Theadyn's van and trip log

Van Living Forum

Help Support Van Living Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Theadyn

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 23, 2014
Messages
1,013
Reaction score
0
Location
Okie
Bed frame went in yesterday. Will admit, was harder than I thought. Well, was for the old fart doing most all of it. I did help and was the cheerleader, lol. (yes, I admit that too, I have zero woodworking skills! nor the know how of the tools used to attempt to do them myself)

Decided to go with a near full size across the back. Had 66" width to work with, but figured out the height to get it to where 1.) have 12" under the bed for storage 2.) have 6" of mattress 3.) height of the bed goes up to where that useless space under the big windows where the cupholders are that allows an addition 6" on each side making the width available equal 78", enough to stretch out, and 4.) still clear the over head box storage area thing and LED light while sitting up on the bed.

Will be going with buying 2 3" memory foam toppers on top of each other for the mattress. For a few reasons, ease of use, and fairly inexpensive, and I can get them about a mile down the road from me at the local super wally world. Will get one of those mattress pads for over it that has the cooling type to keep from sweating (have used in past with success). Will be having to cut it down to fit within the 66" width.

Today is the attempt to try my hand at limo grade window tinting. First time for everything, I suppose. After I remove those hideous useless window shades, but that should be piece of cake, just a couple screws each. After the tinting, will cut reflectix to fit over windows. Still trying to keep it simple. Have a blackout curtain to hang behind drivers area. That will pretty much cover the privacy aspect.

Will also have to take it in for service. Noticed a few drops in driveway, the old man discovered it was a slightly loose oil pan that should just need to be tightened and a small leak in a radiator hose that needs to be replaced. Hope it doesn't sit me back too much. He'd do it himself but it sits pretty low, would be better and easier for someone to do it on a lift.

Since it was a conversion van, and with keeping it simple, left the carpet in and left the walls as-is. The walls are covered and they stick pretty far away from the actual outside of the outer shell, so if there isn't insulation behind them, at least there is an air gap. Reflectix on the windows and I'm calling it good. Left the carpet, too. Trying to keep it so it can be easily put back to how it was for future resale purposes. So far, no new holes have gone into the walls. I may have to get creative with bungees cords, haha.

First trip will be going to Texas, I hope soon. That state for a few reasons, really. Uh, it's warmer than Oklahoma, for one. lol Okay, not by a lot, but I'll take what I can get. Two, have family down there. Since it will be my first tryout, should I have any mechanical trouble or should my thinking on what is needed is way off, I have a place to sleep. And three, it's far enough away that it would be a great run for the motor and see how it does. Dear friend lives 6 hours, mom n dad live 8 hours, and little sis lives 10 hour drive from me. Plan on staying a day or two at mom n dad's, and a day or two at sis's. Little sis lives near where me and late hubby did, it's where I plan to leave some ashes of John and a hula doll somewhere, near the bay that he loved to fish at down the road from our house.

Will be trying to go light on this first trip. Mostly what I have already bought or find around home. Write down anything on the trip that I am missing and go from there. Will be going with lots of blankets, wool socks, (hopefully) comfy bed, Mr Buddy heater, propane cook stove, minimal dishes (nesting pots and pans and plastic plates and silverware), porta potty, smoke detector, carbon monoxide detector, fire extinguisher, extra propane and butane, iPad for kindle and net, data on my cell phone, portable jumpstarter battery pack air compressor with 12v and usb port, and charging most of my stuff during the drive through the 12v plugin on dash. Have AAA and roadside assistance through insurance.

Will try to keep things written up on here, so as to keep it on same page. This is my start. :cool:
 
It sounds like you are finding your way back to where you belong, I'm certain hubby is somewhere smiling for you right now! You're every laugh, smile and moment of joy in this life, is one for him too!!


Have as many as you possibly can!

Bob
 
Thanks Bob!! :)

Got some good news today. It came from late hubby's very best friend in the world. He has been hurting as much as I have so we pretty much have been avoiding each other. I contacted him the other day and told him what I was about to embark on, with his huge seal of approval! All for it. So after chatting a bit, he admitted he had sold John's rifle a while back couldn't think of how to face me to get the money to me. I wasn't worried about it, kinda hoped he kept it. That's neither here nor there.

