as of late

we are happily preparing for the road. it seems like a never ending preparation to be honest. we will get there soon enough. those last two smiles make me weak in the knees. 

<3

it's happening.

whoa.it's happening.

a journey. an adventure. a new chapter. 

a road trip.

We have been planning, and wanting to make our way west for some time now. Circumstances have held us from finally taking that jump, however, now, the timing could not be more perfect. We are gearing up. Putting some final touches on the camper, making it as home-y as we can. Tuning up the van. 

Ultimately preparing our hearts for the road. 

Caravan Photo Update

Before paint, after having been "gutted"

After paint..

Taa Daa.

P.S. We have yet to name her, any ideas?

Our 1969 Sprite 400 Caravan

I am so excited! We have finally found the one.

It weighs about 700-800 lbs (I am guessing) and after Logan striped everything out of the inside but the frame and the plywood floors I am guessing it weighs around 500-600 lbs.

Which is perfect for CRV towing. However, now we are currently facing transmission issues.

We found out that Honda needs a special transmission fluid, and you can't just put in regular automatic transmission fluid from auto zone.. it has to be honda's special juice or it will shift hard.. ect.

We are hopoing that this is our problem, and that it all checks out afterwards.

Despite its rough first impressions, it is quite the charmer.

It is a 1969 Sprite 400 Caravan, origonally from Brittain.

As far as I know they came to America and manufactured them here for two or three years and then went back to Brittain. In other words, she is pretty unique.

She came with a breathtaking red, white and blue exterior, and a homey, rigged up interior.

After 20 minutes of living in our driveway, Logan had the inside in peices and was tearing out the walls.

I suppose the lighter the better for our trip west.

This morning we have strated to paint here and there, sealed some holes, goo-be-goned some stuff. Removed some random handles that were screwed to the exterior on each end.

Now we are headed to get the majority of the exterior paint.

A clean, fresh, almond white.

I can not wait to say goodbye to the red, white and blue.

Nothing against America, but these colors are hideous.

Before and after pictures to come!

He never fails.

Phew, it has been an exciting past few weeks. Stressing finances and me doubting our readiness for Oregon took a complete 180 degrees as God never fails to show me He is enough. After a disapointing visit to a few campers we thought were going to work Logan and I were left anxious and bummed. There had been a camper down the road that we were interested in for quite some time, but didn't have the courage to knock on their door and ask about it. After the series of unfortunate campers we had gotten to the point where we couldnt resist asking about this seemingly perfect oppertunity. Turns out the one we had our eyes on was not for sale, however the lady kindly informed us that her daughter would be willing to part with hers and they lived around the corner. We went to check it out right away and it turned out to be in beautiful shape! After realizing it was the best one we had seen yet, we asked how much they were looking to get out of it. He wasn't quite sure, and asked what we were willing to pay. Logan said, "I hate to hit you too low, but we had been looking at campers around $400 and $500." The man replied, "I'd be tickled to get $400 out of it, I'd take $300!" Logan and I were blown away, we had just looked at one valued at $600 and the frame was falling to pieces. We slept on it, and quickly called the next day, and towed her home. Although it was an amazing deal, and a perfect camper it was a bit too heavy for our CRV. We knew that it was not worth potentionally messing up our transmission just to pull a sweet camper behind us, we had to part with it. After looking on craiglist for quite some time, I knew the real value of this camper. It was definetly not $300... try anywhere from $850-$1200. This kind of thing dosn't happen very often, especially to us. haha. This has just been one of the ways God has continued to provide for us in the past few weeks.

This past Saturday, I received a telephone call from a lovely lady. She was inquiring about a sewing job. The whole thing is a surprise, so I won't go into detail. However, out of the blue, I have an opptunity to make some very decent money doing something that I anticipate to be very fun! And a great learning experiance. It couldn't have come at a better time! What an awesome oppertunity to help our Oregon fund ;) haha, seriously though, God is so good.

Although times can seem to be heading no where, and plans look like they won't happen. Life gets foggy, and time keeps passing on He is here. He has a plan, and as I surrender it to Him, and give Him the glory he deserves, He continues to bless and provide for my family and I.

Our Camper

Hooray. We are one step closer to getting to Oregon. We just purchased a camper we thought was going to be the one, turns out it's a bit too heavy for our 4 cylinder CRV. If we were hauling to alum creek to camp, it would be fine, but across the country is another story. We have our hearts set on a 13ft Castia down the lane. It's a fiberglass trailer, so it's much lighter.

Anywho, the 1971 Fan camper is a lovely little camper. She is about 15ft long from the bumper to the front of the camper, and about 17 1/2 feet from the bumper to the end of the hitch. She is about 7 feet wide. 

TaaDaa. Oregon is feeling a bit more real these days.

Officially in the market for...

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However, the one we do eventually find wont look that pretty.

We are looking for something more along the lines of...

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We are looking for something to haul our "can't live without" things across the country.
Why noy rent a u-haul trailer, you ask?
It is $800 just to rent one.. and (obveously) you have to give it back when you reach your destination.
Why not buy a trailer for $800 and sell it when you get to your destination?
Or in our case, possibly fix 'er up, and go camping often! :)
It just happens to be an amazing excuse to take on a sweet project.

ohh, and while searching for these photos, i stumbled upon this..

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hahahahahaha
:)