In three weeks I'm turning 30. I'm not sure if this is excuse enough to get on my soapbox and share some life updates, but it's worth a try, right? Over the years I have met so many amazing folks who I have not been able to stay in contact with as I would have liked. Perhaps this post can serve as a way of reaching out or keeping in touch. :-) In July of 2021 I bought a property in Ignacio, CO. Although I did sell the CranVan soon thereafter, I'm still living creatively to keep things cost-effective. I drive a miniature Prius (Prius C) and my rural property is shared with a number of awesome tenants. Homeownership and property management has been a bumpy, complicated, but ultimately super-rewarding journey. The Four Corners is an exceptional place. I take great pride in benefitting from and contributing to the communities here. Although I live in Ignacio, CO, I spend most of my time going between there and Durango, CO, where I find most of my personal communities, and Aztec, NM, where I am continuing to build the choir program- more on that later. Here in the Four Corners we've got easy access to giant mountains, picture-perfect river and lakes, and numerous tight-knit communities of enthusiasts like myself. During the warmer months I run with Durango Running Club every Wednesday after work. We'll typically average about 1,000 vertical feet over 5-8 miles then share drinks and stories after. I work Music Festivals with iAM Music and the Music Masters several times each summer. I help set up the stage and audio equipment then scan patrons in the front door. I travel several times a year and routinely ride mountain bikes with a group of guys headed up by Chris, a local business owner and MTB racer. I feel lucky to have built close bonds with many of my music teacher colleagues, who I see for dinner parties, game nights, symphony performances, and lots of professional events through the school year. Durango is large enough to have a Wal-Mart and numerous grocery options, but small enough that you're virtually guaranteed to see someone you know most every time you go. Personally, this means the world to me. August marks the beginning of my fourth year with Aztec Municipal School District, where I serve as the choir director. As in, I am literally the only choir director in this fairly small district. I split my time between Koogler Middle School and Aztec High School and feel incredibly fortunate to benefit from super supportive admin, colleagues, community, and, of course, amazing students. Throughout the school year we coordinate with teachers and students from across the Four Corners (NM, AZ, UT, CO) area to create special lasting memories. Highlights of my time in Aztec include taking my students to Denver, CO, to participate in "Music in the Parks" at Elitch Gardens, starting the first-ever piano class offered at Aztec High School, and working with a brilliant student teacher who is now our High School Band Director and a close friend. At this point, I am going on eight years teaching. Since moving to Durango, I have consistently taught private piano lessons through the iAM Music Institute. In Spring of 2021 I taught adjunct at Fort Lewis College and served as the college supervisor for an aspiring music teacher. Some of y'all might be wondering about my best buddy since middle school, Spencer. Well, his wife, Alexandra, more-or-less introduced me to Durango when they moved here several years ago. She insisted, rightly, that I would absolutely love it. After we shared some time together here they ended up moving to Salt Lake City, UT. We visit each other several times a year. There are some other items that happened several years ago, but if we're commemorating 30 years, I should probably mention that I taught Elementary School Music in Colorado Springs for 4.5 years, I earned my Masters in Music at CSU in 2019, and finished the last of the 58 Colorado 14ers (mountains higher than 14,000') in 2019 as well. Oh, and I lived in a cargo van for four years. The 14er journey and van-build(s) are covered extensively in the blog below. Anyway, that pretty well sums it up. Thank you, dear reader, for bearing with me. I could not resist sharing some photos from the journey that led me to this incredible spot. I know this is exactly what you were hoping to see. Is is my birthday, remember??? :-) :-) :-) Before I sign-off, please reach out. I am always to hear from you, and I would love to host you at my place here if you want to see what the hype is about. Please feel free to contact me using my cell number, below. All the best, Paul E Cranfill (919) 454-0352 (above) - in 2019 I graduated CSU with my Masters in Music. Here I am with my beloved colleagues, Grace and Paul. (above) - In 2015 I summited Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the lower 48 states. This 14,505' summit was the first of 60+ mountains over 14,000'. (above) - in 2013 was lucky enough to win the Appalachian State University Concerto Aria Competition. As a result I got to play with Dr. Chung Park and the Appalachian Symphony Orchestra. What an incredible joy and privilege! (above) - Senior Year of High School, in 2011, with (L to R): my high school choir director, Ed, my family, and my high school band director, Matt. (above) - I got to accompany and direct the choirs when I was a senior in high school. Thank you, Ed! (above) - Playing trumpet in high school with my buds: Jon, Adam, and David. (above) - I reckon this was from a Christmas Parade in high school, maybe sophomore year.
