Re-paint

Yesterday I woke up at 5am and got to work around 6am sanding and painting Lenny~ I am about 80% done.  I decided to go with a spray paint job again, with pretty much the same scheme. I want people to recognize us still. I left out the teal side stripe and the white bubble on the front.  I also painted his "eyelids"...  today I plan to finish up the dark blue stripe on the driver's side and the dark blue on the rear and his paint job will be finished.  Now just need to get these tired muscles moving...

"Freckles"

Bondo Nightmare

Rust reforming around windows/windshield the worst

removable cushion cover (was a bedsheet, then a curtain..) with "poop tent" to left~ fits perfectly

Trey installed the gauges and they work! Just needs to wire into the lighing

Ta-daaaa! Fresh coat of paint looks nice

looks a bit sad with out the VW emblem, need to stick it back on

Next week I plan to spend all week in NC visiting friends in the Raleigh area and possibly a trip to the beach.  I am going to let my friends do some custom art on him, it will be a nice way to remember all of my friends over here while I am over there.
We still need to bleed the breaks so we haven't driven him since Friday.  Although I did move him about 2 feet yesterday...  engine starts with just a slight turn of the wrist.  So nice! I believe this evening when Trey gets home we will bleed those breaks. 

Welcome Home Lenny

We drove Lenny home Friday! His engine sounds amazing, shifts smoothly and breaks badly~ we figure there is air in the break line. We plan to bleed to breaks tomorrow since this weekend we have been busy installing gauges, stocking the cabinets, patching holes in canvas & various odds and ends. Tomorrow morning I will wake before the sun comes up to begin a paint job touch up. I am hoping this Wal Mart has the gloss version of the paints he already has~ I love the paint job too much to change it now. Besides I foresee more body work in the future...

replaced the large pile of pots and pans with 2 person camp cookware purchase for $10 @ the flea market

Put cleanable wood grain shelf liner in all cabinets

Ooooh Engine looks and sounds amazing

Cut a scrap bit of wood to cover spare tire hole in "closet", use to be just cardboard

New stickers added

Preparation is Key

While Lenny is having his various kinks worked out we have been taking this extra time to make sure we are 100% prepared for our trip.  Last time we purchased the D. Light solar lantern and absolutely loved it!  It charged even in cloudy weather and since it recharges freely we never had to worry about leaving it on during night time walks or using it too much.  There are 2 settings- dim and bright but they are both about the same...  Since our trip we have lost our beloved solar lantern so we purchased two more.  This new and improved lantern even has a luminous button!  Its affordable and works beautifully.  I highly recommend it.  Now, it isn't as bright as a flashlight or headlamp, but its a great lantern.
Last time we found ourselves with a tad too much stuff inside the cabin.  We found ourselves wanting to get rid of items we were not currently using, but was very useful in the future (i.e. seasonal clothing, full propane canisters, seasonal bedding, etc).  We purchased this water, grit, and light proof cargo bag to fit on top of our luggage rack.  Since it is summer time, we will store our down comforter, winter clothing, and various others safely out of the way.
I mentioned before in my post about my Goodies for the Road that our diet was severely lacking in the health dept.  Also since we were eating bland, highly processed meals we found ourselves dining out more often.  With all the delicious new foods you find traveling that instant box of mashed potatoes is quickly forgotten.  So we purchased a sampler pack of dried foods from Harmony House (who is based out of Greenville, NC) and a 12 ounce container of dried veggie mix for use in soups, rice, and other meals we will make. The sampler pack is amazing and will allow us to figure out what we will use the most and what we like.  We plan to order more from Harmony House in the future. The deluxe sampler pack we ordered contains 1 cup of the following- " Broccoli Flowerets, Green Cabbage, Diced Carrots, Sliced Celery, Whole Sweet Corn, Green Beans, Jalapeno Dices, Tangy Green & White Leeks, Chopped Onions, Green Sweet Peas, Red & Green Mixed Bell Peppers, Diced Potatoes (excellent flavor), Spinach Flakes, Tomato Dices, Tomato Powder, Lentils, Split Peas, Red Beans, Black Beans, Navy Beans, Garbanzo Beans, Great Northern Beans, Dark Kidney Beans, Pinto Beans, Garbanzo Beans, Beefish Bits (Meatless), Chickenish Bits (Meatless), Hamish Bits (Meatless), Taco Bits (Meatless), Chickenish Chunks (Meatless), Beefish Chunks (Meatless)."
Last, and *eh hem* most importantly we purchased this privacy tent, or as I like to call it, the "Poop Tent."  Now we won't have to worry about late night trips out into the desert with a shovel, or early morning drives to the nearest gas station/walmart/ etc to use the restroom.  We have our own.  It even has a hook on the inside to hang our solar lantern on, plus screened windows.  Reviews stated that the hook is not strong enough to hold a solar shower, but I figure I can set it up close to a tree or the Bus and set the shower bag on something sturdy.  The fabric does feel a bit thin, so we must take care to not tear or rip the tent.  But it sets up easily and is something we very badly needed last time. 
Now all we need to do is pay 6 months of insurance ahead, get the Bus all in order and hit the road.  I've already written down some of the best looking free campsites from the wonderful site http:/www.freecampsites.net . 

Curse of Lenny

A cold start valve was leaking gas, which produced the fire last week; which came in today, but was the incorrect one.  The mechanic was able to locate the correct one and it will be in Friday at 1:00pm, with the Bus being done that evening...  If everything goes accordingly...
At this point it we are stopping and asking ourselves, whats going on here? Is Lenny Cursed?  So many different, random events keep happening delaying, aggravating, and costing money. Maybe its the Ultimate test of Patience? Hmm...

