Decempber from Australia

[sohrab]

Hey all,
I am currently planning a road trip to the states in December and have a few questions for all you Americano's. A mate and I are looking at landing in New York late December and spending a week or so seeing the sites and finding a suitable vehicle (probably a van) to start our trip in. the plan is to leave from NY in an anti clockwise direction and see as much of the country as possible, including a few ski resorts for a couple of months, then down through California and possibly Mexico. The trip will probably end up back in NY as I am going through to Europe after that. As we'll be living in the van for most of the time I'm after a few opinions on what would be a suitable vehicle (the bigger the better, we will probably need a bit of space for ourselves and all of the gear) for the trip. have a budget of around (US)10k and will be selling it at the end of the trip. Would it be better to purchase something already decked out as a "camper van" or is it fairly easy to convert? (two single beds some storage etc). Where would the best place to look for a vehicle like this be in NY? Auctions? Private sales? Finally, I hear your winters get a bit colder than ours do hear in Australia, do you think we'll freeze to death sleeping in the van or will we be able to handle the cold with enough preperation?
Thanks for the help, Simon.