The Birth of the Van Gina

At the end of October I decided to try something new and set out to find a better fit for myself.  leaving a company that treated me fairly and was full of dynamic smart people was a hard choice.. but, it had to be done.
I wrote down 5 options that seemed sensible and suited my currents needs and desires:

• Join my folks in a 10 trip across the southern US from Northern Virginia to their home in the Southern California desert in a truck they just purchased.
• Fly across the country to a city in the northwest (Portland, Eugene, Seattle, Bend, etc.)
• "The X Factor" just wing it and see what way the wind blows, listen to wild ideas and try them all.
• "The Shining"  this involves secluding myself in our family cabin in Eastern Idaho, 2 wood stoves, a great library, lots of booze and all the time necessary to sufficiently filter it through a liver
• Get a VW van, make it road worthy, reach out to some of the people from past lives and travel across the country.

On October 29 a 1986 VW Vanagon Westfalia was purchased in Virginia Beach, towed to the rental house in Charlottesville and dropped off awaiting further orders.

I was responsible for a lease through next July on the rental house and not allowed out until a suitable tenant was found... bummer.  Eventually the landlord was led to the sensible path, an ad was placed on ye old Craigslist and the process had begun.

I cleaned out all my crap, had a large yard sale, scrubbed the place spotless and headed up to Vienna Virginia.  The van was left at an Amtrak station to be picked up later in the week. 

I was able to take a train from Union Station in DC down 2 days later.  the drive up to Vienna was nice, but the van clearly needed some love.

For the last 2 weeks deliveries from the nice folks at Van Cafe, GoWesty and BusDepot have been arriving daily, new parts being snapped, screwed and bolted on while tho old stuff has been steadily filling trash cans. as of today the van is looking good, all systems are working great (the Propane is yet to be tested). A clean bill of health was procured at Auto Scandia. the short list of new parts and pieces are; pop top canvas, pop top seals, new skylight, belts, fluids, hitch and 2" receiver, bumper caps, trim pieces, rear view mirror, rear hatch struts, and tons of miscellaneous little pieces. A nice set of 15' Mercedes wheels are in the driveway awaiting custom bolts, nuts and studs from a little custom shop on the west coast (T3technique), should be here tomorrow.

The current plan is to head south on Saturday the 16th... Key West bound.

Before that can happen I need to sell the Green Mamba (2008 ford Escape), pay some bills, do some final tests and bolt-ons to the van (who will be known as "Gina" henceforth).