We woke up today, New Year’s Eve, in our new home, the van. After five months of waiting, it didn’t seem like it would ever happen. There were ups and downs. Mistakes were made. None of that matters now because we are finally starting out on the adventure we dreamt of.
We picked up the van on December 21st from our mechanic in Kentucky. Everything was done, and the van was running better than ever. The new suspension made the ride really smooth. I was itching to leave as soon as we could get everything loaded. Of course, a little thing called an artic blast was coming, so we decided to just get the cargo boxes loaded on top. DelicaDeaneMachine was a trooper working in the cold drizzle to get it done.
After waiting ’til the end of the deep freeze, and other mundane delays, We packed, and packed, and packed up the van and got out of town on Dec 30th around 4:30 pm.
There are more in the cubby holes under the counter and sofa bed that I didn’t even get pictures of. We would have brought the kitchen sink too, but the van already has a sink.
Some may think we have brought too many belongings for a tiny van, but we’ll figure it out as we go. We have already reconfigured some things during the first night.
Speaking of the First Night
It’s warm but raining, so we decide to spend the night in a rest area in Tennessee. We made some sandwiches to eat and relaxed in our cozy abode. And since some of us are taller than others…
Because it was raining pretty steadily, we didn’t have the option (we did, but we chose not to) to open the slider or hatch to move stuff from behind the couch to open the bed. Everything had to be moved to the cab between the seats and on the counters, wherever it would fit.
Good Morning
Memories of trips past
As we were driving, I was reminded of other long-distance trips I’ve made in the past with friends.
In 1999 one of my closest friends and I decided we were going to drive around the country and visit various cities and friends and family over the course of two weeks. It was well-planned and slapdash at the same time.
I was reminded of this trip when, after stopping at a gas station to fuel up, the headlights, low beams to be specific, did not come on. The parking lights, high beams, and tail/brake lights all worked. We drove with the high beams on until we got to the rest area for the night. Upon trying the low beams again, they worked. It appeared that either there was a temporary glitch in the switch, or more likely, there was user error.
This reminded me of my 1999 cross-country odyssey because on our 2nd day, while driving through Missouri, the car kept going out of gear. We pulled over, called for assistance, and was told that since it was the weekend, we wouldn’t be able to get service until the following week. We were on vacation, and on a time crunch, so we decided to keep going. Soon after, we realized that when I leaned over to get beverages out of the cooler or other items out of the back, I knocked the car into neutral. We merrily went on our way to other adventures and misadventures.
The 2nd trip I thought of was when I went to Burning Man in 2000 with some acquaintances in a school bus that was converted to propane fuel. We spent many nights in truck stops because the propane was locked up at night. Listening to the trucks at the rest area we spent the night last night reminded me of those times.
And Finally
Carpenters we are not, but I think we got the job done.
First, I made a small shelving unit to hold my clothes. I took wood shop in high school, but that was decades ago. I may not have cut the boards or screwed them in straight, however, I am happy with the results.
We made a box to hold our toilet. Our measurements were off leading us to add hinges to two sides allowing for easy removal of the toilet for emptying. We were creative in our solutions, since buying more wood to start over was cost prohibitive. Making the lid a cushion gave us additional seating which has already come in handy.
Forgive any typos or grammatical errors in this post. For some reason the site or my connection is acting hinky and it’s making corrections near impossible at the moment.
WanderLyd 