Ford RV

A 1980 Ford RV. What more could you want? We purchased this beauty in Cleveland in the Spring of 2004. After much hard work, I think you'll agree that there's nothing more impressive OR luxurious than our mansion on wheels. This state-of-the-art luxury cruiser boasts 5 fully functional rooms (Kitchen, Dining, Living, Bed, Bath) all within a few short steps of each other. Jealous, aren't you?

Saturday, April 29, 2006

Cockpit

Can't you just imagine the fun your spouse will have driving this while you're sleeping on the couch just behind the passenger seat?

Portable Power


"What if you're out in the country where it's too quiet?" you may ask. Aaaah. Glad you asked. If you miss the sound of the city - say the nightly visit from the freight train you've grown accustomed to - just fire up the generator for a few minutes and you'll be sawing logs again in no time.
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And say for some reason that you're driving DOWN a mountain and your gas mileage has bumped up to 8 mpg. No problem. This baby runs directly off the front gas tank. Just have someone flip the switch while you're driving and you'll be burning 7 mpg again in no time.

Bedroom


What a great place for a bed...way up high. Let me explain the thinking behind this. First, by the time you claw and scratch your way up, you're beat. Nothing but a good nights sleep in your future. And what better way to make sure you're completely awake for that 2 AM bathroom trip than to think the floor's only two feet down when it's actually five?
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And talk about space conservation. Precious inches are squeezed down from the ceiling. Instead of taking up space ouside by going up even slightly, these nature-conscous engineers had the environment in mind when they refused to go one inch higher and interfere with the flight patterns of an endangered Montana bird. Why invade a bird's space when humans only need 18 inches of clearance to sleep?
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And lastly, this baby's got solar heat down to a science. If it's 90 outside, rest assured that it's 130 up here. And if that's not hot enough, you can pull the curtain to seal the heat in.

Bathroom

The 70s were a problem-solving decade. One problem had baffled best RV engineers for decades: How to speed up the bathroom process. For years engineers went bigger, thinking that adding a sink would enable 2 campers to brush their teeth simultaneously. But not until 1980 when this baby was built did they truly solve the problem. Bigger was not the solution. SMALLER solved everything!
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Talk about time-savers! By going smaller campers could sit on the toilet, brush their teeth in the sink, and take a shower at the same time (the shower's to the left of the toilet). Plus, as an added feature for those under 5'7" tall, you can actually shut the door which has a mirror on the back of it. This enables you to look out the window while facing forward and "multitasking". They thought of everything when they put this baby together.

Living Room

Well, here we are in our living room. The sofa is brand-spankin' new and has a great view of the stove and microwave. There's also a great view out of the picture window, provided you've got the neck of a spotted owl that enables you to turn your head 180 degrees.
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To our disappointment we were unable to keep the original color scheme intact. A vintage brown 70s era sofa, despite it's visual appeal, is just out of the question. It seems that only the richest of the rich can afford such a rare indulgence.
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2-inch shag carpet spattered with yellows, oranges, and mahogony brown is also impossible to find. (I asked the carpet salesman why this was the case. He laughed. Probably has some hidden in the back stockroom waiting to install in his own house.) Since the brown couch option had already been a disappointment, we went ahead and settled for the carpet pictured above.
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Up above the cockpit is the girl's room which will sleep 2-3 little ones. And also visible in this shot is the vintage 70s A/C unit, which, to our surprise, worked great even on the hottest summer days.

Kitchen



Our kitchen is complete with a working LP stove with 4 (you heard me right - FOUR) working indoor stovetop campfires. You don't even have to go outside to roast make smores. Hotdogs can also be roasted on these campfires OR in the microwave.
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The refrigerator (not in this shot) sits directly across from the sink. It keeps things cold either by running on electricity OR by burning LP gas. Told you the guys who made this thing were smart.

Dining Area

We installed a 13" TV complete with a surround sound DVD player. The table folds down into a bed that sleeps two.

Before and After (Outside)



Brown and burnt sienna orange paint is just as hard to find as shag carpet nowadays, so we settled for blue instead.