Portland Update

Hi all! Here's our new spot in Portland... doesn't she look purdy? We've neglected to update our bus blog lately, but only because our new town is so distracting! There is so much going on here and we are having a blast so far.

We're super excited about our new spot. Erin has a sweet sewing studio in the house, we put a garden in the backyard, and we get to play with our housemate's dog all the time. It was a tight squeeze getting her backed in there for sure, but Erin kept her cool while we blocked traffic for an hour or so. :)

Anyway, just wanted to give a quick update to let you all know we are alive and well enjoying the Spring changes here in PDX. Our neighborhood is chock-full of hidden rigs, so stay tuned for an Alberta Arts District bus tour!

Much love,
Julia

Paint Job Possibilities!

We want to paint the bus soon!

I was out there yesterday spray painting over the final vestiges of "MILO ADVENTIST ACADEMY" and "M.A.A." because I was sick of looking at it. Turns out WD-40 is killer for taking the adhesive nasties off our bus. I used it earlier when some duct tape left marks on the side of our bus...not sure how eco it is...I'm guessing not very...but it definitely works.

Ok, don't laugh at my silly photoshop drawings. It's REALLY HARD to freehand on that thing!!!! I'm going for a victorian thing here. But it ended up looking more gypsy than victorian. Go figure. The blue/red/yellow thing may also get a shot of green at some point. I think that would really cement the period look of it.

So this is the panel we'd like to do in the rear arch....(she is Luna, after all!)


One option...blue extending down to the ground....note the sun panel in the front!


Another option....just a blue stripe with some accent stripes. Paint is *expensive* after all. This is the "economy" option. The guy at the paint shop recommended spray paint for this endeavor...more research to be done. If we do use the kind of spray paint we were looking at, just the stripe would set us back $75-$80. I'm guessing I would do the sun in acrylics and seal it with something? We don't have the money just yet one way or the other so this is all speculative. In any event, the economy paint job could always lead into other paint jobs down the road.....exhibit A:


Here's the serous paint job. The investment paint job. I would need a team of hippies to make this one happen....which might be possible this summer.

In the end, I think we're going to start with the sun and moon and go from there. We are hoping to go and camp outside the Dead and the Allman Brothers at the Gorge Ampitheater this May (WOOOO!) and I'd like to put a little bling on the bus before this very exciting event. However, if we can't get the veg conversion done by then, we estimate gas from Portland to the Gorge to be $165 round trip. Plus $45 camping. (Plus waaaay too much money for tickets. Hence camping outside.) Several friends may be coming, too, which would cut costs but still...at this rate we don't have the money.

BUT Julia has two job interviews this week!!!!!!! Fingers crossed!!!!!!!

<3 <3 <3

Love to all out there!

Erin

Moving to Portland!

Hi all - many changes are afoot. Last time we posted, we were tucked away in the Santa Cruz hinterlands... but since then we've decided to change scenery and move to Portland!!

Staying in Santa Cruz was wonderful and I think it was exactly what we needed to get re-oriented and figure out which direction we wanted to go in. We were blessed to be staying with a group of wonderful folks in Bonny Doon who gave an unexpected and grand send-off with much love, farm-fresh eggs, flowers and pastries. Thanks guys, you're wonderful!

Erin and I are super excited to be moving to Portland - it just seems like it will be a hub of the kind of activities we want to get involved with. DIY and crafting, sustainability and community organizing, etc.

Anyway, we drove our bus up the 101 a few days ago. We took about three days to come up and got to revisit some of our favorite spots that we discovered on our last trip some months ago. It was interested to see how the landscape has changed from peak summer to winter.


We re-visited our favorite free campsite called Madrona along the Smith River and Hwy. 199. This is where we had our magical encounter with our house-bus inspiration Michael.


The river was about 3 times as full as last time and it was roaring!



Oh! Another exciting bus modification happened. While at our stop-over in Santa Rosa, I think we fixed our leaking window issues once and for all. The answer...

Gutters!

Here's a pic of Erin's latest temporary interior decorating masterpiece. We've been doing a lot of insulating with that foil covered bubble wrap insulation called reflectix so there's been a lot of silver to cover up.

Anyway, we're now in Eugene and we're planning on moving our bus up to Portland any day now. We found a couple of really awesome houses to park at up there and we're just trying to decide which one to go for.

We're excited for our move and will update again soon when we get settled. Love to everyone!

Storms, leveling and tarps

It all started with this...



Back at our old spot in the Santa Cruz mountains, we knew we had some bus-leveling to do. This time we decided to try a new tactic: digging out underneath the tire (as opposed to rolling onto boards or using a bottle jack). It was working great until we discovered that we had dug just a little too deep and were un-level the other way!

