Tag: school bus conversion

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Okienomad’s Full Size School Bus Build: Removing Walls, Floor, and Ceiling

The WORST…I repeat, WORST part of any skoolie build (based on the two that we have worked on) is demolition. Our first bus was 100% stock and still had heaters and seats bolted to the soggy, candy wrapper strewn floor. We spent several days hollering back and forth from under the bus switching which bolt we were working on and eventually we got the interior completely stripped out. When we went to inspect a full-size bus for a new project we were planning, we were ecstatic to find that the seats, AC units, and heaters had all be removed and plywood had been laid down. Score one for the home team.

One problem, that continues to appear every time Rachael and I take on a new project is that we want it to be better than the last one we did. Some would call it perfectionism or being overly competitive, but it’s how we are wired and our skoolie projects are no exception. On our first build we did not remove a single riveted panel from the bus and left the terrible yellow fiberglass insulation in it’s home and it was only when we experienced 1ºF temperatures in New Mexico in February did we wish we had taken the time to insulate the entire bus. Fast forward to our new project and we are going to strip it down to the studs. We started with a drill, then an angle grinder…and finished the project with an air chisel. The air chisel was the most effective of the tools that we used by far!

Below are some of the most useful tools and supplies that we used during this stage of the build. By clicking the link below, you pay the same price as you would on Amazon, we simply receive a tiny fraction of the transaction. Everything we earn contributes to keeping this website up and keeping us on the road, so thank you in advance!

The panels above the windows and the metal end caps are secured with a bunch of #2 Phillips screws so Rachael made quick work of those and Addy-dog made sure no one snuck up on us coming down the drive.

As we were working on rivets, Rachael’s dad comes over and says he needs our eyes to see what’s going on at the neighbor’s house a mile down the road. Several police cars had blockaded the country road that Rachael grew up on and they had a helicopter circling overhead. Turns out several street-youths had tried to break into a house and were now on the run in the wilds of South Tulsa County. We spent most of the evening watching helicopters work into the dark and later we got word from an informative neighbor letting us know that all four criminals had been apprehended. Another day in rural Oklahoma.

While Rachael and Addie worked on screws and protecting us from danger, I began grinding rivets with an angle grinder. We had heard horror stories of how hard it was to remove the rivets, but the grinder made fairly quick work of them.

And just like that, 6 hours later all of the lower panels are off and we discovered a new way to remove rivets that involves a pneumatic chisel that we will share in a different post.

We were so excited when we picked up our new bus because the seats had all been removed and the rear heaters were no where to be seen. We became less excited when we pulled the subfloor and insulation up and found that they hadn’t been screwed down and that there was sitting water under the floor. That will be a project for another day once we are done chopping up metal on the outside.

With the insulation and plywood removed, there is approximately 6′ 3″ of standing height in the middle of the bus. Because I am 6′ 3″ tall, a roof raise is in order to be able to insulate the floor and ceiling like we want and still be able to walk upright. We are planning a 10-12″ roof raise beginning behind the driver’s seat and continuing to the back of the bus.

Something seems off here…I can’t believe BlueBird would let the bus leave like this?

Demolition is nasty and hard work. The engineers at bus companies work very hard to make sure busses are safe and sound and it takes a lot of work to undue their efforts. Once we got all of the insulation out we went through with the air compressor and broom and blew out most of the trash and dust that was left behind.

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Oregon FREE Camping-Boondocking in the Beaver State

Free Camping in Oregon was as easy as we expected but not nearly as beautiful as we had thought. These campsites, however, allowed us to explore so many different parts of this amazing state without ever paying for a campsite. One thing to consider in Oregon is that the beach is public land, if you can get to it, it’s free game for boondocking. We are not equipped for driving through deep sand, so we avoided the beach. Your mileage may vary.

Coquille River Boat Launch

Bandon, OR

GPS: 43.163189, -124.362145

Nestled back in the corner of quiet Bandon, this boat launch parking lot is a perfect spot for a good night’s sleep and exceptional wildlife viewing. We were 1 of 3 rigs parked here on a Sunday night and all was quiet. A government research boat was parked there when we were and it looked to have been there a while. Seemed like a very safe and calm spot to boondock.

There are vault toilets and picnic tables near the launch and great access to the Coquille River a few miles before reaching the coast. We used this spot to investigate the nearby mountain bike trails close to Bandon.

 

Dorena Mining Camp

Dorena, OR

GPS: 43.627432, -122.703511

This little pull-out along a scenic back-road was a peaceful spot to relax and prepare for entering Eugene. Miners use this pull-out to pan and dredge for gold and black sand and have left several deep pools in the creek that are perfect for swimming.

Campsite on Arrival

The site was in poor condition when we arrived with shell casings and trash everywhere. We picked up and you should to. Trashing out such a beautiful area is really sad. We left it better than we found it as did the locals that hung out for a while.

Campsite at Departure

 

Phil’s Mountain Bike Paradise

Bend, OR

GPS: 43.970190, -121.513552

The heart of Bend’s Mountain Bike Mecca is the Phil’s System and there is Forest Service Camping all around the area! This spot was right off of the trail and really pleasant. This is a true boondocking spot with no services, but we really enjoyed getting to ride and explore this area.

