Somethin's burnin'

Where we used to live, until about three years ago, I never could see a reason to have a 72 hour kit.  (I know, I know.  Raised eyebrows.  Shocked faces.  Gasps.)  A better idea, in my opinion, would be to keep a few necessary items at one of our kids' homes, who lived nearby.  Everything else we might need was available at any number of local shops, grocery stores, or pharmacies.  In our Former Life, the only realistic disaster was maybe a house fire or ...... hmmmm.  Flood?  No.  Nuclear attack?  Pshaw.  We never did get around to leaving anything at anyone's house, nonetheless, the intent was there.  And (a very pertinent point) it rained a lot where we used to live.  I'll explain why I bring this up.  

We now live in the desert where it's very dry 3-4 months of the year.  Every year, the news ominously reports, is drier than the last, not to mention this heat wave from you-know-where.  Wild fires can spring up in an instant, especially in remote areas.  So a single lighted match or cigarette causes great consternation.  We are shamed into keeping our trees trimmed up and brush cleared with frequent reminders of potential calamity should we fail to comply.   Thunderstorms, unless accompanied by a fair amount of rain, are no longer innocent summer entertainment.  July 4th fireworks bring a lot of angst.  Alerts pop up on my phone with evacuation updates.

It's a different world over here.  (I fantasize about lawn sprinklers mounted on our roof.  Couldn't hurt, right?)  To put it briefly, I miss the rain.  

About ten days ago as we were driving back from town, we saw a mega plume of smoke coming from what looked like the area where we live.  (Fortunately it wasn't, although it WAS less than seven miles away and moving closer.)  

For the next couple of days, our local Facebook group was abuzz and cars were gathering along roads where there were viewpoints.  Husband and I sat on our patio and watched the fire-fighting planes flying to dump their load of red retardant then back to the local airport to refill.  

A helicopter heading back to refill the bag at the end of the cable with (we assume) water.

They named it the Grandview Fire.  Husband took the above two photos.  He sent them to a couple of local news stations and they were shown on TV.  

Our mountain view disappeared into the smokey haze ... which happens regularly here in the summer.  But by the third day, the haze disappeared and we began to read news reports that, thankfully, the level of containment was growing and the fire had topped out at just over 6,000 acres. The firemen were winning.  (No homes were lost.)

We live on a 10,000+ acre peninsula of land, surrounded on the west, north, and east by vast canyons with rivers running along the base of each.  I've come to really appreciate these natural firebreaks and this latest fire was on the other side of one of those canyons.  I also appreciate that our local fire department has never lost one house in our community to a wild fire .... thus far.   About twelve years ago, there was a wild fire close to where our home now sits, in fact there are a few charred stumps remaining on our property.  Someone apparently had lost control of their burn pile.  One neighbor said she saw an ember float up into a nearby tree which then erupted like a torch.   This fire burned about ten acres and, as the neighbors tell it, the firemen camped close by for a week, just to be sure it was out.  It burned mostly public land where, years later, it still looks ugly and scarred because no one is allowed to cut down the dead trees ..... (a moment to pause and, yet again, wonder about government bureaucrats).

So I now have a plan.  If we ever have to evacuate, Husband and I will each drive one of our cars, and I have a list of items that will go into each vehicle.  Instead of 72 hour kits, we have a 72+++ hour van that already contains a majority of the stuff we might need.  I also ..... get this(!) ..... organized (mostly) our 45-year-old monster nest of random family photos into albums.  Yes, it's true.  I'm awarding myself Big Points for this latest project that I completed a few days ago, because it's been nagging me for years.  (So, to my posterity, next time you come to visit, you will find all the albums in the den, awaiting your viewing pleasure.)  And rest assured, said albums are on the evacuation list.  I just hope we never have to use it.

Working out the bugs, AKA, projects are my sanity

We've now been on several outings in The Van, and the "bugs" are rising to the surface.  But other than the latest bug, which is the need to add a second drain in the shower pan (which falls under the jurisdiction of Husband) ... I see them as opportunities.  Another project!  For a few more hours, or days, I have a purpose and a mission!

The shower drain issue first became evident when we were in Utah, boondocking* on a dirt road somewhere near the town of Toquerville.  We were parked on a bit of a slant and the shower pan overflowed during my shower.  A recessed shower pan in a van floor is a challenge because the total depth of the floor, including vinyl flooring, subfloor, and insulation, is about 1.75 inches thick.  This translates to a very shallow shower pan, so level parking and efficient drainage are key.  

