I like to wake up in the morning and boot up the computer, check e-mail and "surf" the web for about an hour. Most mornings I like to do an entry in my Gaia blog for writing practice and clear out the cobwebs in my room of contemplation. I do all this by default as I am usually the first person up and it is a quiet pursuit. Coffee in hand I glance at the flickering screen, click and go....The journeys always vary like perusing a smorgasbord and experiencing some tasty morsels that catch my eye. Yesterday I looked up dream interpretation, followed some videos of an individual that had an encounter with Christ during dinner with a friend-astonishing!, checked out winter retreats in Mexico, looked at statistics for dementia( a headline caught my eye with respect to a correlation to the benefits of sunshine exposure) , the use of plain water for treating illnesses and a bunch of sits on societal myths. Overall a satisfying journey-other days aren't as productive and I get up from the computer kind of wasted and disappointed. This is the issue with "random" surfing as sometimes I end up in non-productive places following threads that are meaningless and often dead ended....

Over the past few weeks I have been working on the "reconditioning" of my 1979 Ford Camper van. The project has proven to be a bit challenging based on having the van in repair shops for work I was not capable of doing and the jobs taking longer than everyone anticipated, the need for "rework" by others (professional transmission mechanics) that has tied up the van even longer than anticipated (therefore impacting my mechanical work schedule) and on the "growing" list of repairs-not surprising given the age of the van and the fact it hasn't been driven much lately..... Last night the dragon of disillusionment crept up on me and scorched my enthusiasm somewhat as I started to get into the head space that this project is continuing to get pushed out schedule wise and I would like to get on with other things...(like packing the van for vacation),,,and then there are the $$$$$- I am counting down to completion and trying to stay ZEN on all of this-not an easy task...

Yesterday I took a day off from the camper van repair. It kind of happened by default but welcomed just the same. I needed to distance myself a bit due to the fact I was getting frustrated and probably overly critical of myself around the fact the van is not "road worthy" yet. There is a ton of anticipation thrown into the mix which is causing me grief. One day at a time-it will get done...

Yesterday we took a friend to the mountains to hike. The scenery was great and the act of getting out into nature very much needed and appreciated. On the way home we decided to take a side trip into a lakeside resort town close to our city. As we drove down to the lake drive we spotted another friend walking her dog. We stopped, greeted each other warmly and got an invitation to visit with her at her cabin at the lake and have dinner with her..... A totally unexpected offer that we jumped at. The interestingly thing was that we were actually talking about her with our friend while driving back from the hike and "boom" there she was!!! She suggested we attend the farmers market that was going on-which we did resulting in the purchase of some excellent home made bread, smoked sausage, Gouda cheese and assorted vegetables.....and we even got a parking space right across from the market-something that never happens in our community... as the evening progressed more and more wonderful things happened. We were truly blessed-it was great....

For the last week or so I have tried to be mindful of "default" mindsets. Places I go based on predetermined attitudes and perspectives when faced with certain stimulus. In some cases the default really doesn't stand up to scrutiny which is interesting? I have also noticed a kind of rigidity and inflexibility seeping in. A kind of "this is just the way it is" and get over it mentality that might not be serving me well? There is also an element of "something is not quite right?" related to certain mindsets. This impression is troublesome to my analytical mind because I can't deconstruct the mindset to a point to make sense of the components regardless of how hard I try? I realize in some cases I don't need to do this but in others I need to keep on going....  

The countdown to vacation continues. Yesterday I arrived back in town after being away for a few days and rushed around taking care of some camper van maintenance issues. Some additional work has been identified which I hope to get handled today. The scope of the reconditioning continues to grow and I am still concerned it will be completed on time for departure at a cost that is still somewhat reasonable. We are over budget for sure but unfortunately corners can not be cut for safety and reliability reasons just to save money....

Yesterday I wrenched on my rear brakes on the camper van and replaced the cylinders and brake shoes and one brake drum. I went in this direction because the brakes were still not working properly and I sensed something was wrong with the rear brakes-I was right....It took me a while to do because there was rust and a lot of cleanup. Unfortunately the brake line is corroded and would not tighten up as not to leak so now I have to replace it. Arghhh.....the money continues to flow out and the van is not "vacationable" yet....the whole reconditioning is stretching my patience and testing my tenacity big time...

Being a fan of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" I have determined to plagiarize the title and change the focus to our Camper Van and the upcoming Oregon adventure. I am unsure of the direction of my blog entries over the next few weeks but I am sure there are future tales of van maintenance to be recorded as we hit the road in a very vintage 1979 Ford. The potential exists I will improve the van as we go and like the author of the book I will need to be vigilant mechanically as we make our way down the road. What type of philosophical observations or self reflection will be shared is yet to be determined.

Today I discovered a small leak from a radiator clamp-a few small drops of antifreeze had pooled under the engine, Surprised by the discovery I retrieved a screwdriver and tightened down the clamp. Hopefully this will prevent further loss of vital fluids. The rest of the chassis components appear to be leak free at the moment (touch wood). The day was spent sorting through camping gear, loading the van with bedding, equipment and supplies-it is starting to look functional and comfy....