Towing & mechanics

This year alone Lenny has rode on the back of a tow truck 5 different times.  This brings him up to 10 times total.  Apparently he prefers to ride around instead of drive himself...
Today he is going to be looked at by a skilled mechanic who has done work on several VWs over the years and has himself a VW dune buggy.  He was aware that my Bus was fuel injected and a strange year.  He will re-check everything the previous mech had done putting in the engine (to ensure accuracy) as well as diagnose why the fire happened and get that bad boy running for me for good.  He is also going to install  3 gauges for us: the oil temp sensor, head temp sensor, and RPM.  The first two are exteremely important in keeping that engine alive.  Going up hills, or driving long hours in the heat can raise the oil temperature to drastic levels, damaging the engine.  Also ensuring the heads are functioning at the right temp is important, if any of these temps get too high we will be able see this on the gauge and cool off.
All that is left is putting some new bushings on the shifter, getting the tires balanced and rotated, breaking in the engine and paint job.  I purchased high gloss, anti-chip tractor paint from my local tractor supply.  I chose "Ford Blue".  I bought two gallons but I may return one for another color to do two tone.  After all the grief Lenny has caused I sort of want to paint him all blue, so he will now be renamed "Lenny the Blue Meanie." I'll have to teach him the way to Know and instead of No. :)

Road closed due to fire

not actual photo of lenny's fire!

Less than 2 weeks from our date to leave and the engine has caught fire.  After the backyard mechanic we've paid to remove and install the engine connected the fuel injection vacuum hoses all wrong, we towed the Bus back to our house to put in new hoses we bought, plus the clamps that he never put in.  That solved our engine rough idle, and began the initial break in process.  Revving at 2500 RPMs we got to 3 minutes of the 15 needed before Trey yelled "turn it off! Fire!!" he ran inside for an extinguisher (we misplaced ours last week!) and I ran over to the hose, yanked it over to the Bus and put out the small fire near the distributor.
Now we feel like we are back to square one.  Just a few wires are burnt, but the damage is minimal.  We are lucky to have supportive family who are able to help us financially and emotionally, and help us get the Bus to a mechanic to have it on the road for good.  We hope to find a local mechanic tomorrow who knows VWs well, so far we haven't found such a person and we have searched for 7 months... The option to sell has also crossed our minds.  Maybe we will find resolution tomorrow, we hate to come this far just to give up, but we are also becoming over-burdened by our troubles.  Regardless we plan to depart from South Carolina in less than 2 weeks, bus or no bus.

Engine installation and various odds & ends

The engine is in! Tonight we will break it in as Bear instructed.  I don't think I can put in to words how excited I am to be driving the Bus again to new adventures.  It has been far too long, my friends.  We let him sit too long and now I look forward to a week of sanding, grinding, priming and painting.  There is even a new development of rust on the beams.  We went over to the tractor supply store and bought some tractor paint in "ford blue" which is just a dark colored blue.  I wanted to go for a buttercup yellow but there was only one gallon left and I wanted to get two just in case it takes more.  Also I really didn't want him to be too bright, so the blue will do well.  In time if I meet a good graffiti artist Lenny may get graffiti'ed.
We bought a cupholder which was very badly needed last time.  And I fixed up the bench seat storage door, took the paper off that was covering the old formica, painted on it and attached a weather stripping around the edges.  The top of the wood that the seat sits on also  has the weather stripping to protect from damage when the seat is folded out as a bed.  Just 2 1/2 more weeks and we are on the road.  I plan to have the tires rotated and all that checked out the end of this week.  Pretty soon we'll have close to a brand new Bus!

 

Goodies for the road

This time around we have more experience under our belts heading out.  On our last trip we typically ate instant mashed potatoes with canned veggies, easy mac&cheese, and assorted pastas. 
This time we are traveling in the summer, so we plan to visit local farmers markets very regularly, and roadside produce stands.  I shop at the local farmers market here and for $5 you can get quite a few days worth of vegetables and fruit.  I am so ready for watermelon season! 
I've made 8 quart jars of different batches of granola~ even two chocolate varieties to satisfy my sweet tooth.  I have a great article I tore out of an Oprah magazine with directions to make popular varieties of granola or where to buy if you don't like to DIY.  Its very simple though, just rolled oats, honey, canola oil and various nuts and/or dried fruit of your choice.  Instead of honey you can use maple syrup (amazing!!) or agave nectar... and add a bit of molasses to help make clusters.
I found this recipe for making condensed tomato soup, and I followed the suggestion of a commenter who omitted the butter & flour and just blended the tomatoes up and cooked again a bit longer.  I ended up canning 12 jars of it and had a batch for dinner.  Just like store bought, you mix one part tomato soup and one part milk, water, or broth.  If adding milk I think you have to add some baking soda to keep the milk from curdling, but I add broth or water.  The texture was a bit off and could have benefited from another go in the blender, but Trey loved it and he doesn't like the store bought kind.
 Trey made a huge batch of tomato sauce which we canned 11 jars of  it.  Last year we ended up using cheap jars of sauce which usually had strange ingredients in it.  I went to Costco and bought 3 huge jars (like the ones restaurants use) of dice tomatoes and tomato sauce for only $3.50 each.  When factoring in price of jars each one was about a dollar or so to make.  Not bad, and its ingredients are only tomatoes, onions, extra virgin olive oil and some spices-we can add more spice when heating up.