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Friends, I have found myself telling this story many times lately. Maybe it's time I put it all in writing, with photos. :-)
Part I: Out with the Old... In December of 2019, my 2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 began to consistently idle roughly. I noticed it as I was driving back to Colorado Springs from the Dallas area, where I had been visiting family for the holidays. As I sat in the rest area near Childress, TX, listening to the funky beat of my five cylinder chugging sporadically, I found myself awkwardly wobbling along. I puzzled. "A misfire would cause a check engine light," I hypothesized to myself. Moments later, my well-used check engine light lit up. A quick OBDII scan (via my iPhone scantool) revealed that I was misfiring on cylinder number 1. Long story short, I ended up getting towed about one-hundred miles to Amarillo, where we eventually discovered that I had less than half the compression on cylinder one that I did on my other cylinders. After eliminating all other possible causes, we concluded that I most likely had melted a hole through my piston.* This would cost upwards of $10,000 to address in a way that I would feel good about. My previous vansion was a dead man walking, so to speak. Or... a dead van...running. I decided the best course of action was to drive it towards the Springs until something failed catastrophically. After driving about 500 miles, I blew out all of my engine oil just south of Colorado Springs. As my engine oil indicator began flashing "2.5 quarts low" and the dash beeped urgently, I called my specialty shop. They told me that when oil levels exceed 2.5 quarts low, it just flashes, exactly as mine. They confirmed, in real time, that my engine would seize up any moment as the components heated up and melted together due to excess friction. I pulled over and called AAA. The tow truck driver indicated that he was not allowed to drop disabled vehicles at park and rides for obvious reasons. I offered him some extra money and we made it happen anyway. Thus began Part 2: the Twilight Zone. Part 2: the Twilight Zone There were lots of alternatives to consider, but I was committed to considering my next move carefully. The stakes were high. A wrong move could result in another "lemon" van situation, or worse, an undesirable lease. So I lived out of my defunct van (wouldn't even crank) in the park-and-ride. I drove a rental car for day-to-day work and errands. It was barely functional and I was overwhelmed. There was one night in particular I remember laying there rocking back and forth with the winter wind. Normally I would just park in the wind-shadow of a taller building, but I was stuck there in my disabled vehicle. I just stared at my ceiling that Cody and I had painstakingly built years earlier, and listened as dirt, sand, and trash flew into the side of my home-on-wheels. Despite all of my belongings around me, it seemed to echo. This is where I wrote the tune, "Like a Stranger:" I feel the wind, it carries me to far off places I feel the pull, it calls my name Could it be God or maybe just some premonition Why, oh Lord, it makes me feel Like a stranger Like a stranger Like a stranger ...Anyway, it took me a week to make my decision- I was going to buy another van. Part 3: In with the new (then out with the new, then in with the new again) My ideal Sprinter was an Ex FedEx (is that a pun or just confusing?) van out of San Diego. It came with a promise of being "rust-free," which is a big deal for these '02- '06 Sprinters. It also had a lot of preemptive maintenance done. Most importantly, it came with a 45 day warranty. I figured this was especially important since I was buying a vehicle with 190,xxx miles. So I got a one-way plane ticket to California. My Uber dropped me off at the Sprinter place I had scoped out and after three hours of inspection, I drove away in my 2006 Sprinter 2500. I was elated. One thousand miles later, I was back in Colorado Springs. Here I faced a conundrum. I needed to get this defunct van out of the park and ride where it was illegally parked. I also needed a home that I could move when the wind picked up. So I asked my buddy Chris if he would help me switch my Espar D2 Diesel Heater from the old van to the new van. We worked on-location: in the middle of the park and ride. Four hours later, the job was complete. Chris and I were both soaked in diesel. It was 30F. I ended up throwing away my entire outfit from that day. The final necessity for a working heater was a reliable power source. McKabe helped me drill some holes in the new van and transfer the solar panel from the previous build. Again, we worked in the park-and-ride. Finally, my heater would power on! This FedEx van, however, did not come insulated, so I could only get the van up to about 40F. My quick fix- I used spring clamps to fasten comforters to the walls and ceiling of the van. This "blanket fort" phase lasted for a few months. For light I used a headlamp. I slept on a $50 Wal-Mart cot. The inside temperature was around 60F. From the day I bought the van in San Diego, it took me on week to reach this stage. All-the-while, I was working full-time at Martinez. "Why didn't you stay with a friend," you ask? I think I stayed with a friend for a night or two during this phase, but I really try to avoid over-extending my relationships or pushing boundaries. Hypothetically, I could have stayed at a hotel if things had gotten worse, but this setup was good enough for me. Barely. The next day I had