Weeks 78 - 80: Reno-vations!
I have so much to share with you from our time in Reno, Nevada!
November 24-December 12, 2026
Hello, friends! Hi, fam! It’s been a while since I posted — and that’s because we’ve been going flat out for the past month! I’m hoping to get back on my regular once-a-week schedule after the next post.
Read on to see what we’ve been up to!
Meet Henry!
It all started when we got a new van that we’ve named Henry (after Walter Longmire’s best friend Henry Standing Bear in the Longmire Mysteries book series). Yes, you read that right! It’s an AEONrv that we got in Reno, Nevada on November 11th — exactly one month from the time of this writing.
So much has happened since then!
Henry is another Ford Transit AWD van lifted and upfitted for rough roads, but instead of a converted cargo van he’s a cutaway van with an insulated box installed on back. He’s also about 2 feet longer and a little taller than Walter, which will take some getting used to. I’ll post more about Henry next time.
(As an aside — if you’re interested in getting an AEONrv of your own, you can use our referral link for $5,000 off if you place a deposit by December 31st, and we’ll get a $2,000 referral bonus. Please feel free to pass it on.)
Sparks, Nevada
We stayed at a rental house in Sparks, Nevada for a month so that we’d have space to work on the new van while we moved everything over from Walter — plus we needed a way to get lots of packages, too! (Getting packages is one of the hardest parts about being on the road.)
The rental had a neat view with mountains all around, and the sky lit up at night with the glow of casinos — so different from the places we usually call home. And in contrast, the neighbors had goats and chickens, and a covey of California quail visited us almost everyday!
Happy Thanksgiving
We celebrated Thanksgiving in the new van with Field Roast celebration roast, sweet potatoes, stuffing, brussels sprouts, salads, and cranberry relish — for me — J isn’t a fan of it. It was so different from Thanksgiving last year out in the desert.
We have so much to be thankful for — not taking this new life of ours for granted.
Projects Galore
Jason did a bunch of projects while we were in Reno and had easy access to tools and hardware stores — he was a busy bee!
Here’s what he did:
Installed a Navidok Dash Mount, RAM Mount arms, and phone mounts up front for navigation, etc. while driving.
Mounted the MaxTrax traction boards, Rotopax fuel container, and new shovel on the rear L-track - required fabricating and assembling some mounts.
Installed a Parsec 11-in-1 dual 5G antenna on the roof, and replaced a simple cable gland with an Icotek Cable Entry Roof Box. Expanded the cable access hole in the roof - had to cut the hole larger in the new rig, scary!
Set up the communications/electronics equipment. Ran 24V power to the cabinet. Installed a Pepwave Max BR2 Pro (dual 5G modem router), Starlink DC power supply, Rock 5B small computer, PowerPole power distribution blocks, and USB-C 100W chargers.
Ran 12V power to PowerPole ports underneath both dinette seats, and installed two dual USB-C 100W chargers under the dinette table.
Ran 24V power to both overhead bedroom cabinets and installed 100W USB-C chargers to power and charger computers and phones.
Installed an additional Victron SmartSolar 100/30 MPPT solar charge controller in the power cabinet and connected to power system. Fabricated a small floor standing mount to hold the controller since the walls of the cabinet are filled. Cut another hole in the rig and installed a port to connect the external solar panels.
Installed the Ford 3.5L Ecoboost engine cover to avoid water getting on the engine. Required a day’s worth of modifications to fit the Transit engine bay.
Installed molle panels on both garage doors using jack nuts to help organize commonly accessed items.
We also had new SumoSprings on the rear, an ARB Brushless Twin Motor air compressor and ports, and Warn Zeon XD 14-S winch installed locally. We got a shelf for the trash box fabricated and installed on the rear L-track — so we got to keep our box with all of our National Park stickers woo hoo! We used this a ton when we were camping off-grid.
As for me, I took care of keeping us fed and watered and I cleaned Walter from top to bottom, took pictures and filmed a video for the listenings, handled lots of contacts from people interested in buying Walter, and helped Jason where I could!
We worked every waking hour and completed all of the major work - but we ran out of time for some smaller tasks that we decided we could do on the road, like installing storage hooks, charging stations, and storage nets.
We sold Walter!
Wednesday, December 3 we sold our old van! We had so much interest in it — two potential buyers purchased tickets to fly to Reno, one from Arizona and another from Colorado. In the end somehow the perfect buyer found us — from California!
