Tug Pages
Introducing Tug. He's the Bug Tug.
This is Tug. He's been around the block a few times, but he is still strong. Now he has a new purpose in life. Pull The Bug where it needs to go, and in an emergency, act as a rolling cat house. For actual cats.
Chronological Listing of Posts:
A Plan Had Formed. It Would Not Be Ignored.
This all started with The Bug.
The whole idea is: If we get a legitimate evacuation order, we intend to have done everything in our power to be able to bug out quickly and remain self-sufficient for at least two full days; forty-eight hours.
That's the plan.
The Bug meets the need for the two humans. But we know if we got stuck in the 7x14 trailer with two cats and their potty, this would not be a pleasant experience for anyone.
I pondered this reality for a long time. I thought about ways to house the cats under The Bug. I looked at tiny trailers to pull behind our CRV. I considered ways to put the potty outside without putting the cats outside. Nothing worked.
Then I considered using a van to pull The Bug rather than using our pickup. The more I thought on it, the more sense it made. The cats would sleep in the van and would have their potty there. We humans would sleep in The Bug. During the day, we'd just do what made sense.
There were a few requirements that would have to be met:
1) The van would have to be more capable than our F-150. If I am changing, I should improve.
2) The van would have to fit in Bldg S-2. No taller than 7'6".
3) It would have to have the factory tow package.
4) It would need to be at least on par with the F-150 in terms of accessories.
- Cruise control
- Backup camera
- Power windows and door locks
- Double-DIN head unit
5) It would need to be a Ford, and NOT a Transit.
Those things are ugly. Not as ugly as a Tesla Cybertruck, but what is?
These requirements boiled the options down to a Ford E-250 or E-350. One complicating factor is they stopped making the classic E Series in 2013. That's thirteen years ago.
I started searching. I searched for weeks. Several times I thought I'd found the right one, but then I'd discover some disqualifying factor. Finally I gave up.
One day after several weeks of not even thinking about all this, I thought about it. I googled 'used Ford E-350' and the first thing that popped up was at a local dealer. Not what I expected. The closer I looked, the more I was convinced this van checked all the boxes.
When we got a chance to look it over, I felt sure this would do the trick. It was a 2013 E-350 with a 5.4L engine, full factory tow package, backup cam, decent OEM double-DIN head unit, power windows/door locks, cold A/C, new tires. And it had a strobe on top and yellow and black stripes all across the back doors. An obvious phone company truck.
So we bought it. And that's where we pick up with the first of the Tug posts.
Survival. Survival with some semblance of comfort. That's the plan. And that's a thing that works.