the old van towed to a field near Peyton, CO, where I could store it for $10/month. Shortly after, my good friend Robert drove down from Denver to help me install the insulation and vinyl flooring in the new van. The next week I had the new van inspected by the Sprinter Specialist shop in Golden- LinDen Automotive. I trust these people to the moon and back, and the van was still under warranty, so I considered this to be part of my due diligence. Based on my experiences driving the vehicle, I did not expect them to find anything major. They did report several potentially expensive issues with the van, however, including a leaking head gasket and several oil leaks directly above the alternator. When I called the seller, he quickly offered to honor the warranty. "Just drop it by anytime," he said. sigh... Soon after this fateful inspection, oil leaks caused the alternator to fail, which left me stranded several times. (This was one year that I am 100 percent confident I got my money's worth from my AAA membership.) I resolved to pay $1,500 to ship my Sprinter back to San Diego. I met the shipper at the AutoZone where my Sprinter had been stranded most recently. I watched my home-on-wheels begin its long journey back to San Diego. At this point, I was very lucky to have some saintly friends, James and Kate, offer to let me live with them while the new van was worked on. Three weeks later I bought another one-way plane ticket to San Diego. When I arrived, every issue appeared to be addressed, so I drove 1,000 miles, again, back to Colorado Springs. After my experience with the previous van, I had learned my lesson. Fuel injectors should be preemptively replaced and then maintained meticulously. They cost over $400 each, and my engine required five, but I was resolute. After a great deal of reading descriptions, studying photos, and listening to the mistakes of others, I replaced all five of them myself in the AutoZone parking lot. Spoiler alert: at the time of writing, they are still performing well, 30,000 miles later. We've made it to March. That's right, March 2020. I think we all know where this is going... When we found out that we had one extra week of Spring Break, my family had already made plans for a cruise. We were holding onto that idea (hysterical, right?), but Mom and Dad's church activities had already been cancelled. As retirees, they are extremely involved with the church, so they were trying to figure out how to spend the extra time. Meanwhile, I was still living in a blanket fort on wheels, using a headlamp to see at night, and listening to all my belongings slide around the back of the van at every traffic light. The solution was obvious: I would drive fifteen-hundred miles to North Carolina. Together, we would build a better van. Part 4: Turning the Corner Living with Mom and Dad changed my whole life. I found a lot of clarity from the full nights of sleep that were afforded by a real bed, real food, real lights., etc.... We found time to build in between my strange new virtual workdays. I think the van build warrants its own post, so I'll save that one for another time. * - After this happened to me, I learned that it is happening more and more often to other Sprinter owners like me. Typically this is caused by failing fuel injectors. While fuel injectors can and do fail due to old age (they can last well over 100,000 miles), they often fail as a result of inadequate servicing of the diesel fuel filter over time. As of last weekend, I have gained the summit of all 58 of Colorado’s 14ers on my own power. These complex mountains have some gray areas (and Torrey's areas) for different people, but I use a general definition, with rare exception. A “fourteener” is a peak above 14,000 feet with over 300 feet of prominence. For me, these substantial journeys included technical climbs, exposed scrambles, mountain biking, snow-climbing, downhill skiing, skinning, snowshoeing, glissading, trail running, and, of course, lots and lots of hiking. Having covered so many miles, both horizontally and vertically, one question remains unanswered - am I a mountaineer yet? This introduces a broader conundrum; What makes a mountaineer? Well, I went to Appalachian State University, in Western North Carolina. Here, anyone willing to fork out money for tuition became a “mountaineer.” The biggest mountain around is under 7,000 feet. It also features a summit road. I’m apparently also a ram, thanks to my having attended grad school at Colorado State, so, not sure what to make of that. Baaah! All kidding aside, I’ve been stewing over what qualifies one as a mountaineer. To me, it sounds like a very respectable title. Mountaineers are physically fit, mentally strong, and often exceptionally skilled. They’re intensely driven and many are borderline obsessed. It seems fair to say these characteristics are favorable in most circles. I’ve only begun to learn of these principles, but it’s taken a lot of effort to get here. (After all, I did study at Mount Harvard, Columbia Point, etc….) There are a number of challenges (and one "challenger") I have overcome. For example, there was a time when I might have been scared to hike into an unfamiliar forest alone, in the dark, at 1am. After trying this many times, I learned that a little bear spray goes a long way for peace-of-mind. I should also mention that I’ve never ever regretted (or heard of anyone regretting) a summit sunrise. Only recently did I become comfortable with hundreds (or thousands) of feet of exposure, committing traverses, and the occasional ropeless class 