Let's Get Down To Business

Of all things, the windows were holding me back.

To start on the van, the windows and roof fan have to go in first. To install them you have to cut holes in the metal of the van and that creates a lot of tiny metal particles that must be immediately and meticulously cleaned before they start to create rust wherever they land on the van. I ordered windows from the place that supposedly had the shortest wait time (everywhere was back-ordered to some degree). My first window arrived at the gate one afternoon. The second window was supposed to arrive at a warehouse in Denver right before I left to return to Texas for a month. The date came, and I called the warehouse before I made the 3 hour drive to Denver. The window was not in. The new eta was April 24th. I would be in Texas, but my sister offered to pick it up for me. On the 27th I called again before sending my sister over. The window was still not in.  ... Was there a new eta? Yes. August sometime. The woman who took my call promised to call me back soon with a more precise estimated date. When I finally got the call back, she told me August 15th. I was reeling. If I couldn't even start work on the van until mid-August, then I probably wouldn't be able to get on the road until next Spring sometime. I pushed off making any decisions about back-up options until I had finished off my plans for my time in Texas. Then, on May 20th, as I was leisurely working my way through library books and DVDs (such a luxury having access to a big-city library system again!), I got a text saying my window was ready for pick up! I had one week to pick it up or they would cancel my order and return it. Suddenly, my plans, which had been lazily lengthened to accommodate more library materials in the absence of any deadlines in Colorado, were truncated rather abruptly. I could finally start working! I polished off one last book, returned everything else to the library, hastily packed up, and made the long trek back up to Colorado. After driving ~10 hours to Colorado, the very next day I drove another 3 hours to Denver and then another 3 hours straight back after I picked up the window. And, after Monday was rained out, Dad and I made the official start on the van on Tuesday afternoon, the first day of June!

This start has been a long time coming. It's hard to believe I have been trying to get started for almost four months now! But, we are finally making progress and it feels so good.

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Status:   The windows are installed! The next step is testing the windows for any leaks and then installing the fan in the roof. After that, next steps will include upgrading the tires, ordering and installing solar panels, adding the swivel seat to the passenger seat, installing the floor, and starting on insulating everywhere!

Since the back-order on the windows caused such a problem and I would hate to get hung up waiting on one part or another again, I am working on looking ahead even further whenever possible with respect to ordering components for the build.

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Installing the first window was definitely an experience-builder. Also, I'm pretty sure the screen that comes with the window is cursed or something.

 

 

 

The second window went much quicker for two main reasons: experience, and also it was just way smaller. Also, no evil screen. So...there's that. 😄

Here's the proof that we did, indeed, cut giant holes in this van.

 

Bonus!

The storms up here are spectacular! 💜

One way we let each other know we are almost home from a trip is to say we've hit dirt. (Once you hit the dirt road, you are about 15-20 minutes from the house.)