// TRAVEL
A VINTAGE BALBOA AND A SHE SHED
Father and Daughter Travel the Country in Tandem By Bill Sterling
M
Y 18-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER, Lillian, and I are traveling the United States together. Lillian is a student, and I’m taking a break from the working world after about 25 years in the auto industry. Our home base was Florida, but now it’s the entire country. Three years ago, the day before my father died, he told me I needed to get going if I was going to travel. “This is you in 25 years,” he said. None of us are getting any younger, but we often believe there will always be time and health. His urgency prompted me to take action and hit the road. We are traveling with two vehicles. I’m driving a vintage
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1973 Balboa motorhome, built by Jensen Marine in California. Lillian is driving a 1996 Chevy Beauville passenger van that has been lightly modified to suit her travel needs. She lovingly refers to it as her She Shed, and shares it with her three cats. The van also tows a small trailer carrying things such as spare fuel, tools, and extra water. Lillian’s van is nearly vintage at 26 years old, but compared to the 49 years on my Balboa, her van is considered the support vehicle. The Balboa motorhome has sentimental significance to me. When visiting RV dealers back in the ’70s with my father, he always wanted a Balboa, partially because he loved the