5 climbing maneuver. The four great Colorado traverses taught me that to work toward to and forward to these test-pieces. No fear necessary. There was a time that I was too scared to talk to beautiful women! Oops...I’m still working on that one. Nevermind. Anyway, this summer, I realized a disconnect in my identity. Often I felt guilt and shame about my growing hobby. It all felt pretty selfish. After all, clearly, my summiting a mountain does not serve to directly benefit others. Sure, folks would occasionally tell me that they were “inspired” by my stories and pictures, but this could not justify the massive demands of frequent mountaineering. For most of the summer, this quandary felt like extra weight in my pack, but I didn’t have anything else going on, so I kept climbing. Only very recently did I recognize that the virtues of mountaineering can benefit the alpinist regardless of where he finds himself. Whether in a couloir, powder skiing, or in the classroom, powerpointing, these lessons of mountaineering will be with me. Speaking of valuable learning, look below the gallery for some of my favorite teachers. Mountaineering ought to serve as training for life. Just as running, for many, serves primarily to benefit other areas of life, so too should mountaineering serve primarily to benefit one’s ability to lead and serve his communities. This chance to "sharpen the saw" revitalizes my mind, body, heart, and spirit. Like any hobby, mountaineering offers great enjoyment (sometimes “type 2 fun”) as a means to another end. Like any hobby, mountaineering can sometimes feel like an end in and of itself. However, like any hobby, mountaineering’s role in identity must remain secondary to a greater value system. Threading this needle is not always straightforward, and I’ve got plenty of soul-searching to do when it comes to values, but there is one that I know: the value of service. To take a page out of Stephen Covey - I always imagine my own funeral as a litmus test for commitments. Folks might say: “Wow, Paul sure did climb a lot of big mountains and take pretty pictures.” Is this enough? While I’m here, routefinding my own human-powered legacy, I choose to pour into people. I’ll take every chance along the way to climb with family, friends, and students up and over their own mountains. If I stay in shape, I can help carry others' burdens when necessary. If I'm loyal, I can trust them to do the same. And if it’s familiar terrain, I might can even guide. As to whether I can claim the title of “mountaineer,” I’m not so sure. For now, let's just call it “training.” Thanks to Landon, who taught me what it means to “red-line”. I can sense your STOKE from here bro, even though you’re across the Pacific. Can’t wait to climb again soon! Thanks to Davis, who taught me about risk-management. I never knew I needed someone 5+ years younger than me to talk me out of questionable decisions until it happened... like... multiple times. If Which-Which ever continues their 14er promo, I hope we can climb together again! Ha! Thanks to Wade, who taught me about confidence and identity. There’s a reason I call you before technical missions. And that’s not just about mountaineering. Hey, y'all,
It's been a while. The last time I wrote was towards the beginning of my month-long trip to and from Banff, AB. As you can imagine, there have been some developments since then. Before my last post, I installed storage for all of my (very few) personal belongings. I decided to keep this largely modular to minimize loss of value and maximize flexibility. Several humongous tubs from Wal-Mart fastened to the bed frame by winch straps did the trick. For bike storage I opted to keep it minimal. Negligible, in fact. For bike storage I simply put a wool sock over the metal pedals to avoid damage to the floor and slide it underneath. If I leave the van during long trips I will lock the bike to the bed frame. This area is roughly the size of my sleeping pad and thus doubles as "the basement" (it's unfinished ;p) when I have a bro over. Simply take the bike out (lock it to a tree or something) and BOO-YA! - bunk bed status achieved. Early in my trip I decided to make use of the shelves above the sink area. These were installed by my parents and me in May, but up until this point had nothing to prevent items from "shifting during flight." To make use of these shelves I decided to ask the folks at Ace Hardware, in Bozeman, MT, for some extra boxes. They didn't disappoint - I was promptly walked down to the basement and told to help myself. These ended up working well for the shelves above the sink as well as on top of the refrigerator. I also installed a small box for sauces on the floor next to yet another large box to serve as my primary food pantry. This was how the van functioned until my travels concluded. It is worth noting that during my travels I discovered THE STEALTH FACTOR IS HUGELY UNDERRATED. Friends, I did not pay for lodging a single time during my month traveling through Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Alberta, and British Columbia! I was only run off once, and even then, the off-duty park ranger told me I could stay the night as long as I left early in the morning. During this time I stayed in all kinds of public places like rest stops, Wal-Mart parking lots, and hotel parking lots. At the conclusion of my trip (late June) I had to make a beeline to Texas to take my uncle up on an offer he made last November. You see, uncle Kenneth works at a nursery, and he had mentioned that he had the tools and materials