Incremental Improvements 🐸🐶

Just a quick note to say...HI!!

 

Lily is slowly getting all the "incremental improvements" that I have planned for her. I will post a few pics in a few days. I hope to have the kitchen operational by Tuesday or Wednesday this coming week! Or at least close!!

 

I'm working on the "kitchen counter" now, which will have my sink, additional storage & cooking space. 

 

 Also working on the "toilet storage" .... bench?? It is going to be a dual purpose item...a spot to store the portapot, additional storage and also a bench to relax on and sit at the secretary. Still figuring out how it is going to be built!

 

Just so you will have an idea of my itinerary, I'll be leaving Alabama on Dec 12th. Staying for a birthday party! I'll be headed for Texas first, 3 stops there, then into New Mexico on the way to Arizona. Have several stops to make in AZ.

From there...I have no idea where I will end up going! It all depends on the COVID thing, weather, fires, snow, etc, etc!!  LOL!

So hang in there with us, we will be on the road again soon!!

Til then, take care, stay well & enjoy where you are!!

C'ya out there soon!

Frog & Abbie

🐸      🐶

 

Introducing "Lily"!

My, my...life does have many twists & turns!!

  This is "Lily"!

Which stands for Lilypad! The reason...Europa laid down and died on the Blue Ridge Parkway...poor 'ol girl! A couple things died at the same time, so she is now no more!

 

   

So over the course of 6+ years, I've gone from Bertha, 1977 vintage Class C....To Europa, 1993 vintage Class B...to Lily, 1995 vintage Chevy G20 Hightop Van!

 

 

 

Bertha was a learning lesson...not to over load my capabilities!! Europa was  a large step in the direction of being my "tiny home", but it was also a larger house with more room to "store" things! Which meant the ability to gather STUFF!!! Which is not a good thing when you are living the tiny house lifestyle!

I went from 90 sq ft of living space in Bertha to 117 sq ft of living space in Europa. And LOTS of more storage areas in Europa. Which means I accumulated, over the course of 3 years, way much too much stuff!

So I have downsized to 63+ sq ft of living space! And storage that I am building into Lily. All the while..I have learned that what all I "thought" was necessary to live this lifestyle was/is not really necessary. I believe you could say that I am becoming a "minimalist". And I'm beginning to think that I have been a closet minimalist all my life. I've always liked living in small spaces, even my work areas have usually been small spaces.

Lily is a hightop custom van. Or was!!  LOL!  We've removed all the seats except for a driver's seat. And I'm in the process of setting her up as a REALLY tiny mobile tiny home. It is an interesting project.

I found Lily in Calhoun, GA. My daughter & her husband (along with 4 grandkids) drove to Calhoun and picked up Lily. The only issue was Lily kept overheating. So the first day that I had her I had new tires put on her and had her cooling system flushed...and I don't think it had been flushed in a long, long time! A one hour flush took over 2 hours. But it mostly took care of the overheating issue. That is basically the only issue I've had with her.

And...my mileage has basically doubled!! That is just AWESOME!!

 

Can't see it very well, but on the first trip back to Alabama, all the seats were still in Lily. And she had quite a load of my things out of Europa...to include the secretary desk. So it was an interesting drive! And I found out that the seats in Lily were not very good for sleeping!!

 

 Before I made the return run to NC to finish emptying my things out of Europa, Cary ( my son-in-law) helped me remove all but one seat & the sofa from Lily. I was actually amazed at the amount of room there is in Lily.

 

 

 

 

 

After the run from the Parkway to Alabama, my return run to NC to empty my things out of Europa was a very spartan setup. 

 This run is what started me to really looking at what is "necessary" and what is needed for daily life for me. 

And I think this is when I really started looking at the possibility that I might not need all that I thought was necessary!

 

 

 

 

Once back in Alabama, the "reset" of Lily began. After I unloaded all the stuff and other assorted "goodies" retrieved from Europa...the "build" began. And first things first! A BED! Built in about 4 hours by Cary. Very solid, perfect fit and with the foam padding I had bought, it is perfect!

 

 

 

 

Next in the process was getting the secretary installed and secured down. 

