I have decided to leave Owatonna.  How or when this will happen is still a little fuzzy at this time.  By leaving Owatonna I also hope to leave vandwelling as well.  My van will still be a valued tool in my stable of recreational vehicles but it will actually be "recreational".  Rent in O-town is just too high for me to un-van in that environment.  I would need a monumental raise for this to be possible or I would have to wait seven years to get off child support.  The notion of dwelling under my current circumstances for seven more years is outright nauseating.  

     "Whats the big deal, yo?  Vandwelling not for you, bro?"  Well, during my last big post on the dweller facebook page, I was met with waves of dwellers telling me that the freedom of the van was more than worth the stigma.  In the form that they enjoy, I have to believe that is true.  As I pointed out at the outset of this project my vandwelling experience would be different.  

     My freedom is almost nonexistent.  Four evenings every two weeks is the time I get to leave my obligations.  After those evenings I still have to got to work during the day.  Not exacly my idea of a nomadic lifestyle.  Certainly, a job without on-call obligations would get me away from this problem but if I am changing jobs its gonna be to iowa anyway.  

     And the stigma.  Those "here today, gone tomorow travelers" rarely hear anything about it.  By the time locals realize they were dwellers those folks are tiny specs in that vans rear view mirror.  I however was trying to become part of a community.  A small minded community at that.  Well, I am not trying anymore.

    Perhaps, some day when I no longer have as many obligations, I can take to the road and really feel the freedom of the van.  For now however, I am throwing in the towel.  

     I met a pretty neet gal yesterday.  We talked for hours.  It seemed like we were really hitting it off.  She was very open about some pretty serious problems she had in her life.  Some stuff that would certainly effect a future relationship, but it was nothing I could not look past.  At the end of our conversation I shared with her that I lived in my van......

     This morning she sent a text telling me it was a deal breaker and she would not be speaking with me again.  

     This is not the first time this has happened, I am sorry to report.  I just do not understand the stigma behind van dwelling!  This woman had a health threatening eating disorder and she is going to black ball me because of a temporary living arrangement?  

     Maybe its just Minnesota?  I am just getting tired.  Tired of working tward an uncertain future.  I feel like these last seven months have been a waste of time.  

     So on monday I had another first in the van.  I got pretty seriously sick.  It was strep and it wiped me out real good.  I went to the same day clinic and got some powerful antibiotics.  Then, I took the day off from work.

     This could have really sucked.  Luckily I had my little camper in town so I could use it the coming weekend for the burn event I was planning on attending.  I was able to lay in there all day with the AC runnning and sleep wile waiting for my meds to do their work.  I think in the future I may keep a emergency motel room fund in my wallet just in case I get in a position like this again.  laying in the van through the heat of the day would have not been possible and were can you go and hang out when you are sick?  Not a good situation...

     So that cleared up and i was able to make it to my event as planned.  Stay tuned, next week i leave my van at the farm and go on RAGBRAI!

     So much is going on this month it is hard to know were to start.  That thing at the cabin is coming up next weekend.  It is the minnesota regional burn and it is a hot one!  This years theme is seven deadly sins.  Taking the bod pod to interfuse was a smashing success and at this burn it's air conditioner is really gonna shine.  To prepare it for use I had to pull out the ac unit and do some work to get it to play nice with my tiny little generator.  I feel like I now have it working pretty well and we are ready to takle any heat waves that may arise.

     I still have not gotten the AC fixed in the Astro.  At this point I am debating if I will even bother with it.  I do have a couple of U-joints to put in the driveshaft that I have been putting off for longer than I probobly should but they are still fairly tight.  

     Two weeks from now we embark on RAGBRAI!  This year my father and son are both joining me on the adventure.  I have decided to ride half days this year, leaving more time to spend with the boy.  Getting the RV up to speed this year was a challenge as always.  I had to put two new tires on the rear drivers side to match the two we replaced last year on the ride.  And last weekend I had a maddening electrical gremlin that took me all weekend to figure out.  We still need to stock it up and make the bunks up but other than that she is ready to rock!  

     This summer has truly been grand so far.  So many exciting things coming up but lets just take a minute to talk about van life in the summer here in O-town.  We have had some real scorchers for as early as it is in the year.  My body is adjusting to the heat and I really don't mind it that much.  My little fan is an absolute life saver though.  Without it I would certainly have died by now lol.  I park in the shade when able.  I try to stay active outside of the van as late as I can so I am not in there during the heat of the day.  The high humidity has been a real bummer so far this year.  I look forward to the dryer days of late summer reguardless of the temp.

      I have also taken to going to the beach!  I am trying to get a little color before TTaTc and RAGBRAI.  As an added bonus they have a warm shower there to use after you get off the sand.  I just take my soap with me and shower in my swim trunks.  You have to be a little careful to not flash the childeren but its a skill I learned quickly.  So at least until they close the beach this fall I really wont need to buy a gym membership for showers.  Bonus!  Yup, the life of a beach bum could grow on me.  I guess, historically, vans and Hodads have gone together like grease and leather.  if only i had some woody panels on the indego!

     This previous weekend I was able to finally spend some much needed quality time back at the farm.  It was a long work weekend and many projects got finished.  One of them was upgrading the battery bank in the van!

     This winter I started out with a single 100 amp hour 12 volt deep cycle battery.  It was pushed to its limits on very cold and windy nights.  Often I would wake, close to the dawn, to hear my furnace fans low groan, indicating my battery had gone flat.  These two golf cart sized 6 volts should have about triple the capacity of that small car sized cell.  I was very lucky to get these when we serviced the carpet cleaner at work.  

     Also, I have recently added a crank open roof vent to the rear of the roof.  I have a max air hood and some electric fans to add to that as well.  All things considered, it is becoming a very comfortable place to live.