So we fell back to the tried and true rolling method:


We got it pretty much just level enough, unnoticeable on the inside. Last time we were here, we discovered that at the particular angle our bus was at, when it rained, the water dripped right onto the deteriorating window seal. This of course caused the epic flooding of a few months ago. We caulked that side up good and tight. Lesson #247: never postpone finishing a job. We didn't caulk the other side of our bus at that time because we knew that we would be coming back to this spot with that particular angle..... but now, of course, with our "superior" leveling we're tilted just slightly the OTHER way!

So the inevitable:


Erin's mom was a genius and suggested we use a clear tarp to cover our solar panels so that we wouldn't lose precious battery charging. But, without grommet holes, it makes it a bit tricky to secure. Hence our highly evolved tarping/bungie/weight method.


Anyway, it is an ongoing challenge to keep our little abode dry. Other water issues we've been battling of late include increased condensation on the metal interior, a non-draining grey water hose (cheap hoses apparently stay permanently kinked), wet firewood, etc. Wish us luck with the forecasted 60 mph winds tonight... I can't wait for Spring!

A few other exciting developments:



Since we have access to a bathroom where we are parked right now, we decided to convert our bathroom to a closet (temporarily)! Woo.


Erin finally fixed our range fan and mounted this sexy switch.

Stay tuned for furniture renovations in the near future.

- Julia

Tips on living without refrigeration

We're back in Santa Cruz, tucked away in a lovely mountain nook, working out kinks in our home on wheels, looking for work, and trying to plan deep into the future (with variable success).

We have exciting bus project updates to share, but that will have to wait until we actually get around to taking some pictures. In the meanwhile, I thought I'd share a few tips about living without refrigeration, for anyone else out there who might be curious about the possibilities.

Our experiment with non-refrigeration actually started by accident. When we arrived in California about five months ago, we were horrified to discover that block ice costs about twice as much down here than in Oregon. Ack! It's about $5-6 dollars for two ice blocks here, which run out in about 3 days. That realization coupled with with a 30 min - 1 hr city bus ride home (with leaking ice all over the bus floor) made it just a little too inconvenient and pricey.

Luckily, we discovered that if you are a bit more discerning in your purchases and put a little more planning into your meals, you can most definitely do without a fridge! The main change that has to take place is giving up some sweet luxury (yet perishable) food items. The main foods we have to do without are milk, yogurt, and extra soft cheeses like cream cheese. Jelly and jam also doesn't last that long before it starts growing mold, but you might have a couple days of jelly overdose.

I think it also goes without saying that they'll be no frozen food items or ice cream either, at least not on a regular basis. Boo.

It turns out that eggs and butter are pretty much good to go for quite a long while at room temp. Of course if it gets really hot, you may have melted butter everywhere, so be warned. Also, hard cheeses like cheddar last a while too (maybe about a week?). Plus, you can always cut off any suspicious looking parts. Foods preserved in vinegar like capers, kalamata olives and pickles seem to be ok without refrigeration after opening. Mustard too. Your nose and eyes are key allies in rooting out any possible spoilage.

If you've really got to have a spot of milk in your tea, or in a bowl of cereal, dried milk works just fine. It may not be the most tasty, but it does the job. Plus, you don't have to feel too deprived, because you can still buy such perishable items, you just have to make sure you eat them FAST! For example, I recommend the single serving containers of yogurt for a treat. Pre-made salad dressing might not do so well, but a dash of olive oil and balsamic vinegar is all you really need!

Vegetables will last a long while too, and with a little fore-planning, non-refrigeration won't be an issue for them either. Lettuces and leafy greens probably wilt the fastest, so make sure you just get enough for a few days to a week at a time. I have found that actual heads of lettuce last longer than those bags of mixed greens. Beets and cabbage are especially good at staying fresh without refrigeration. Again, the trick is to just keep an eye on them, and eat your foods in a timely manner. Keeping veggies in a cooler part of your house can also help - we have started keeping our veggies in a bag/box under the bed, which seems to always stay very cold.

The last thing to consider is left overs. This doesn't have to be a major problem either. Instead of making enough food to last a week, we tend to make enough beans/rice/veggies to last about 2-3 days, which seems to work fine.

Come summer-time when our entire bus becomes an oven, our non-refrigeration scheme may not hold up as much. We'll have to see.

I'm sure there's many more tricks to this, so if anyone has anything to share, we'd love to hear it!

Buses, Biofuels and Climate Change

I just finished reading Vandana Shiva’s book Soil Not Oil: Environmental Justice in an Age of Climate Crisis. Shiva’s work has been an inspiration to me ever since I read her book about ecofeminism. Her writings talk about science, sustainability, economic theory, social justice, and feminism in an accessible and articulate way – for anyone interested in these topics, I highly recommend her work!

