Lobster Checked out the Bus today!

Mt fat cat, Lobster came and checked the Bus out this afternoon... He checked out the lined sink cabinets...


He also was interested when I showed him how the curtains opened...


I guess it got the Lobster seal of approval.


I also hung up some Salvador Dali pics I like. The Minotaur I hung on the closet and I hung the Metamorphosis of Narcissus over the bench seat.(it's really huge though so I couldn't really get a picture of where it hangs, just the actual painting.)


I bought some more paints from Wal*mart today so I can finish up the paint job... But the weather has threatened rain so I am holding off for now. Here is a very rough draft:


... hopefully not tooo "hippy"

Propane stove & sink installed

Trey installed the propane burners and sink components today. As I have mentioned, the burners are hooked up to run off 1lb containers, we tested it before we installed and it works great, both burners! Hooray!




The upper bunk cushions have been covered, sewn and put in. The upper bunk is pretty big, even Trey who is 6'3 can stretch out!



The Fridge cabinet has been painted and I plan to cover it with some of that non slid shelf liner, as I am going to do the same with the kitchen cabinets.



I have had a freezer bag/ cooler for a few years, it works really well and coupled with dry ice, I think I should be able to keep cold foods fresh for a while with this, so here is my new "fridge":

Gotta love that Salvidor Dali Theme :)

Interior Completion?

The interior is pretty much done! Just need to bolt in the kitchen cabinet and hook up the sink & stove!

hOU

View of the curtains from the outside:


Headliner and one of the Visors in!


*UPDATE* 3:04pm
I found this AWESOME article while researching living in RVs. It shows a good perspective of the life of an RV-liver.

Brighten Up

The sun has finally shown! I got a lot done. In addition to cleaning everything with a magic eraser & cleaner; I removed all the paint spray from the front windshield and finished up the front end. I painted the passenger side door too and cleaned it off. So shiney! The paint job isn't the best, but it will do for now. After some time it will get the professional paint job it deserves. :)



Maybe the Only VW Bus with Oldsmobile Eighty Eight Seats??

They were just so comfortable! I didn't want to go buy some other seats when my car is just going to be donated anyways. Those seats are the most comfortable car seats ever.

I also sewed all 9 of my curtains yesterday! After some issues with the sewing machine, I finally got a hang of it and finished all of them. I'm proud of myself, its the first big sewing job I have done. And it came out really good! I used the mushroom fabric for the interior and i backed it with an old bedsheet I had which will match the exterior (you shall see later). I hope the white fabric will help reflect some sun to keep it cooler, and the dark brown fabric looks good with the yellow painted interior. I shall post some pics later!


We got the upper bunk mostly in, and the driver's side curtains in last night. Today I'm going to hit the rest of it with the sander and do some painting... Hopefully I will get to Lowe's today to get some various nuts and bolts to finish up bolting all the furniture in. I also need to find someone with a saw who could make me some circular doors for the cabinets. The previous owner cut holes in them for speakers and they look like $h!t. So I'm going to try to make some new ones.

These next few days are going to be sunny and beautiful, so we should be able to get a whole lot done with the paint! I just wish I didn't have to work all of those days! :(

Danger!

I want to post a non Westy related topic... sort of.

My family is obsessed with the idea that I will be in grave danger traveling in my Westy. What if it breaks down in the middle of nowhere, what if someone robs me? What if what if what if...

Truthfully, we are always in danger. As I sit at my desk, the roof could cave in and kill me. When I drive down the road I could get struck by another vehicle. If I stay inside my home all day and never leave for fear, someone could potentially brake into my home and steal my possessions, my body and maybe even my life. We are always in danger.

When I travel I will always have protection. Back in Raleigh when I walked the street alone, or biked to a friend's house, you better believe I had pepper spray readily available. Things won't be any different in the van. Maybe someone will roll my camper off a cliff whilst I sleep! That would suck! I could live in fear all day every day and not experience the things I want to do... Or I could prepare for danger, face it and over come our fear of death and the unknown.

Pop it like its hot!

