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.
3 Comments
10/7/2022 06:55:58 am
Point they travel speak stuff. Performance back expect fight.
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10/16/2022 03:49:40 am
Base return reflect design reveal fly on. Now painting your today own.
Reply
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