Anyway, his brother-in-law owns a stereo business that tints windows. Former hubby's best friend got a deal with his bro-in-law to do my whole van for what he got for John's rifle. Black out tint plus the front glass. Am super relieved and very grateful. He can't wait to read about my travel's, he knows his best friend would like me doing this in his honor.
 
Sounds awesome, have fun you seem to have you bases covered. I love the peace of mind roadside assistance gives me lol
 
Still waiting for the van to get back from the tinting place, I'm anxious. :)

Finally just bit the bullet and got some big plastic bins to finish out a kitchen/storage area. I had a few rebate checks I cashed that almost paid for the two plastic bins I found at wally world, so it was almost free, sweet! When guess-timating on the space I have between bed and front seat, I thought best guess was 57" of space. When measuring the two new bins plus the one I already had, it came out to... 57" ! Woot! Hope they work.

Already having to field family's questions about 'when? when will you be here?'. Ugh!! I DIDN'T WANT A SCHEDULE. I have a tentative plan for Texas, no start date yet. Was knowing which places I wanted to hit, but not how long in one spot. My mom is harping on it already, naturally. I expect it from her, lol. But she just wants to see me and the kid. Since her and dad are retired now, they are bored a lot and looking forward to it. So it's cool. But now little sister is asking too, and stressing out over how it will go with her schedule. I don't know what to tell her, I wasn't planning on being there any certain day, and told her not to worry, if she's there cool, if not, it's okay, don't stress, do your thing. Have one other family (like a brother) we will be meeting up with, but he isn't trying to pin a day, just give him some warning is all, so that part is cool. Oh... and... my two other sisters will be going down there on such and such a day. Ummm... I might just 'not be able to make it' on those days. This is supposed to be an easy, slow, see some stuff and take your time trip with my daughter. Don't get me wrong, I love all of my sisters (I have 3), but when with them they have a tendency to take over my time and mental energy and I come away from it exhausted. Yeah, true introvert, lol. I will have enough to deal with with my daughters energy. To have a clue what she's like, she's been in to doing youtube videos.. this was her latest . (she is a nut!!) Bah... I will go when I go and they can like it or not like it. There. Done. :)

I think I have everything I need for the inside. Still waiting on my title to get it changed over and tagged. May or may not have the AC fixed before we go. Or we may just tough it out and roll down windows, haha. My lil sis did say it was in the 80's down there, hmm... Still not horribly hot though.

Having to plan out the food things. Mostly non-perishables and fresh that doesn't go bad quickly. I'm stumped on the dinner parts, though. If it were just me, I'd heat up soup. I have those nesting pots like this: http://www.amazon.com/GasOne-Anodiz..._sbs_sg_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=1N6TDM6SBG074AVK45AY but really they are not that big. And a one burner butane stove. Oh.. and my daughter is vegan. Hmm.. guess I can have my soup and she can eat her raw stuffs. :) There. Done.

Anyways, that's all that's been going on so far here. Update more later...
 
Oh glorious day!!   I finally got my van back Friday evening.  She is looking all spiffy now with her dark tinted self. ;)

20150221_172753_zpsz4h2uasw.jpg



Spent all day moving my stuff inside and figuring out where stuff will go.  The desk I found at the used place took up more room than I imagined, but that's okay.  Will be using is a lot for multiple things.  I found it a few weeks back at a resale shop for $60.  It's real wood, not particle board, has some brand stamped in it's drawers, Famous Furniture or something.  What I thought was cool is the top part is almost like butcher block, it's strips of wood that is put together almost like wood flooring is.  It doesn't have a coating on it.  They have some cowhide over the face of the drawers I wasn't too sure about, it will stay for now.

My idea was to stack my big plastic bins on the passenger side, but that didn't work too well.  It's height and the way the inside of the van curves made it where it had to stick away from the wall, so I wound up just using one set of the 3 drawered bins.  The only things needing to go in them is food, so it should work.  The underside of the bed hardly has anything under it, and really all that is left to go in it is water and clothing.  (I think...   I'm sure I'm forgetting something, haha). 

