NEW After hearing thousands of last words, this hospital chaplain has advice for the living
Hospital chaplain J.S. Park opens up about death, grief and hearing thousands of last words, and shares his advice for the living.
Airstream has long been famous for its classic shiny camper trailers that can be parked along the smooth dirt driving paths of campsites that have hook-ups for electricity and plumbing. But now it has come out with its four-wheel-drive off-road camper van for those who want to get even further off the beaten path.
With the Interstate 24X, Airstream is venturing into territory that was, up to now, mostly occupied by start-ups that specialize in making campers for overlanding and boondocking. This means real wilderness camping, which has gained in popularity during the Covid pandemic.
With a starting price of about $214,000, the Interstate 24X has knobby off-road tires and all-wheel-drive, allowing it to crawl along muddy rutted trails with less chance of getting stuck. Its sheer size -- as the name implies, it's 24 feet long -- could prevent it from getting too deep into the woods, but it's designed to venture further into the forests or deserts than Airstream's other camper vans.
Airstream has recently started offering off-road capable trailers, like the Basecamp 20X and 16X, but those are designed to be towed behind other vehicles. There are other Airstream camper vans, like the Interstate 24GT and 24GL, but the Interstate 24X is Airstream's first to offer four-wheel-drive.
Like the other Airstream Interstate models, the 24X is based on a diesel-powered Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van. It has comfortable bed space for two adults -- four people could fit in a pinch -- and seats as many as six.
In designing the interior, a lot of attention was paid to storage, according to Airstream. A track-like storage system along the walls, ceiling and floor allows for hanging and securing gear with straps.
The on-board bathroom also "features amenities that surpass the minimalist setup you find in most adventure vans on the market," according to Airstream. For instance, it has heated floor, a clothesline, and vanity mirror. The van also has a small kitchen with a two-burner cooktop and a microwave oven.
For living off the grid, the van comes with lithium batteries to power accessories and has solar panels to charge them. There are also extra inputs for more solar panels on the outside, and the van comes with a gasoline-powered electrical generator.
For remote work, the van is equipped with a 5G-ready cellular antenna. There are four mounts for removable tables. One mount allows a table to be used as a standing desk outside.
For driving into unlit off-road areas, the van sports a 3.5-foot light bar above the windshield. There are also other lights around the outside of the van for use at the campsite.
Camping became more popular during the pandemic, resulting in an increase in RV sales which had previously been declining. Airstream's parent company, Thor Industries, which also owns Jayco, Keystone, Heartland and other RV companies, said it has a $14.3 billion backlog of orders. That's about a year's worth of production for Thor's companies, an Airstream spokesman said. Airstream said its first Interstate 24X van orders should be completed by this fall, though.
Hospital chaplain J.S. Park opens up about death, grief and hearing thousands of last words, and shares his advice for the living.
French police cordoned off the Iranian consulate in Paris on Friday, where a man was threatening to blow himself up, Europe 1 radio and BFM TV.
More money will land in the pockets of some Canadian families on Friday for the latest Canada Child Benefit installment.
An apparent Israeli drone attack on Iran saw troops fire air defences at a major air base and a nuclear site early Friday morning near the central city of Isfahan, an assault coming in retaliation for Tehran's unprecedented drone-and-missile assault on the country.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
Canadian banks that refuse to identify the carbon rebate by name when doing direct deposits are forcing the government to change the law to make them do it, says Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault.
A woman who recently moved to Canada from India was searching for a job when she got caught in an online job scam and lost $15,000.
The World Health Organization and around 500 experts have agreed for the first time on what it means for a disease to spread through the air, in a bid to avoid the confusion early in the COVID-19 pandemic that some scientists have said cost lives.
Prince Harry, the son of King Charles III and fifth in line to the British throne, has formally confirmed he is now a U.S. resident.
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly Knight, a grade four student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.
When Les Robertson was walking home from the gym in North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood three weeks ago, he did a double take. Standing near a burrow it had dug in a vacant lot near East 1st Street and St. Georges Avenue was a yellow-bellied marmot.
A moulting seal who was relocated after drawing daily crowds of onlookers in Greater Victoria has made a surprise return, after what officials described as an 'astonishing' six-day journey.
Just steps from Parliament Hill is a barber shop that for the last 100 years has catered to everyone from prime ministers to tourists.
A high score on a Foo Fighters pinball machine has Edmonton player Dave Formenti on a high.
A compound used to treat sour gas that's been linked to fertility issues in cattle has been found throughout groundwater in the Prairies, according to a new study.