Saturday, September 17, 2011

"vandura"

"vandura" is one of our prized vehicles. actually it's a crappy 30yr old van that somehow managed to get us 1000miles across the country. and for that we are very thankful!

currently vandura is being used as a shed. here's a few pics of the beast:



and when i say beast, i really mean beast. jambaloney's friends at work really killed themselves laughing when they saw this thing. it's our first vehicle...can you believe it?



here's some pics of the inside...ya gotta just love the 1980's burgundy! this baby was kept in mint condition by the previous owners...Canadian snowbirds who used it to drive to Florida every winter...ya gotta love them!



yep, that's more burgundy vinyl!



this is towards the back of the van. it has all kinds of shelves and storage built in.



here's the seats, a table fits in between them and these seats fold down into the most uncomfortable bed known to man. we know. we slept on that horrible bed. actually, no, we lay shivering for a few hours just outside of Rigaud, Quebec. jambaloney had just broken the new thermostat so that we had no heat. i was ready to scream.



mint condition. and be sure to check out the burgundy velvet curtains all over the place.



here's the porta potti in it's own little bathroom. we ripped the bathroom door off because the bathroom area provided more storage space.



here's the stove for cooking on the road:



the fridge:



the sink next to the stove (see the velevet curtains?):



sink and stove again:



the counter with storage and a plug:



the loft...teehee...it was pretty squished up there but the cats spent most of their time up there on the drive.



one last look inside:



so that is what we drove to get to our destination. looking back - we should have just flown. but we were worried about how our cats would react to flying. plus the fact that we both hate flying. i have flown pretty much around the world and if i never got in an airplane again it would be too soon. jambaloney hates flying too. so we got vandura and he drove it 1,000 miles, in the winter, in a 6 hour snow storm, in the dark...with only about 45hrs of driving experience. he is a trooper, my jambaloney!

anyway, if you are wondering why we chose to come to this remote little place...here's why:



that's our piece of the Framboise River. and sky. and there is no one around to bug us. isn't it beautiful?

in the near future you can expect posts with us melting snow to flush the toilet, boiling snow and running it through our Berkeys (thank you Berkeys!) for drinking water, washing laundry by hand (thank you Jennifer!) and a whole pile of getting the yard cleared, re-clearing the road (thank you Jimmy!) and a bunch of other fun. hey we got 9 months of fun stuff to fill in on. we hope you enjoy the ride. we did. well, no, not at the time. well okay it pretty much sucked. but we laugh looking back and hope that you will too.

sincerely,
kymber
(p.s. - jambaloney promises to put down the husqvarna, fishing rod, re-curve, throwing knives, shovel and wheelbarrow and a bunch of other stuff in order to start posting soon!)

10 comments:

  1. First my serious comments: It really takes a certain bit of fortitude to leap. Truly. Many speak of someday and long for when they will have a different life...you have actually made your life a verb! May not be easy, and boy muscle groups develop in areas you did not know you had- but you will never regret your decision!


    Now to the jokes: My kids call all vans like this Rape Vans- tinted creepy and perfect to be eViL in! But the velvet curtains made me think-hmm if Hugh Hefner had a travel van and was not a bizillionaire because of his porn magazine, HE would own this van!!

    lol...

    take care and can't wait for the next installment~~
    Jennifer

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  2. Hey, I like the van...bet you guys have some great fishing in the river.

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  3. Jennifer - you just made me spit tea all over the screen! now for my serious comments: it does take a bit of fortitude. but we had it so much easier than alot of people who have come before us. we have been able to learn from those who have come before us, we were able to learn from people like you and that makes ALL the difference. it sure ain't easy and we are becoming even more physically fit - oh and eating even better than we were (the dairy here is all local and rocks!)...but like you, we seem to thrive in our new homestead!

    now on to my jokes: poor jambaloney drove that thing into work and scared his poor under-30 colleagues. they called it "the child molesting van". but when we showed the van to some of the 20-something guys here, they were all "oh man! that's awesome! it's a shaggin-wagon!". we have a couple of young guys here who really love it. it's so funny.

    oh and the hugh hefner thing made me spit more tea. looks like you are going to have to pay to replace it! bahahahahah!

    but thanks for stopping in and leaving your as usual inspiring and uplifting comments. you are a dear friend. the forever kind.

    Stephen - you can borrow that van anytime buddy! and ya - we got some real good eats out of that river. jambaloney goes out all the time in his canoe and is the only one out there. we have been eating fresh trout and potatoes for breakfast since spring. and it is yummy!

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  4. Fresh trout and potatoes....you make my mouth water. Here I'm weeding out the chinese, vietnamese, farm raised from the wild caught in maybe not so poluted waters in the grocery stores. :(

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  5. Tango - he wants to catch more than we can eat. we can freeze alot and smoke alot of fish but if he keeps on the way he is going - we are going to be up to our eyeballs in trout. i would love to send you some....

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  6. Great lesson in interior decorating. Thanks! ;-)

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  7. Sue - burgundy vinyl is making a come-back! i recommend you get out and snatch up as much as you can - soon it is going to be more valuable than gold!!!

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  8. What kind of mileage did that beast get?

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  9. warlock:

    it has a 454 v8 that makes a hell of a noise - we were too much "on the run" to have paid attention to the gas - all i did was keep the tank above half full as we drove like maniacs for 2 days in december to get here through insane weather....

    i think it cost about $300 to cover 1600 km (1000 miles) i doubt we did more that 15-20 mpg...

    but we made it! cheap @ 100 times the price!

    thanks for stopping by!

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  10. oh my - that thing it great!! It reminds me of my 2nd car, a 1970 Ford Maverick - it had the exact same red, and even had plaid seats!!!

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