Water system is a-go!

Yesterday we could have showered in the front yard, with hot water. Don't worry, we didn't, but check it out:

The whole unit hangs on the side of the van, and the clear hoses connect using "quick connects" into the side of the van. Adam cut a hole in the van, and added the little "quick connect portal" (it has a little door and locks). One hose connects to the sink inside and the other connects to the pump/water tank. 

To take a shower, all you do is make sure the pump is powered up (there is a switch inside the van), connect the hoses, and turn the valve to release water. As long as the pump has power, it keeps the system pressurized, so you just have to open the shower valve or the sink inside, and the pump automatically comes on to push water out. The water heater automatically comes on when water moves through it, so all you have to do is adjust the dials to change the temperature. All three dials control heat, just in various ways (amount of water flowing through the heater, amount of gas/flame, and number of flames [it has lines of flames, kind of like our gas bbq, where you can turn on a center line of flame, or just have the outside flame on]).

Pretend shower..

We will also just have a hose that connects to the water tank/pump system so if you just need to rinse something off outside of the van, you can do that without the water heater out. Also, the heater will eventually be stored in another "portal"under the van--Adam will cut another hole in the side of the van and install a long rectangular hatch so the heater will just slide inside for storage.

Inside of the van, we've got hot water too:

This is the pump under the sink (the shower connects into this system) and the sink. It all works, hot and cold! And this is automatic, as long as the pump has power, it keeps it pressurized so there is no need to turn switches to get hot water; just turn on the faucet like you're at home.

And, the bumper is getting closer to being done:

Tire is on!

Swings out!

Adam ordered a bike rack which will attach to the bumper, for extra bikes. The integrated bike rack isn't done yet, but it will hold 2 bikes mounted directly on the tire swing out arm. Pretty sweet...

Dude!

This weekend I made strawberry freezer jam! We had won a silent auction earlier this year at the local Yolo Resource Conservation District dinner, and got two certificates to a local farm. One was for 1 gallon of you-pick strawberries (the other is for a box of tomatoes later this summer). On Friday I picked the berries, and yesterday I made jam as well as a strawberry clafouti. You might want to know what a clafouti is (unless you're my mom, who introduced me to clafouti!). Here are pictures:

Jam! I even caved in a bought plastic Ball brand containers for storing the jam in the freezer. The sqaure one is what we're eating now. I had it on an english muffin and some homemade cran-raisin-walnut bread this morning!

Clafouti is like a custardy dessert where you first put prepared fruit in a dish, then pour an egg-y batter over it; then bake for almost an hour. It's light and great served with ice cream!!

And of course today is Mother's day! I visited my mom on Friday and brought her and my dad lunch of iced tea, two kinds of sandwiches, salad fresh from our garden, and special dessert. They were so great and helped me with some wedding crafty projects that afternoon (I had the day off). Happy Mother's Day, mom! Today they are on the coast for a mini-vacation.

Hope everyone has a good week. Until next time...

FIRST CAMPING TRIP IN THE VAN!!!!!!!!!!!

We went on our first camping trip in the van now that it is nearly done! We went with our friends Andy and Shelley and their dog Tango to the South Yuba River campground for a weekend of hiking and van amazingness. 

First, we loaded everything up!

For now, the spare tire lives in the van. Soon enough, it will live on the new bumper.

Bottom drawer near the sink, with pot, pan, strainer, bowls, plates and water purifier.

Top drawer near the sink with utinsils and cups.

Drawers near the sink all closed up. The fridge is plugged in and getting ready for food.

Latch on the drawers in the pantry area!

Bottom (largest) drawer in pantry, with cutting boards, dog food, dog bowls, and dog poo bags.

Middle pantry drawer with snacks!

Top pantry drawer, more snacks, canned goods and tea.

The closet, top shelf, with clothes.

Secret hatch in bottom of closet stuffed full with two pillows and two sleeping bags!

