‘Tis done. I’m now traveling in my new-to-me rig. After tires, brakes, differential fluid and new batteries for solar, I was a lot lighter than when I arrived to pick up the little E-Nuff bus, wallet wise, lol.
First stop was, aptly, Hope, ID. What a beautiful place for the first real road camping I did. It was nice having company for a change as well, as I connected with one of my ‘road kids’. We took a walk to the lakeside to watch the sunset and start naming the stars as they revealed themselves slowly in the night sky. Then back to the bus for a little Ramen Plus, as I like to call it. Ramen plus veggies, or eggs, or canned meat – or sometimes all of the above! Afterwards we sat under the night sky and I watched meteors, including one enormous fireball in the southwestern sky. I have missed companionship, the sharing of things seen or thought in real time.
I was up early the next morning to start breakfast in the trucker’s lunchbox to cook while we toured the shoreline in the early morning light and haze. Ducks, geese and an eagle shared the shoreline, calling out their morning chitchat in the quiet. A magpie is keeping me company on a fence rail as I write this. I so enjoy bird life!
I ate wild snowberries for the first time – not too impressive, rather like a poorly grown blueberry without the jazzy taste. Perhaps they were not quite ripe?
I meditated on a beautiful rock at the shoreline and gave thanks for the beauty that surrounded me, the sounds and sights of life carrying on in the animal world, seemingly oblivious to wildfires and pandemics. Too busy just surviving and thriving for another day I suppose.
As always, my heart rocks were present here and there…
Other items caught my eye: a whimsical driftwood bird, the slender arch of grass framing a view, the delightful autumnal leaf and miniature pine cone cluster. Soul soothing things bracketing the months that came before and the hard drive south to come. For a few hours I had the respite I so often find out in the natural world.
The bus came with on board solar, charging via either the sun or the alternator, and I now have 200 amp hours of fresh lithium batteries. I no longer have to worry about charging things to charge the laptop or what to use to power the coffee stick which delivers the eye opening java in the morning and the slumber inducing tea at night. What gifts, these things!
I also have a real bed, after sleeping in the fetal position for a year. It is a true luxury.
I have a sink with running water, hot and cold, and an honest to goodness shower!
It was a long term decision to upgrade into an actual tiny home on wheels. It must serve me for my time on the road, and then beyond, functioning as my parked home somewhere yet unknown in the future.
After spending ten plus days in here, I’m wondering what’s in the stored van that I need?? Food and clothes, yes. Since I’m actually around the same people for multiple days in a row now, the same three outfits I’ve been rotating won’t do, lol. But I will have to do some careful culling. I’m terrible at letting go of stuff. But having the ability to just pull over and sleep without disgorging half a vehicle, having walking space and a place that feels like a home rather than a rolling storage unit is so, so nice!
Stay tuned as I travel the nearly 1,000 miles into my new home state, Nevada, where I’ll establish residency, sell the van, and learn to be a minimalist in the next thirty days. Hah! Well, at least I’ll give it a go 🙂 Then the beautiful trek southward, revisiting favorite places and seeing some new ones, as I follow the sun for the winter.
So come along, I’ve even got comfy seating and a two minute tea or coffee prep station ready for you as I tell you about rock slides, roadside mountain demolition, how to piss off people on single lane winding roads, and how many people just walk up to the bus and start talking, lol!
~SE, she’s out there 🙃
Sunflower Solace Farm 
Oh my, your new home looks so lovely and perfect.
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Thank you! Now to keep it looking like that, is the secret knowledge I’m pursuing🙃
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She’s a beauty! You have so much room now it’s amazing. What does it feel like to drive that beast? It’s a short bus right? I don’t know if I believe you will stay somewhere for 30 days! It’s been so long since you’ve done that. I ope you are doing well and it sounds like you are well prepared for the road ahead.
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The driving of it is a bit more physical, even though it’s just a one ton version of my other van. The wind impacts it more as well. And of course it’s a short bus, consider the driver, haha!
As for the sitting still for thirty days, wellll, probably not. There are some sights to see within an hour, I need to go to Utah and empty the van for sale, and a few other things going on. You don’t have to sit for 30 days, just have proof you paid for it. But I also need to go get contacts, my new driver’s license and other adulting type things. This seems a good time and place to do so before winter sun trekking goes into full motion.
I hope this finds you and yours well, too🤗
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This is awesome, you have found your oasis in life ~ looks perfect. I like your description of “Ramen Plus” those meals got me through my first years in China beautifully ~ although I did not have the sunsets and scenery as you have posted here. Stunning. 🙂
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Thanks, Randall. Portable oasis, I do like that connotation 💜. Nature provides the canvas; sometimes I’m able to capture a tiny bit of the gloriousness, although never in its depth and breadth. I’m still working on that…
Always good to see your work and your bits of philosophy. More soon?
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Sounds like the best of all worlds and I am envious! If you don’t mind sharing, how much did the new rig set you back? I’ve seen other vehicles (like vans) that offer “camper/home of wheels” config as factory-built or installed options. I doubt your new bus would fit in that category but who knows? I also found the convenient upgrades, especially the coffee/tea stick) to be so new and improved, especially for your purposes. Who knew?
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