 

Oakridge Green Waters Rest Stop

Oakridge, OR

GPS: 43.739128, -122.459006

This is a rest stop with flush toilets and river access. This lot is near the highway, but the noise wasn’t bad. The facilities were clean and this location is in close proximity to town and nearby mountain biking trails.

We tried several boondocking spots near Oakridge and got an uncomfortable vibe from most of the locations, near the railroad tracks. The rest stop was well lit and seemed much safer. There is a park adjacent that hosts music festivals in the Summer and Fall.

 

Evergreen Air & Space Museum

McMinniville, OR

GPS:  45.204028, -123.142602

Talk about a unique camping spot! Dry camping is offered for free in the back lot of the Evergreen Air & Space Museum. Parking is amongst airplanes and helicopters in a quiet corner of the property. Bathrooms are open during business hours and there are no facilities after the museum closes.

 

Hood River Dispersed Camping

Hood River, OR

GPS: 45.419751, -121.530729

Hood River is a treasure trove of dispersed camping! We found a spot out in the middle of nowhere and we really enjoyed our time there. It was quiet, wild, and fairly easy to get to.

Remember to Pack-it-in and Pack-it-out when wild camping in National Forests and insure that your campfires are fully out.

 

Lumber District Sand Dunes

Coos Bay, OR

GPS: 43.400069, -124.288338

This campsite is one of those instances where 4×4 and recovery equipment would have been ideal. The sand dunes near Coos Bay are beautiful and vast, plus entirely unreachable by our Skoolie. We camped at the trailhead and walked around the are. It was fairly quiet until the timber company down the block started work at 5:00AM.

There are no facilities here and it can get busy and full on the weekend. Some cars were left overnight with no problems. Much better and more affordable than the $75 KOA a few miles away.

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New Vlog Post: SOLAR, SOLAR, SOLAR- Okienomads Skoolie Solar System Walkthrough

We have posted a new video walking through the solar system installed on our Skoolie conversion. In our video we show you how and where everything is installed in our system.


If you want to see the gritty details of our system, we have published a blog post outlining the details of our skoolie solar system. You can check out that article below:

Skoolie Solar System Blog Post

Thanks for watching and reading along with our adventures, we really appreciate it!

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Fresh Paint…Maintenance Monday on YouTube

We painted our bus in a hurry and ended up with a really good looking paintjob thanks to help from my grandparents, parents and Rachael’s parents. It was a team effort and it transformed the bus from a creepy former school bus to a shiny adventuremobile.

Before



After

Unfortunately, we left without finishing the paint job on the bus and left the front grill ugly and grey. We found a little time to repaint the grill and we posted a video showing you how we did it. This process will work for most plastics on cars, trucks, and RV’s.  Check out the video below!

If you enjoyed our video, please subscribe to our channel, it means a lot and the subscriptions help us stay on the road longer. Be on the lookout for more videos soon!

 

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Skoolie Overland Travel Part 2: Why a Skoolie-Conversion Makes a Great Travel Rig

I hope you have had a chance to read Part 1 of this article before reading this one. In the first article on this topic we cover some of the negative aspects of living in a Skoolie-conversion, a lot of which we did not expect before leaving for a period of extended travel across the United States.

Check it out here: Skoolie Overland Travel Part 1: Why a Skoolie-Conversion Makes a Bad Travel Rig

Everything AND the kitchen sink

Firstly, when living in a school bus conversion, there is enough room to bring anything you would need for an adventure. We have a very small bus and are still able to cram in a queen-sized bed, a big refrigerator, all of the camera equipment we could need, 4 bicycles, 2 kayaks, and more books than we will be able to read through the course of the summer.

Our school bus is around 75 square-feet of living space and that is A LOT compared to conversion vans and truck campers. We have friends that travel in off-road trucks with slide-ins or roof top tents and the first thing they comment on is the space. “There is so much room for activities!” All Will Ferrell quotes aside, when it rains, snows, or drops below freezing, we are warm and dry inside. Rachael’s yoga practice can still carry on even if there is a torrential downpour outside.

 

 

Custom cabinets that need bungees to stay shut

Another aspect of traveling in a Skoolie is that the design is 100% customizable! The builder can customize the design and layout however they see fit. Once the seats and the floor are yanked out, the bus can be built to include anything that you can fit in the space. Cruise the interwebs for a bit and you will find Skoolies with 2000+ watt solar systems, full-size bathtubs, mobile workstations, the opportunities inside are endless. The biggest challenge is making the decision on toilet vs. no toilet.

We built a simple interior using remedial carpentry skills and equipment, but it has served us really well so far. You can see the inside of our bus on our video tour below:

 

An aspect of Skoolie ownership that we did not expect is that Skoolies, especially short Skoolies, are surprisingly capable off-road. No, we are not seeking out off-road opportunities to test the flex of our suspension or drive through 4-foot deep mud holes, but to get to more remote campsites we have endured some off-camber and sketchy situations.

