I had to hit a speed bump at some point. After all, I did spontaneously buy a 3+ decade old van in under less than 24 hours of searching. And drive it up to a remote mountain area with no plan.
The morning started off pretty solid. Still pretty charged up about potentially landing a fun job for the time I’m here, I got up early and took a little morning stroll through the mist. The van again remained dry through the night, and the rain had subsided greatly by the morning, so it was just a light drizzle. I bought a coffee from the Bev’ron, used the rest stop bathroom, and then decided to head down the hill to run some errands prior to the Hoodland Farmer’s Market.
Since I had headed down the hill, I decided to re up on some food and go to the thrift store, where I found a rug! I must have manifested that shit, because I legitimately was saying “I need a doormat” as I was going to bed last night, looking at the mud on the rubber mat. I then left my gas station coffee in the van as I went into this little shop to buy another one as justification for using their outlets. The rain returned, so I waited a little to see if it would calm down before going to the market. It did not.
But, just my luck, it did right as I pulled up to the parking lot. I love this little farmer’s market. I’m not sure why; it’s much smaller than almost any other I’ve ever been to. Probably mostly because of this one guy’s kimchi/fermented shit. I still have some of the pickles I bought from him last week, and copped a kimchi and a hot honey carrots from him today. I unfortunately had to skip the produce lady I usually visit- my “kitchen” does not yet exist and I have too many perishables as it is at the moment.
I did my what seems to now be daily routine of heading up to the lodge for responsibilities and electricity. I really wanted to go hiking instead, but it was wet, and not just wet but cold wet, and I have enough wet things in the van as is from the last few days.
shoutout Hood Hills Farm (
@hoodhillsfarm on IG)
While I was there it started dumping snow. It’s almost July; wild. What’s even more wild is the fact that less than a week ago it was like 90 degrees. The Northwest is a crazy place.
I eventually decided it was time to head back down to town. That’s when I started to kind of learn my lesson. As it turns out, the van is still waterproof while stationary. The way the water runs down from the roof while in motion, however, allows it to enter through this one rubber gasket in a rather dramatic fashion. So, I got back down with a freshly wet left side of the van, I myself with wet feet and freezing cold, and surprise surprise- it wasn’t that much warmer at the bottom of the access road. And the heat in the van doesn’t really work.
In a positive light, however, this is the perfect time for this to happen. It gives me plenty of time to prepare before the winter. It’ll be summer again in a few days, and I can dry my shit off then. I should probably do laundry tomorrow anyway, so really, the timing couldn’t be better.
That doesn’t change how wet and cold and miserable I was for the evening, though. It was pretty rough. I decided to just sit in the van and draw while listening to random bullshit(I finally got my speaker up to 100% 🥰). When I finally laid in bed, I was more than warm enough; I have a kind of absurd amount of blankets and comforters. Mainly because they used to be the matter that made my Subaru bed. But now with an actual “mattress”, I just have an absurd amount of bedding.
oh, and I also bought this ridiculous fuzzy charger :)
Next time down the hill I’ll find something to seal that leak with. I’m hoping to make it until next Saturday before I need to go back down but I’m not sure if that’s realistic. We’ll see!
Happy Sunday everybody. Stay gold <3
