Getting Ready to Go On My Next Adventure

Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013, Guerneville, CA.

Loading up the van.

Today, I planned to finish loading up the van for my Arizona trip. Lots of little stuff to put in there and some stuff, do I really need that or not? I thought I’d just take my time and load it up and maybe go for a yak this afternoon.

Too many clothes

Clothes are always hard for me to figure. I want to make sure I have enough stuff in the van for all kinds of weather, but I only have so much room and it’s real easy to duplicate things, which I’d rather do than be without something, but again, that only so much room in there, gets in the way, so I have to be careful in my selection of things.

I put the bed and all the bed stuff in there, should I add another blanket? Yes, but where to put it. I found a place.

Did I want to leave tonight at six pm?

I made good progress and was pretty much loaded with everything except some of the cold food stuff that goes in just before I leave, so,………………..did I want to leave tonight at six pm? I still hadn’t decided which way to go?

Too darn cold out there at night.

I looked at maps, highway fifty to Carson City, Nev., down 395, I was thinking might be nice. Check the weather, looks ok, but……………………..22 F at night, Looked around some other places and it all looked real cold so I decided to stay home in my nice warm bed and leave in the morning, likely down highway five, as the nights looked better in that area as far as temperature.

I was feeling lazy so decided not to go kayaking and put the kayak and all the stuff that goes with it on the van. It’s all mostly loaded now, so I took a picture or two.

My old van, or,…….. my new RV.

I drive a 1967 Chevy van with a 250, six cyl. inline engine. I put four wheel drive on it about twenty years ago from a Chevy four wheel drive truck. Then I added a forty gallon gas tank to give it range.

That worked out for a  number of years. A couple years ago, I decided I needed something different inside for my retirement, so I built in cedar cabinets and changed all the inside to make it nice and comfy, so I could live in it if it was storming outside. I added a under the van propane tank a couple months ago and a propane heater, a Wave3. It already has a propane cook stove.

I also added TBI fuel injection a couple months ago, which I will be testing out this trip. This should be a big improvement over the old carburetor, as it was temperamental and most always smelled of gas, not good in something you want to live in.

Below is a picture of my van from the front. Oh yes, it has a winch too and a kayak on top.

chevyvan4

 

Below is a picture from the side of my van. I paint it with a spray can so it’s easy to touch up. It has a lot of desert pin striping on it already and some dirt too. :O) It should get a lot more of both, this trip.

chevyvan1

 

The van was an old green telephone van.

This 1967 Chevy van used to be one of those old green telephone vans they used a long time ago, remember?

So, I’m taking it easy tonight resting up and will do some plotting on a route with my GPS maps. I have a bunch of plans for this trip, but actually don’t have any plans for my plans, I’ll just take things as they come and hopefully get most of what I have planned done, or not? :O)

I’ll post blogs when I can.

I’ll be posting my blog when I get an internet connection. My sorta plan is maybe to go by Congress, AZ. on my way to Quartzsite. It’s a little out of the way, but this is an explore type trip, so a little detour on the way down just might be the way to go? That will also take me by another part of the Colorado river, just below Vegas, which might put me in a place to kayak?

Anyway, a restful nights sleep and I’ll be off in the morning, bright and early, around ten am. :O)

This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.