Smaller busses are built on similar chassis to full-size trucks, so in general, there shouldn’t be much difference between taking a Chevy 3500 Silverado and the Okienomad’s Skoolie down a Forest Service road. The motor in our bus is shared with the military Humvee and a lot of farm trucks and Suburban’s of the past 25 years, so it is no surprise that when geared right, out bus will climb up and over some stuff.

Below is a photo of a campsite that we were rewarded with after an arduous climb up a rutted Forest Service road near Anza, CA. Worth it!

 

As mentioned in Part 1 of this article, one of our favorite and least favorite parts of Skoolie overland travel is that Skoolies are slow! How slow you ask? We got passed by a full-size pickup hauling a trailer that had to have been 12,000 pounds or more like we were standing still. I couldn’t even recognize the make of the truck it was moving so fast, or err, we were moving so slowly. The slow speed of the Skoolie up mountain passes, around turns, and over washboard roads makes it the perfect overlanding vehicle, you simply see more than if you were flying by at 75 miles per hour in a new sprinter van.

If we had to choose, we would travel slow every day of the year and not miss a minute of it.

 

One of my favorite aspects of bus travel is that Skoolie conversions do less damage to the environment. Keep in mind that traveling a ton of miles on a less-than-efficient diesel engine through beautiful forests and deserts is not exactly healthy for the environment, however, keeping a big hunk of metal out of a scrap yard and in use is a win for the environment when you consider the alternative of buying a newer vehicle such as an RV or full-size truck camper. We have recycled our bus from its previous life of shuttling kids to a new life of seeing beautiful things every day.

Once we are done with our travels in the bus we will likely park the bus somewhere nice and quiet and use it as a cabin in the woods or a suite for the visiting in-laws or parents. We will only need to add a composting toilet or outhouse and a small shower area to make the Skoolie 100% livable off-grid, reducing the need to use a ton of new material to build a new house someday.

 

A Skoolie for sale now!

Lastly in our list of reasons why a Skoolie is a great overlanding vehicle is that Skoolies are cheap! School districts, churches, and metropolitan transit companies are constantly shuttling out (pun intended) gently used, fleet-maintained vehicle for rock-bottom prices. Most of these vehicles have been maintained since day-one by competent mechanics and are usually on the auction block with less than 200,000 miles on them, a considerably small amount in regards to the life of a well-maintained diesel engine.

Our bus came to us with 107,000 miles on it and other than some neglected maintenance issues by the second owner of the bus, we have had 13,000+ trouble-free miles out of it.

Not only are skoolies cheap to buy, they are cheap to build. You don’t have to have an Insta-famous porcelain tub or a teak-wood deck on the roof of your bus. You can build a bus that is simple 2×4 and plywood construction, slap on a little paint and you are good to hit the road. Our bus was built with materials that are cheap and available at any hardware store with tools that most people already own.

 

If you are still hanging on through all of that negative, I hope you have had the chances to read Part 2 of this article, Skoolie Overland Travel Part 2: Why a Skoolie-Conversion Makes a Bad Travel Rig. We are really happy with our choice to hit the road in our Skoolie and we wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.

If you have enjoyed our article, please explore the blog some more as there are tons of stories, write-ups, and photos from our travels around the country. If you want a more streamlined media feed, check out our Instagram and Facebook pages, thanks for stopping by!

 

 

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Skoolie Overland Travel Part 1: Why a Skoolie-Conversion Makes a Bad Travel Rig

I need to clear this up before we get to the good stuff: My wife and I live in a school bus conversion, by choice. We love the freedom and simplicity that comes from a life with 78 square-feet of living space and having the whole world as our playground. That being said, there are aspects of skooliedom that we did not expect. We met several travelers on the road that shared some of these sentiments about their school buses too, so we knew we were not alone. There is a companion article to this one about why skoolies are great for travel, in case this one drags you down too much.

Check it out here: Skoolie Overland Travel Part 2: Why a Skoolie-Conversion Makes a Great Travel Rig

 

First, Skoolies are BIG! Even if you purchase the smallest modern school bus (which we did) it is still 20-22 feet long, 8 feet wide, and over 9 feet tall. After we gutted the interior, built out a home inside, and filled up our water and fuel tanks, our bus weighs just under 10,000 pounds! The size of these metal behemoths makes them difficult to navigate down narrow 4-wheel-drive trails and some forest service roads. The height and width can also make traveling through some tunnels equally as difficult. The tunnel entering Zion National Park from the East was going to charge us $20 to pass through their tunnel, luckily, we had time to spare and drove around the southern end of the park to enjoy Pink Sand Dunes State Park instead.

Imagine wanting to take that iconic Instagram shot on the beach with your skoolie looking all accomplished on the sand? Think again. Unless you have 4-wheel-drive (pretty rare), reliable recovery gear, and some know-how, you are going to get stuck. Expect to need a fairly large truck or tractor to pull your 10,000+ pound butt out of the sand.

