Introducing Pancho, our faithful van servant

Pancho's lines are more Russian tank than Italian sports car. He's about as shapely as Elizabeth Taylor after after her split from John Warner.

He's not pretty. But you sure can count on him.

Fully loaded he weighs in at around 11,000 lbs, not including the two bikes hanging off his stern. Just over 20 feet in length, Pancho fits fine in a parking space. Although from the ground to the top of his tv satelitte dish, he's nearly 10 feet tall so we skip parking garages.

With the air conditioning off and a light foot on the accelator, Pancho can get 15 mpg on a flat road. Usually though he guzzles around 12. Not great but alot more efficient than most RVs.

John Candy and Queen Latifah could not cohabitate comfortably in Pancho.

But Tom and I can.

Pancho in profile

Than naming of a van

The "rig". The "van". The "RV".

We didn't hit on the right nickname for our motor home until our visit to the Sea of Cortez in Mexico. Before then, we kicked around different possibilities but nothing sounded quite right.

It had to be short. It had to have personality. And it couldn't be an embarassment.

Tom came up with the answer. "How about Pancho?", he said, after his third Margarita.

"Perfect", I said. "Let's order another round in honor of Pancho."

Open for business

Lady pulls up along Pancho's port side while he idled at an intersection in Austin, Texas. She waves at me and yells: "You sell Steinways?".

"You bet!," I said.

She hollers back: "My son is looking for one. I'll send him to your website".

I turned to to a doubting Thomas. "I told you that window decal was going to work".