to help me paint the van. (Plain white, of course) So I road tripped out to his place near Dallas and rocked that out, too. This was a bit brutal with my broken air conditioning. During July I had a professional development course (Orff Level II) in Denver. It was nearly 100 degrees each day here, so I commuted up to the Wal-Mart near Evergreen, CO each night. Here at over 7,000 feet, things were barely cool enough to sleep. The vents were a necessity. It turns out a lot of people had the same idea as this parking lot was heavily populated. There was a time when I thought my transmission urgently needed to be replaced. Long story short, in my trying to verify the diagnosis I accidentally addressed the issue for free. I'm hoping to get another 100,000 miles out of the tranny and over 400,000 miles out of the engine. The 2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 is currently at 131,000 miles. Here in Colorado Springs, a local church allows me to park there for free at night. Unfortunately, only two weeks into it, I was almost broken into. Naturally I was inside of the van at the time. Mind you, the possibility of such an event had crossed my mind so I was prepared with mace, bear spray, and an air horn (almost $50 from Dicks!). When I heard a car engine running near me and a light tapping on one of the windows in the cab, I grabbed these items, hopped out of bed, and turned on all of my lights. Those punks were scared away by the light alone; no air horn necessary. I immediately heard car doors slam and the car jet off. I looked at the clock...2:11am. Less than a month before this the church had a van stolen from that very parking lot. Needless to say, I will not be staying there for a little while. Fortunately I have the stealth factor on my side so I can sleep anywhere that allows for overnight parking. The next developments that took place on the van were small upgrades to the window shades and a new (old) stereo system from the Arc Thrift Store. It's now late September and I have made the switch from sleeping with the vents blasting each night to using the heater regularly. This weather, with lows in the upper 30's, is a cinch for my heater. I'm excited to see how things work when the temperature drops below 0*F. At the end of March I took a trip to Moab, Utah. This was my Spring Break, so I lived in the van for about a week. Here there were several developments.
I decided to (finally) install the lights over the bed. They're simply stuck (double-sided sticky foam pads included w lights) to the plywood near the edges of the shelves above the bed. The wires to the lights are routed in between the 1"x2" braces and the plywood comprising the shelves. I repaired some minor leaks in the vent installation. Remember, the vents came with the van, so they were already thoroughly (so I thought) sealed. Somehow water was dripping down into the cabin through the seal so I bought some automobile sealant and slathered it on there. My biggest concern was that the sun would degrade the solution over time, but this particular chemical claimed this would not happen. We will see! (Update: this did not work the first time. After this initial try, I bought some Henry's Wet Patch Extreme and after two additional applications {and some serious reflection} the leak is fixed.) After Spring Break concluded, I counted a little under two months before final departure. At this time I buckled down. I'll list the updates as best as I can. Mom and Dad came up to visit during the first week of May. Of course we got to work immediately. During this time we built a rolling cart for the fridge/freezer, a sink fixture, and two shelves to hang above the sink fixture. The sink is of the porcelain vanity variety, and a little darker than forest green. After Mom and Dad left I wired up the electrical panel. The current flows from the batteries to the appliances via the solar controller, (which measures amperage draw) an emergency cutoff switch, and a 12 switch fusebox. Each appliance is individually fused. The batteries receive power from the solar panels, via the solar controller, as well as the alternator. The alternator is connected to the batteries via this battery isolator, which (speaking generally, here) connects the batteries when charging (solar panel or alternator) and disconnects them when discharging. This allows the alternator to benefit the auxiliary batteries and the solar panel to benefit the starter battery, but eliminates the possibility of draining the starter battery (think heater, lights) and becoming stuck at a campsite. I set up running water using two five gallon buckets and two AC water pumps. The buckets are pretty well sealed, but I still do not keep more than three gallons of water in each bucket. The water pumps power the sink and drain the gray water, and are easily powered by a 300W power inverter. The pumps and inverter are each wired to switches mounted on the side of the sink fixture. I later (in the parking lot of Jackson Lake Lodge) added a valve to adjust the flow of the sink and mounted it next to the switches. My buddy offered to tack-weld some sheet metal where I had a rust hole in the side of the van. Chris knocked this job out in about 30 minutes. I followed with Bondo, sandpaper, and primer. So I've got this second grader who is normally a cat. On a typical day she'll meow and hiss...occasionally she'll get down on all fours and start crawling around. Today, as her teacher drops her off for music class, I am informed that aforementioned second grader is Hawaiian today. I clarified.