Some skoolies can reach Class-A RV size and at that point, forget about leaving the pavement, passing through most tunnels, and parking in any parking lot other than a Wal-Mart.

 

Skoolies are SLOW!

While we are on the topic of driving slowly, expect to drive slowly…very slowly. Unless you commit significant amounts of money to increase your busses horsepower and torque, your bus will probably be underpowered. Expect to travel at speeds much slower than traffic around you and commit a lot of time to making the extremely coveted left turn or to pass a Volkswagen van travelling slower than even you are traveling.

If you read Part 2 of this post, you will see that this point also shows up as a positive of traveling via school bus conversion. Hop on over to that article to find out why.

 

Skoolies are built to haul kids around cities, not haul your stuff through mountain trails.

Think back to when you were a child and you rode the bus to school, if you were one of those important kids whose mothers coddled you, just imagine with me. You are engaged in conversation or a game of M.A.S.H (don’t lie, you know you did) and all of a sudden you hear a noise and a split second later you are catapulted several feet in the air and you are quickly joined by everyone else on the bus, except the driver, she has a seatbelt.

I can remember riding the bus back from high school basketball games as a student and after exhausting myself on the court, seeking refuge in the plush pleather seats of the school bus and drifting into a restful nap just in time for the bus to catch a small pothole and lift me several inches in the air and drop my face back on the seat with exceptional force. Riding in the passenger area of a school bus is not pleasant.

Now imagine that most of your belongings, your computer and camera, maybe even your dog is somewhere in the rear of your Skoolie conversion and you are driving through San Diego on your way to the Sierras. You hit an unavoidable pothole and now your belongings, passengers, and tastefully hand-crafted cabinet doors are at the mercy of your top-heavy, overweight school bus.

Some modern-day school buses now come equipped with air-ride suspension, air brakes, and sometimes even seatbelts for children. Ours, however, didn’t even come with a rear sway bar. Therefore, we roll over obstacles with the front wheel fine and feel the wrath of the rear axle as the bus topples side to side. Cornering with no rear sway bar is interesting as well as the risk of roll-over is greatly increased. We solve these problems by traveling very slowly, even through traffic. Yes, we could add a sway bar, and probably will. But, the added cost associated with making a Skoolie road-worthy pushes the budget too far. With a couple more thousand-dollar upgrades, we could have afforded a full-size truck with a slide-in camper and been able to travel much farther and as comfortably as we could in a Skoolie, for the same price.

 

You see a juicy snack, vehicle dwellers see a sharp or blunt object poised to attack.

If there isn’t a secure home for every item in your bus, it becomes a projectile.

This is more of a common issue with living in a vehicle in general, but when we first laid out our plans for the interior of the bus we never knew that we would need and want so many cubbies, shelves, drawers, and hiding places for the miscellaneous junk that finds its way onto the bed every couple of days.

Who knew that sitting 4 or 5 Nalgenes under the kitchen table and driving down a twisting mountain road would cause a ruckus like you have never heard as the bottle tip, tumble, and fly around the cozy passenger compartment?

Since moving into our bus full-time we have added shelves, baskets, nets, and a bunch of other containment solutions to keep our at-hand items from hitting us in the head on the freeway. When you see the #vanlifer on the grams with pictures hanging on the wall and glass mason jars on the counter with fresh flowers in them, understand that the scene before you is carefully crafted and in the event that the Skoolie in question is actually driven, those items are stowed somewhere or they are stowed everywhere.



When something breaks (and it will break), Skoolie parts are not easy to come by, especially on the road. We will use our bus as an example. Our bus is technically a 2000 Chevrolet 139 Cutaway with a 6.5L Turbo-charged diesel engine. This means we share a motor with a lot of different Chevy trucks, busses, vans, and even a few military and civilian HMMVV’s, and not much else.

So, when we need an air filter, we can just order one for the 6.5L and be done with it. Easy, peasy. However, when we need to buy a trailer hitch in Concrete, WA because ours is bending and dangling our precious bikes and new bike rack within inches of the asphalt, which vehicle model do we use? If we use the 2000 Chevy Express Van, which works with other parts, we will soon find out that the frame widths and construction were completely different between the two models and that our bus more closely resembles a full-size, heavy duty Chevy Pickup truck. The only challenge now is to find the model of Silverado with the same frame width as the bus, then order that model online, ship it general delivery to Concrete, WA, and install it in the post office parking lot with a cordless drill and hand tools.

Homework assignment: Go to your nearest parts store, tell the chap behind the counter that you need a driver’s door handle for a 2000 Chevy 139 Cutaway. Wait patiently, you will be there for a while.

 

Shade Tree Mechanic in Oregon

Lastly, when you break down and the repair is above your skill level, finding a mechanic to work on a Skoolie is not easy. For some reason, a lot of shops that we have spoken with won’t even touch our rig because it is an 8-lug chassis and therefore bigger than they want to mess with or bigger than they are capable of messing with.