Sometimes level parking, as much as we try, isn't always possible, so then fast and free-flowing drainage becomes even more important and our one little drain isn't quite up to the task.  So Lucky Husband has a job.  Yay ....?  (Note:  2nd drain has since been added.)

I, on the other hand, LOVE projects (not to be confused with chores, which I dislike).  I love designing, planning, executing, and admiring the results afterwards.  Let me show you a few I've done since my last blog update, on my own, ofttimes using power tools.  

Sun shades.  No power tools this time ..... unless you count a sewing machine.  I follow a YouTube video called "From She to Me", by Debbie who also travels in a van with her husband.  Debbie is always doing little mods (modifications) to her van and is not the least bit intimidated by tools, mechanics, or pulling things apart and then putting them back together.  Add to that, she cooks and sews.  (I'm not sure what her husband does, other than hold the camera.)  She made sun shades for her van so I made sun shades for my van.  If Debbie can do it, I can too.  

Held on by magnets

I ordered the screening from sailrite.com (like Debbie did) and found the edging tape on Amazon.  We had shades like these for our motorhome which kept some of the sunlight and heat from coming though the cab windows, which are not tinted like the other windows.  

I also installed clips to hold our broom under the sofa, clips to hold the long-handled squeegee, and more clips to hold the wand that unfurls our ....... (drumroll) ...... awning!  Yes!  Here's the story ..... 

Months ago, Husband researched awnings and decided on a Thule model.  We found it on Amazon and ordered it.  A few days later, Amazon informed us it had shipped and gave a delivery date, but the shipping details were suspiciously vague.    A few weeks later when that date arrived, Amazon emailed saying that it had NOT shipped and do we still want it?  

Yes, we did.  

Repeat the several-weeks-long process of vague shipment details, stated delivery date, and same inquiring email.  

Finally we said No.  Cancel order.  

Husband contacted a dealer about 150 miles away who said they were getting the same runaround from Thule, so they had stopped selling that brand.  (Note: I blame Covid.  Thule, a Swedish company, has a good reputation for quality products.)  This dealer did have Fiamma brand awnings which are very nice.  Husband called them back and left a phone message saying we'd like one of their Fiammas.  

A few hours after that phone call, a long box showed up on our driveway.  Inside was a Thule awning.  From Amazon.

We opened the box to discover it was a different Thule model, which comes with brackets that do not fit our van .... in fact, this particular model is not even sold in this hemisphere!  I contacted Amazon to tell them that we did not order this awning.  Their answer:  We can keep it or dispose of it.  No charge.  (This is a $1200 awning.)

Now this would be a dilemma for anyone who doesn't have the resources to make custom mounting brackets.  (Insert Brilliant Machinist Husband here.  Ha!)  So the end result is we have a beautiful awning that fits our van and the total cost was about $15.   (score, score, SCORE!)

Back to my own little mods, which now pale after that last story.

I sleep on the side of the bed (in the van) that is against the back doors and needed a place to stick my phone, earbuds, and other necessities.  So I designed and made a wooden, felt-lined box attached to a board that slides under the mattress.  I call it my nightstand.

I pull it out when I change the bedding, then stick it back in.  

Also, I made another wooden box/shelf for holding small items .... along with key hooks, which I attached to one of our cabinets.  

Mind you, these involved: 

    1. a table saw 

    2. a power sander 

    3. clamps, and 

    4. a power drill  

No help from Husband.  In fact, he wasn't even home.  (Probably golfing.)   "I am woman, hear me roar ..."

I hung more hooks because we can never have enough.  And husband completed the trim pieces inside.  

All that's left before the van is deemed FINISHED are three outside lights.  (Mods, by the way, do not count.  May they live on forevermore.)

So back to those "bugs" .....

It would be an understatement to say the weather has been hot.  As you may recall, we installed an evaporative cooler in the van ceiling.  But apparently it requires not being parked in the blazing afternoon sun.  A few days ago we had to park in an unfortunate shadeless position, with the rear of the van getting the full brunt.  Husband, using one of those temperature-measuring laser gun thingies, (you point it at something and it tells you how hot it is.) measured the temp of the metal on the inside of our rear doors. 120 degrees!  (Hmmm.  I personally insulated those doors.)  Anyway, too much for our little ceiling cooler.  Soooooo, I'm now trying to design a way to shield portions of the van exterior (where the awning isn't) that may be exposed to a solar onslaught.  (Note:  We since purchased a second detachable and movable awning to cover in-the-hot-sun areas where the main awning doesn't reach.)