 

 

 

I was really happy with how it fit and the location behind the driver's seat. It leaves me room to move from the front to the back without having to get out of the van.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And as you can tell...my life revolves around the secretary. Between my blogging, doing my Instagram posts, journaling, trip planning...just plain old daily life centers here!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right now I'm in the process of designing and building my "kitchen"! Have most of what I need for the project...but I'm still mulling over just exactly how I'm going to set it up. It will be very compact, but should be big enough to meet my simple cooking needs. Plus I will be doing most of my cooking either outdoors or over a fire! 

 

 

 

 

One of the things about Lily that really excited me was the fact that she had the two door setup on the side instead of the sliding door!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I had plans for that door from the minute that I saw it! I remembered that one of my daughters had offered me a "wall desk" she had gotten and never really had a place to use it. So I retrieved it from her and "repurposed" it!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After turning the little - whatever it was supposed to be - little storage hole in the door in to a spice rack...I began to work with the "desk". Chopped off 10.5 inches of it, and after putting it together wrong twice, I had my fold up table to be able to put my stove on or make a quick lunch on so I wouldn't have to mess up the insides!!! 

 

 

 

 

 

 I keep calling my "improvements" incremental changes! 

There will be changes coming every day for the next few weeks. That is just the way it is working out. But that is also the best way for me to do things so that I don't goof up on what I'm trying to accomplish with Lily.

But one thing I just had to add...

*

 *

*

*

I had to have this spare tire cover!!!!

And as you can see my little "hood frog" has been transferred from Europa to Lily! That little frog has ridden on the front of my house for over 40,000 miles...and has a many more miles to travel!

 

That brings me pretty well up to date with what has and is going on with me. I'll try my best to not let so much time pass between my posts!

 

Take care, stay safe & C'ya out here soon!!

The Frog 🐸 ...and Abbie 🐶

 

 

 

 

UPDATE - On the Blue Ridge Pkwy

A quick update on my "situation"!!  LOL!

Mechanics got here Saturday about mid-day, and got to work on Europa. And it was a bit worse than I expected. It is the shifter cable, which after an hour had been removed. It has been on the exhaust and the header for too long and gotten WAY too hot! 

I am now waiting on Monday...the cable is apparently a "dealer item" only. So they are checking a few of their contacts to see if they can find one and will get the local Dodge dealer also. Whatever they have to do, just hope to have a working or new cable by the latest Wednesday.

As it is, I'm in a decent spot out of the way to spend the next couple of days...after having spent a few days here already.

But I'm cooler, almost level, in a nice spot and secure. So here I sit in peaceful wonder!!!

As I get thru the next few days, I'll keep you up to date on my progress. I'm hoping that I'll be back on the road in just a few days headed North for the length of the Blue Ridge Parkway and other points.

So stay well, enjoy life, get out and spend time with Nature...and above all...

Stay Safe!!  🐸🐶🐱 

On the Road...Kinda!!

Got on the road Tuesday, 7/21. Decided to drive all the way to the Blue Ridge Parkway in one day...and did!!  239 miles covered! Things off to a great start

   !

 Made it to Milepost 469.5, southern end of the Parkway! It was a bit warm, but the trip was uneventful. And it got cooler each mile closer to the Parkway!

Spent the first night out at the first overlook on the Parkway. It was grand! Breezy, cool, quiet...the best night ever!!

Day 2 & 3

 

 

Started out great! Cool morning, breeze and just  beautiful. Made it about 8 miles, pulled over to take a few pics and that is where I am still!  LOL!  As I was getting into a parking spot, I was suddenly unable to get Europa into drive,reverse...nothing!   

  

Apparently the shifting cable seized up, bent the end of it, and so here I was! It has taken over 24 hours to find a mechanic to come out to where we are on the Parkway! But he will be here tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully we will be able to pull the cable, lubricate it and get it back into running condition. Because...yesterday I spent over 5 hours on the phone trying to find one & it might just be easier to find chicken teeth!!

 So it is another night of breezes and cool temps & good sleep! The lo last night was 63f, and it supposed to be a couple of degrees cooler tonight!! Just breaks my heart!!

