16 Days to #Vanlife

Just about two weeks left. All of this is not how I imagined it happening. The Covid19 pandemic has completely altered my plans. Originally I planned on working in the city while van dwelling around the city using gyms for showers. I would go out and adventure on the weekends or take some time off throughout the summer. The main goal was to always save as much money as possible since I would not be paying rent. Now the city is basically shut down still and all gyms are closed. I have been working remotely from almost three months. I never planned on working from the van because of the lack of internet. Now my plans have shifted since I need a place to work and my lease is up at the end of the month. Sadly I have to resort to going back to my mom's, but with all public places banning any gathers and all restaurants and coffee shops only doing drive thru or pick up, I have next to no other options. The main goal is still being achieved by being able to avoid paying rent. But this is taking away from the real vanlife experience I was hoping for. As of now my office is closed until mid June and I know it will be extended past that. There are so upsides to all this though. I will not be forced to be in the city since I don't have to be there to work. If I have internet I can work anywhere. This is will allow me to visit James and Chey, or even Truth and Kayla in California. Normally it would require more communication with work to do something like that. I am planning on staying a couple weeks in California in June. Also James's birthday is June and Chey's is in July so I also plan on making more trips to Pullman. I am doing my best to find the bright side of whatever is thrown my direction, especially during this pandemic.

I believe I mentioned book club in my last post. I am really getting sucked into the book we are reading. I was hoping being in a club would make me read more and keep me motivated. I have really been meaning to do it more and I am glad this is helping me do that. I'm pretty sure only James, Chey, and myself are reading right now since no one else has posted in the FB group.. so I really hope this picks up some momentum and continues.

I have been watching a ton of car build videos on Youtube lately.. and I have been looking at salvage car auctions online. I am constantly thinking about more work for the van as well as finally getting started on my other two project. The 1959 Ford Custom 300 and the 1972 VW Bus. I am hoping being back home from a little while will allow me to really get my hands dirty on those. And once I save enough money I can build a shop and start building the collection. I have always had a passion for cars and mechanic work but being away at college and having been working so much the past 3 years those passions have fallen off some. Now that I have some more time and some good money coming in I can reignite the fire.

Speaking of, I have of course been getting more things done on the van each weekend. All small but very important things. Last weekend I got my drain installed on the sink so now the water system is one hundo percent done. I also got a new latch for my slider window, so the window now stays shut. The latch wasn't an exact match and will need some custom work but for now it is doing the job. I also did some body work on the hood and got it sanded and primed and ready for paint. This weekend I installed new glass runners and seals on my front windows. The old ones were some real crispy critters. Now I have a perfect seal around the window and driving is now even quieter. I also changed my transmission fluid and filter, everything looked great which made me happy. While I was doing some preventative maintenance I decided to check out the front brakes since I hadn't yet. Luckily they were still solid. I just added some grease to the king pins to make sure they continued to work well. I also ordered tie rods and shocks since my steering has been off, the current ones are pretty worn and loose. Those should be here by the end of the week. I am very excited to get the steering tightened up. Paint should be coming soon, I am trying to plan how to go about it. I am thinking I will try and utilize the long weekend next weekend to get that really going. Fingers crossed. Pics to follow as always.