In Oakhurst, CA we needed a simple brake job done and didn’t feel comfortable replacing pads and shoes on a dirt forest service road. We contacted 6 shops and not a single one would even consider looking at our brakes. One even went as far as to tell us that the only way they would work on it is if they replaced the rotors too, at $215 a piece. We finally found a shop that had a cancellation and would fit us in, but it wasn’t cheap.

 

If you are still hanging on through all of that negative, I hope you have had the chances to read Part 2 of this article, Skoolie Overland Travel Part 2: Why a Skoolie-Conversion Makes a Great Travel Rig. We are really happy with our choice to hit the road in our Skoolie and we wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.

If you have enjoyed our article, please explore the blog some more as there are tons of stories, write-ups, and photos from our travels around the country. If you want a more streamlined media feed, check out our Instagram and Facebook pages, thanks for stopping by!

 

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The Sierras

Entry into the Sierra Mountain Range was special for both of us. Neither of us had ever been to this part of the country and we had both had most of the region on our respective bucket lists for a long time. Yosemite, Kings Canyon, Tahoe, who doesn’t dream about visiting these places? This is how we did it!

Camping

Surprisingly we have found some fairly epic, FREE campsites in California. Because we only spent a few nights in SoCal, we have included those campsites in our post about FREE camping in California and you can find it HERE!

FREE CAMPING IN THE SIERRAS

Considerations for boondocking in and around California:

 -Be Courteous

Parking in places that most people don’t use for camping spots can sometimes produce some weird vibes with folks. We found that being friendly and courteous of others goes a long way when living in your car, bus, or truck. When a security guard or sheriff passes you, wave and say hello. Be friendly, you will be surprised how well it will pay off.

-Leave It Better Than You Found It

Our biggest complaint while traveling through California is the overuse and misuse of public lands. If you can’t dig a cat hole deep enough to bury your poop and toilet paper, you don’t deserve to enjoy public lands. Pick up your trash, bury your poop, and don’t leave food laying around in bear country. It’s really simple and when everyone takes care of public lands we all win.

Attractions

California is the most diverse state in the United States. You can surf in San Diego and in a few hundred miles be scaling the granite walls of Yosemite Valley. There are bike trails, hiking trails, OHV trails, sand dunes, beach dunes, thru-hikes, rock-climbing, and so much more. We have tried to summarize our time in California with the highlights of our trip.

Sequoia National Park

Sequoia National Park is one of the least crowded and most underrated of the National Parks, in our opinion. In one park you are able to see thousand-year-old trees that have withstood the efforts of humans and mother nature to grow bigger than any other living creature.

The Sherman Sequoia is worth the drive up the winding road into Sequoia National Park all on its own. Better yet, take some time and explore the backcountry of the park with an overnighter to Twin Lakes from the Lodgepole Campground. The permit process is super easy and the park rangers will even rent you a bear cannister to comply with their rules regarding bears and backpacking. If you dare, try to take a dip in Twin Lakes, it will take your breath away!

Sequoia National Park was mellow and easy to navigate. Our advice, with any National Park, is to start your day very early and enjoy watching the crowds wander onto the trail as you are heading back to camp for a mid-morning nap.

Kings Canyon National Park

A smidge North of Sequoia National Park is a park surrounding a canyon deeper than the Grand Canyon in Arizona, Kings Canyon National Park. This park is home to amazing views of the parks namesake, Kings Canyon as well as some other notable massive trees such as the Grant Giant Sequoia.

 

Hot Springs

The Sierras are home to some of the most scenic and accessible hot-springs in the country. We stopped at a couple and have added a few more to our list for our next drive through California.

-Remington Hot Springs

GPS: 35.5758934, -118.5528070

Remington Hot Springs is at the foot of the Sierra Range yet boasts some amazing scenery along the Kern River. The springs were discovered and later enclosed with rock and mortar. The temperatures vary, but we rather enjoyed the experience of swimming in the ice-cold river followed by warming up in the second-hottest hot spring.

-Travertine Hot Springs

GPS: 38.245922, -119.205372

Travertine is a BLM trail-head to a set of hot springs near the town of Bridgeport, CA. There are many springs to choose from but get there early in the day and stake your spot out, it gets busy.

*Keep in mind that many like to enjoy the hot springs in their most natural form, naked. Remember this as you are hiking over the boulders to the springs at Travertine and don’t be surprised when you make eye contact with a 90 year-old naked man slipping into the pools!

 

Yosemite National Park

The Valley may be one of the grandest spectacles of nature that I have seen. Granite walls tower thousands of feet up from the valley floor, one of the most beautiful National Park lodges ever built, and deep green meadows that stretch as far as you can see are all reasons that everyone should see Yosemite once in their lives.

We spent our first morning in the park driving to Glacier Point, one of the most spectacular views of Yosemite from above. The road to Glacier Point is not for the oversized vehicle or those scared of heights or precipitous drop-offs. Once you reach the top though, you are rewarded with exquisite views of the valley below. Half-Dome is on full display in front of you and several HUGE waterfalls can be seen in the same blink. There are a couple of small interpretive trails around the top and some longer trails that connect to the valley.