Still undecided if a cooler will go with me on the first trip, to Texas.  If one does, it will sit beside the plastic bin on the back passenger side.

The privacy curtain might have to be redone.  Where I have it now it sticks back enough (to get it high enough no light will shine above it) that it sort of takes up my interior space when closed.  It may or may not bother me, we shall see.

The puck LED lights and the CO2 and smoke detectors were put on with command strips.  I didn't have a good adhering surface, with most of the interior covered with it's cloth.  So I opted to stick them to the wood lining some of the inside.  The command strips I have used in the past, they stick fairly well, and they come off even better.  Time will tell if they adhere through the bumps in the road, though.

There was already installed rod holders across the back.  I hope to hang some shoe caddy's from the bar in the future for more storage options.  Not needed at the moment.  Could be a good place to hang a towel to dry, though.

Here's a few pics of the interior, excuse the floor, I didn't vacuum as it was getting late and cold.  Will be finding a runner to make it look a little better, but for now, ugly floor will just have to do.

20150221_172626_zpsposow1uc.jpg


20150221_172706_zpsruqbg4xx.jpg

20150221_172654_zpstasg7kwd.jpg

20150221_172552_zps8gdmq4zx.jpg


Now, need to try it out a few nights and still waiting on title.  But at least I can play in it and tweak it some more.  Happy camper here!!

I will admit, my back wasn't used to the hunching over...   almost couldn't walk straight last night.  My muscles sure have to get used to this, it appears.  :)
 
Theadyn said:
Oh glorious day!!   I finally got my van back Friday evening.  She is looking all spiffy now with her dark tinted self. ;)

20150221_172753_zpsz4h2uasw.jpg



Spent all day moving my stuff inside and figuring out where stuff will go.  The desk I found at the used place took up more room than I imagined, but that's okay.  Will be using is a lot for multiple things.  I found it a few weeks back at a resale shop for $60.  It's real wood, not particle board, has some brand stamped in it's drawers, Famous Furniture or something.  What I thought was cool is the top part is almost like butcher block, it's strips of wood that is put together almost like wood flooring is.  It doesn't have a coating on it.  They have some cowhide over the face of the drawers I wasn't too sure about, it will stay for now.

My idea was to stack my big plastic bins on the passenger side, but that didn't work too well.  It's height and the way the inside of the van curves made it where it had to stick away from the wall, so I wound up just using one set of the 3 drawered bins.  The only things needing to go in them is food, so it should work.  The underside of the bed hardly has anything under it, and really all that is left to go in it is water and clothing.  (I think...   I'm sure I'm forgetting something, haha). 

Still undecided if a cooler will go with me on the first trip, to Texas.  If one does, it will sit beside the plastic bin on the back passenger side.

The privacy curtain might have to be redone.  Where I have it now it sticks back enough (to get it high enough no light will shine above it) that it sort of takes up my interior space when closed.  It may or may not bother me, we shall see.

The puck LED lights and the CO2 and smoke detectors were put on with command strips.  I didn't have a good adhering surface, with most of the interior covered with it's cloth.  So I opted to stick them to the wood lining some of the inside.  The command strips I have used in the past, they stick fairly well, and they come off even better.  Time will tell if they adhere through the bumps in the road, though.

There was already installed rod holders across the back.  I hope to hang some shoe caddy's from the bar in the future for more storage options.  Not needed at the moment.  Could be a good place to hang a towel to dry, though.

Here's a few pics of the interior, excuse the floor, I didn't vacuum as it was getting late and cold.  Will be finding a runner to make it look a little better, but for now, ugly floor will just have to do.

20150221_172626_zpsposow1uc.jpg


20150221_172706_zpsruqbg4xx.jpg

20150221_172654_zpstasg7kwd.jpg

20150221_172552_zps8gdmq4zx.jpg


Now, need to try it out a few nights and still waiting on title.  But at least I can play in it and tweak it some more.  Happy camper here!!