We pretty much got the poptop in; after a few days of breaking staple guns and running out of screws, etc. Ya know, the usual. The weather every day has been a mixture of sun and rain, mostly rain. Yesterday I gave the front another coat of primer so I could start painting today. But nooooo as soon as we wrap up it poured so now my paint has little spots all in it. Grrr Looks like I'm going to have to sand it down and paint again. But not for a while. The forecast ALL WEEK is going to be the same. I swear, as soon as we got the Van home the rain began. And the nice sunny days are the days I am in the office 9-5.
Enough griping! here is picture of the inside with the top popped, I am really happy I put that tapestry on it, it looks awesome!



We are going to put the headliner in (if we figure out how!!) today as well as attach the wood that is the upper bunk. Yesterday I started making curtains, my sewing machine has issues with me though. I cut all the curtains and sewed one. 9 more to go! Guess I could do that now instead of playing with the new settings blogger updated today! (love em!)

Rain rain go away, can't you come another day?

Oh I almost forgot to post that I sold my side tent yesterday. Last week during a particularly bad rain storm 3 of my tent poles bent/broke. So I decided to go ahead and sell the tent. Its really heavy and takes up a lot of space and just isn't really worth keeping in the van with us. it also takes a while to set up/take down. So I put up and ad on craigslist and a guy from TN came up and took if off my hands for $200! I've seen really good condition ones selling for close to $400 on ebay. Since mine has the broken poles and a few patches I figured I could use the extra cash. Not to mention the $225 fuel pump that Trey bought and put in yesterday. Its the like the bus is giving back! :) Bout time!

Front End bondo and primer finished!

Trey finished up the bondo work. It looks great! next sunny day we will paint!

Rain rain go away!

Off to work but got a bit done on the Bus this weekend. The rain inhibited me tho. >:(



Also: Old Yellow gross foam vs new!


And my contain garden is doing great! Strawberries, basil, broccoli and green bell peppers. I also have a tomato topsy-turvy garden that is doing great as well, but didn't get a pic.


I bought my plants from the farmers market and they are planted in organic soil. :)

2:30pm
I am searching different solar options I can use in my van. Basically my power needs will be cell phone charging, laptop charging, and playing music. I may have a few LED lights around, but I will rely mostly on Lanterns- especially this cost efficient (or so it boasts) Lantern from GoWesty. What are my solar options?
Solar Cell Phone Charger: around $40
Solar Music Player! (looks like I'd need a Zen MP3 Player tho)
As for my laptop, I can charge that when I am accessing free Internet at any coffee shop or McDonals!

has anyone else heard of some sort of solar speaker system? I realize it couldn't be too powerful. But I am looking ahead towards those Middle Of Nowhere Campouts and deafening silence. Or that song that just won't get out of my head until I hear it. Guitars aren't in my storage space budget.

Bench seat done!

Trey's Mum came up today and reupholstered our bench seat with some fabric she had extra. It looks great! Its a thick denim fabric too so it will hold up well. She also got us some batting to go between the fabric and foam for extra protection. :) I am happy with it! Very much so. Well, goodnight all!

Foam for cushions!

Trey's Mom is so awesome and bought us foam for the cushions yesterday. She knew of a fabric store in South Western NC that has good prices on foam and was able to get all of it for under $100. It counts as Trey's birthday present, and mine! Sweet! So tonight she is coming up to drop it off and upholster the bench seat with me, because she has an air stapler. She has some denim fabric we may use for the bench seat... it may not match perfectly but they make fabric paint for that reason. I will probably end up drawing designs all over it. We shall see!

I'm desperately trying to keep my mind off of what is going on in the Gulf right now. I am so angry, outrages, and desperate to stop the oil spill. Our dependence on oil is sickening and needs to stop. But no one is doing anything to stop it. If the spill goes on until August, the entire ocean is going to be polluted with oil. No more seafood, no more marine life, just think of it. It makes me want to cry. I love the Ocean, and recently decided not to go to school for Marine Biology. Maybe its because I knew deep down something like this would happen... I wish there was something I could do to make this insanity stop. Clean energy is a concept that has been around way longer than I have been. Pick up an old copy of a science magazine in your thrift shop. 1980? Sounds about right: lots and lots of articles on clean energy... Where did this technology go? In the pockets of huge CEOs of oil companies that's where. We've been enslaved by oil. Isn't it time to break free?