The issue of global warming has been on my mind for some time now. Pondering the immense changes that humanity now faces sometimes makes me feel paralyzed – there’s just so much to be done! For myself, I have found it productive to think of the climate crisis as an opportunity towards community transition to sustainability.

I am often dismayed by the popular solutions to this issue, like nuclear energy, carbon trading, and geo-engineering. Shiva’s book reaffirmed for me the need to break out of the limited choices put before us by the corporate establishment – we must continue to seek our own answers that are rooted in re-localization, self-reliance, and resiliency.

The whole point of this post was to actually talk about biofuels, since it directly relates to skoolies! When Erin and I first grasped upon the idea that we too could convert and live in a bus some three or so years ago, doing a WVO-conversion on our diesel engine was a key component. In fact, we decided early on that in making the choice to fully enjoy the benefits of living in a rolling home, it was essential to take the necessary steps to ensure that our choice impacted the environment as little as possible (especially since the automotive and construction industries are both notorious polluters).

Our plan has always been to do a full conversion so that we can run our bus on straight veggie oil. However, we've always wanted to leave the option open to use biodiesel too. It might be encouraging to read about how nations around the world are starting promote biofuels as a means to curb global warming. I am realizing, though, that it is becoming more important than ever to make a distinction between local, sustainably-produced biofuels and the growing global industrial biofuel industry. It turns out that industrial biofuel production actually continues to jeopardize people's food and water security and the planet's ecosystems and climate.

Industrial biofuel production requires deforestation and the conversion of lands used to produce food to fuel. It is heavily reliant on monoculture and genetically modified crops that in the end destroy biodiverstiy and serve to benefit large corporations, not small farmers. These crops require massive inputs of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, water, and fossil fuel itself. Industrial biofuels maintain a car-centered infrastructure, contributing little to fuel efficiency or more sustainably designed communities

When faced with such facts, it's hard to know which direction to take. I think we all desire to limit our contribution to pollution and global warming as we drive to work or visit our friends and relatives (or travel in our housebus!). But we also want to support real, long-term solutions to the converging crises humanity now faces.

Industrial biofuels are not a solution to global warming. They are a means for the automotive and agribusiness industries – those most responsible for the climate crisis – to continue to pollute and expand their profits.

I feel the key concepts here are decentralization, local community control, ecological biodiversity, and a resiliency rooted in diversity. I am excited to participate in ongoing conversations about how to foster this kind of energy program, especially with other bus-folks who may be thinking similar things! Obviously, addressing the question of energy and biofuels cannot be an isolated endeavor, but must be integrated in the full dynamics of sustainable community transition.

Onward to exciting vagabond DIY energy adventures!

Bus Project Brainstorm

Now that Holiday Market is over and Erin and I are finally starting to come out of our recuperative period, we've been dreaming a lot about all the exciting things we want to accomplish on our bus! Though we haven't had time quite yet to delve in (besides tidying and cleaning), we have a pretty extensive list of projects that we'll be undertaking in the near future.

Up until leaving Eugene, our main focus was getting the "main systems" in place - making her a functioning living space. Now that we've had a chance to really live in our bus full-time and travel a bit, we're about ready to start the "tricking out" process. Well, before that actually, there's still a few function issues to be smoothed out, as I expect there'll always be. To get us started, I thought I would share our rough brainstorm of the projects at hand. In no particular order:

• Tile around wood stove and on kitchen counter - we're ready to replace all that grey Wonderboard with some color and texture! Plus, I think our bare wood kitchen counter has about had it from all the sudsy water from the sink, uck. While in Santa Rosa, we scored some sweet recycled tile at the local ReStore perfect for the project.

• Fix range/oven issues - the range fan still needs to be tweaked and the oven is mysteriously not working either.
  

• Install our 3-way mini fridge we scored at Bring - this project probably won't happen for a while since our fridge is in Oregon and we are now in California. Interestingly, we've pretty much been living without refrigeration completely this winter. All it takes is not buying milk and eating your veggies pretty soon after you buy them! We'll see how that goes come summer-time though...

• Extend couch - we've been re-designing our whole living room zone. We took out the sewing table corner and are changing the space up in exciting ways. Making the couch zone more comfy is a key ingredient of this.

• Carpentry finishing work - this includes putting some sweet doors on our cabinets to start, but also finishing all those rough edges to our novice and hasty construction job. Also, we still have that pile of recycled hardwood oak flooring we want to put down! Other small jobs like making our kitchen table a few inches shorter, putting up a few more shelves, the list goes on...
  

