The Car

The car is a ’86 Dodge Ram. But don’t let that fool you. The engine is from ’93. Ancillary parts are from…some time between ’86 and now. I currently call it “Dodgy.” That name is subject to change.

Dodgy was, at some point in its illustrious past, a passenger van. The remnants of individual reading lights and air vents for rows of passengers remind me of that. After shuttling strangers from point A to point B, Dodgy was bought by my uncle, who converted it for family camping trips. It had a refrigerator, a propane tank, a heater, and a second air conditioning unit. And then, it had a 10 year stay in the woods. When I got it, the elements had already gotten to it. The interior was worse for wear but the engine was going strong.

At some point in its 10 year hermitage in the woods, Dodgy had an encounter with some unscrupulous characters who did not consider the effects of jumping on the roof. The resulting structural cave in left Dodgy with a look that we like to call "Grecian," what with the structural support pillars. You can also see the original refrigerator and seats. — At some point in its 10 year hermitage in the woods, Dodgy had an encounter with some unscrupulous characters who did not consider the effects of jumping on the roof. The resulting structural cave in left Dodgy with a look that we like to call “Grecian,” what with the structural support pillars. You can also see the original refrigerator and seats.

After peeling up the carpets, we had a good view of what happens to the floor of an (almost) 30 year old truck: mold. So, we concluded that replacing the carpet was insufficient. We would have to replace the entire flooring.

We believe in family. Family is important. Families are a foundation from which we derive our strength to take on great challenges. And that strength is what has allowed our culture to progress. We do not, however, believe in ant families. Especially squatter ant families. So this little colony of ants that had set up residence where swiftly evicted. — We believe in family. Family is important. Families are a foundation from which we derive our strength to take on great challenges. And that strength is what has allowed our culture to progress.
We do not, however, believe in ant families. Especially squatter ant families. So this little colony of ants that had set up residence where swiftly evicted.

So we took Dodgy and stripped it…

Stripping the van took several days. Here, we had removed the interior walls but were only beginning on the roof and flooring. Not all of the insulation was so easily removed.

Even with most of the interior stripped, what remained was one big cleaning job as we chipped, scrubbed, and sprayed away, wood chips, dirt, and tricksy insulation.

There was a lot of van equipment that had it's time but just did not serve our purposes. The van itself was perfect, but we had our own plans for the interior. So the current occupants had to go. — There was a lot of van equipment that had it’s time but just did not serve our purposes. The van itself was perfect, but we had our own plans for the interior. So the current occupants had to go.

The cat loved the car seats. She loved them. She did not want to let them go.

At this moment, Dodgy has yet to visit a car wash. While the exterior maintains a layer of dirt which has been accumulated over a decade, the interior has been thoroughly scrubbed.

After removing every single creature comfort from the van, we discovered that we were woefully behind schedule. So, with some tarps and rugs over the exposed metal floor, a mattress and our clothes, we took off—first, on a test trip to southern California, then the official, start on our way to the east coast.