Florida Road Trip - aVANger Build
Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2023 9:12 amWe just got back from our maiden voyage of the van; a 12 day road trip to Florida. Nothing broke and the elecrical system worked like a champ. We didn't plug in for the entire trip; between the DC-DC charger and the PV array we were completely charged every day by noon or so. We used around 1kw-hr per day.
Our first official night out in Amarillo, TX:
We tried out the collapsible hot water kettle and ended up using it everyday for morning coffee. This thing works great, I wish I'd found one years ago:
We also tested the 400W mini toaster oven, it worked surprisingly well and only used 8 amp-hrs of battery to heat a frozen pizza. I'm not sure if we'll keep this, the same company makes a mini air fryer that looks very interesting.
This was our first time at a Cracker Barrel in Naples, Florida. It was surprisingly easy and we didn't experience any drama. We'd do it again.
Towards the end of our trip we bellied up to the bar in Bowie, Texas for fried pickles and wings:
I weighed the van at a CAT scale with a full tank of gas and the both of us inside. Our GVW is 9,080# and the empty weight is 6,073#. The van weighed in at 7,980# so we are still 1,100# under our limit. I figure the just build itself added around 1,200#:
It was a great trip, I'm very happy with how well everything worked in the van. I've got a few rattles to chase down but that's about it. Now back to work on the van!
Bruce
Our first official night out in Amarillo, TX:
We tried out the collapsible hot water kettle and ended up using it everyday for morning coffee. This thing works great, I wish I'd found one years ago:
We also tested the 400W mini toaster oven, it worked surprisingly well and only used 8 amp-hrs of battery to heat a frozen pizza. I'm not sure if we'll keep this, the same company makes a mini air fryer that looks very interesting.
This was our first time at a Cracker Barrel in Naples, Florida. It was surprisingly easy and we didn't experience any drama. We'd do it again.
Towards the end of our trip we bellied up to the bar in Bowie, Texas for fried pickles and wings:
I weighed the van at a CAT scale with a full tank of gas and the both of us inside. Our GVW is 9,080# and the empty weight is 6,073#. The van weighed in at 7,980# so we are still 1,100# under our limit. I figure the just build itself added around 1,200#:
It was a great trip, I'm very happy with how well everything worked in the van. I've got a few rattles to chase down but that's about it. Now back to work on the van!
Bruce