She’s going to take the van on lots of adventures and I’m so glad that Walter is going to a good home. I cried my eyes out the night before she came to pick him up.
I’m really gonna miss this van!
On the road again!
December 7th we hit the road — Sparks put on quite the show to send us on our way!
I did a sketch from the new van while standing on the bed and looking out of the skylight. It was in the 30s and the air felt so crisp and cool while the light played on the peaks — what a way to start the day!
Sketching My Way to East Texas
After breakfast we started a loooooooong 28 hour drive to East Texas to register the new van — we had to get there by December 11th or we’d face a big fine for not registering within 30 days of purchase.
Here’s the drive in a nutshell — wish it would have gone by this fast, ha! I did some sketches (linked below) while Jason drove. We put on music and sang the days away!
Day 1: Sunday, Dec 7: Sparks to Las Vegas, Nevada
Sunday we drove 7 hours to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area outside Las Vegas — our first time in a campground in Henry!
We saw some unexpected Joshua trees along the way — they made me so happy — I had to stop for photos :)
We got to camp just as the sun was starting to set so it was an awesome surprise to see the landscape the next morning.
Day 2: Monday, Dec 8: Las Vegas, Nevada to Albuquerque, New Mexico
Monday was a 9 hour drive to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where we dispersed camped in the Sandia Mountains after stopping at Trader Joe’s to stock up on groceries — it was our first time dispersed camping in Henry!
I did some sketches along the way to help the time go by faster:
We were at 7,000 feet and there was SNOW!
Day 3: Tuesday, Dec 9: Albuquerque, New Mexico to Decatur, Texas
Another 9 hour drive and ending in another dispersed camp spot near Decatur, Texas at LBJ National Grasslands — this was the hardest day for me.
The landscape in this part of Texas is pretty boring — it’s endless overgrazed fields and cotton. I made the most of it and did a few sketches:
We found a dispersed camp spot and I went to bed at 8:30! Whew.
When we woke up the next morning we saw all the glorious fall color that we missed the night before — wow!
Day 4: Wednesday, Dec 10: Decatur to Livingston, Texas
We were in the home stretch!
After a 7 hour drive we made it to Livingston, Texas!!
I did a few more sketches along the way:
Sketch Kit in Shown in the Videos + Discount Code
I can’t tell you how much it helped to have my Pocket Art Toolkit within reach! And now I’ll have a sketchbook filled with memories. Note: I’m using the cyan and gray pocket Art Toolkit in the videos — I’ve had it for years. Since several of you asked, here’s a list of paints I have in my Pocket Palette:
Hansa yellow medium, quinacridone magenta, phthalo blue, chromium green oxide, cobalt turquoise light, organic vermillion, transparent red oxide and two large mixing pans with graphite and lunar black for when I want to do grayscale sketches.
I’ve been an Ambassador for Art Toolkit for a while now, and they’ve given me a code to share with you: Use code LISAFAN10 for 10% off your purchase of an ArtToolkit, palette, or mixing pans.
Now back to the trip!
When we got to Livingston we picked up our mail from Escapees Mail Service to get the corrected Manufacturer’s Certificate of Origin from AeonRV and then we headed to the County Tax Office so we could register Henry before they closed. Henry now had his registration sticker, valid license plates, and title application submitted!
We did it!!!!!! Yeah!
We arrived at our campsite in Lake Livingston State Park just in time to see the sunset. We had such a huge feeling of relief — and we were so exhausted we celebrated by going to bed early! Ha!
In the next post I’ll pick up where we continue on our trek to far West Texas and Big Bend National Park, with a stop to see some dear friends in Austin along the way.
See you then! — Lisa, Jason, and Henry the Van
I'd be interested in knowing how Henry compares to Walter in terms of drivability and handling with the additional size and weight. We're considering a Winnebago Ekko class RV (such as AeonRV, Nomad Euphoria, RossMonster Havn) and are trying to figure out what tradeoffs we can live with and which ones are a must have. We recently rented a 25' Class C RV and that size was a challenge in city driving and also took a toll on us with longer driving days. I think we could get by with an AeonRV sized vehicle. I prefer the Ford Transit platform versus the Sprinter and also like the dinette layout of the AeonRV compared to the Ekko. Congrats again on Henry.
You have certainly covered the miles! The sunsets you catch are stunning!