Built for Adventure
Candy Puterbaugh
50plus Magazine
George Moore and Claire Mendez had always dreamed of creating an RV adventure of a lifetime. A few years ago, they decided it was time to make it happen. First step? Purchasing a Sprinter. Then they pooled their creativity, energy and travel dreams to transform the rig into a cozy, road-worthy mini-home.
The build took 18 months. George meticulously fabricated the furnishings and appointments for sleeping, eating, bathing and storage, and began putting the pieces in place. What he could not build he ordered and installed, including the entire electrical setup.
“George can do or build anything!” Claire says proudly, pointing to their beautiful home which he built in 1994 — currently undergoing the latest remodel.
The couple bought the largest Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van. In early 2020, George stripped it and went to work transforming the rig with beautiful bamboo woodwork and quality fixtures and furnishings. He built and installed a kitchen, bathroom, dining table, fold-up queen bed, awning, storage “garage” in the rear, a diesel cooktop, heat and hot water. Finally, he added four big windows and two bump-outs to enlarge the sleeping area.
“It’s been my dream to fix up a van since I first saw one 20 years ago,” says George, a retired Union carpenter. “I’ve always wanted an off-road camper, but it was too expensive. We bought this to be built out. There’s a craze to do this now with vans and van conversion companies. I wanted to do it myself but hadn’t done this before. We knew what we wanted from the start, drawing lots of floor plans. It was learn as we go!”
Last summer, before the remodel was complete, they took a trip with friends down the McKenzie River. With a little more work, they’d be ready for their cross-country escapade.
“It was great!” says Claire. “Living in the van was easy. We’re good at living in small spaces.”
Finally last fall, loaded with luggage, a table, fire pit, grill, chairs, 44 gallons of water, electric bicycles on the back and kayaks on top, they set off on a six-month trip around the country.
Highlights of their adventures included the Field of Dreams in Iowa, Gettysburg, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York; Hilton Head, South Carolina; and Jekyll Island, Georgia. Fort de Soto State Park in Florida was special, George recalls smiling. “It’s the most beautiful beach with white sand and birds everywhere.”
“We both love to kayak, and doing it with manatees in Crystal River, Florida was spectacular!” Claire says.
“What made the trip was kayaking, biking and making new friends along the way,” George says. Claire agrees, adding, “People you meet are a big thing, and visiting friends we hadn’t seen in a while.”
While the rig performed beautifully, the scenery spectacular and the people a joy, there were challenges. Mainly finding campgrounds. As they didn’t always know where they’d be when, they had to make reservations on the fly.
Sometimes Claire called as many as 30 parks to find a spot. Some were KOA campgrounds; a couple of nights were spent in Walmart and Cracker Barrel parking lots.
One of the best apps they found, Harvest Host, provided one-night stays at unique venues such as wineries, breweries, distilleries, farms and museums. These stays were some of their favorites, where they would relax over dinner. . . and wine.
One misadventure in Florida gave them a scare. They had backed into a camping spot next to a river for the night and awoke to find their deck and wheels under water. They were able to get out and later learned flooding there was typical. “It was scary, though,” says Claire.
Growing up, the couple’s travel experiences were quite different. For George, childhood vacations involved visiting relatives in Idaho. Claire grew up with horses so was more used to a saddle than a swivel seat. As one of the first female jockeys licensed in 1969, she traveled extensively to compete and has lived many places in and outside the country. At 45 she rode her bike aroundthe world.
Since meeting 10 years ago, they have been avid travelers together, enjoying camping trips on their motorcycles and trips to Europe.
While their large cream van-turned-RV had attracted plenty of attention parked before their trip, it garnered even more during. People followed them into gas stations and restaurants to ask about the fabulous rig. One asked if it was for sale.
It wasn’t then, but probably will be this summer.
“I liked our trip, but it was a lot of work,” says George. “We’d like to drive to a place and park for a couple of months, with a separate truck. This time we had to drive the van everywhere, even to the store. Moving, loading and unloading every few days was too much work. We might buy a truck that pulls a 30-foot trailer.”