Another project!  My sanity will happily endure yet another day.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Boondocking -- RV camping without plugging into electricity or hooking up to water.  Being completely off-grid and self-contained.  

 

It's Done (for the most part)

 So, do I wait until it's 100% ... down-to-the-last-detail .... finished?  Or just go ahead and show the 99% complete version?  Since the vast majority of friends and fam have already seen it, I guess it doesn't really matter.  And this blog is due for another post.

So here goes ...... The Almost Finished Van!  (Note:  See this post for the finishing touches.)

But first.  

In our defense, the outside stuff (namely, the exterior lights, of which there will be three) must wait for the awning, which is on backorder.  

That said .....

The newest addition is the bug screen at the door.  You just push through at the center and the sewn-in magnets cause it to close on its own ..... sort of ...... with a little help.  Atop the van are solar panels totaling 630 watts.

Under the lower cabinet on the left, we keep the trash, kitchen storage, and next to the bed is our closet.  That same cabinet also contains our 30 gallon fresh water tank, fillable from the back of the cabinet, just inside the slider door.  Under the bed is a small sliding door to access the garage.

That table moves in multiple directions.  Its top is from the same butcher block used for our countertop.  The sofa includes seat belts for two, and the driver and passenger seats up front (not in view) swivel to face backwards to create our "living room".  The dog sleeps under the sofa.

The mirrors are acrylic.  The tile backsplash is very realistic peel n' stick tiles.  (Light weight is important.)  In the ceiling above the bed is an evaporative cooler, which requires much less power than a regular air conditioner.  Hopefully it'll do the trick.  Under the passenger seat in the cab is our heater that is fueled by the diesel from the van's tank.  It keeps us plenty warm in cold weather.

The walls are covered either with shiplap or vinyl-upholstered panels.  The ceiling is tongue-and-groove cedar.

The "garage".  It includes an outdoor shower.  Lots of electrical and plumbing guts behind those panels, including 560 amp hour lithium batteries (that Husband built himself, saving $$$), a 3000 watt inverter, and a 2.5 gallon water heater.  We can plug into an outside power source, but probably will never need to.  

The grandkids named it Eddie VAN Halen ...... which likely won't stick because nicknames don't last long around here (sad to say, because I come from a family with a rich history of embarrassing/endearing nicknames).  To us, it's just The Van.

As I said in a previous post, there are a bazillion ideas and how-tos for building a DIY camper van on YouTube, so a lot of what we did was copied from other vans.  But the one feature that is original (thought up by moi) is our shower.  (And it works perfectly ..... except for once when we were parked on a slant and the shower pan overflowed a little.  A lesson learned about being level.)  Vans like ours, if they have a bathroom at all, have what's called a "wet bath".  This means the toilet resides in the shower and will get wet along with you.  This is a necessity since there's only 84 square feet of space and a separate shower would mean giving up something rather important, like the kitchen ....  You just have to remember to remove the TP roll first, obviously.  Afterwards, a little squeegee-ing and you're good to go ..... figuratively and (I suppose) literally .....    

What you see when you first open the bathroom doors.  The shower walls are formica.  The curtain pulls out for privacy and/or showers.  And that toilet flushes into a 14 gallon black tank.  (No composting or porta-potties here.)

For showers, we fold back the rug and insert these plastic strips which hold the curtain in place.  Husband hand-crafted that teak grate with neither nails or screws.  (He's rather proud of it.)  Below that is a fiberglass shower pan (also handmade by Husband) with a drain that sends all water to an 18 gallon tank under the van.  (Note:  A second drain hole has since been added to the shower to prevent any overflowing if we're on a slight slant.)

The shower curtain holds together with magnets.  It's quite roomy in there.

The van has become my new Happy Place.  It'll be where I mentally go when sitting in the dentist's chair, or in any other place of potential dread.  When I disappear at home, Husband knows where to find me.  A few days ago, I even took it out BY MYSELF and camped in the woods for one night ...... ALONE.  I don't have to hitch or tow anything and it's easy to park ..... in other words, no man needed.  I can do this whenever I want .....  (No need to worry about the Husband being left behind.  At the time, he was hours away, happily standing in a river, holding a fishing pole.)