Building an "Off-road Camper"

With the lessons we've learned over the last few years with car camping, truck camping, trailer camping, etc., we are currently on a path to build another "offroad camper". I don't want to call it an overlanding vehicle, since this horse has been beaten to death and there is a vast spectrum what people understand overlanding to be.

For us, "off-road camping" means, we can camp in places, where typical cars and vans generally don't venture. Mostly due to ground clearance, lack of proper four wheel drive, tires, etc. We love being away from the RV crowd. We absolutely detest RV parks in the US, they are mostly expensive, disgusting, and filled with huge monstrosities that either have their air conditioning or their heating systems blasting at ear splitting levels. Plus they generally get packed wall to wall – and that's no joke, there sometimes isn't even a meter or two between them in "more interesting areas".

Since we have traveled a bit now with various setups, we have come up with a few requirements and wishes for our travel rig.

 Requirements:

1. Comfortable seating. Given that we often travel long distances, a comfortable cabin and seating is important.
   
2. A quick sleeping setup. When arriving late at a camp site, it is important to us that we don't have to deal with lots of work to have a sleeping arrangement ready. A minute or two, not more.
   
3. A quick and convenient awning. Setting up an awning should be quick and easy, otherwise we won't use it.
4. Inside space. In incliment weather and with nasty insects (mostly wasps) around sometimes, we'd like to have a space to sit inside. It doesn't have to be big, just something where we can sit and chat, have a tea or coffee or a quick breakfast in the morning, etc.
5. No towing. Towing has turned out to be not a good idea for us personally. Turning around on a trail, if it turns out harder than we want to deal with, is a total nightmare. The 4Runner was an abysmal tow vehicle. The engine has zero torque in lower rpm and the automatic gear box was garbage. The Patriot X1 was incredible once it was set up, but it was a chore to get it set up and packed away every day.
   
6. Some off-road capabilities. We don't need all that much here, we use this for traveling, not rock-crawling, desert racing, or trail tackling. It's a way of getting just a little farther in on a trail, away from the most annoying crowds. The 4Runner was more than good enough for that.
   

This didn't leave us with much choice, since the vehicles that could be used for this, are very limited in the US. There are no old Land Rover Defenders or Toyota Land Cruiser Troopies, which could be converted. These vehicles basically don't exist here and while some of them can be imported (as classic cars), we didn't want to deal with that. A converted Jeep Wrangler was an option, but it is very, very small. 

We ended up with a Jeep Gladiator and an Alu-Cab Canopy Camper on the rear. It's not an easy build-out and it's right on the edge of the laughable load limit of the Jeep, but it was one of the very few options for us. We did not want another Toyota, we didn't want a massive truck, so options were limited and we picked the one that fit our ideas best. 

Jeep Gladiator Rubicon – 3.0L EcoDiesel

One more step to becoming Americanized

It's summer time! And with some parties around the corner comes the need for cool drinks. But how do you keep them cool when the space in the fridge is already taken by BBQ stuff and other food?

A cooler is the perfect solution. So, after more than 6 years in California, Guido and I finally went shopping for one. They come in many different sizes - from small personal boxes to large family coolers with wheels - and various prize ranges from about $15 to $300+. Let me proudly present our cooler of choice: It comes with a fully insulated body and lid, durable wheels, a telescope handle that makes it easy to tow and it holds up to 40 U.S. quarts/37 liters/63 cans.

But why as a proud new owner of a cooler do I feel a bit more Americanized? Yes indeed, the portable cool box was first invented by Richard C. Laramy of Joliet, Illinois in 1951. He got his idea patented in 1953. :-)

Enjoy your summer!

One hundred eighty seven kilos

No, this is not Guido's and my body weight combined. It is the amount of fruit that our citrus tree presented us with this season. The tree had been planted by the former owner of the house. Therefore, we don't know exactly what kind of mandarine variety it is - maybe tangerines or mandarine oranges? They are easy to peal, seedless and juicy with a well-balanced taste. For simplicity, let's call them mandarines.

We are very thankful for the tree's productivity and since we don't want to waste any of these yummy mandarines and do share only involuntarily with the squirrels, what do we do with 187 kilos?

Choice #1 and most obvious: eating as many as possible for the last few weeks. Choice #2: Sharing the delight with friends, family and co-workers. And another great option: marmalade!

The German cooking website www.chefkoch.de provided me with the original idea and since then I experimented with various additional ingredients.

Right from the tree, still wet from the rain and dirty

I had best gelling results with Dr. Oetker Gelfix Super 3:1 which I either import from Germany or order through Amazon. Two packages (50 gram) of the 3:1 product make a fruity and less sugary marmalade and require 2 kilo of fruit, plus 700 gram of sugar. An important ingredient of the marmalade is the mandarine peel. As our mandarines are grown organic, no need to worry about pesticides even on the peel. Half of the mandarines are washed, peeled and the peel cut in smaller pieces while the other half gets peeled and the peel goes to compost.

Cleaned, partially peeled and ready for further preparation

Mandarines fully cleaned and peel cut in small slices

Adding 100ml of orange liqueur is one nice variation of the recipe. Instead of orange liqueur, Campari is another option which slightly intensifies the typical bitter taste of the marmalade and adds to its beautiful orange color.

Ready for firing up the stove

Thanks to the gelling powder the pureed fruit and sliced peel requires a cooking time of only 3-4 minutes and can then be distributed into jars which were sterilized in the oven at 100 deg C.

Voila, the finished product!

I have experimented with adding other fruit such as pine apple, persimmon or pomegranate for a less tart and milder taste. Adding cinnamon makes a more Christmassy version. The most adventurous variety I made so far also had persimmons, cranberries and red wine. Come by and try some if you like! Next: I will give making some mandarine liqueur a try! :-)

What a nice time of the year!

After living in North America for nearly eight years there are a few very typical German customs that we miss sometimes. One of them is the lovely tradition of German Christmas Markets. Most cities in Germany have such a market which traditionally opens end of Nov and closes right before December 24th. Very famous are the ones in Nuremberg and Dresden.

Today, we were delighted to find out that the San Francisco Goethe Institut had organized a Christmas Market in Mountain View, just a few minutes from us. Except for snow and freezing temperatures it had everything that such a market needs: handcrafted nutcrackers and smokers from Seiffen, candles, Christmas decoration and arts and German food such as bratwurst with sauerkraut, wiener with potato salad and of course mulled wine (Glühwein). They even had a stage with life music and a petting zoo for the little ones.

To get to enjoy the mulled wine, there was a two-step procedure: first, one would need to proof being over 21 to purchase a ticket at one specific booth and then would go to the mulled wine booth to finally get the deliciously spiced and warm wine. Many might have felt like us and had missed the Christmas Market custom. The market was packed and lines, especially those for food and drinks, were long.

Happy Holidays! Frohe Advents- und Weihnachtszeit!

Happy St. Nicholas Day

St. Nicholas Day is an old popular tradition in Germany and other parts of Europe which I loved as a child. It is celebrated each year on December 6th.

It goes back to Nicholas of Myra who was a Greek Christian bishop and who died on that day in 346. He had developed a reputation of secret gift-giving by putting coins on or in people's shoes. The tradition still lives on with children who would place one of their boots in front of the bedroom in the night of December 5th to find it filled with treats the next morning. Important: it must be only one boot. Both boots would make the kid appear greedy. And the boot has to be a polished to show how well-behaved the child is! Otherwise, St. Nicholas would only leave a piece of wood or birch.

Happy St. Nicholas Day Guido! Your motorcycle boot looks a bit greedy and wasn't polished but St. Nicholas filled it nevertheless. ;-)