Thanks for the confirmation on the white gunk near the oil filler. Sounds like it may just be the cold weather rearing its ugly head (i hope). My wife's saturn gets a similar, slightly yellower stuff all over the inside of the valve covers probably 1/4" thick when it gets cold (talk about bad PCV system design...), but I guess I just don't look inside the valve covers of the winnie enough when it gets cold outside.
I went back and looked at my Ford manual, and I agree, given the number of items that have to be removed and replaced, the cost the dealership gave me does seem very low for the lower gaskets. I wonder if they misunderstood and quoted on the upper ones instead? The service manager I talked to didn't seem all that knowledgeable.
I'll have to give Blackstone a try, since it's about time for an oil change anyway. I'm always a little suspicious of the stealerships, so it would definitely be a nice cheap sanity check if I decide to take the van in later.
Thanks.