Uploaded October 2022 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Post Links:
Ft. Churchill State Historic Park: parks.nv.gov/parks/fort-churchill
Winnebago Solis 59PX: winnebago.com/models/product/motorhomes/camper-van/solis
Mono Lake Scenic Viewpoint: gaiagps.com/map/?loc=15.6/-119.1760/38.0733&pubLink=YFZd2dAdNlEQQ7CeFqUlWX3H&waypointId=456ae92c-566b-4109-b7b2-39124ec94d88
Early access to these videos as well as GPS Coordinates: patreon.com/allterrainfamily
There are times when camping is too much. Even if you could cary all the gear, you don't want to commit the time and effort in setting up and breaking down camp. I've done this when arriving at a trailhead or the base of a climb late at night, when overnighting in Yosemite valley without a legal campsite reservation, when just catching a few hours of shut eye on a long day on the trail, or when bike packing without taking all the gear for a proper camp. It usually involves just a pad and a sleeping bag, sometimes a sleeping bag shell made of gore-tex, sometimes only a light down coat and a lot of shivering. There is a name for this, and it isn't camping.
Never the less, we pulled into Scout Camp at Ft. Churchill State Historic Park along the Carson River Near Silver Springs NV, at around 9:00 on the first day of Spring Break on March 18th, 2022. It was cold enough and we were energetic enough to scrounge some sticks for a quick camp fire by the van.
You read that right. For this trip we are traveling in a 21 foot camper van. The van in question is a Winnebago Solis 59PX camper van. It's one of two class B RVs in the US market that sleeps and seats 4 and has all the basic systems and features needed for "vanlife." There may technically be more that do this, but the Solis and the Aktiv, from the defunct Hymer North America, are the only two vans with layouts that make sense for us. And of the two, only the Solis is 4 season capable with its fresh water tank inside the coach and a heating element for the grey water tank, which hangs below.
I stumbled on this in the video, but the van is the Solis 59 PX. The 59 is for the Ram Promaster 159" wheelbase van. The P is for the SCA Pop top which most mass market RVs with pop tops use. The X is for the extended van that is 1.5 feet longer than the standard 159 Promaster. I'll share more details on the van and components as we go through this series. For now, I'll say that as you see in the video, there's a slide out table / cutting board, which we did not use at all. And the van has a Truma Combi heat system which is quiet and efficient and we used it all night several times and were quite comfortable.
To be clear this is a rented van, not ours. It is front wheel drive and we were instructed not to take it "off-roading..."
Scout Camp
Scout camp at Ft. Churchill is a state park camp ground and costs $15 for in state and $20 for out of state. The main campground is a standard campground with tent sites with pull-ins, tables and bathrooms. Scout Camp is more rustic. The sites are open without designations for parking or tents and are more suitable for horses and trailers. There are picnic tables which can be used for meals as well as parkour. There are several cotton wood stumps that were thoughtfully placed there for parkour as well.
Ft. Churchill
Ft. Churchill State Historic Park is one of those drive by tourist traps that you may only ever visit on a middle school field trip. It's dry and dusty and there aren't really any facilities to speak of other than a one room museum two small campgrounds and basic toilets.
It is what remains, and what was rebuilt for the sake of the park, of Nevada's first military outpost built in 1860 to safeguard emigrants, the pony express and telegraph lines from native Americans who were also, kinda just defending their own trade and travels.
The ruins are situated along the Carson River between Carson City, Nevada which many may recognize as the capital of Nevada and Yerington, which nobody has heard of unless Apple Maps routed you that way for some reason.
Prepping Food in the Winnebago Solis
The kitchen in the solis isn't huge, but it's bigger than the kitchen in the Tacoma, which is just the tailgate. When it's cold and you're stopped in some random wide spot in the road to Bridgeport, prepping and eating lunch inside is super awesome. There's enough space to prep food inside the van with all 4 of us in there. We had to do this a couple times as the first few days and nights were quite cold.
Both driver and passenger seats swivel all the way around and make a nice cozy booth with the rear seats and the little dinette table there. We ate inside like this often and it was perfectly comfortable. Mostly. These rode side lunches were quite nice and comfortable and much preferable over fast food, quickie mart food, or just choking down an apple and some chips behind the wheel.