"Fe-line, you mean?" "No, Ha-wiian." "Alright, cool. That makes sense." I watched her hula dance all the way to her personal space. How often can you, without hesitation, attribute one of your own characteristics, habits, mannerisms, or sayings to a particular person in your life? Friends, this is called inspiration. Although not everyone is a saint, per say, I believe we are all inspiring in some way.
You are an inspirational person. How often do we forget this? Lift up your inspirational friends by acknowledging their strengths! What if we cited sources in our lives as diligently as we do in academic papers? To continue with this line of thought... On this blog, I will cite sources of inspiration in my life with as much frequency as I can afford. Thank you Charee Coultis. You inspire me with your "attitude of gratitude." (Thanks Shawna Cary for that phrase.) Your gracious demeanor and specific gratuitous gestures brighten my day. Every time we dialogue you thank me for the chat. Every time I say something goofy you say thank you for the laugh. Every time you hear me play you express your gratitude. This makes me feel valued, and I thank you for that. You are the inspiration for this "Thank You" series. Lesson I: Choosing not to react
Working with elementary students, particularly the younger ones, is an incredible lesson on the choice to react. If I paused my lesson and listened every time I heard "Mr. Cranfill!," I would spend six and a half hours a day hearing about sleepovers, birthday parties, and mailboxes. (on Wednesday: "Mr. Cranfill! Mr. Cranfill!! Mr. Cranfill!!! Did you know I am shorter than a mailbox???" ... ... ... She is in fifth grade.) Learning to think before reacting in any way is a learned habit. It's is an exercise in mindfulness, the seven habits, and surely numerous other methods. How would our lives change if we could apply this sort of agency in our everyday lives? March, 2017
Y'all, this is big stuff. A few weekends ago I put the bed in. The stoke factor was high so I decided to begin before I had drawn any blue prints. Of course, I had been thinking it out for months and even considering specifics for several weeks. I just didn't have many measurements down...so I made them on the fly. Don't worry; it turned out GREAT. I decided I wanted the bed to allow for folding from the front or the back to create a couch facing outside or inside, respectively. This allows for easy access to storage. To achieve this I first mounted a center piece of plywood (10" in length, running the width of the bed) with several deck screws. From there, I installed four hinges on the front and connected the wood that would eventually lift up to create the backs for this convertible sofa. The frame (entirely 2" by 4"s) is reinforced with a little bit of trussing running lengthwise. Widthwise, I later put in some 6" bolts that push firmly against the sides of the wood paneling (with a tiny 2"x4" as a buffer) to provide stability. This way no width-wise trussing was necessary; the entire space, from where the mattress sits to the floor, is open to provide easy access to storage. Of course, the bed would not remain a futon for long without something to hold or prop it up. Because the couch facing inside would receive more use (year-round, rather than summer-time only) I decided to focus on it first. This configuration allows legal (believe it or not) passenger seating while driving. I realize this is completely unsafe. Any kind of propping mechanism would present a risk of popping out after driving over a sudden bump (many roads in Colorado Springs). Furthermore I was did not want to have to exit the van in freezing cold, rainy, or snowy weather to change the configuration. Because of these factors I decided to build a hoist system to suspend the end of the futon. This system uses four toggle bolts (rated at ~100 pounds each) that sit in the main (metal) van frame above the rear portion of the bed. The attached loop allows me to pull the bed up with ease, then a carabiner provides security. This system has not yet been thoroughly tested. The bed sits on par with the rear windows of the van for ideal viewing conditions. This setup provides a bit of additional room above the bed for storage. Here I decided to mount two shelves. One shelf sits just in front of the vent, the other flush with the rear doors. These sturdy plywood shelves are framed with 1"x2"s which are anchored to the wood paneling