• Re-design clothing closet system - we've realized that two people actually need quite a decent amount of space to store their clothes. The main thing we are lacking is some kind of closet rod to hang our jackets and some precious garments of Erin's... but where??

• Re-vamp some electrical kinks - this involves installing a DC plug so we can charge our computer more efficiently, rigging up a sweet stereo system, finally covering up all our dangling wires, perhaps investigating some new lighting fixtures and/or investment in a strand of 12v LED lights to make it super cozy.

• Finish ceiling details - our bus-friend Michael that we met on the Smith River had ingeniously used a cloth tapestry as a ceiling covering (instead of paint or wood, etc.) This is a very exciting idea for such a fiber-lover as Erin! Now we just have to find the right tapestry and a nifty non-toxic glue to attach it with.

• Streamline fresh & grey water systems - we want to create a fresh-water fill nozzle on the outside of the bus. Also, we are very much looking forward to finding a more permanent spot where we can build an experimental constructed wetlands to process our grey water! No more yucky smelling grey water to empty...

• Beautify the driver's cab - self explanatory. This also involves finding a more convenient and permanent location for all our tools (right now they ride right under the passenger's (me) feet when we drive... a little awkward).

• Build a sweet roof rack/deck.

• WVO conversion!!

Well I'm sure there are a million more things to be accomplished, but this is a start. We will keep you all updated on our progress. First thing up - re-designing the living room zone. We've already started on this and hope to post pictures soon.

Thanks to everyone's patience as we slowly get back into sharing our bus-life adventures after a short hibernating hiatus.

All our love.

Our Blogs are Getting Divorced.

YES YES YES!! Yay!!!!!!!!!!! I can't tell you how many hours of work it took me to transition to my site!! I'm still selling stuff through Etsy, still blogging about my housebus here but now I'm going to be able to blog about craftiness in my very own craft blog. I also got my portfolio up so that everyone can see all the best stuff I've made over the last couple years. WOOOO!!!

Patchworkunderground.com (the new one) was also my first foray into Wordpress so we'll see how that goes. So far, so good...sort of. I sure learned alot. I'm not one of those gals who can just deal with a pre-made theme so messing with the code to get it all just right was a learning experience...that...took...forever. I'm used to just good ol' html but this was god-knows-what and databases and all those fancy bells and whistles. Phew. Hopefully the worst is over. (Thanks to Allegra's fiance, Alyn, for giving me a friendly hand in a moment of sheer blog crisis!!!)

In the meanwhile, check it out and let me know what you think. I was also able to update a lot of our links and blogrolls (on this blog and the new one) so I apologize for slacking on that. It's not personal - we love you all!

xoxox, erin

Woodcut Mini-Journals and Cards

Here's some new purdy pictures I took of our latest block print/woodcut mini-journals and cards. I carved all of them except for the sun and river one - that one is Julia's! Once I got her started, she was the primary book-binder/printer. (I was too busy sewing!!)



I want to post them on my Etsy store but there are so many different color combinations (we made a BUNCH....seriously) that I'm overwhelmed by cataloging it all for folks' shopping pleasure....in the meantime, you can see more of my photoshoot here.

Phew...Holiday Market is Over!

After 7 days of vending here in Eugene at the Holiday Market, all I wanna do is curl up in bed with a cuppa tea and my computer. I talked to enough people in those 7 days to last me all year!! Here's our annual market family portrait...me and Julia are hiding there on the left towards the back, wearing hats. We are tiny!


We didn't lose money at market this year but we made about 1/5th of what we'd hoped. Crafting is risky business, especially with the economy the way it is. We were trying out a lot of new designs for the first time so that was a gamble. People really seemed to like the stuff but not the price tag. We're beginning to wonder if handmade clothing is the right direction for us at all. Watching our neighbors sell $10 sweatshop t-shirts all day is kinda demoralizing.

Our biggest sellers were our flower headscarves and the regular fleece/felt scarves - (Both under $20).

It didn't help that it was snowing and icing for the better part of the market. Here in Oregon we're snow wussies...just a few inches and no one wants to drive or go anywhere.

It was really nice to meet up with a lot of our crafty friends here in Eugene. We miss the sense of community you get at market - everyone choosing a different path together, supporting each other, celebrating successes and trying to figure out how to remedy failures. It actually makes you feel like you're not crazy for trying to follow your dreams!

In other news, I wiped out on the ice while carrying one of my booth's tubs and dislocated my finger. Obviously, I can still type!! Oh, poor fingy - it went sideways at the second knuckle down and I had to go to the ER to get them to put it right again. Hopefully I'll be playing banjo again within a few weeks.

