Blast from the Past

I am still working diligently on perfecting my Machu Picchu Post, I have been very happily distracted from the internet in Southern California because of my amazing friends (old and new) and an incredible awesome wedding. Congrats Sara and Yaniv!!!! But I thought I would throw the last post i did off my first blog… a dedication to my van, how I miss you!!!! I am going to try to re-create the Van out of a U-Haul truck… Wish me luck 😀
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This one goes out to the one I love, this one goes out to the one I will leave behind.

It was quite the Journey. The first leg of my World Tour has been a great success and I owe it all to my beautiful Van. She never broke down on me; she never ran out of gas; I couldn’t have asked any more of her.

I don’t like getting attached to “things” but she was more then just a thing to me, she was my rock, my home, she protected everything I owned! She was the most dependable car I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with, I only put 6000 miles on her, but it was in a very short time and she handled it like a champ.

Here are a couple links for Posterity:

Pics of all the Ins and Outs: http://s290.photobucket.com/albums/ll263/thegriffpb/Amazing%20Van/?start=all

YouTube Walk Thru: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAJq49u_Gek

Despite my desire to bring her with me to Peru, my friends, family and own research has suggested that driving thru Mexico is too risky.

http://neglectedwar.com/blog/archives/8538

A couple weeks ago I bought a one way ticket to Quito (with a 6-day layover in Peru). I plan on traveling for years and years so I don’t know if I am coming back to the states. Sadly I must sell the van.

So I thought I would recount the good times I had with my lovely van.

I met her in Tacoma, she needed a new carburetor and power steering pump. I took her up to Seattle and did my due diligence make her feel young again.

We sold everything we could and crammed way too much stuff into every crevice she had and left Seattle on Aug 19th the first few stops were with family, We only needed to enjoy her comfy full size bed in Lyle (B), in Spokane(C) I left my VW Rabbit with my brother and gave my full devotion to my glorious Van. In Wyoming (D) I finished building her Awning.

Then off to her new Mecca, Black Rock City (E). This van loved the Playa, amazingly her Awning held up in the sandstorms no problem! With the propane stove and the battery bank in the back this van was destined for the Playa and She told me she must go back to Burning Man.

Then She took through Southern Oregon, Hot Springs (F), Klammath Falls (G) for her own spa treatment, CouchSurfing in Ashland (H). Then we hit the California Coastline and never looked back. Camping and hiking thru the Redwoods (I) and then continuing down Hwy 1 thru the twists and turns along California’s most amazing coastline filling up her 10 gal water tank with delicious chlorine and floride free spring water(J) only to wake up the next day in a studio apartment in the city, AKA covert camping in San Fransisco (M). Every morning waking up and walking only a couple blocks away from my lovely van to grab Dim Sum in ChinaTown. We Visited a friend from the Burn in Sac-town, then drove back to SF for more dim sum, yum yum!

We Left SF hugging the coastline the whole way, catching an amazing sunset in Monterey (N)

The Big Sur was AWESOME, and we made camp one last time in Santa Barbara (O) before hitting our main destination, Hermosa Beach (T), Where Eddie and Sanjeevi welcomed us into their awesome apartment actually on hwy 1 (known as PCH in these parts) just a few blocks off the beach, She has been loving this hwy!

She took us on one more adventure, After staying in Hermosa beach for a couple weeks, we ventured out to have the Vegas experience (Q), Hike the Grand Canyon(R) and to refill our water tank and buy a sweet shirt in Sedona (S).

On our way back we swung by the Sultan Sea (Google wouldn’t add anymore destinations). While in search of some infamous Mud Pots, we
got stuck in some surprising deep sand, but luckily some creepy locals came buy and dug us out in 30 min or less… This was the only time she ever needed help.

We made it back to Hermosa Beach, and now she lays dormant. She wants to go to San Diego, but I’m not sure if it’s going to happen with me. Maybe her next owner.

Special thank you’s go out to my dad for helping me build her awning and to my buddy Aaron for helping me build her battery bank.

Thank you Van, I will remember you forever.