six months to get a new title when the seller’s family ran out of places to look for the old one. I basically got a six-month test drive. I was reluctant to tell y’all about Vinny Van Go-Go until the deal was truly and finally struck, and now it is, after two flights to Cali by the poor seller, two duplicate titles, and waiting, waiting, waiting.

In those six months I made lists of upgrades and fixes to implement when the van actually belonged to me. I took it on short shakedown trips close to home in the meantime; I tried not to drive it too much because the plates expired in February 2020. (I learned that under California law I would be issued a $25 “fix it ticket” at most. However, if they accumulated over six months the state could impound the van. Thankfully, I never got pulled over.)

Washington plates are being mailed as I write this! I’ve added a new battery, new inverter/converter, hitch-mounted grill,

hitch-mounted cargo box and bike rack,

awning, 

and hubcaps,

screens,

sun cover by day and (solar) tiki torches by night,

and little things like new light fixtures and a faucet. I’ve even rigged up a projection screen for movies.

Vinny Go-Goes To The Rose Parade

When you buy a van with a deck on top, there are lots of (Covid-free!) outdoor concerts, festivals, sporting events, beaches, drive-ins, and parades in your future. Since I already live at the beach it’s easy to park Vinny in day use and invite friends for lunches and sunsets,

and on New Year’s Eve 2021/2022, Marsha and I camped in a parking lot on Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena for the Tournament of Roses Parade.

What’s Next For Vinny & Me

In April May and June of this year I’m putting Hunker Downs in storage and taking off in Vinny to southern Utah and all five of its national parks. I don’t think I could ever live full-time in a van, but the combination of Hunker Downs and Vinny Van Go-Go is just the ticket for this Volunteer Camp Host lifestyle I’m currently living.

Vinny is my fourth and possibly favorite RV. This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship!

(Follow Vinny on Instagram: @vinny.van.go.go)