I'm so thankful that it wasn't any worse but all in all, we've been feeling a little unlucky lately. Hopefully things will start lookin' up as we head back to CA. I feel like things have been crazy for a while and I'm looking forward to settling back into a nice comfortable routine in our bus. Mom has been babysitting Luna and taking really good care of her (thanks Mom!!) and I'm excited to get back. Hopefully we'll hear about J's possible job opportunity in Santa Cruz soon, too - then we'll really know what we're doing, when and where. If that doesn't work out....we're thinking roadtrip. Epic roadtrip. =)

New Winter Wrap Skirts at Patchwork Underground!

(Click Here to see the new Skirts!)

Howdy all....as many of you know, our bus building and driving is on seasonal hiatus. The sewing machines are out, the patterns are cut and the X-mas holiday shopping/crafting season is well underway!!! We've been busy bees crafting up a whole new line of wrap skirts, fleece scarves and woodcut journals for everyone's holiday enjoyment.

Once market is all over and we're millionaires (ha ha ha), we're going to knuckle down and get on with the veg conversion. We promise to post details here asap! =)

Santa Cruz Mountains Transitions

Hello everyone! It's been quite a while since we've last posted - bus-life is still good. We've been hunkering-down in the Santa Cruz mountains for the last few months. We thought we'd be well on our way with our veg-conversion by now, but after finally settling and re-orienting here in sunny California, we realized that in fact Holiday Market was just around the corner! We've been busting out tons of new products to sell at this year's crafts fair - we'll be vending Dec. 13-14 and 20-24 in Eugene, OR. Come see us if you're in town!

There hasn't been too much major bus construction since we've been down here, mostly a lot of dreaming and many random repairs. The first big storm we had this Autumn, our wall flooded again. We tried leveling the bus better, but water somehow was still getting down into the wall and making all our lovely eco-insulation soggy. We've had to take the wall down more times than I care to recall now and air things out. But, I think we finally figured out the problem. We think that when the bus is even just a tiny bit un-level, water drips right into the side window channels and overflows the inside ledge. We did some more caulking so hopefully we won't have any more troubles.

Other miscellaneous bus things - we replaced our composting toilet vent-cap finally. No more funky back draft when we drive. Another dream/plan that's been in the works: once we get a more settled spot, we're going to build a small scale constructed wetlands to treat our grey water! I did some initial research about this and it is quite excited. Once we seriously get into it I'll post more specifics.

We've been keeping things toasty warm with our wood-stove. We scored a nice stash of firewood. Here's a pic of it it keeping dry underneath the homestead:



Well, that's it for now. The last few months we've been mountain-living home-bodies. It's been nice. We're both looking forward to figuring out our next steps after Holiday Market (it is pretty all-consuming at this moment). Many warm solstice wishes to everyone!!

- Julia

Patchwork goodies make the wheels on our bus go round and round....

We are alive and well in the Santa Cruz mountains staying with one of our bestest friends, David. Lately, most of our time has been taken up with minor bus repairs/improvements and long (city) bus rides into town. Veggie conversion is imminent. Funding is necessary hence the plug for my biz...I've been sewing a lot lately....how many head scarves before we can afford a 12v inline heater? hmm.... Plans have been drawn and will be uploaded very soon for your enjoyment! And now, a word from our sponsers. Us. =)

............

New Stuff at patchworkunderground.com !

Felt flower headscarves and patchwork headscarves and $20 corduroy shoulder bags...Oh my!

I'm stoked to finally have my gorgeous flower and patchwork headscarves online! I've been selling these locally at Saturday market and people really seem to enjoy them. I haven't seen one person try them on and look bad....you just can't. How can you go wrong with a big ol' felt flower? You just can't help but smile. =)

Also....my infamous $20 corduroy shoulder bags are online now too!! These babies are awesome. Small pocket is for goodies, big pocket is big enough for books and a few apples. Serged seams reinforced in key spots with frayblock AND the extra-long strap is extra-secured with lots of reinforced stitching. Cheap: yes! Twinky? HECK NO!

Hope folks enjoy the new stuff!

<3>

Tales from the Road

Julia here with Erin taking over somewhere in the middle.

Well, the first part of our road adventure has come to a close. We arrived in Santa Rosa, CA on Monday after many days anchoring out in the weird and beautiful spots of Oregon and California. We took so many random pictures that we put them into an album you can link to from the Flickr icon on the right side of this blog.

Let's see if I can recount some of our journey from where we left off on the last post. We spent the weekend before this last one out on the Rogue River just outside of Grants Pass. We thought we would stay at this one free BLM spot, but after we got back from town that Friday, our amazing isolated paradise had been inundated with drunk guys. So we decided to suck it up and pay out for two nights at a nearby state campground, Indian Mary.

