Houston - the Eagle has landed!

Well, the day Ann and I thought would never arrive finally has.  On Wednesday I sent Sportsmobile an e-mail inquiring about an ETA for on our Sprinter (I was going to make a “Where’s Waldo” joke, but I don’t want to inadvertently name it Waldo . . . so much for that thought).  Jonathan responded right away, joking that my ears must have been burning because it had arrived that morning!

So without delay, here is our Mercedes Sprinter, in all its naked, pre-Sportsmobile modifications glory.

And from the rear.

As you might recall, we’re not going to have windows in the rear because we’re having a bulkhead built to store camera gear and stuff for longer trips.  However, soon enough they’ll be cutting a big hole in the roof, and a few windows on the side.  Strange - buy a brand new vehicle and then cut into it - but that’s how it’s done.  And then of course, they have to do all the sound proofing, wiring, and cabinetry building to turn it into an RV.

So for right now, the vehicle consists of the 4x4 system, driver’s and passenger’s chairs, and Mercedes built-in options.  In other words, everything behind the seats is pretty much a mini-racquetball court - nothing but space.  

Sportsmobile has already had a production team meeting about our design and has sent us several documents for review and approval.  They included this mock up of the layout they’re using to locate various build items.

Yeah, not a whole lot of extra storage space in the living area given what needs to fit under the dinette seats in the back.  But that’s what the bulkhead area is for and look at the bright side, we shouldn’t be running out of water on a short trip!  

We’ve got a few things to work through before they start cutting, but they’re calling for a 12-week build time, which should put us into early to mid-April.

Just in time for us to load it up for our big May trip!