We Got A Pull Vehicle & Other Ramblings
We spent all day Saturday putting our online orders together to get to the next steps. After finding, and buying our pull vehicle we have clarified our budget better. Our goal is 10k, total. Pull vehicle included. We opted to get a Honda, James and I both love Hondas because they go forever! We decided a Pilot was a good option, it has room for both kiddos and the dog to be comfy. We’re guessing that we will put about 30,000 miles on it during our trip so we want something reliable. The one we found is a 2005, it has 120k miles on it and has lots of life left in it. It’s got way more features than we are used to and lots of 12v power outlets which will come in handy I think. 🙂
I’ve updated our budget, we are just over $2,000, with the $7,000 spent on the car that leaves us right around $1,000 left to finish up. Honestly, it’s going to be a tight squeeze. We still have insulation and the metal to buy. And about a $400 order from Vintage Trailer Supply (which has been an awesome resource!). I don’t think we are going to make it if I am realistic but I have also surprised myself in the past!
Just to note a few of the things we ordered, I picked out this mattress, it’s 6 inches thick, has good reviews and is almost exactly the size we need. I will be cutting it in half right when we get it, which will be strange…. I’ve been designing a couch that will be able to pull out into a bed, it will be where James and I sleep, a little smaller than we are used to but we’ll just have to act like we like each other and get cozy, not a bad thing! 😉
We got a bunch of LED lights, tail lights and side lights. We were going to match the original vintage style but we got to this point and decided we aren’t doing your typical restore so we decided it didn’t make a ton of sense to match some details and not all… and I found some that I like the look of better that were cheaper… so we are going with something a little different. They are simple, round lights. The mimic our wheel wells, I like repetition and geometry so it was an easy choice.
The stove is another aspect we decided was worth changing. I figure I use the oven maybe 10-12 times a year, it really wasn’t worth taking up all of that space for an oven when we will have quite a lot of things that need storage. I’ll adapt my cooking! So we ordered this cook top. It will be an adjustment only having two burners but worth it for the space I think.
So, our next steps are to do the electrical (we also bought interior LED lights). Then probably insulation and metal on the exterior. At that point I think we will need to take it for a test run! I have been working through a bunch of the details in my head but I need to put them to paper/computer before too long.
Also, James and I got our maps that we ordered to start planning our route, it’s getting real. And exciting. And really exciting! Which is weird for two self proclaimed home-bodies.
We had a great conversation about all the things we want to do alongside of this trip. One being to finally build out little free lending library, we figure campers need access too! It will be on the back of our camper. I am going to make a point to document our travels with the kiddos via a story series, I’ve already titled it ‘The Adventures of Urban Squirrel’ which is a longer story, but it will be awesome! The kids will be published (only for our purposes ;-))! Also on that note, I have this weird thing about wanting to also write a story (which is weird for someone who was never a writer (but so is keeping this blog…)), James and I were talking about it last night and I feel like we came up with a great book idea. And he wants to help, which would be amazing! The idea is to write about how we have rearranged our lives so dramatically, we wonder if our parents are proud of us, or if they wish we would do things differently for our kids, if they take our choices as a critique of theirs… random things. But we are beyond happy with our choices nonetheless. We wonder how our kids will feel about their childhood and how unconventional we have been leading them to be. We’re going to be starting a podcast before too long, it has been in the works a long time now, it will be called ‘Learning The Long Way’ and will transition our lives and education of both us and our kids and every topic really… It will basically just be James and I talking about life, kind of documenting things for our kids, and us, and inviting others along our journey as well. We plan to record it literally while driving on the road… it’s when we do our best talking. Anyway, the book idea James and I started talking about would be something like ‘Learning The Long Way: Happiness Doesn’t Just Happen’ and it will be about designing your life to be what YOU want… whatever that is. It’s exciting to think about so even if my squirrel driven mind loses focus on that project it’s fun to be right here thinking through it!
Here are some camper updates, lots left to do but it’s taking shape!
And some family images:
amazing as usual . . . i’m enjoying watching you find yourself!
I hope we never find ourselves because its sure fun looking! 😉
@cooking : maybe this is interesting for you, since you have to adapt your cooking. I use it a lot for stew, chili, stock and bolognese. The biggest advantage for me was the timing. You van start a stew in the morning, put it in the hooimadam, and Cook soms patatoes and veggies in the Evening. You ou have to warm the stew. And you can also use it to keep your voor warm (achter 4 hours stil Hot, not streaming but hot enough) .
Since you will only be able to cook 2 things at a Time…..
Anyhow: http://www.hooimadam.com
( No sponsor!!! You can make them yourself if you pinterest). I can eens you soms Dutch stew recensies :p
Argh my phone dutchifies my english!! Sorry.
HA! I followed, mine turns things to basque! ha!
Thank you!