via metal corner braces. The rust issue on my van is quite prominent. It guaranteed me a great price on it, but occasionally plagues me with worry. This previous weekend I decided to finally take a grinder to the smaller spots. I ground down to bare, unaffected, metal. From there I primed the [insert your own word] out of it, applying somewhere between 5 and 20 coats of primer and paint over several days. The next step is to address the massive rust spots, some of which may require some tack welding. I will keep you posted! I was reminiscing on some stories about the Vansion today and my thoughtful mother hounded me: "You have GOT to write this stuff down." She's right, as always; I cannot allow these memories fade as virtually everything else in my memory seems to. You'll find some are funny; some are sad; and some are entirely uninteresting. Please enjoy the first of my Vansion Volumes.
September, 2016 I was talking to my roommate about how cool it would be to live in a van. I had been thinking about this for a long time. The next week I told him: "Dude, I bought a van." I will not write his response verbatim...he was fairly surprised. October, 2016 I found a fellow selling a cheap grinder on Craigslist. I was going to wait until the next day to come pick it up, but the stoke factor was running high. "I've got to get it tonight," I told him. He gave me his address but my GPS was not functioning right. Additionally, this was back before my regular headlights worked, so I had to run them on bright all the time. So here I was, in an unfamiliar neighborhood, driving my nine foot tall plain white cargo van around very slowly in an unfamiliar neighborhood...with my brights on, nonetheless. I was looking for the house numbers! I found out through some unconventional interactions with parents that it was Halloween night. November, 2016 I drove "the Vansion," as I affectionally call it, to Ector, Texas for Thanksgiving. Here my mom, dad, and brother helped me install Thinsulation (from 3M), sub flooring, and the vinyl floor. My mom also rocked some detail work on the outside of the van. My dad's best buddy, Richey, (apparently known as "Mr. Wiring" in high school) showed up and fixed my fantastic fan. December, 2016 I worked at my colleague Angel's house for many weekends to install the 160W GoPower solar panel, 30A controller, 100 AH AGM battery, and 1500W inverter, as well as the Espar D2 Diesel Heater. Angel's husband, Ken, was extremely helpful, particularly in brainstorming an adjustable stand for my solar panel. January, 2017 I installed velcro on the edges of my windows and cut black felt pieces to fit each window. I then installed velcro on custom-cut Reflectix pieces for additional insulation. At this point, the Espar D2 can maintain 72F inside as low as about 15F outside. I built and installed the overhead shelf (above the cab) at my colleague Angel's house. I installed the Battery Isolator. This handy device allows my auxiliary battery to charge from the alternator when the car is running. When the car is not running the device isolates the starter and auxiliary battery to avoid getting stranded. February, 2017 I worked with my buddy Cody to install tongue-in-groove pine wood paneling throughout the interior of the cabin. We worked and drank happily for three days to get the basics done, then finished trim work the next weekend. This whole process cost about $150. During this process, we experienced a small electrical fire. Somehow a short circuit developed in my vent wiring. I first felt the heat on my foot (I was wearing Chacos, naturally), then watched as the sheathing burned right off to expose the red hot copper underneath. I proceeded to open the sliding door and throw the battery out. The enormous weight of the battery was plenty enough to break the wire and thus discontinue the circuit. After this I disconnected all electronics for a while. Also noteworthy was the profound crappiness of our economy pine paneling. Cody and I bought this at Lowes because it was the cheapest available. Unfortunately we had to scrap a fair bit (~1/4) of the wood we bought due to bowing, knots, or tongue-in-groove defects. March, 2017 I spent about five hours in the parking lot of Advance Auto Parts building a fuse system for every electronic device connected to the auxiliary battery. I also rewired the fantastic fans with heavier gauge wire. |
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