It was a pretty silly place with many gawking RVers but it was good to not worry about drunk people messing with us and fill up our water tank. We learned that the park used to belong to "Indian Mary" herself and it apparently was famous for being the smallest reservation in the country. Her father was granted the land when he snitched out his tribe's planned attack on a nearby village. She ran a ferry for settlers across the Rogue River for a time until they built a bridge and put her out of business. The bridge fell within a year (wonder why?) but they built a new one. Then the state took her riverside reservation and made an RV park out of it.

After two nights there, we moved to another free spot further up the river on Sunday night, above Rand Boat ramp. Had the place to ourselves. First thing Monday morning, we headed over to Pacific Truck and Trailer just before Merlin Rd. hits I-5 and got our air brake hose fixed. Super easy. $50 installed. From there, we headed down to Grants pass to try and score a California Atlas - we've been having lots of fun with our atlases. Walmart et al was sensory overload after being in the woods for days. We got out of there in a hurry.

Before choosing our destination for the night, we briefly entertained the idea of visiting one of the women's land farms in Oregon. We found a listing for one called Womanshare outside of Grants Pass. They were very nice on the phone but said that 32 feet is pushing it for their turn-around. Next time we really want to plan our trip around women's lands but it didn't work out this time. Onward. We broke off at Grants Pass onto the 199 S. that would eventually hook up with 101 S. We made it as far as Cave Junction that first day and parked behind Puff n' Stuff to stock up on food, diesel and ice. Never seen so many methheads in one grocery store but, hey, they had organic tortilla chips.

We took the Oregon Caves Hwy for a few miles and camped at Grayback campground for the night. The campground host was pretty awesome and filled us in on some of the local history. We learned that there was a huge influx of hippies that came to the area in the late 60's to set up "mining claims" up and down the river. We've been hearing for a while that getting a mining claim was (and is?) a cheap and easy way to get a piece of land. The forest service wasn't too enthusiastic about the homemade cabins springing up along the river so in 1968, Johnson wrote the Wild and Scenic River Act. I think the Rogue River got included into it in 1971. They took away back-to-the-landers spots and hired other hippies to burn down all the cabins and scatter all the stones from the fences. I had never heard about this kind of thing before and thought it was pretty interesting. Yet another example of the system polarizing two issues to keep the movement down: environmental protection vs. alternative living.

The campground host who told us all this history had his cabin burned down, too, even though the old time miners "took a shining to him" (his words) and assured the forest service that he was actually in the creek panning everyday and that he was producing enough mineral to be legit according to the prudent man act. All true. Fast forward - now our gracious host is a world renowned camp ground host and mushroom expert - check out his website: http://www.matsiman.com.

We did a lot of thinking about all this history as we continued our journey. We decided to camp just past Grayback up a forest service road for the next night. I did some sewing to bulk up stock and get ready for a website update and we listened for passing cars. You could hear them coming miles away from where we were. The second night we got spooked by two drunk guys in a pickup truck driving like maniacs, whipping around the forest, passing us and slowing down and speeding away up a split road, racing back down and cruising us again.

We camped at Grayback again and then left in the morning, picked up ice in Cave Junction and decided not to go to the Hope Mountain Barter Faire for lack of funds. Then we cruised down into CA and stopped at a free campground called Madrona, next to the Smith river, where we met Micheal and his bus. Micheal's been living in his bus for the last 30 years and it is a life work. He was a really awesome guy and a total inspiration to us. We have renewed bus building energy and got a lot of good ideas on bus decorations and destinations from him. Seeing Micheal and his bus really reaffirmed our passion for buses and bus people. We feel lucky and blessed to have gotten the opportunity to meet an old timer who hasn't given up or forgotten joy. Thanks Micheal!! Oddly enough, Micheal also talked about mining claims and noted better times for busfolk before "our rights were taken away" by the Forest Service. I guess we were not the hardcore hippie historians we thought we were because here was a huge hole in our historical knowledge. Fellow novice hippie historians take note. More research to be done?

After swimming in the Smith River and hanging out at Madrona for 2 days, we moved on to the redwoods. We camped first at Prairie Creek and then at Burlingame in the Humbolt Redwood Forest. The redwoods are completely amazing - not even gonna try to describe them here. We even saw elk! AND Wowie! CA campgrounds are so much fancier than OR campgrounds. Hot, spa-like tiled showers? Free maps, information brochures and adequate (excessive?) signage that actually tells you what is happening on trails? PHONES? Visitor's centers? Recycling bins? It was all great until...$8 firewood?! $10 6-packs?! Ahh, California. How I'd forgotten.

