One Lap Around France (and Israel) 2008
Kelli and Christopher's big adventure (AGAIN!) in a very little motorhome.
About Le Petit Chateau Qui Roule
It started life in California as a 1991 Toyota 1-ton chassis. Then Odyssey Industries (I've never heard of them either) grafted on a 21-foot cabover motorhome body. When we bought it, the little jewel had only 68,000 miles on the original engine and transmission.
We bought it from the second owners. I found the rig on the Internet (see "It's a God-thing" for details), flew out to Sacramento to pick it up and drove it home without incident. I pro actively put in a new timing belt and had the transmission serviced. The rig gets an honest 14 mpg at it's best cruising speed of 60 mph,which happens to be the speed limit for RVs in most of Europe.
The V-6 engine uses no oil, starts on the first crank and idles smoothly. Came with new exhaust, new brakes, 6 new tires and recent tuneup. The owner lovingly patted the front fender and her eyes moistened as she signed over the title to me at the Sacramento airport.
We Christened it Le Petit Chateau Qui Roule (The Little Castle That Rolls) -- come on, who hasn't wished they owned a castle in the French countryside? Well, we own this one and wow is it small. Measures just 7-1/2 feet wide and 21 feet long -- the total living space is about the size of a good walk-in closet in an upscale tract home in Albuquerque. But is has a working furnace, fridge that runs off electricity or propane, 4-burner stove with oven, microwave, and a toilet and shower. And about 120 horsepower and cruise control.
From the first day, we knew LPCQR was going to need some remodeling. It took the better part of a month, but I eventually had added two overhead cabinets in the "dining room", added three more storage places under the dining table, added a wall safe, added a burglar alarm system, added a couple of shelves in the master bedroom, built a ladder to get onto the master bedroom, fixed the shower flooding problem, added a new outside locking compartment door to access the electricity converter, added a new receiver hitch on the back, and most significantly, added a removerable rear luggage carrier and custom storage cabinet with custom fitted cover. The rear carrier has to be removerable because for the boat trip over to Belgium, we pay by the cubic inch. Leaving the rear carrier in place would add about $800 to the $2200 one-way shipping cost. So before I drop off the rig at the US docks, I have to unscrew all the panels in the plywood cabinet, remove and disassemble the steel carrier itself and store all those pieces in the cabover master bedroom area behinds a set of removerable doors. Then, before I pick up Kelli, I have to assemble it all over again. Thank God for power screw guns.
Since those crazy Europeans have a different word for everything and use different electricity and propane fittings, I had to buy a whole-house converter unit that switches European 220-volt power to 110 v and changes from French to US plugs. If it all works (can't try it until we get overseas) I can plug my converter into the French power pole at the campground and -- viola! -- the entire rig has AC power. Similarly, I had to buy a special propane filler fitting so that those crazy French propane hoses can fill our humble tank.
We bought it from the second owners. I found the rig on the Internet (see "It's a God-thing" for details), flew out to Sacramento to pick it up and drove it home without incident. I pro actively put in a new timing belt and had the transmission serviced. The rig gets an honest 14 mpg at it's best cruising speed of 60 mph,which happens to be the speed limit for RVs in most of Europe.
The V-6 engine uses no oil, starts on the first crank and idles smoothly. Came with new exhaust, new brakes, 6 new tires and recent tuneup. The owner lovingly patted the front fender and her eyes moistened as she signed over the title to me at the Sacramento airport.
We Christened it Le Petit Chateau Qui Roule (The Little Castle That Rolls) -- come on, who hasn't wished they owned a castle in the French countryside? Well, we own this one and wow is it small. Measures just 7-1/2 feet wide and 21 feet long -- the total living space is about the size of a good walk-in closet in an upscale tract home in Albuquerque. But is has a working furnace, fridge that runs off electricity or propane, 4-burner stove with oven, microwave, and a toilet and shower. And about 120 horsepower and cruise control.
From the first day, we knew LPCQR was going to need some remodeling. It took the better part of a month, but I eventually had added two overhead cabinets in the "dining room", added three more storage places under the dining table, added a wall safe, added a burglar alarm system, added a couple of shelves in the master bedroom, built a ladder to get onto the master bedroom, fixed the shower flooding problem, added a new outside locking compartment door to access the electricity converter, added a new receiver hitch on the back, and most significantly, added a removerable rear luggage carrier and custom storage cabinet with custom fitted cover. The rear carrier has to be removerable because for the boat trip over to Belgium, we pay by the cubic inch. Leaving the rear carrier in place would add about $800 to the $2200 one-way shipping cost. So before I drop off the rig at the US docks, I have to unscrew all the panels in the plywood cabinet, remove and disassemble the steel carrier itself and store all those pieces in the cabover master bedroom area behinds a set of removerable doors. Then, before I pick up Kelli, I have to assemble it all over again. Thank God for power screw guns.
Since those crazy Europeans have a different word for everything and use different electricity and propane fittings, I had to buy a whole-house converter unit that switches European 220-volt power to 110 v and changes from French to US plugs. If it all works (can't try it until we get overseas) I can plug my converter into the French power pole at the campground and -- viola! -- the entire rig has AC power. Similarly, I had to buy a special propane filler fitting so that those crazy French propane hoses can fill our humble tank.
