Cory350

[Cory350]

Captains Log - Earth Date May 27 2017

Today I had a "yard" sale if you can really call it that. I hung some signs up around the neighborhood, put a few boxes of junk out on the front porch to signal "IM HERE" and opened up the front door and let everyone salvage whatever they could carry out of the place. I sold a lot of small junk (kitchen gadgets, clothes, computer and video game pieces). Got a good amount of cash considering nothing was really worth much and they were practically paying me to take it away. I didn't sell one lick of furniture though which surprised me a bit. So now I'm on to Craigslist and Facebook to get rid of all the larger ticket items.

For the past few months I have been outfitting my Ford E-350 standard length/height into a minimalistic/utilitarian full time camping and traveling rig. Thanks to all the awesome resources on this site and YouTube I think I am pretty set the hit the road. I move out of my rental home in Durham, North Carolina at the end of the month and have no plans of where to go although I'm thinking west towards the mountains or somewhere up the North-Eastern coast. Wherever feels right is where I will end up. When I'm not feeling it anymore, I'll move on.

The van is pretty much done with with the bed, kitchen and storage options. Only thing left to do is hook up all my solar and battery components. I have 2-100 Watt Renogy panels, 30A PWM Wander controller and 2-105AH Duracell deep cycle marine batteries. My only loads will be my MaxxAir Fan and Dometic CF-018 fridge. Of course I'll have some minor LED lighting and will need to charge my MacBook and Camera. Occasional face and head shaving will be done via a small inverter that I have not sourced yet but won't need to be too fancy. One day I hope to get a nice drone so I'm not sure if I'll go ahead and invest in a pure sine wave inverter.

Next update will include a few pictures and links to any other social media outlets I decide to post on. Currently this community has been my favorite and most valued resource so I'll be primarily sharing here via this post.

 

[shadowmoss]

Best of luck as you change gears. I look forward to following your adventures

 

[Cory350]

Captains Log - Earth Date May 29th 2017

Cleaning the house, getting ready to hand over the keys on Wednesday. Been dealing with flaky people on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace for the past 48 hours. 

"Is this still available?" 
"Yes. When can you pick it up?"
No Response.

"Do you deliver?"
"The ad clearly states PICK UP ONLY"

"Can you hold till (Insert Day Here)? I don't have any money until then."
"Why are you trying to buy things if you can't come up with $50?"



The local rescue mission comes with a big truck Wednesday to pick up anything I haven't sold. I can't believe how difficult it has been to sell GOOD furniture for ridiculously cheap prices.

In two days I will have only the possessions in my van. It feels good knowing I don't have to write a rent check on the first. 

My next update will be LIVING THE VAN LIFE! I'm so excited.

 

[AbuelaLoca]

Congrats on making the leap! I'm excited for you!!! I am also having problems selling my most prized possessions. No one wants them! I may end up giving away an awful lot of what I thought was wonderful, wonderful stuff! Ah well, think of the blessings!

 

[highdesertranger]

furniture has very little resale value doesn't matter how good it is. unless it's antique furniture. highdesertranger

 

[Cory350]

Yeah, I'm not trying to make any money off of it. Just trying to get it gone. $50 for a practically brand new couch seems like it should sell regardless. I'm thinking that the holiday weekend means people aren't really looking for furniture.

 

[Ballenxj]

Congrats on your move. Speaking of move, I think that may be why furniture is so hard to get rid of. You have to "move" it.

 

[Cory350]

Staying with some family for a few days before I hit the road. Still haven't gotten any of my electrical system setup so it looks like I'll be spending some time without a fan or fridge. It seems every step is more complicated or expensive than I realized. Going to make the best of it though! Before I leave I'm going to at least get my solar panels mounted and run the cables into he van so I can get it sealed up nice and tight before hitting the road. If anyone is located on the east coast with the knowledge and tools to get me all plugged up I'd love to meet another friend. Another option will be calling around to local RV shops and seeing if thats something I can afford. There is actually a mobile RV technician not too far from where I am now. 

Looks like my first stop is going to be somewhere off the Appalachian Trail in North Carolina or Virginia to do some backpacking for a few days to clear my head and get acclimated to the lifestyle.

