We have wheels

Saturday 28th June - Having left the UK on a cool, hazy afternoon, it was something of a shock to step out of the airport in Newark, New Jersey straight into a wall of heat and stifling humidity. Having spent the last two summers in the UK, we had forgotten what a hot summer's evening felt like! Thankfully though, it has since cooled somewhat and thunderstorms have broken the back of the humidity.

Having done the essential British thing of describing the weather, we can now get on with the rest of the story! Using Jen's grandparents' house in New Jersey as a base, our first task in the States was to find a vehicle to take us from NJ to San Francisco, a journey that we will make over the course 5 months. And in true Pateman style, said vehicle should be a van, in which we shall camp.

Our internet research before leaving home had revealed that hiring a van for that period would cost upwards of $8000 (4000 Sterling - I write on my Grandpa's computer, which appears not to have a pound sign... my stiff upper lip quivers at the revelation!). So our mission was to buy and licence a vehicle for less than that figure...

At breakfast on our first morning in NJ, a scan of the local papers uncovered a candidate just a few miles away - a privately listed green and gold Chevrolet Astro van, up for $3495. So off we all went, Jen, Andy, Grandma and Grandpa (I think the gramps were curious to see what we crazy kids were up to!). On arrival, the van looked reasonable. Opening the sliding door, her delightful green leather interior was perhaps on the rough side - plenty of stuffing coming out of the seats etc. However, it was really the way the van listed to starboard when Andy struck her up that suggested we might do well to look elsewhere!

So on day two it was on to used car dealers (just Jen and Andy now - the Gramps were now thoroughly satisfied that we were indeed, bonkers). Here, every car in our kind of price range is sold "as is"; with no warranty at all. First we saw a green, white and rust coloured 1989 Dodge Ram campervan. Much to the dealer's poorly-feigned surprise, it didn't even start. Moreover, when Jen opened the side door it fell off and nearly hit her in the face... perhaps not, hey?

The rest of the day was spent visiting every used car lot in a 15 mile radius (this being America, that's lots of lots!). Due to the rise in petrol prices over here, people are not buying cars right now. They are particularly not buying big and old ones, so the dealers were pushing every form of immense and ancient gas guzzler you can imagine on us! I would be lying if I said we weren't tempted to get something bigger than we had originally intended, for a bargain price... we really loved the ma-hoo-sive converted Dodge Ram vans! However, at 10 miles to the gallon, common sense (and tight-waddishness) prevailed, and we walked away from the thirstiest of the beasties.

Late in the day, we pulled onto the forecourt of "Marlboro Motors". They had a 1996 two-tone "gray" Chevy Astro van which, on inspection, we decided was the vee-hicle for us. It had 4 new "tires" and was very tidy despite having a bumper that wasnt quite attached. With a mere 176,000 miles on the clock, we beat him down from $2400 to $1675 and the deal was done!

The next step was insuring the van and getting our license plates (in the US, it's basically the driver, not the vehicle that has the license plates). It would seem that this is a feat never previously attempted by foreigners. Nobody - not insurance brokers, not the vehicle licensing agency - could tell us whether, and how, foreigners could licence and insure a vehicle in the State of New Jersey. Well, after many a phone call and plenty of paper pushing, we scaled mount bureaucracy and obtained a pair of shiny new licence plates! (Our success was perhaps largely due to the fact that we rocked up at the vehicle licensing agency minutes before they were due to close for the 4th of July holiday weekend. They would have given us 10 sets of licence plates, if that's what it would take to remove us from their office!)

With some adjustments to the interior, "Grayham" as he has become known, has now been converted from a passsenger van into a camper van. Andy doctored the rear seats so that they now form a bed, while Jen made curtains on a sewing machine lent by a kindly neighbour. Having had a sevice with Grandpa's trusted mechanic, Grayham, Andy and Jen are ready to hit the road....

Next time, we go west - life is peaceful there...