 

This afternoon I looked out the window and there was a VW camper...or it looked like one!!  I have to say it was one of the most ingenuous mods I think I have ever seen! A 70's model  VW camper that now has a water cooled, rear mounted diesel. The interior & body are VW but that is about it!  We didn't get a chance to talk but as you can tell from the pics this is a work of love!!  He did it himself...makes me feel better about Europa!! And raises my "hope" factor!!

So hang in there with us...we'll be rolling again very soon....say a prayer, think good thoughts...whatever it is you do!

C'ya

3-4 weeks to go!!

The time is getting closer for departure into the vast "forgotten lands"!!  LOL! I'll be headed into the Blue Ridge Parkway mountains! The temperatures in that part of the land is passable (for me) to have a pleasant time & see the sights!

I've been spending a fair amount of time down by the river here in town due to the fact that there is a breeze for the majority of the time there.

There seem to even be "tiny-homes" that float!!!

I'm also so taken by the birds there! I love the herons, egrets & the little "swiftlets" (at least that is what I call them!) 

  




This young hawk was still hanging around for several days after he made his first flight out of the nest! He was still trying to get his "sea legs" and kept forgetting that the bushes were NOT a good place to try to land!!  LOL!

And it is also quite fun to watch the boaters go by! Everything from the bass boats to the kayaks to pontoon boats to mini-cabin cruisers!

Just a few pics of remembering being back on the road!


Soon....Soon!

I'm down to about 12 days and the kids will be out here. They are in the middle of final packing for the move...which with the kids is quite an interesting task!

Have gotten about half of my "Europa list" completed. Have several more projects to do, but will have to get a helping hand from Cary to get them done. But getting closer each day!

So stick around, there will be a lot to see, places to make note of, possibly places to not make note of....and just lots to do! Hopefully!!

C'ya out here soon!!

Frog, Abbie & Snickers

🐸      🐶      🐱

  

Toby Keith - Made In America

Toby Keith - Courtesy Of The Red, White And Blue-The Angry American

Story of The Star Spangled Banner

Out & About....A Little!!

Took a couple of days to drive around some in the area! Felt good to just drive around the county some. Have not done that in several years! And it is amazing how much stays the same from year to year.

Even the turtles dragged themselves out to get on a log and soak up some sun. 

But there are also changes...just have to look close to see some of them. The one thing that seems to not ever change is the wildlife! There are still waterfowl, turtles, etc all around the area. Even though they are hard to catch on camera most of the time...urban life keeps them on the move in most of the areas. 

And I know that this will sound a little bit on the strange side...but there is just sooo much green here!!! LOL!  It makes it a bit difficult to keep the solar panels in the sun...there's shade all over the place!!

It is nice that the river runs thru here! There a views and scenes that are just so pleasant to be able to sit and just gaze out over.

  

And the scenery is pretty...if you take the time to look around, there will almost always be spots that are serene and easy on the spirit!

But I do have to admit that it makes me long for the desert even more each day!

But as I travel around the area more I keep coming across spots that a just so pleasing to see. And even though it drives my allergies nuts...it is so very pleasing to stop and sit and look at some of the spots the have such great colors and shades of color!

And a drive in the country will get you mind cleared out and opened up to be able to look forward to the future when the day returns that you are back on the road again.

 

 So to all our friends out there that are in a spot or location which affords them the opportunity to get out and drive around their areas...so...get out there! There is NO better social distancing than to fix up a picnic basket and a cooler full of drinks and load up the kids, pets, a blanket and maybe a map (?) and get out and see what is around you! Can't put much more space between people than that!

And I think you will be surprised at just how much better you will feel! How much "less dark" the days will look. There really is so much you can see when you get out of the house, out of town and into the country!

Try it!!  You might just really like it!!

For my part, I will be back on the road in a few weeks...along with Abbie and Snickers...looking for those places on the backroads that our fast paced lives have left behind! Maybe that is one of the bright spots of all this pandemic thing...it made so many people slow down and think....

"...is this all there is to life?"

There's soooo much more!!!

C'ya out there soon!!

Frog, Abbie & Snickers