Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Bus life and other oddities


Here's what the bus looks like these days. We're living in it! Still haven't finished the bathroom plumbing but everything else is good to go.


Here's the lovely J with the freshwater fill hose we made. We used the polyethylene stuff they use for ice-makers in lieu of garden hoses (lead) or RV fill hoses (vinyl...SMELLS BAD...need I say more?) Here's a close-up....


Icebox in action! It works better with 2 ice blocks...in 90 degree heat we had to get new ice every other day. Fun bike rides!

Here's the table we made! We bought the laminated maple from our friendly lumber discounters. We got the legs at Bring recycling. We finished it with 2 coats of Bioshield Hard Oil. We want to do a 3rd coat but haven't gotten around to it. There won't always be blocks of wood underneath the legs! We propped them up because we haven't put the wood floor down yet. We also plan on getting small little feet for the bottom of the legs.

The table folds up so that it can be stowed along the wall, over the windows. This way friends can throw down sleeping bags in the space it normally takes up. Here's the hinges and the splash guard we made to go over the electrical bay.

And now, stuff that doesn't have to do with our bus......

Yay, I (Erin) got a banjo!


We learned how to silkscreen. We've been selling silkscreened panties and patches at the Saturday Market and they're going like hot cakes......It's so nice to try out a new craft for a change..........



This one says "I'm an Obama Mama".....ok so I'm more of a Kucinich woman myself....but hey....if it sells, it sells. =)


In other news. We had a failed vacation. We rented 2 nights in a fire lookout cabin called Bald Knob in the Siskyou-Rogue National forest for our 4th year anniversary. We drive up these BLM dirt roads for hours through miles of clear cut and get there to find that the lookout has a propane leak. So we drive back down the mountain and try to find a ranger at 4:30pm on Memorial Day. We found Ernie. He tells us to go home because nothing can be done that day. SO we decide to rough it and "car camp"....like...without a tent, in the car. We made this structure with the random Saturday Market stuff we had in the car:

Smokey Tarp

In the morning, after trying to sleep in the car, we opened our trunk to find that two mice had eaten their way through all the food we brought and crapped on our clothes. Sure made me miss my housebus. We went home.

But first we went to Powers, Oregon!!!


Broke omni bus of Powers, OR.

Camo skoolie with companion semi and shuttle just outside Powers, OR. Wow. We were very impressed by this collection.


Cool old buildings. Powers is an OLD railroad town built around the logging industry. We met a lady who said her Grandpa logged with horses. We met 2 ladies who said their dads were moonshiners. This was a really cool town.


Diner where we had breakfast.


Someone moved into the old school house and turned it into a home.

We also went to the Pioneer House in Powers, OR but we forgot to take a picture. We walked down to City Hall (which is also the Library and the Police and Fire station) and Elizabeth opened it up for us special. She said no one had been in there all winter. They had an awesome collection of all the old things from the townspeople. We really got a good sense of the history of the area and Oregon in general.

May not seem too exciting but checking out Powers, OR was the by far the best part of our vacation.

Totally worth a visit if you're in the area!

6 Comments:

Lizz said...

Yay, bus living = happy!

Oh I know those weird Oregon oddities well. Mountain roads and tiny logging communities. My best fun is exploring the small and odd and desolate!! Have you been atop Bohemia Mtn? The wildflowers are wonderful and the ghost town fun.

Funny stories, truly.

Erin Gilday said...

Bus life *is* good. Now if only there were 68 hours in the day so I could fix all these little things, put in a folding cutting board and put in overhead cabinets...paint the roof, finish the floor and get the bathroom done....it goes on and on! We're just trying to take it one day at a time. =)

I haven't been to Bohemia mtn but it sounds awesome. I don't think I've ever been to a certified ghost town but I've always wanted to see one! I wonder how far it is from Eugene...

Lizz said...

Big gold mines up there. It's past Cottage Grove and then way up and back in the mountains. Totally worth it! There is a fantastic fire lookout up there as well. You can see from Rainier to Shasta.

a delicious herd of lilac contradiction trees; said...

wow! looks like you guys are having an amazing time and building a beautiful home. . . i'm jealous!

also looked through your website and loved the clothes your making. . . maybe i order a pair of pants from you when i come back from india.

blessings!

BRINGfest said...

Sweet banjo, Erin. This is the cd page of my favorite banjoist.

http://mikewest.net/cds/index.html

He's got quite a few samples to listen to. I recommend 'American Jeans' from Oddities & Rarities, 'catch up' from econoline, and 'my old man' from race that train; but it's all awesome

:: VEGA :: said...

Hi Erin:

Thank you for leaving a comment on my blog. Your creations are beautiful and I'm really enjoying reading your blog ~ what a fantastic life!... Luna is coming up great!

p.s. Luna (moon) is one of my favorite names :)

blessings.