Well, I've enjoyed all the advice, and since I started it I'll weigh in
again, too.

Roger said "...the church across the street has sins at the gate..."
Strange slip of the keys, there... :)

But several along with Roger have suggested "...looking doors and closing
windows...keep stuff of value out of sight..extra locks and other "secret "
places...never leave your van out of your site if at all possible...park in
well lighted areas..."

Well, yeah.  Points taken, I got all that.  But there aren't always lights -
fact is there are _rarely_ lights, where I want to park!  Let me paint a
different picture.  Let's say you're out for two weeks, and you've got stuff
with you.  You won't be home to ditch things for another couple of weeks.
How do you park at a trailhead forty miles from the nearest light and come
back two or three days later to find your stuff intact?  Or just park in a
downtown lot when you have to?  Unlike Roger, my rig is not unique and is
easily the most replaceable of all my gear.  Laptops are nearly throw-away,
price-wise.  It's the stuff on the drive that's valuable.  And folks who
play instruments know that they are _not_ replaceable.  You can get another,
yeah, but not without years of searching.

The event that makes me ask about all this happened in St. Louis years ago.
I parked an old beater of an RV in the huge, very busy parking lot and took
a ride in a strange egg-shaped elevator to the top of the Arch.  Came back
and found camera gear all stolen (replaced with insurance money) along with
an instrument (still miss it).  Police were more interested in catching the
plague than in helping me... :(  So, I'm just looking for a way to not
repeat.  That's all.

Maybe in the end I'll have to find a way to rent lockers somewhere when I'm
out and have to park unattended for a while.

Matt