Speaking of waterfalls, if you are a waterfall junkie like we are, the Mist Trail will not disappoint. The hike begins at the Happy Isles trailhead and meanders up the valley wall past Vernal and Nevada Falls, two of the most spectacular waterfalls in California. Once you reach the top of Nevada Falls, the trail connects to the John Muir Trail (JMT). The JMT is a National Scenic Trail that wanders through some of the most iconic and beautiful areas of the United States. The JMT takes hikers back down into the valley and eventually returns to the trailhead.

An entire day could be devoted to time just in the Valley itself with sights like El-Capitan, Half-Dome, and the Awahnee Lodge towering over the Valley floor. The morning that we arrived (and added our bus to the ranks of vans, busses, and old cars that belonged to the many climbers who flock to the valley daily) Alex Honnald and Tommy Caldwell had just broken the speed record for climbing El-Cap. The valley was a buzz with reporters and climbers chatting about how they had accomplished the feat several times in the week leading up to it and were merely breaking their own record that morning. There are impressive exhibitions of human ability every week in Yosemite it seems.

 

Lassen Volcano National Park

As one of the lesser known and visited National Parks, Lassen Volcano National Park boasts beautiful scenery and unique geo-thermal properties that rival that of Yellowstone.

We chose to enter the park at the less popular Warner Valley Entrance and hiked the Devil’s Kitchen Trail. This easy trail crosses through Warner Valley and up the hill to the geothermal pools.

Hiking through the pools was an interesting experience as you can feel the heat and smell the sulfur. The most interesting part of the scene above is that the creek running through the area is still ice-cold while the pools and puddles around it are in excess of 100 degrees!

On this trail we also had our first encounter of the summer with a bear. A cinnamon black bear approached us on the trail and you can read all about that encounter in our article about it: When Nothing Works in a Bear Encounter.

Food, Groceries, and Amenities 

GLUTEN FREE RATING: B

Since the majority of the attractions in the Sierras are in fact, in the mountains, it is important to resupply on food and supplies before heading higher in elevation and higher in price. The National Parks and surrounding communities have done a really good job of exploiting the careless traveler with prices that sometimes exceed 200% of what they cost in the real world. While diesel fuel was still $3.85/gal in Fresno, fuel at the gas station leaving Yosemite was $6/gal! I understand the costs of getting fuel into remote places like Yosemite, but it’s not that remote, there is a major road running through it. It’s a bit of a shame when it still costs $25+ for a vehicle to enter the park and $40+ to camp for a night in a parking lot, but the Parks can still gouge tourists for fuel.

I digress. We resupplied in Fresno before heading into the mountains and had really good luck with the shopping center near Woodward Park on Nees Ave. There was a Trader Joe’s and a Sportsman’s Warehouse so we were able to stock up on all of our food needs and replace any broken gear or supplies that had run out. We missed a few things and had to pick them up in Oakhurst, CA and the prices weren’t overly inflated on most things but there were simply less stores to choose from.

 

Alpenglow Gear Co.

Oakhurst, CA

 

Part of the appeal of traveling through parts of the country where really affluent sportsmen recreate is that they will sell their old gear to used gear stores and we can in-turn get a lightly used piece of gear that we couldn’t previously have afforded. That’s the idea behind Alpenglow Used Gear.

This shop is just starting out but is located right off of the highway and already offers a wide supply of used clothing, cycling gear, climbing gear, backpacking gear, and much more. The staff is super fun and we even ran into him utilizing another local small business at the coffee shop in town; it’s very cool to see small businesses supporting each other in a tight knit community as well as giving back through trail clean ups and conservation.

The Cool Bean Café

Oakhurst, CA

We tend to only use coffee shops when we need wi-fi and this shop was sufficient at uploading some images and getting out. The atmosphere was really fun but the clientele made our experience crummy, through no fault of the shop. A table of nearly ten, seemingly intoxicated, street youths spent over two hours yelling, screaming, and carrying on while the rest of us tried to enjoy the mellow music that none of us could hear. We would really like to come back and visit this shop again to give it a fair shake.

If you need to resupply on food or supplies, nearby cities of Fresno or Bakersfield are in the valley and quite warm but have all of the stores you would need before a few weeks in the mountains.

The Sierras have been spectacular to visit and we already have a list of sites that we want to spend more time in including visiting this area in the winter when the crowds are smaller and the parks are empty.

 

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5 Steps to Save the Planet Every Day

Since transitioning to a nomadic lifestyle, we have found more and more ways to reduce our environmental impact. Below are five ways that we have changed our lifestyle to do a little more for our planet.

Stop with the Plastic Sacks Already!

There are very few instances when plastic sacks at the clothing, grocery, or convenience stores makes any logical sense. Around 5,000,000,000,000 plastic bags are produced YEARLY and most of the trash in our oceans is plastic.

Alternative: Use canvas shopping bags instead of plastic. Leave a few canvas bags in your vehicle and remember to take them into the store with you when you shop. Some stores will even give you credit for using canvas bags.

Avoid Using Plastic Drink Bottles

On the many miles of trail that we have hiked and biked across our country we have seen and picked up hundreds of plastic bottles. Some sources claim that a PET bottle takes around 1,000 years to biodegrade naturally.

