The Van is on its way home!

It is finally happening! Two days ago our moms picked up the van from GTRV in Richmond, BC, and have started driving back east with it. Their first stop was Whistler, and they were heading towards Jasper tonight, but we haven't heard from them yet, so I'm not sure where they will be actually stopping. It is such a trip to know that our journey has become such a family affair. How lucky are we? Our moms offered to do this for us - to help us out, but I think that this first little cross-country drive is a small way for them to feel more connected to us and to the journey and to their own wanderer desires. Can't wait for next weekend when the van is finally home in our driveway!!!!

End of July update

Well, GTRV promised us over and over again that the van would be ready by now, but c'est la vie. What an agonizing and astonishingly difficult time we have had getting any response or help from them! And they have the nerve to be frustrated with us when we keep pressing them for answers! We will certainly not be recommending them to anyone, even if the pop-top (in fact, we gave up on ever hearing back regarding our questions on the other conversion work we had been considering, and so are only having them pop the top - that's it!!!) is perfectly constructed and works wonderfully. In any event, our moms have their tickets and are heading to Seattle on Wednesday, August 8th. They will stay with my mom's older sister Flossie, and Flossie and John will drive them up to Vancouver on Thursday the 9th. So...finally, almost!!! Only 3 more weeks (a little less now) until the van is finally home! Now we are considering how to do a website, how to get sponsors, what we want our focus to be, etc., etc. I wrote to the Washington Post Travel section today, in hopes that they may have some interest in having us write for them or in following along, with updates and reviews from us along the way. We shall see. We have also recently found a few other sites that are relevant and worthwhile, and we will be writing to those folks as well to get their advice and opinions. So much to do, so little time! We have less than a year to go until departure time, and are still so unorganized and unplanned. But, we are working hard and spending a few hours almost every night dedicated to our Journey. Last night we discussed our ideas on Belize: how long we want to spend there, where we want to go, what we want to see, which route is best. We have also done this kind of detailed work for the portion of our trip from the Badlands through Alberta/British Columbia, up into Alaska and back down along the Marine Highway into Vancouver. Of course, we will always leave room to just take off and go, or to stay a few extra days if need be, but this is a great way for us to really focus our ideas and thoughts and work on them together to form a cohesive, well thought-out plan. More sooner, rather than later.

And now it's June

Well, time is certainly flying, and I don't know that we are having fun. Not that we aren't, but the months are disappearing quickly before our eyes, with not that much being accomplished in the process. We have spent some agonizing time trying to figure out what exactly we are having GTRV do in terms of conversion work, and are yet again awaiting their reply. I believe we have come to final conclusions: we will have them pop the top, of course, and then install fresh and grey water tanks, propane tanks and piping, door step-ups, and most likely also have them move the rear venting system. Now all we need is for them to respond with a scheduled time line so that we can get flights out to Vancouver for my mom and Troy's mom to go get it! You heard that right; Darlene and Lynne volunteered themselves for the out-of-country pick-up and week-long drive back! We can't wait! We finally ventured out to an RV/camping store and picked up a book on repair and maintenance. That's the project for the rest of this month - reading up as much as possible so that we are prepared to roll up our sleeves and dig in to learning the intricacies of van conversion and ownership! I also finally really started looking into volunteer organizations that we can join down in Central and/or South America. Hopefully, also by the end of the month, we can narrow our choices down to a few groups and some more definite locations. And the biggest issue on hand? Savings!!! We have to do more and more and more!

Where did April go?

Well, a lot has happened in the last month. In the midst of everything that was going on, somehow Troy and I managed to keep some plans and got the van from San Francisco and drove it up to Vancouver, where we left it with a great GTRV representative named Roy. We are really excited to have GTRV do the conversion work on our van and are anxiously awaiting finally being able to bring our van home so we can visit it and work on it ourselves. Unfortunately GTRV probably won't be able to do the work until July, but they are garaging it for us until then. It's possible that Troy's mom, Lynne, will be in BC in July and can pick it up for us once it is done. It's also possible that my mom, Darlene, will be in Washington state in July, and might join Lynne for the ride back. Who knows? Two little ladies in that huge monster! Should be interesting to say the least! I hope that they end up doing it; I think it will be a lot of fun for them both, and we'd certainly appreciate their efforts!

Troy's dad, George, passed away on April 12, 2007, and we are suffering a great loss. That is where April went. We have been all over the country and back again making arrangements and dealing with logistics. George passed away in Hawaii, where he and Lynne had just started a few weeks worth of vacation. It was an absolute tragedy, not expected in the least, a brain aneurysm, with nothing that could be done to save him. Our poor Lynne. I flew Troy out there as soon as I could and after a week, I flew both Troy and Lynne up to San Francisco to meet me. All three of us drove up the coast together to give Lynne a bit more time before having to go home for the services. It was so nice to see them after being away for a week and wanting to hold them both for so long without being able to. We ended up dropping Lynne off in Portland and Troy and I made it up to Vancouver the next day to drop the van off before going home to the Vineyard to be with friends and family. It has been a tough month, and will be a tough year. We are going to perservere though. George had a lot of sayings, but one of the best ones was "You will be aright, you'll see." We are forever learning from George and we will still be making our journey into a reality, still pushing on, working hard, proving our worth and our ability, even if it is sometimes by the seats of our pants; we will be great and we now want to do this for George and to enjoy life more than ever!

"pop top" Conversion

So we have found a company that is willing to convert our older van into a "pop top", as Jess likes to call it. Or otherwise known to me as a converted roof; sounds better right. This process has been a substantial drain on our optimism and excitment since learning that altering a vehicle in any way is not that simple. A typical idea that turns out to include many levels of beauracracy.
For those of you who dont know my mother and the infamous "Westy's", a "pop top" is a vehicle, usually a recreational van of sorts, that had its roof cut open or off and engineered to raise up, allowing for head room to stand. This is a critical addition to our home away from home, if it is to be a happy home that is. Crouching our way through the Americas is enough to make my back hurt just thinking about it.
Our next step is finding a way to get the van to Vancouver and then home again. The company that has agreed to help us is also the only company we found that could help and is located in Vancouver British Columbia. While at one point this may have been a problem, this project has taught me that real problems are not easily resolved. And no "real problem" is worth resolving if you already know how to find the answer. Just opening up my mind to the possibilty of my ideas is a chalenge. Channeling these ideas into a cohesive plan is how we expand. Focus; magnifying our thoughts to a size that can be easily scrutinized is the key. There in lies the chalenge, exposing ourselves to the critics is the only way to ligitimize our ideas. Ideas are only possibilities until they reach the physical world. And in the physical world these thoughts are obscured by rationale. They clash automatically with the other filters through which these ideas have been understood. If these ideas can be understood through any filter than we have found or created a reality. Determining reality is the tool for creating happiness.

Our Van!

The Cali Van: 1984 Ford E350 Superduty EB 4x4!

We are off to San Fran to pick this monster up on April 19th, 2007. It's going to be a long weekend, full of driving, but we cannot wait! Just look at this thing, how could you not want to be in it!?!