Another view of the closet.

Shot of the inside overall. We're ready to go!

Shelley with Adam and the dogs.

Carex resting after our hike. She hurt her leg so laid low the rest of the day. (She's fine now.)

Dude resting!

Tango the garbage disposal chewing on a banana peel...

Brushin'

From outside (that's my face in the window in the pop top!)
It was raining so Andy and Shelley set up their tent under our awning. :)

Dude having a treat.

We ended up covering the floor with towels due to the rain--people and dogs
were tracking in a lot of dirt/mud/plant matter. 

Bruce stayed at home!

So, it was a great trip, even though it rained. We slept great in the bed/seat. It was more comfortable and spacious than we expected! It was great. We definitely want to get the bed up top eventually--when it was raining and we were all hanging out in the van, having that upper space would have been handy.
The drawers and countertop were great. I sound crazy, but EVERYTHING WAS AWESOME. We loved it. The awning was so perfect to have in the rain, made it totally bearable. I think Andy and Shelley survived the ride in the back seat (even with three dogs...). We look forward to using the van all summer long!

Van bummer, new bumper, and more!

Well, our weekend started out like this:

And progressed into finding out we were out over $1000 to get the van's fuel pump replaced. This was a little unexpected since we thought there was an electrical problem since the battery has died twice and we realized that the radio was turning itself on (while the car was locked and the keys NOT in the ignition!). So strange. The van was supposed to be ready today (I even left work early to go pick it up), but then the mechanics broke a fuel clip and now it won't be ready until tomorrow!

Sheesh.

But, on the bright side:

We got the super giant amazing bumper!

With spare tire holder (and eventually will have a bike rack attached!).

And since the van was in the shop all weekend, the Rav got some love:

Full wash and wax! So shiny. 

Two weekends ago we went to the snow. It was fantastic! 

Some snow at the house! Since we had the fireplace going while there, 

the snow on half the roof melted off. 

Yesterday we went up to Auburn for some hiking and biking. Flowers were in full bloom!

And, lastly, the cat is awesome as usual:

Wish us luck with the van engine. Until next time...

New awning!

Earlier this week we got our awning! It's black and the awning fabric is stripey greys and black. 

It provides a really, really big covered space! It's great. 

This week we also got the water tank. The new rear bumper (designed by Adam) should be partially done next week. It will hold the spare tire and two bikes (with an optional add-on 2 bike holder to total 4 bikes). Adam cut out the old spare tire holder (under the back of the van) and that's where the water tank will go. 

We are really looking forward to summer excursions! We are going to Oregon as well as Idaho in the van, among many other weekend trips with the dogs. 

Meanwhile, here's some other news...

Things are starting to really bloom at Liz's work. Check out this Poa secunda!

Made some peanut butter muffins. They are just slightly sweet and taste 

GREAT with a little honey and a cup of tea!

These were supposed to be hamburger buns, but they are too deformed to serve burgers on. These are my third try this week, too! The first time:

I forgot the yeast. The dough is sad. 

(I also made a great honey-lemon-mustard dressing! And cut up a pineapple that night.)

The second time, I remembered the yeast, but I forgot about the dough! Didn't remember it until about 14 hours later...no good!

So, third time I end up with more of a dinner roll situation than a hamburger bun situation. 

Oh well, still good! 

Right now Adam is playing with the new water pump as well (to go with the water tank). We'll keep you updated on our progress! (In van building and bread baking.)

My posts aren't complete without pet pictures.

Bruce the cat on our bed!

Usually our bed has a blue quilt on it, with a coordinating stripey long neckroll pillow, and beautiful shams. This is a half-made bed with a quilt my mom made on it! The girly floralness isn't exactly Adam's style for our own bed (he prefers the blue and puts up with my shams), but I see this quilt eventually living in a guest or kid's room. It's beautiful and the flowers were made by my great aunt and my mom put it together into a quilt. Love it!