Alternative: Use a reusable cup such as an Ozark Trail, Yeti, or another of the many different brands that make stainless steel cups. Although the process to produce a stainless cup is less than environmentally friendly, if you use it regularly over a long period of time it is a step in the right direction.

 

Recycle or Reuse Everything You Can

Did you leave your reusable bags at home and drive across town to the grocery store? No worries, use your plastic bags as trash bags around your house several times if possible. When building our bus, we used old cut up bike tubes as rubber grommets to run cable and PEX tubing throughout the bus. When a t-shirt gets beyond an acceptable state of ragged, tear it up into garage or kitchen rags.

 

Conserve Electricity & Use Solar Power if Available

Besides our engine, our entire bus is powered by solar power. We have 300 watts of solar mounted on the roof that powers LED lights, a high-efficiency refrigerator, and a small inverter. We have found that when we rely on the sun for our electronics, we waste less and use less altogether. 300 watts has been more than enough to support all of our electronics with some to spare.

Do you have a light on at home while you are at work? Is there weather-stripping around one of your windows that lets in outside air? All of these things can require more electricity and cost the environment and your wallet.

 

Conserve Water

Perhaps the easiest and most time-honored way to save the planet is to consume less water. The average person uses 80-100 gallons of water per day. In our bus with a simple 12V water pump and small storage tanks as well as our re-usable water bottles, we use less than 80 gallons every two weeks! Here are some ways to reduce your water consumption at home:

-Don’t run the water while brushing your teeth

-Skip watering the lawn

-Ensure that all plumbing and fixtures operate as they should and don’t leak

-Replace inefficient appliances with High Efficiency units that use less water and electricity

-Take shorter showers

We hope this list has been helpful and that you have found new ways to help the environment. If you have different ways that you reduce, reuse, or recycle, please send us an e-mail! We would love to learn some new tactics to reduce our footprint.

 

 

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FREE Camping in Southern California

We were pleasantly surprised to find more than enough FREE camping SoCal and we didn’t have to camp in a Wal-Mart parking lot! Below are some of our favorite sites from our time in Southern California.

Laguna Mountain

Julian, CA

GPS: 32.977978, -116.524818

We end up in trailhead parking lots a lot of the time because they are well-traveled, have access to trails, and normally have toilets. This spot was simple, had a great view of Anza Borrego in the distance, and was right on the Pacific Crest Trail.

There are quite a few level spots here and a vault toilet is available. Take a walk on the nearby Sunset Trail for beautiful views at the foot of the Sierras.

San Diego River Preserve

San Diego, CA

GPS: 32.76000856, -117.2250726

This site is a pull-out along the San Diego River in the heart of SD. There is bound to be a fair bit of traffic noise and potential conversations with homeless people living nearby, but you can’t beat the location for a quick night’s sleep and 5-minute drives to Sea World, Ocean Beach, and much more.

This can be an intimidating place to park, but we left our rig here for 4-5 hours at night and rode our bikes to Ocean Beach to have dinner and drinks and enjoy the ocean. There are plenty of runners and cyclists that use this abandoned road day and night, so we never felt unsafe here.

Law Street Beach

San Diego, CA

GPS: 32.8025916, -117.2595628

This section of curbside next to Pacific Beach is one of the best FREE camping spots we have ever had. The view of the Ocean is magnificent and the amount of active people around was very refreshing. There is not a lot of solitude here, but there is plenty of ocean to share.

This site had bathrooms and showers nearby and one only had to make sure not to park here during street sweeping, one day per week.

Thomas Mountain

Anza, CA

GPS: 33.5792566, -116.6241575

There are loads of pull outs and campsites along this OHV trail/road near Anza, CA. The road can be a bit rough and steep, so we stopped short of the top and had a great view of the valley below.

Vehicle with low-clearance should really try somewhere else, this road is rutted and rocky in places and could be hard to navigate in a rig larger than 24 feet.

North Joshua Tree BLM

Joshua Tree, CA

GPS: 34.172932, -116.224663

If you are looking for a peaceful escape from the modern world, this is not it. This is a dry creek bed that is used heavily for off-roading, dirt biking, and any other loud vehicle driving that you can think of. The lake bed is beautiful and very flat, but don’t plan on going to sleep until dark.

This is a perfect overnight spot before entering Joshua Tree National Park. The West Entrance is just minutes away and has a bathroom and brochure station for the park.

Sawtooth Canyon (New Jack City)

Barstow, CA

GPS: 34.670395, -116.98423

We recently (March 2020) added this campsite as we traveled to LA for work and this made a perfect stopover from Northern Arizona.

This campground is managed by the Bureau of Land Management and is very busy in the climbing season (October-March). There is a ton of climbing available in this area and something can be found for climbers of all skill levels. This site has toilets but they were full when we visited, there was also zero occupancy when we arrived on a Wednesday night in March-arrive early. All in all, it wasn’t a bad place to stopover on the way to LA. Be sure and hike to the top of the ridge and check out the views looking toward Big Bear.

