Hi Guys,

OK, OK, so I guess we’re WAAAAY overdue for an update again. Sorry!

We’ve been living in the EcoRoamer full time for two months now, as we completed our coast-to-coast shakedown trip. The truth is, it has been more like an ongoing ExPo reunion because we have stopped to see so many of the great people who have added their advice to this project over the past couple of years.

We saw Gary & Monika Wescott (Turtle Unlimited), Joaquin Suave (Casa Azul), Marc Wassmann (XPCamper), Don & Kim Greene (Adventure Learning Foundation), Scott & Stephanie Brady (Expeditions West, etc, etc), Lance Blair (Disabled Explorers), Brian & Amy McVickers (Overland Journal), Roseann & Jonathan Hanson (Overland Expo) and Doug & Stephanie Hackney (The Hackneys) — All of which were incredible hosts, and really drove home how great this Overlanding community really is.

So, before I get to the update about the truck, I just want to say thank to everyone who took us into their homes, or their driveways, or their local diners. We had a fantastic visit, and really appreciate all your hospitality.

OK, how about the EcoRoamer?

White Sands National Monument – New Mexico

With the Disabled Explorers WAVE – Phoenix, AZ

As Jason mentioned above, the interior is in, and we are enjoying the new living quarters. You can see the whole set of interior photos here. I will be posting more with the NEW floor next week…

The kids (Kurt-4 & Maya-2) have really been enjoying “their new truck” and have made lots of great memories already:

Tailgating at Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

“riding” Uncle Doug’s GS in Austin, TX.

Of course, It was a shakedown trip, and so there have been many problems along the way too…

• The GOOFS at Pro-Air LLC (formal name for the lawsuit) drove a screw all the way into the blower fan on the heater, causing it to overheat. Not to mention they installed it with under-spec small plastic ducting that melted and almost burned down the EcoRoamer.
• The same said GOOFS messed up the plumbing for the engine coolant lines to the water heater, meaning that in the 40’F weather we had no heat in the camper or the cab!
• A completely different GOOF installed the urine drain pipe flowing uphill. Guess how that one turned out…
• One of the solar collector junction boxes leaked, flooding the electrical cabinet during our first heavy rainfall.
• The Pantry cabinets proved to be too heavy when fully loaded for their single slides, and became a little “wobbly”.

…however, all in these are pretty minor inconveniences and all have since been fixed.

We haven’t left the USA yet, but I’m starting to think we’re almost ready to.

The “FINISHED” EcoRoamer will be on display at this year’s Overland Expo. We already have 13 people who have said they’d like to buy one. We’ve been holding off taking formal “orders” until this first one had all the bugs worked out of it. Now that we have what I think is the most: family-friendly, expedition-ready, environmentally sustainable, kick-***** expedition vehicle in North America, I’m looking forward to having some of those conversations.

As I have promised all along… All of our plans, vendor lists, CAD files will be available free on www.EcoRoamer.com — and all “profits” that we generate from the sale of EcoRoamers will go to fund our non-profit charity programs around the world through The Muskoka Foundation.

It’s great to be back in touch with all of you. Thanks for your patience during our shakedown, and all of your support over the past 2 years.