 

[Zizzer_Zazzer_Zuz]

You need three wires.

Positive to positive
Negative to negative
Negative to body chassis

Look at the picture on the right. You will be in parallel.

https://www.etrailer.com/question-21011.html

The cables that go between the battery posts are less than $20 each if you use 2/0. If I understand, and I claim no great expertise, you should go smaller for these two cables. Ordering from www.genuinedealz.com was a breeze.

You will need another cable that will run from the negative terminal to the chassis. The end that attaches to the chassis should have a ring terminal. You will need a metal screw to affix that end to the chassis.

 

[Cory350]

June 7 2017

Got the solar panels mounted on the roof today. Even if I'm not ready to plug it all up I needed to get them off of my bed where they were being stored. I followed a method used by a couple of YouTubers I follow using a basic ladder rack, aluminum angle, and zinc plated ubolts that will allow me to tilt the panels towards the front or back when I'm camping in a single spot for more than a day. Still have to cut off about 1-1/2 inched of the thread on the ubolts so that it's a little quicker tightening it down.

While I was at Lowes I picked up the supplies for my weed sprayer shower. I wanted to get a nice wide shower head but those are expensive. So I settled for a basic kitchen sprayer with on/off trigger. Tested it out and realized I need to go get some thread tape for the connections.

Yay progress!

 

[AbuelaLoca]

Yay progress!!!

 

[Cory350]

Tuesday June 13 2017
Total time solo dwelling: 28 Hours. 

Started off the weekend at a small music festival in about 45 minutes east of Asheville. Sunday night I drove into Asheville and found what I thought was a quiet parking spot in front of a church that had a slow but usable guest wifi connection. Before falling asleep around 9PM I jumped up to what must have been the final lap of a tour trolley that stopped right outside the van to elaborate on the church over a megaphone. I quickly fell asleep to the sounds of couples returning to their cars from the local bars and one homeless person with a walker who slowly walked up to me, stopped for a moment noticing my popped open window then scraped along. I know the open window really kills my stealth but without power for my fan I have to have some sort of ventilation. I slept really good until about 4AM when a dinosaur of a street sweeper came by. There were no signs about no parking so I guess they were just doing the opposite side. I promptly fell back asleep, woke up around 6:15AM and drove over to a nearby Ingles (grocery store) to use their spotless bathrooms and make a large cup of coffee in the parking lot. 

Hit the road taking scenic drives through Sylva, NC. Visited a Cat Museum then made my way to Knoxville via The Great Smokey Mountains. Took good pictures along the way even though it was rainy at times. The drive through the park was wonderful but unfortunately it shoots you out into Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge which I always refer to as the "Myrtle Beach of the mountains". Lots of traffic, mini-golf and chain restaurants.  Once in Knoxville I went to the top of the Sunsphere then set up shop in a quiet Starbucks to take advantage of free wifi to bang this post out. 

I still have a few kinks to work out with my routine but I'm figuring it out as I go. For one I realized that just using google maps on my 2 gig prepaid iPhone has already delivered me that "100MB or less" text just a few hours ago. Will certainly be picking up the cheapest standalone GPS with lifetime maps I can find at WalMart (about $100).

I think I'm going to continue west towards Denver, CO as I believe there is still talk of a gathering somewhere south of there in early July. If anyone is in between Knoxville and Denver and wants to meet up shoot me a PM. I'm going to try and check the forums every couple of days as the email notifications seem to be useless for real time updates at the moment.

It feels good to finally be on the road full time and completely submersed in the lifestyle.  The van is running strong and the last time I filled up after 99% highway miles I averaged 17.5 MPG!!! I think I'm lighter now with my build out and gear than I was with 3 rows of seats. 

Thats enough rambling for tonight. Safe travels everyone!

 

[AbuelaLoca]

If you come across I-70 through Missouri, would love to meet you and have a cuppa joe! I won't be here over the weekend, but during the week is good!

 

[Cory350]

Woke up around 5:30AM and hopped back on I40 for Nashville. Visited the Pantheon when I first arrived. It was another scorcher today so I spent a few hours inside the public library downtown. 

