All Play and No Work

[Local Apparent Friday]

Pic dump thread for "out there" as we start traveling.  Van had some sort of electrical gremlin going south, I re-secured the battery terminals and removed the DRL relay fuse and we didn't have any issues coming back.  Aired down the tires and took it for a spin on outer banks.  It was a bouncy ride from the rutting, but we made it without issues to the point and back for a couple pics.  She seemed pretty sure footed, although the traction control was pulling power in a couple spots.  Hope you all had a great Independence Day.

 

 

[radin2son]

at the ready no doubt. 

 

Did you use it as a camper or for inspiration? 

[Local Apparent Friday]

Neither...we were staying at a beach house but I have too much to do, so we took the van to A)shake it down after the engine install and B)continue with the work list.

[Local Apparent Friday]

I haven't had a chance to snap pics because we've been running around working on projects and preparing for the week, but the van made the 16 hour drive up the coast without issue.  Hoping to get some sort of bed installed this week, and wife has been making reflective/insulated window coverings.  Hope you all are well.

 

-laf

[radin2son]

? ? 

 

Get some no-seeum screen material for your front door windows. 2 ways to go. 1. Make a screen pillow case to fit over the door frame. Or 2. Use magnets to hold a single layer...

 

But, you may already have done or plan to do this. 

 

Have fun. 

 

 

Edited July 18, 2022 by radin2son

[Local Apparent Friday]

Yah we bought the screen material at the same time as the the window shade stuff.  Going the magnet route.

 

-laf

[Local Apparent Friday]

Made it safely to Maine and got the flooring installed.  Working on getting a bed frame in there, tint appointment in 2 weeks time.  Wife made up the window covers with some neat constellation fabric we found and some reflectix, fabric just covers the inside.  Could have used an iron but, alas, don't have one of those in my toolbox. 

[Local Apparent Friday]

[Local Apparent Friday]

I never take as many photos as I think that I do.  Anyway, a little over 3000 miles over a month and we're back at home base.  I am officially attributing the electrical gremlin referenced in the first post to an improperly seated transmission connector.  I took that apart, cleaned it and put it back together before we left, and I have not had an issue since.  We ran a bunch of sailing programs in Maine.  We swam in an 1800's era swimming hole in the White Mountains of NH. We ate "the best authentic Brazilian burger in Vermont."  We met up with some other NVers to buy a window, went to the bridge from A Wonderful Life, and saw a flaming waterfall in New York.  We found a lake the size of an ocean in Pennsylvania.  Ran a motorcycle race in Pittsburgh, and went to a party on the river in West Virginia.  Truck ran great.  We can sleep in the back now...albeit it's cobbled together.  More coming in the build thread later.  Hope you're all out adventuring.  Anybody recognize the mill building?

 

-laf

[Local Apparent Friday]

Oh yah...got the windows tinted too.  5% on the rears and as1 up, 20% on the front doors, and Air80 on the balance of the windshield.

[radin2son]

Wild guess, Marston Mill. 

 

Window?

 

 

[radin2son]

Still a guess. Ben & Jerry’s. 

 

Rented space in a spool and bobbin mill in Burlington, VT. Looked this part up. 

[Local Apparent Friday]

Very close with the spool and bobbin guess!  We use Atlas Obscura a lot for finding neat things along our path of travel and, as a lover of King's literary work, I couldn't miss this opportunity.  Per the link, Bartlettyarns from Graveyard Shift; Harmony, Maine

 

- laf

 

Edited August 16, 2022 by Local Apparent Friday

[Local Apparent Friday]

This is the current state of affairs for the build, after of course unloading all the stuff from the last month and demunging.

[radin2son]

Marston Mills was an inside joke.

 

As an aside, the Marston family home (Machias, ME) built in 1804, was sold in 1982. It recently came on the market, but sold before we could act. This side of the family begins with John “the Mariner” Marston who arrived in Salem, MA in 1634-7 with his father. John later sailed a Ketche (Returne) from Boston to Barbados. (Ancestry.com has the records impossibly screwed up.) Mariners, farmers and general contractors are part of the heritage. When too cold in Maine, leave the farm and work in Boston. 

 

Good to several builds going on.  

[Local Apparent Friday]

Went right over my head...googled it but found some place in Massachusetts.  Road a bicycle up to E Machias one time from Ellsworth, it was 150 mile round trip.  Pretty area.  Some New Yorker probably bought your house...it's crazy to see how much has changed (hands) since we left.  Maine has a very serious population problem, and it looks like most everyone that could took advantage of NY/CT/MA money to bail out and pack up while they could.  Your heritage sounds a heck of a lot like mine, albeit we set up shop about that time in the Mid-Atlantic region instead of Boston and got into politics as well.

[radin2son]

Marstons in your area as well. Part of the great migration from UK. A NY dentist bought the home in 1982. The new owners are from mid-MA. 

 

We need to get our NV pointed in that direction. 

 

Port Orford, OR is next. Fishing town but also know for its cedar used in boat building. Wouldn’t surprise me if you build sail boats as well...

[Local Apparent Friday]

I try not to build them, just sail.  First boat I ever lived on was a ketch, since then I've sailed mostly traditionally rigged and sometimes wooden vessels from the San Blas Islands in Panama to Quebec city on the St Lawrence.  I repair them if I have to, glass/wood/steel, but building is next level, at least on the size of boats that I'm used to.  It takes large, well funded foundations to get these things afloat.  Oregon sounds fun and cedar smells amazing.  PNW will be a sharp change of scenery for you, it'll be neat to follow along.

 

-laf 

[Local Apparent Friday]

Cruised down to Road Atlanta this past weekend for the WERA endurance races...turns out when the wife drives, we get 15.1 mpg, so that's a fun fact.  Got a whole lot of pictures of racing, but not a lot of the van.  She's chugging along real nicely...got an oil change and front struts coming up soon before we hit the road again.  Maybe even cut the roof and get the fan in.  Hope everyone is well!

 

- laf

[Local Apparent Friday]

Gratuitous van pics abound.  We're bouncing around the Southeast for the month, trying to find relatively warm spots and failing.  I bought a diesel heater, but haven't installed it yet so we're relying on sleeping bags and whatnot.  

[Local Apparent Friday]

A couple more shots of the van.  Had a family medical emergency (everything is ok now) that necessitated that we cut our trip short, so we did the 10 hour drive back the day before yesterday and are back home for the meantime.