| So, what have I included for three weeks on the
road? Let me give you some idea. Maybe 200 hours of
music. My ten-year old stereo: Denon tape deck (velcroed
to the dash) and 50 watt Denon amp (stowed under my
seat), first-generation Sony car disc player, and two
very sweet home-made speakers. The whole thing
disconnects in seconds to be stashed in one of two
security boxes which are locked and bolted to the floor.
The bookshelf is full. The rod holders hold four fishing
poles. There are two tackle boxes, a fly case, a pair of
hip waders, a landing net, a fishing vest, its pockets
bulging with stuff. There is a tool box, (with just the
basics including a couple of the ever-versatile
vice-grips, a current tester, a socket set, and a BFH).
Of course, there is a full roll of duct tape. Pots and
pans, (three cast iron pans, a wok, two copper-bottomed
sauce pans. Two Coleman unleaded-gas stoves (a combined
three burners, which allows me a dinner of: hashbrowns,
steamed broccoli, sautéed mushrooms, chicken on the
grill, a bottle of chilled sauvignon blanc, fresh-brewed
coffee, and for dessert, Reese’s peanut butter
cups.) I’ve got a hammock,
two cameras, a gas can, a water can, an electric air
pump, a tv tray, a suit case-size collapsible four-seat
picnic table, two coolers, a food box, a shovel, jumper
cables, (like every good Minnesotan), a Coleman lantern,
a folding chair, a collapsible stool, lots of rope, a
10x10 tarp (for protection from the rain as well as the
blazing summer prairie sun.) One end of the plastic tarp
attaches to the van, the other to three adjustable steel
tent poles. I have a single-sized fouton which, along
with a mosquito coil burning in the front and all the
doors and windows open, allows me to sleep in the van.
Depending on the toxicity of the mosquito coils, (to
myself as well as the insects) I have included a
three-man Eureka tent. Taking a travel tip from
Steinbeck, as he puts forth in Travels With Charley,
my dirty clothes are put in a sealed pail with soapy
water and allowed to jostle all day, then taken out,
rinsed, and hung to dry.
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