Having moved 30 times in their 35 years of marriage, Rob and Jan Wilson aren’t intimidated by long hauls. However, they’ve been tasked with trekking 20,000 miles in a single road trip, touring 50 of our most celebrated national parks. Lucky for them (and for their posterior parts), they’ll be cruising in a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Interstate 3500, specially equipped by Airstream to be a true king of the road—and tricked out for a queen as well.
As of this writing, the Wilsons had 2,500 miles (and 7 parks) under their belts, but Rob already had a firm feeling about the Sprinter: “We’ve driven long hours at a stretch and there’s no ‘seat fatigue’ at all. You can imagine how important that is to an RVer. I’ve ridden in and driven some of the finest vehicles in the world, but none were as comfortable as the Interstate is. Period.”
Of course, it’s easy to be enamored of your vehicle when it begins as a Mercedes, but Airstream’s intrepid engineers transformed that solid citizen into Batman. The Sprinter is spiffed up with amenities like a 19-inch flat-panel LCD TV, a microwave oven, two-burner stove, and an energy-efficient mini-fridge, and that’s just for starters.
It also sports seating for eight, a table for four and a bedroom for two, along with auxiliary AC unit, 2.5-watt propane generator and a 32-gallon freshwater tank feeding a water heater, sink, toilet and shower, plus a bunch of electronic gizmos for blogging, tweeting, and locating national parks, even if they’ve moved recently. As Rob says, “It has all the accouterments of a Class A motorhome.”
Airstream essentially retrofitted the entire interior, including putting windows along the side of the vehicle. The Wilsons have had numerous conversations along the way with people who suggest that Mercedes and Airstream are a perfect match in regards their commitment to quality look and feel. Rob reports that the Sprinter is a powerhouse on the road, including plenty of torque in the tank on mountain passes at 10,000 feet, while still getting good mileage. In this early part of their odyssey, they hit some vicious wind and rain and sailed breezily through. Per Rob, “The Interstate eats road for breakfast.”
The couple are fully ensconced in the RV lifestyle, preparing meals in the vehicle, laying their heads down on the Sprinter pillows at night, and rising to the morning road. They love how different RV life is from “regular” life.
“RVing forces you to disconnect and live more slowly and thoughtfully. We find ourselves wondering what was so important about all the stuff we had, the time we spent on watching TV and movies, and how disorganized our former life was compared to how organized you have to be in an RV. The RV community we’ve experienced so far consists of some of the friendliest people around. Maybe it’s because they are not in a rush to get somewhere—they are always ‘there’ in their RV,” says Rob.
In their eight months, they’ll tour from Colorado south into New Mexico and Arizona, then hit the Pacific Coast and zip all the way up to Alaska. They’ll move across the top of the US to Maine before motoring down into Florida. Ultimately, they’ll end up at the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association’s National RV Show in Louisville, Kentucky, on November 30.
They are hoping to publish a book about the parks, with supporting photography, after their trip. Rob’s pretty sure the Sprinter could go another round: “This thing is built like it is expected to last forever, and you know the legendary life-span of traditional Airstreams.”
You can see what beautiful spots the Wilsons have seen and will soon see at http://www.sprintertour.com, where they offer daily reports and access to their Facebook posts and Twitter updates.