Turns out a friend form high school is currently on his way back to North Carolina from California and was passing through Nashville this evening so we are going to meet up for dinner. 

Not sure where to head to next. Would like to get off of 40 and hit some local highways.

 

[Cory350]

Forgot to mention that I also signed up for a black card at Planet Fitness. $39 annually plus $20 a month gets you access to every gym in the country plus guest privileges. 12 month commitment required so roughly $280 for the year.

 

[Cory350]

June 16 2017

Currently in a library in Elizabeth, CO. A small town right off of State Highway 86. I really enjoyed getting off the interstate. Got my first glimpse of the rockies way off in the distance. You can see the snow up on the peaks. 

Wednesday I stayed in rest area. Parked at the edge of the lot and promptly fell asleep. When I woke up I noticed another vandweller parked beside me. They had quite a bit of "stuff" strapped to the roof and on a rear cargo carrier. Looked like a great candidate for an RV version of the Hoarders TV show. Thursday I drove quite a bit and made it 3/4 of the way through the state of Kansas. Almost got caught in a tornado as they were experiencing heavy thunderstorms and 50-70MPH winds. Listening to the radio warnings really did me no good as I had no idea what county I was in. I got off of the interstate to avoid the Kansas Turnpike. I'm sure it would have been a nice scenic drive if it wasn't sideways raining and dark.

Pulled off in Ellis, Kansas which had a Loves truck stop. Less than a mile farther down that road was the downtown area with street parking so I thought what they heck and hopped in the back for the rest. I was expecting to be woken up and told to leave but I was left undisturbed. It was about 9:45 when I stopped and it was still light outside from the setting sun. I guess when there are no mountains to block it you get a lot more daylight. Daybreak was right around 6am so I drove back up the road to the Loves to make a pot of coffee in the parking lot and made my way here to Elizabeth. Planning to stay the night in Denver. Would love to experience some legal pot so I'm going to take advantage of the free wifi in the library to research the best spots to do so.

Over and out.

 

[Cory350]

July 21 2017

Realized I haven't updated in a while, which is a very good thing! My first major stop in Colorado was Boulder. Walked around a nice hipster area with a organic grocer and a few breweries. Went up Sugarloaf Rd to check out a spot I found of FreeCampSites but the road was a lot worse than I expected and all the spots I did manage to make it to were all taken which is to be expected on a Friday night so close to the city. There was still a few hours of daylight so I parked at a small grassy pull-off a little ways down from the first campsite just to have a snack and relax but it was pretty quiet so I decided to chance it and just spent the night. I considered it more "parking" than "camping". Did wake up to the sound of a car slowly making its way up the road at about 1:30 in the morning but they continued on. Woke up, made a pot of coffee and made my way back down the mountain into town. 

Saturday I spent the day in Boulder at a local park and then saw Gardians of the Galaxy 2 at a fairly new theatre in Longmont which is just north-west of Boulder. Parked on the street in front of a self storage locker about 5 minutes away. 

Sunday night I stayed in the parking lot of a closed Walmart Neighborhood Market with a few long term RVs and car campers. There was a street sweeper making really quick laps with the vacuum on around the parking lot around 1:30-2AM. It seemed he was going too fast to actually be cleaning anything I think the goal was just to annoy the long-term residents. He seemed to make a handful of laps around for about 30 minutes or so.

Spent a day in Colorado Springs at Red Rocks Open Space. Completed about 2/3 of the trails throughout the day circling back to the parking lot around noon for a snack and water refill.

Stayed the night at Red Canyon Park. Being so close to the city there was a lot of trash lying around but otherwise a quiet camp.

Currently in Canon City. Walked the Tunnel Drive trail up and back and was the only one there at about 11AM on a Wednesday.
Sitting in a coffee/bike shop on Main St. planning the next leg of the trip. Going to try another FreeCampSites find tonight. 

As always I'm open to suggestions of activities I might not have found yet or directions I should consider heading. Safe travels everyone!

 

[AbuelaLoca]

Sounds like things are going very well!