The Finnish 235/75 R15 Nokian tires (which means "journey" in Finnish which is stamped on the tires which is neat}  are now installed and the brake system checked out and flushed. I purchased a new RV battery yesterday, painted the battery box and started to install the new I-Pod port. Today will consist of finishing up a list of about 20 van related items (nothing major) including the repair of the vent cover which I purchased new a couple of weeks ago but is already cracked (based on me accidently leaving the vent open a small amount while driving}. I also mounted the bike rack and got the bicycles loaded which always makes me feel good. After weeks of preparation all the hard work is starting to come together...one more final push today with an estimated departure time of 5:00 p.m. The open road beckons......the adventure awaits...

The camper van "shake down" cruise went well-all the systems checked out and we cruised down the highway to our first destination 150 Kms down the road. The sun setting on the prairies provided an incredible panaromic view. Sitting behind the wheel brought back a ton of memories of past road trips as a smile crossed by face. I also felt good about all the hard work that went into the prep and the fact we were finally on the road. I listened to all the sounds the van was making. Noted the lifters were making more noise than I remembered. The vent glass gasket is worn(dried out) on the drivers side which causes some wind noise-not a big deal-adjusting the gap on the drivers side window reduces the noise. I checked under the front of van when we arrived-no liguids were leaking-I was happy...

The next day found us heading into the Rocky Mountains. The sky was clear blue. The view from the large front window provided a different perspective vrs driving our Honda. I thought about the fuel delivery system-old school carb-no computers adjusting fuel/air mixtures-making allowance for altitude. I continued to listen to the engine hum as we climbed up passes and pondered brake operation as we decended. We stopped for lunch beside a mountain stream-brought out the camp chairs and sat in the shade of the van. I continue to look out for "old skool" vans like ours on the road-other RV gypsies traveling on a budget...saw a few...but of course there are many of the larger rigs on the road-newer with all the conveniences-not for me at this time in my life. The gas gauge moved towards empty quicker than the Honda-expected-a price we pay to have our home with us. Phase 2 of the trip went well-we are no parked for a few days while my wife attends a mountain plien air painting session with some fellow artists.... I slept in the van last night for the first time... Comfortable I slept well....today I road by bicycle in the rain-anytime a person can play in the rain is a good day in my book......-right now I am in a small cafe drinking a delicious chai latte with free internet access and rap music playing in the background. Life is good....

Relaxing music plays in the background as I sip my delicious Mocha coffee out of a real cup-a fountain gently babbling in the background. Life is good. We are about 2300 kms into our journey making our way down the Oregon coast staying in State Parks so far. The camper has served us well so far. I check the vital fluids every second day and thank "Big White" for his service. I have gathered discarded wild things from various stops which populate the front dashboard space....pine bows, russian olive branch, a handmade broom...the pockets in the front seats are full of brochures of places visited. I am writing in my journal reqularly-exploring different aspects of my existance-pulling things apart-deconstructing a bit-getting to the essence (for now)...I feel like writing for some reason...the Internet Cafes seem to have eluded me so far so no on-line blogging going on.....

Oregon is incredibly beautiful-amazing beach walks and vistas-hiking and bicycle riding fill out our days....we stop when we feel like and see what the next moments will bring...

The van needs some maintenance-the rear view mirror was accidently knocked off this morning-needs to be reglued....the alternator belt is a bit loose....and I need to fix the drain hose for the sink (parts bought this morning)...of course "Big White" is operating at sea level so I keep my ear open for the changes in his "hum"..he is getting more oxygen now than at home where the carb was adjusted-he seems good with it.....

We have moved inland (away from the coast) and have parked ourselves at a "chain" motel in Springfield. After 10 nights of camping in the van we both need a break from our fairly cramped quarters. We are like 2 kids in a candy shop RIGHT now.....a nice room....lots of space to roam around, a bathtub, I will  actually be able to get out of bed without having my wife move her legs (I have been sleeping on the inside of the bed against the wall of the camper). No emptying the "pee bucket" tomorrow morning, no walking down paths through the forest to use the bathroom, no smelling of campfire smoke-what luxury!!!!. The weather has turned and we have experienced a real drenching of rain over the past 24 hours. It was fun hanging out in the camper listening to music yesterday as the rain gently feel on the roof-snug and warm but to do it for 2 days in a row is a bit of a stretch....so we have opened the purse strings and dished out some hard earned cash for " a vacation from the vacation".....

The drain in the camper is working again and we dished out $10 to get  the rear view mirror reinstalled by a glass shop in Florence Oregon. I really missed being able to check out what was behind me....the alternator belt is still not tightened-tomorrow morning for sure...the van is running a bit rough right now at idle-not surprising given the amount of rain that we have driven through.....oil consumption has been excellent...

We have now gone as far south as we planned to and have turned around heading north towards home....I miss the ocean but not that much (so far)-not sure if we will head back that way in Washington state??? TBD.

Yesterday we had a brief discussion on how we found ourselves in a 1979 Ford Camper van parked in a State Park by the ocean about 2000 kms from home? It started with a romantic notion-the two of us driving a resurected camper van down the Oregon coast leading the RV gypsy lifestyle which initially "collided" with the "practicality" of taking on such a challenge....there were some "low" moments in the whole process but at this point no regrets and some good memories....and fantastic pics......