We got more and more anxious as we drove closer to the Bay Area. People started cutting in front of the bus, using any old lane for passing and generally being silly drivers. The roads were the worst we'd seen on the whole trip - rutted and bumpy doesn't really cover how they feel in the bus. And then, getting closer to Santa Rosa - dead stop on the 101 in the middle of the freeway. I forgot that's normal.

The trip in a nutshell: most fun we've had in a long time. Bringing your home with you wherever you go is mindblowing in ways we didn't expect; the bus makes a lot of people really excited and happy and when it doesn't its pretty funny; there is a significant portion of the middle aged population who respond to the bus with an instinctive peace sign; bus people love to see other bus people; hitchhikers feel totally entitled to a ride on your big hippy bus and take it pretty hard if you reject them; diesel is cheaper in CA.

Anyway, we are very excited to get to Santa Cruz on Monday and start in on our veggie conversion so stay tuned! Many veggie details to come....

On the Road Again...for the First Time!

Day #4 of our adventures in goin' south!

Right now we're in an internet cafe in Merlin, OR outside of the Rouge River BLM land near Grants Pass, OR. We're having an awesome time - it feels so good to be out and about experiencing our home in all these different places. Much relaxation happening.

I'm also getting lots of driving practice in! She can sort of keep pace with the semis on the I-5. The only fatalities so far are the many bugs caught in our radiator.



Here's our first camping spot on the North Umpqua river off of hwy 138.





We were planning on taking 138 through to Crater Lake and hooking onto the 97. Unfortunately, there's a big wildfire up in those parts and the road is blocked! Travelers take note!

While we were there we hiked up to see the "McDonald homestead"....it was 4 miles uphill but it was worth it!



After camping there 2 nights, we went up to the road closure on the 138 to figure out what the heck was going on with all this smoke, fire and closed road rumors. We thought they would tell us that the road would open in a couple days. We were wrong. They told us it might be weeks before the road opened because the fire was only "8/30 contained" (whatever that means) and to turn around and backtrack back to the I-5 . We turned her around and sent our best wishes for a safe and swift end to the fire. The folks up in Dry Creek are worried about losing their homes to this thing.

So we backtracked and drove a couple hours south on the I-5 to the Rogue River BLM land outside of Merlin. Awesome! Washed my hair in this river. =)

Our sweet parkin' spot....


The bad news is that we need a new air hose for our front left brake. We were idiots and let it get worn on this loose access flap that should have been secured better. Ooops. Now we know what "that noise" was. Its not leaking air (yet) but we want to get it fixed. Tried to do it here in Merlin but we were told it would be best to go on to this truck stop in Medford where they can make up the hose for us on the spot. We're going to stay over here for the weekend until Monday and make an early morning push then for Medford with a watchful eye on the air pressure. =)

We are really wanting a 12v fan in the cockpit right about now.....

Thanks all for the encouragement! xoxoxoo

Will keep ya'll updated.

Preparing for Departure

Ooooo-ooo: prudy new tires and wheels!!



Annnd....we got our first tag! Thanks for nothing "husk."

My fellow Americans, I ask you: When will we stop selling fatty sharpies to rouge middle schoolers?

Anyway, we're going to paint it over (white) and paint all our lovely "chrome" (read: sheet metal) accents to match at the same time. We want to get it done today before we leave in an effort to make the bus less scary-looking.



In addition to getting new tires, we took the bus to Schweitzer's automotive to get the rear differential oil level checked and also have someone look at the transmission. It was acting weird...maybe?...we weren't sure so we thought it might be prudent to have someone look at it. The rear diff thing was Spencer's idea. The guys at Shweitzer's turned out to be very cool. The rear diff was fine (we could have checked it ourselves....oh well...just trying to be cautious this first time around) and the tranny was fine except some anonymous idiot (me) over-filled the fluid. Good to know. =)

Enough about other people messing with our bus. Back to us monkeys. In addition to painting those less desirable parts of our bus today, we are also going to replace our hood support wire. You can see in the pic here that its just hanging on by a thread...


Yesterday we replaced our engine temp gauge. Here's the broken one:


Here's the back of it...turns out that the wire coming into the bottom of it isn't a wire at all...its a tiny tube....filled with ether?!....that can be really nasty if you cut into it. (Thanks for letting me know, friendly Knechts guy!) Guess who came ::this close:: to cutting into it before she knew better? Just goes to show...if you don't know...don't cut it.


Here's where that ether tube connects into the back of the engine.


So we bought a replacement gauge at Knechts. The tube and the gauge are all one thing - they can't be disconnected from one another. That means we had to replace the whole thing.

We struggled for a while to try to get that bushing on the engine undone but eventually gave up...goddamn it was tight and in a *&^%ed up spot...and we didn't have the right sized wrench...(note to self: get complete wrench set NOW) ...luckily there happened to be a house guest staying with Julia's mom who not only had the right wrench but was also stronger than us. Yay.