We had some of our most unique campsites of our whole summer in So Cal and we think you will enjoy them too! Did we miss any spots along our route? E-mail us and let us know!

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Top Free Camping in Arizona

We had a ball in Arizona! From backpacking in the Grand Canyon for 5 days to volunteering at a massively cool event (Overland Expo), to mountain biking amongst the ponderosa pines in Flagstaff, we had a blast. Flagstaff was one of the first towns in the West that we have visited that we both agreed could be a future “home base” for our adventures. The abundance of free camping is one of the reasons that we felt so comfortable with the area. Below are our picks for top camping spots in Arizona:

Nearby Grand Canyon National Park

Grand Canyon Forest Service Rd. 328

Tusayan, AZ

GPS: 35.98789, -112.12556

Don’t pay for camping in the National Park! This Forest Service road is just before the South entrance of Grand Canyon National Park and is an easy drive back into the woods. There are hundreds of spots on many different roads and plenty of firewood if the burn ban ever lets up.

With this much free camping available this close to the National Park there are bound to be some rude people that don’t appreciate free spots, but the farther back you go, the less you see them. We had two quiet nights here in late-April.

This camp site was a perfect staging site for our weeklong backpacking trip into the canyon. The National Park is only about 5-minutes away and the road in and out is extremely easy to drive.

Shultz Pass Road Campsite

Coconino Forest Service- Shultz Pass Rd. 553

Flagstaff, AZ

GPS: 35.355505, -111.589746

Visit the little-known National Monuments North of Flagstaff, AZ and enjoy free camping ACROSS THE STREET! We parked here and road out bikes to the Sunset Crater National Monument and it made for a good day. The park is super interesting and there are a ton of pullouts for all sizes of rigs and even tents.

Flagstaff is a dark sky city and the stars were amazing looking out toward the San Francisco Peaks. We really enjoyed the privacy and seclusion of this site compared to some others in Flag.

View from the hill above Oak Creek

Coconino Forest Service Rd. 535

Flagstaff, AZ

GPS: 35.045561, -111.754196

Looking for an escape from Flagstaff on your way to Sedona? This is the perfect stop for you. There are hundreds of spots along this forest service road that seems to go back forever. We camped at the top of the second hill and were very happy with our experience.

There were traces of elk all through our camp and a short hike up revealed a great view of the valley below leading to Sedona. Rigs of all sizes can find a spot here. The farther you drive away from the road, the better the spots get. Be sure and park at least 500 yards from the small pond near the road, this is a forestry pond for the elk population restoration efforts. They will ask you to move.

Walnut Canyon BLM

Flagstaff, AZ

GPS: 35.175436, -111.488306

If you are visiting the Walnut Canyon National Monument or are just getting into town on I-40 from the East, this is a good stop to prepare for a good time in Flagstaff. These spots are nothing special and most are just off of the dirt road, so during the day dust and noise can get a little rowdy. At night it was quiet and we slept well despite our proximity to the Interstate.

We saw several coyotes and birds and stayed here two nights. We would definitely stay here again.

Coconino Forest Service A-1 Mountain Rd.

Flagstaff, AZ

GPS: 35.201236, -111.738389

This road was packed with people camping during the week in May 2018. We simply kept driving until we found a spot. We had great views of the San Francisco Peaks and amazing stars at night. It was very quiet at night and the only complaint we had was some broken glass, which unfortunately is common on Forest Service roads.

Stars over the mountains

There are spots for rigs of all sizes and the road was in decent enough shape, with some wash board. We would definitely stay here again.

Coconino Forest Service- Snowbowl Road

Flagstaff, AZ

GPS: 35.292032, -111.677885

This is a rough road that is quite a distance from town. We are travelling in a 24-foot 2WD school bus and it took us roughly 45 minutes to make it from downtown Flagstaff to our campsite and we didn’t even drive to the deepest campsites. If you need to escape town for a bit, this site is perfect. It is near the ski area and the site was quiet and flat.

It seems that the 4WD roads go around the mountain in all directions as well as some very good mountain biking like Moto Trail and Shultz Creek Loop.

Welch Forest Service Road

Ash Fork, AZ

GPS: 35.217747, -112.377663

This campsite can be as adventurous as you are. There are a lot of spots for big rigs right off of the Interstate and you can explore deeper into the woods for a smaller, more private spot. Keep in mind that the southbound boundary that seems to connect on Google Maps, ends in a dead end and doesn’t connect to the Interstate. You want to exit the same place that you enter.

The road noise was minimal and there are plenty of level sites. Sheep are open-range farmed in this area, so be on the lookout for 1000 sheep that seem to go where they want.

Regardless of where you want to be in Arizona, our travels should give you a decent starting point for your adventures in Flagstaff and beyond. If you enjoyed this article, be sure to subscribe to our e-mail list on the right sidebar of this page; we don’t spam you, we just let you know when an article has published or when we have information we think you might want. As always, follow us on Facebook and Instagram and subscribe to our YouTube Channel…You’re the best!

 

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