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Post Links:
Ft. Churchill State Historic Park: parks.nv.gov/parks/fort-churchill
Winnebago Solis 59PX: winnebago.com/models/product/motorhomes/camper-van/solis
Mono Lake Scenic Viewpoint: gaiagps.com/map/?loc=15.6/-119.1760/38.0733&pubLink=YFZd2dAdNlEQQ7CeFqUlWX3H&waypointId=456ae92c-566b-4109-b7b2-39124ec94d88
Early access to these videos as well as GPS Coordinates: patreon.com/allterrainfamily
There are times when camping is too much. Even if you could cary all the gear, you don't want to commit the time and effort in setting up and breaking down camp. I've done this when arriving at a trailhead or the base of a climb late at night, when overnighting in Yosemite valley without a legal campsite reservation, when just catching a few hours of shut eye on a long day on the trail, or when bike packing without taking all the gear for a proper camp. It usually involves just a pad and a sleeping bag, sometimes a sleeping bag shell made of gore-tex, sometimes only a light down coat and a lot of shivering. There is a name for this, and it isn't camping.
Never the less, we pulled into Scout Camp at Ft. Churchill State Historic Park along the Carson River Near Silver Springs NV, at around 9:00 on the first day of Spring Break on March 18th, 2022. It was cold enough and we were energetic enough to scrounge some sticks for a quick camp fire by the van.
You read that right. For this trip we are traveling in a 21 foot camper van. The van in question is a Winnebago Solis 59PX camper van. It's one of two class B RVs in the US market that sleeps and seats 4 and has all the basic systems and features needed for "vanlife." There may technically be more that do this, but the Solis and the Aktiv, from the defunct Hymer North America, are the only two vans with layouts that make sense for us. And of the two, only the Solis is 4 season capable with its fresh water tank inside the coach and a heating element for the grey water tank, which hangs below.
I stumbled on this in the video, but the van is the Solis 59 PX. The 59 is for the Ram Promaster 159" wheelbase van. The P is for the SCA Pop top which most mass market RVs with pop tops use. The X is for the extended van that is 1.5 feet longer than the standard 159 Promaster. I'll share more details on the van and components as we go through this series. For now, I'll say that as you see in the video, there's a slide out table / cutting board, which we did not use at all. And the van has a Truma Combi heat system which is quiet and efficient and we used it all night several times and were quite comfortable.
To be clear this is a rented van, not ours. It is front wheel drive and we were instructed not to take it "off-roading..."
Scout Camp
Scout camp at Ft. Churchill is a state park camp ground and costs $15 for in state and $20 for out of state. The main campground is a standard campground with tent sites with pull-ins, tables and bathrooms. Scout Camp is more rustic. The sites are open without designations for parking or tents and are more suitable for horses and trailers. There are picnic tables which can be used for meals as well as parkour. There are several cotton wood stumps that were thoughtfully placed there for parkour as well.
Ft. Churchill
Ft. Churchill State Historic Park is one of those drive by tourist traps that you may only ever visit on a middle school field trip. It's dry and dusty and there aren't really any facilities to speak of other than a one room museum two small campgrounds and basic toilets.
It is what remains, and what was rebuilt for the sake of the park, of Nevada's first military outpost built in 1860 to safeguard emigrants, the pony express and telegraph lines from native Americans who were also, kinda just defending their own trade and travels.
The ruins are situated along the Carson River between Carson City, Nevada which many may recognize as the capital of Nevada and Yerington, which nobody has heard of unless Apple Maps routed you that way for some reason.
Prepping Food in the Winnebago Solis
The kitchen in the solis isn't huge, but it's bigger than the kitchen in the Tacoma, which is just the tailgate. When it's cold and you're stopped in some random wide spot in the road to Bridgeport, prepping and eating lunch inside is super awesome. There's enough space to prep food inside the van with all 4 of us in there. We had to do this a couple times as the first few days and nights were quite cold.
Both driver and passenger seats swivel all the way around and make a nice cozy booth with the rear seats and the little dinette table there. We ate inside like this often and it was perfectly comfortable. Mostly. These rode side lunches were quite nice and comfortable and much preferable over fast food, quickie mart food, or just choking down an apple and some chips behind the wheel.
s