But once it was installed, we weren't sure if it was working. Rev the engine as we might, it wasn't moving.

So we took the bus up over the hill out to Lane Community College...it's sort of a pseudo-freeway to get out there so that was good practice. We topped out at about 30 mph going up that hill. (Seriously.) I see a lot of driving-in-the-slow-lane-with-my-hazards-on in my future.

We also got to test out the lower gears. Don't ask me why they designed it like this but it's a stretch to reach the gear shifter from the driver's seat. I felt lucky to have such a competent co-pilot next to me because Julia was shifting gears for me like a pro. (Don't forget, its an automatic, folks!)

Lo and behold, sometime during the drive the engine temp gauge sprung to life. We were hovering around 180 degrees the whole time which seems good to me.

So once the sketchy parts of our bus are painted over and that little wire is replaced, we'll be good to go. I finally caved to the pressure and agreed to get a pre-paid cellphone for emergencies. (I hold it 3 feet away from me and use it with the speakerphone on....and keep it turned off the rest of the time...you know they can't prove it's dangerous....but they can't prove its safe either!) Also on our to-do list: clean the garage (total disaster area), sort out our tools, load up extra stuff we need to take down to CA for storage, clean cockpit (its covered in a good layer of grease/dust), install the bike rack thingy on the back of the bus, buy a decent CA/Oregon atlas and go food shopping.

Our estimated time of departure from Eugene is tomorrow or the next day depending on how fast we can get our stuff together.

Exciting!

A quick word from Julia: We're planning on driving east from Eugene on Hwy 58 and then hook up with hwy 97 so that we can check out Eastern Oregon a bit on the way down (and avoid some of the intense mountain passes on the I-5). That route hooks back up to the 5 around Weed. We want to take our time and do a little tripping around, so if anyone knows of any cool spots to stop on the way down we'd love to hear about it! This will be our first experience taking the rig on the road, finding places to park over night, and hopefully even doing some nature boondocking. Let us know if you have any tips! thanks.

Out and About

So, after battening down the hatches, we moved the bus out of what we have lovingly called "the hole."

This is a view from the hole...looking down the 90 degree bend in the driveway and out onto the street, where we have temporarily parked the bus.


As some of you know, this is what happened last time I tried to drive up this driveway:




(Note: Our fellow bus friend, Spencer, deserves a shout-out for his heroic manuevering skills that got us out of the hole in one piece this time around. Thanks Spencer!)

After taking her out of the hole, we went straight to Green Eye Automotive in Eugene, OR to have them give us an estimate for doing the veggie conversion. Spent the night. Turns out the dude who owns it sucks. Not only was he trying to rip us off ($3,900?!?!?!?!?????) but he made a point of being a flaming asshole to us while he did it. It was very disappointing to see so little respect for the ladies at such a "progressive" and "enviornmentally friendly" local business. F you, Clark! We're keeping our money and we decided to do it our own goddamn selves. And speaking of bullshit: before we drive it down to CA, we are going to need a new vent cap for the composting toilet. We discovered the hard way that driving with a vent open in 360 degrees causes a back draft. Imagine that...

So yeah, the new plan is to get new wheels and tires ($2200...yikes!) tomorrow at Wyatt's and leave Eugene and make it to CA on regular old evil diesel. It's not ideal. Truth is, we don't have the time or place to convert it here and we've got friends who are interested in helping down in CA so that would make it more fun/educational.

In other news, turns out the stovepipe industry is trying to poison you. After spending a lot of time last winter wondering "what's that other smell?" when I lit up my wood stove, a family friend (thanks, Greg!) let us know that they've recently started painting black stove pipe with nasty paint that releases noxious fumes when it gets hot. Real intelligent. When Greg was installing his wood stove, he spent a day calling around to find what he called "blue pipe" (the old school, non-noxious stuff that got replaced with black pipe) and was unable to find it anywhere. He settled for black pipe and spent an afternoon going over his new pipe with his propane torch to try to do its nasty thing before he put it in his house. After that, the smell went away.

We didn't think we could have enough patience to go over every inch with our torch so we decided to have a bonfire.




We left the pipes in there for a couple hours and made sure that every part of them glowed red by moving them around with sticks every now and then. Boonie, our spiritual leader/kitty also participated.


In still other news, the water mains up the street broke and created a river for a couple hours underneath our bus. Thank goodness for wheel chocks. Never thought I would see water move an asphalt street up 5 inches in the air or see an asphalt water volcano. It was pretty awesome. We also got to see a pageant of the city's International trucks in action. Very exciting.



Tomorrow: new wheels and tires! Bye-bye split rims.