Test Runs

We’ve been busy the last month, so the blog had been set aside for a short time.

The van is done, though there are still small tweaks that need to be worked out. The original plan to leave Wisconsin in october before the cold set in had come and gone, but we were blessed with a (fairly) warm fall. The last week of working on the van felt like a mad rush to the finish as we tried to get as much done before we left to spend Christmas and New Years with my family in California.

The trip out went fairly smoothly, though the type of travel we intend to do when we finally get “on our own” will be much different than just trying to get to our destination as fast as possible. It was warm enough to sleep in the van, but just barely.

The first night we stopped at a rest area along I35 just south of Des Moines, Iowa. It was about 35 when we went to sleep and we, somewhat unpleasantly, woke up to r inches of blowing snow. I was awake and eager to get past the storm, but the combination of the light, sticky snow made visibility close to whiteout conditions that stuck to the backs of cars and semi trucks and blocked out their lights. Even though we were only going 45 mph, I would frequently come up behind a truck and not see it until we were dangerously close. We pulled into another rest stop after an hour of driving, tired from fighting the elements and still not exactly sure how the van would handle slippery conditions that may exist farther south where it was warmer.

When we woke up the highways had been plowed, though the wind was still blowing snow over the road from the fields. The rest of the drive was relatively uneventful.

One high point (quite literaly) was driving through Flagstaff, Arizina. I wanted to stop to get some coffee and breakfast and we ended up going to a small coffee shop called “Single Speed Cafe” that had a cool bike theme. The whole downtown had a cool rustic feel, which makes sense because it was a major stop along Route 66 and is also near the Grand Canyon. I also really like the high desert climate where they get some snow, but it doesn’t get quite as cold as Wisconsin Winters. The average temps in the area range from the low 20’s in the winter to high 80’s in the summer.

Once we were in California we slowed down quite a bit and just hung out a lot. We went to Knott’s Berry Farm and Sea World, but besides for that the most excitement we had was a few times going to the beach as well as seeing a few movies. I still had some work to do on the van that I couldn’t do in the low temps we were having in Wisconsin, so I spent a few days here and there working on that.

Once I was able to install the weatherproof cable housing to bring the solar panels into the van we were able to run just about anything we needed to in there. We also got some of the curtains hung, though differently than we had planned, and that REALLY helped with keeping the van cool on some of the hotter days. The faucet and water system went together with minimal issues and only a little water spilled.

Ruger loved going to different dog parks and especially the dog beach at Del Mar, near the famous horse race track, though he isn’t much of a water dog and didn’t take too well to the waves.

Del Mar Dog Beach, Del Mar CA

We were hoping to go straight to Florida from San Diego, but I had a doctor appointment in St. Paul that I wasn’t able to reschedule. The weather for the return trip looked promising, so we decided to take a more northerly route and went through Nevada, Utah and Colorado. The weather was perfect going through the Rockies and we were able to stop at a rest stop just on the other side of Vail Pass (10,662 Ft.) and had lunch with the side doors open and the sun shining in.

The first night we slept in the van right at the Nevada Arizona border and then got hotel rooms the rest of the way due to the temps. After my appointment in the Twin Cities were spent a few days in Eau Claire with Tay’s parents and got to see our nieces and nephews. We drove down to Manitowoc, just north of Milwaukee, and have been here visiting Tay’s other sister, brother-in-law and our niece.

We had a proper send off from Eau Claire and the Wisconsin winter by getting a foot of snow a few days before leaving for Manitowoc. Ruger normally prefers staying inside during the winter, but he went crazy over the snow and spent tons of time running around in it.

After this weekend we will be leaving for our “real” adventure and will finally be more on our own. We will have to kind of book it down to Florida for the SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch, but have no definite plans past that.

Buckshot and Justin