February 5, 2016
the van with no name
We are finally blogging! Due to unforeseen circumstances this post is way overdue. We intended to blog our progress with the van buildout but now it is just condensed into a neat little package.
On January 12th we headed west to Kentucky to start the van buildout. My very good friend, Alex, and his family, have lots of practical skills, carpentry tools, a pole barn and an abundance of generosity. We thought we were getting out of Maryland before any snow had hit this winter, but as we drove through the mountains of western Maryland and West Virginia, we realized otherwise. The van held up much better in the snow storm then I did.
The next day we arrived in Kentucky and for 10 days straight we did nothing but work on the van, shop at Home Depot and eat Leslie’s delicious cooking. We started with insulation, then laid laminate flooring, then put wood paneling around the rest of the interior. We are still not sure which of these steps was the most frustrating, there was a lot of cursing involved in each one. Halfway through the wood paneling process the snow and ice fell. As Phil shoveled and contemplated the last step, I cut more paneling. The final step was to install a platform for the bed and shelving. Phil came up with a perfect plan and Alex created it.
On Monday January 25th we were pleasantly surprised that everything fit so well in the van. Finally, after almost 3 years of planning, we were off on our adventure!
