AnnieSantiago
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- Oct 1, 2017
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This week, I took the front seat out of the Tracer and I also removed the fold down portion of the back passenger seat. This gave me a bit more room than last time. Originally, I thought I'd cut up my Tempurpedic mattress to fit back there, but after remembering what it cost me, I found a friend who will store it. I still had the foam mattress I used when I moved into my car in 2011 but it looked pretty scuzzy. I went out shopping and found foam sheets at Joann's and at Freddies. I originally bought my foam from a reupholster fellow - it was scrap and I paid almost nothing. At Joann's the foam would have been well over $50. Fred Meyer had it cheaper but it wasn't the same quality and I need a firm mattress. I talked to some folks and discovered that foam naturally turns color as it ages and maybe my old mattress wasn't so bad? I took an electric knife to it (cuts foam like butter, by the way, and you can get them for nothing at Goodwill), and cut off a slice and saw it was just like new inside!!! So I carved it to fit my new bed and I'm in business!
Yesterday I cut up some old flannel sheets and made sheets and pillowcases for my new bed. Then I scored a good down comforter at Goodwill. So my bed is done!
I still have a couple of reflectix window pieces so I bought a new roll and will use those as patterns. I sprayed one side with flat black vinyl (auto store). My friend Lois told me about that and it worked great. They roll up really nice to be stored during the day.
I found a good cooler at Goodwill for $4 (half off special) and bought a one-burner butane stove that is rated for indoor use. I have a car-top carrier and will carry my tent, table, tarp, and chair up there.
I'm now in the process of going through and packing up things I"m not willing to get rid of.
I hope to be on the road and on my way to Quartzite by November 20. I'll be there until April, when I take my annual pilgrim group to Spain to walk the Camino Santiago. I walk each year for my health and take a group of 6 or 7 to pay my own expenses. It was on the Camino, by the way, where I first realized how little it took to keep me happy. I lived out of a 30L backpack for 6 weeks and never missed any of the material goods back home. It was enlightning and probably gave me the security to do what I"m doing.
My 84 year old mother still thinks I'm crazy. We've never seen eye to eye. My 3 sons have just accepted this is what I need to do to be healthy and happy. I was their father, mother, and mentor, they tell me... and they have confidence in my ability to take care of myself.
In going through my possessions I found a poem I wrote when I was about 12 years old. In it, I talk about being a wanderer, as I've ALWAYS loved travel and adventure. When I look in the mirror, I see a grey-headed woman, happy but getting wrinkled. If I look into my own eyes, I still see that adventurous 12 year old winking back at me! She's there... I feel her!
So off I go again!
Hope to meet some of you in Quartzite!
Here is a blog with photos of my recent car-bed build in my 1989 Mercury Tracer.
Building the Car Bed
Yesterday I cut up some old flannel sheets and made sheets and pillowcases for my new bed. Then I scored a good down comforter at Goodwill. So my bed is done!
I still have a couple of reflectix window pieces so I bought a new roll and will use those as patterns. I sprayed one side with flat black vinyl (auto store). My friend Lois told me about that and it worked great. They roll up really nice to be stored during the day.
I found a good cooler at Goodwill for $4 (half off special) and bought a one-burner butane stove that is rated for indoor use. I have a car-top carrier and will carry my tent, table, tarp, and chair up there.
I'm now in the process of going through and packing up things I"m not willing to get rid of.
I hope to be on the road and on my way to Quartzite by November 20. I'll be there until April, when I take my annual pilgrim group to Spain to walk the Camino Santiago. I walk each year for my health and take a group of 6 or 7 to pay my own expenses. It was on the Camino, by the way, where I first realized how little it took to keep me happy. I lived out of a 30L backpack for 6 weeks and never missed any of the material goods back home. It was enlightning and probably gave me the security to do what I"m doing.
My 84 year old mother still thinks I'm crazy. We've never seen eye to eye. My 3 sons have just accepted this is what I need to do to be healthy and happy. I was their father, mother, and mentor, they tell me... and they have confidence in my ability to take care of myself.
In going through my possessions I found a poem I wrote when I was about 12 years old. In it, I talk about being a wanderer, as I've ALWAYS loved travel and adventure. When I look in the mirror, I see a grey-headed woman, happy but getting wrinkled. If I look into my own eyes, I still see that adventurous 12 year old winking back at me! She's there... I feel her!
So off I go again!
Hope to meet some of you in Quartzite!
Here is a blog with photos of my recent car-bed build in my 1989 Mercury Tracer.
Building the Car Bed
