As the threat of snow slinks away for another year, it’s time to start preparing for all of the fun that this year will bring. Travel season is already starting to hit BangShift as everybody…photographers, contributors and the three of us…all take to the road to find the first signs of activity for 2020. And the fun won’t slow down until after SEMA is over and we start winding down and preparing for the turkey coma. We wouldn’t have it any other way. But that also means it’s time to take a look at our modes of travel. Let’s see…here at BangShift Mid-West, there’s three main options if a plane ticket isn’t part of the deal. One is the Cruze, great on gas, comfortable on long drives, but recent problems have me watching it like a hawk, waiting for the next thing to go south. There’s the Angry Grandpa Chrysler, built like a brick, proven performance, but drinks like soldiers on a Friday afternoon. Option C is “borrow someone else’s car”, and I’ve never been keen on that plan, and since the Rough Start Fox has a ways to go before I deem it Interstate-worthy, that’s the fleet for this year’s driving times. 
Every year at some point I reference the “BangShift Command Vehicle”, which has varied from old trucks with camper shells on the back to a Prevost coach that has better accommodations that some Vegas hotels that we’ve stayed at. Not the scrappy ones near the airport, either. In reality, though, the appropriate answer is a tricked-up large van. Just enough size to sleep two in relative comfort, and enough space to fit bags and the live-feed kit. But this 1975 Dodge Sportsman has more going for it! The one-ton Ram not only sports a bed and enough shag carpeting to give someone flashbacks, but it’s also got a small fridge, freezer, range, oven and sink. The outside looks a bit desert-rough but overall…this thing is cool. Some window shades to keep the interior from turning into an Easy-Bake Oven would be in the immediate future, but the long game for this Dodge could be awesome. Has anyone Cummins-swapped a Sportsman yet?
