… and too, Pete and Kara. I just re-read all of this wonderful post, and all the comments.

Chris, I thought you’d enjoy hearing that Google loaded this among the top THREE returns on my search string “LeSharo LED tail light conversion”, for no particular reason, apparently. Anyway, I’ve been giving that lil ‘Sharo some TLC since you brought it home to me. Thank you, guys, for every care you took with it.

I did repair the coach power supply/charger unit. It had a cracked ceramic ballast resistor needed replacing. Cost to fix: $0, as a neighbor of mine has a ton of old parts from this and that in his shop. The coach battery revived nicely once serviced and recharged. That bad resistor is a common problem, I learned.

Pete & Kara, I really need to go find everything you’ve posted about your year in a LeSharo. I’d really like to see photos of what you did with your redesign of the front-end floorplan. I could really see trying that in mine. Using the bed in the back as a dinette conversion space has always been a hassle, and the two aft-facing second row seats in the front have never seen much use at all. What you’ve done does sound like a great mod to try. I wish you guys good luck getting your engine going.

Chris, Cherie, some time soon Ann and I ride the LeSharo down into Florida, and you can re-live the “adventure”!
Check out Elliott´s recent awesome post ..Quilting Room (such as it is)

Here’s the link for anyone who might be interested in the review that went up last night:
http://www.tuaw.com/2012/02/16/coverage-for-ios-tells-when-you-can-and-cant-get-on-the-cellu/

That totally makes sense. I’ve also read that statistically Android users like myself spend way less on apps. Sometimes I wonder if that’s because the overall quality of the apps just isn’t as good on Android though. In any case I think I’ll fire up my iPhone just for this app!

Thanks!
Check out Duncan´s recent awesome post ..Happy Valentines Day Dorothy!

We would love to do an Android version, and would happily work with a developer who wanted to do the port and split the proceeds.

But as far as we’ve been able to work out, the Android app marketplace just isn’t financially worth investing in. Very few Android users seem to be actually willing to buy apps, and ‘Coverage?’ is not well suited to being ad supported.

We estimate (and have gotten bids) that an Android port would cost between $10k – $30k, and we just can’t see how the app would ever generate a return on the investment.

So, as far as Android goes, unless someone approaches us wanting to do the work or pay up-front for the work…. Sorry.

– Chris

congrats for celebrating 4 years…

Our transmission was toast (the automatic transmission on those suckers are notoriously weak). We were stuck. And Pete had three days to get to the Bay Area to start his new job. We had no choice but to leave it behind and pack up a rental car.

We hired a transport company to haul our baby Lesharo back to Austin where our highly skilled Renault mechanic has been working on it for the past couple months. We had bought a “junkyard” Lesharo in November to use for parts and it turns out it’s in great condition. Good engine. Stellar manual tranny. Our mechanic is currently working on installing the manual transmission in our livable Lesharo.

In the meantime, we bought a 1995 Chevy Astro Van and did a makeshift RV conversion (basically, we built a lofted bed). So at least we have a place to stay and are still living rent free until our Lesharo makes it out to California!

People tell us we’re crazy all the time about holding onto the Lesharo and putting so much work into the original engine. Many folks just go for the $18,000 conversion- but that’s just not in us. The Renault is bulletproof- it just needs the right love first. And we have the best mechanic in the country to help us out. We just wish we could be back in Texas working with him to learn more about this precious engine. It’s hard work owning an old vehicle (such as a 1985 Lesharo or a 1961 bus!), but the payoff is fabulous!

The little Lesharo that could! Happy travels and tribulations!

Peace,
Pete&Kara
Check out Pete&Kara´s recent awesome post ..Life’s Vantastic!

I recently moved in so will need to find my camera software (new computer) to send pics. but basically;
I bought a 2002 box truck from GA. (having had enough of the rat race and my ex’s BS so gave up my 7 acres to her). I then fitted it out as a self sustained “Man Cave” from which I run my office too. Living wise it is finished now but I have a few mechanical jobs still to do and a paint job.

In Tampa there is a place that sells heavy gauge aluminum angle very cheaply, it is this I used to make the collapsible solar panel frame. Just nuts and bolts NO welding. It is adjustable to the four seasons insolation inclination or flat against the truck side within a couple of minutes although it does need two people.

Feel free to come visit or wait til I find my software.

Checking your website, it seems like you might be nearby too. Want to get together and compare notes?

Hmm… making the bus fly. Now that would be sweet!

I honestly haven’t given any thought to hair brushes. Still using the same ole kind I have for years. Do let me know if you decide to give it a try and what your results are.

-> Do you use a natural bristle brush to pull the natural oils thro’ your hair? Trying to decide what brush to use.

Nina
Check out Nina´s recent awesome post ..The Amazing Hidden Slot Canyons – Anza Borrego State Park, CA

But heck, never thought we’d experience 127 degrees either. So, ya never know. We plan for what we can anticipate, and adapt as necessary when called for.

As for temperatures, well, we were camping in temps ranging from -20c to -36c (on one of our nights) which when you do the conversion from metric are in a whole different ballpark. At -36c even the propane furnace alone was woefully inadequate in our fifth wheel, we had 3 other electric heaters supplementing throughout the trailer to avoid having it run basically constantly.

I understand you are not likely planning (at least willingly) to be in these sorts of extremes, but just playing devils advocate when I thought you were planning to rely on resistance heating.
Check out Mark (Ontario Canada)´s recent awesome post ..Allure of the seas cruise, 2011.

When we attended the iPhone Dev Camp, we actually managed to get permission from the host company (PayPal) to stay in the back parking lot. We also got official permission from the hotel for when we went to Cherie’s dad’s sub-vets reunion.

Staying in your own home sure beats a hotel room in every possible way, and it is much cheaper!

Our bus is also pretty darn well insulated, thus far we’ve not needed to run a single space heater more than 30 minutes at bedtime to keep our coach warm enough all night in low 40-degree weather. We have even done a couple nights off-grid in mid-30 degree weather with the space heater.

Fridges have come up in efficiency, and your stove (as mentioned) is only used in short bursts (ditto hot water), but some items like electric heating is potentially on consistently for long periods, and running multiple electric heaters (given the size and probable lack of insulation in your bus) all night on batteries simply isn’t going to be realistic no matter how large your bank.

The energy-dense nature of propane (as you mentioned) is what makes it the go-to option for RV’s, especially for heating, and speaking from experience (We’ve winter camped in our fifth wheel) given the incredibly poor insulation on most RV’s, keeping them warm in the cool weather is a BIG challenge. I couldn’t even fathom it being possible without shore power in many situations without a propane furnace in play.
Check out Mark (Ontario Canada)´s recent awesome post ..Allure of the seas cruise, 2011.

Occasional escape camping and living full time in a RV have very different design elements and considerations. Ours is our home, and needs to be completely livable.

And yes, as outlined in the post – we plan to double our battery bank and add solar sometime this year.

As we’ve not had much time to keep in training lately, we’ll probably walk this one and enjoy the music along the route.

And besides, a lot of the times we don’t even know an event exists until we’ve decided we’re heading somewhere. And some events just simply don’t allow for transfers.

marell

We’ve not noticed much reduction in fuel economy when towing with our bus, but our bus has a 8v71 diesel two stroke engine. I would suspect that a smaller engine would notice it more.