I will admit, my back wasn't used to the hunching over...   almost couldn't walk straight last night.  My muscles sure have to get used to this, it appears.  :)
 
Thanks for sharing the wonderful pics. Lots great. Happy safe trip for you both.
 
Very, very nice! Those plastic drawers---do you have some means to keep them from sliding out? Great setup you've got there. Get out here on the road! :)
 
Folks, please don't just re-send a whole post full of text and pictures. It wastes forum resources (none of which are free) but even worse it clobbers members who have to use their precious data supply to download them just to look at pictures they just looked at. I deleted it this time or it will all be downloaded over and over again.

Thanks for your consideration.
Bob
 
Yep yep... bungee cords all around. :D The ones on the passenger side will attach to the door handle, over and down across the front of the drawers to keep them closed and the bin in place. The desk is heavy enough to not go anywhere, haven't figured out it's drawers, yet. Might put a couple pieces of Velcro inside to keep them in place.. maybe. The white bin next to the desk will have bungee to keep the drawers shut and I'm thinking about putting some industrial strength Velcro attached to it and the desk to keep it in place.

Behind the desk is a shelf that sits at the base of the big window. I'm able to keep paper towels and some dry storage containers back there, using the space and keeping things in their place. Gotta love the curved walls, haha! Behind the white plastic bin is a small hump in the floor from the fan motor for the AC, on top of it and behind the bin sits my 12v fan. Gotta love the nooks and cranny's, I'm trying to fill them all. :) The top drawer for that bin, which is right next to my head when I will sleep, will hold phone, keys, alarm and unloaded gun. Under the passenger side plastic bins in the little foot well that's just in front of the doors, I slid my little electronics box.. that box that holds all the multitude of wires for the electronics, extra phone, chargers and such. Out of the way, but still handy. On top of the bin sits my jumper battery pack, it'll be bungee'd, wanted to keep it handy and centrally located.

All that, then to say.. I haven't driven it yet to test this out. *blushes* Until my title gets here I'll be pretty much letting it sit, the paper tag is expired. That, and it was high of 26 today, no rush getting out in this if not absolutely necessary (ie. I was dying or something, lol).

That's all the update for now. Van build wise. Electronics, however.. the internal debate is raging over dealing with the laptop or the iPad. The mental arguments with myself continue! :D
 
Theadyn the desk looks like it was made for the van with the laminated top. Are you intending on getting cooking/eating  gear? is that what you are forgetting .  A word of caution with your desk and I don't want to sound over cautious  but in the event of an accident, all will come forward if it is not screwed down, it wouldn't take much to install a couple of brackets to that desk when you get a minute.  Even if it seems heavy,  if you make a hard fast left I bet that desk will lean over into the door, try it. I enjoyed your daughters video, she is pretty quirky. The van is looking great  :)
 
Duly noted.. will probably attach some 'L' brackets and attach the desk to the wall. Thanks!!

And yes, have all the cooking gear already. The desk will be my kitchen area, all the cooking and cleaning stuff is in it's drawers. :)

I usually like to travel with a place for everything, and everything in it's place. It's place being somewhere where it won't get to move around. Stuff will be put away, bungeed, velcro'd or bolted. :D (we won't mention the time that... haha live and learn)
 
Glad to hear that you're moving forward with your plans! Love the van and agree with Curbmaster, bolt down the desk. Even a drawer coming out could really hurt a pet. I had a old tv come loose from a bungee and club me in the head going off a interstate ramp, no fun let me tell you. Hook and eyes are cheap and work well for the drawers especially those with the little lock on them. Best of luck to you, Kathleen
 
Congratulations, Theadyn!!!! You have done a nice job getting the essentials and the comforts together there and it looks great besides! Glad you are securing the desk. I screwed my plastic drawers to my walls using big washers between the plastic and the screw heads to keep them from ripping a hole in the plastic under stress.

One of these days I'll post a pic of my wide-screen tv. I tie a shoe string around the edges of either my phone or tablet and clothespin it on whatever is handy about a foot from my face and watch Netflix ha ha! Works great!
 

Latest posts

Top