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mother of josh, richard, and mutt. lover of books, yarn, and the quiet places. spinner, knitter, kayaker, survivor, vandweller, warrior.

Monday, July 27, 2009

the state of the rondyvan

i dropped the rondyvan off at cathy and garry's this morning for an inspection and an oil change. everything was a-ok. i had been having this scraping noise anytime i went over any bump or dip in the road. it seemed to originate from the right front end, and only happened when i had a passenger. it has done it ever since i hit the deer last year, and the guy at the body shop who did the repairs thought i was probably hearing things. anyhow, i hadn't heard it in awhile, since it's been a couple months since i had a passenger, but i told garry to check it out. he found a piece of fender or something that was scraping the tire, and pulled it out of the way for me. just in time for me to have made a commitment to "just say no to passengers", allowing me to turn my passenger seat around backwards again.....











i bought a set of lap belts last year when i first reversed the seat, so passengers can be belted. they are easy to install during reversal. i know nm brian recently reversed his seat, and from the smile on his face i think he feels the same way i do about it :-)

i LOVE how much more space i have when the seat is reversed. with the new twin bed mattress, i gave up a little bit more floor space, and had no place for the canoe chair. (you can see it folded up on top of the storage drawers on the left in the pic). so i still don't have a place for the canoe chair, but i have a place to sit. i will have to make a decision on the canoe chair sometime before i leave.

which brings me back to the state of the rondyvan. the only things i need to have done before heading out again is to flush the radiator and to have a tune-up, which is cool because about $300 will have us roadworthy and milking every last MPG i can. which should keep me in my budget and with a projected leave date of end of september, beginning of october.

as usual, i have several directions i want to go all at the same time. i got an invite to come to wisconsin to see a long-time friend who i've never met face-to-face, and of course i gotta head south to find david h. and rile up the Wizard a bit, if i can track him down. vanmom's moving to colorado and i gotta go see her before she changes her mind, and heaven only knows where i'll find NM Brian, mar and bernie, tom, or swankie......ron, well, i know where he lives :-) and heidi and mike have a piece of driveway saved for me......i can't list all the folks i want to meet, or to see again.

so many friends to love, and so little time! have i mentioned that i love my life?

postscript: i had to laugh. when they got done with the rondyvan today, i got an email that said "your home is finished"!!!!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Could you make that "just say no to *forward facing* passengers"? Those who ride facing backwards, without a seatbelt, while you're reading something on your phone.... well, those types should be fine. Just sayin'!

twokniveskatie said...

haha, numees! those good old days in salt lake city! you were very brave :-)

mysturman said...

Twokniveskatie, I am looking at Astros and Safaris in hopes of purchasing one in September. May I ask how many miles yours has on it? I will only have 3k to 4k to spend on one so I'm wondering how many miles people are getting out of them before they are shot? Oh and I like your backwards passenger seat.Hope Mutt likes it.

Lone Eagle's Nest said...

Thanks for your nice comments on my blog Kate. I hope you and Mutt are doing OK.

Brian Many Wheels said...

Hi Kate, I just figured out how to show when someone posts to their blog so it is easier to follow...OK, I know I'm slow. ;^) anyhoo I like the new interior look of RondyVan. And I oh so love my new seat switcharoo. so does Dina...not so much anyone who rides with me but hey, it's my home, right. Now I have my recliner!
I should be there before you leave so will keep in touch and you have spot in my driveway in TorC when you come by...if I am ever home!
Bri

twokniveskatie said...

mysturman- the rondyvan has about 90,000 miles right now. it had 45,000 miles when i bought it 3 years ago. it runs like a dream, and i expect to get many more miles out of it!

when i got it, it had one previous owner....it was a soccer mom's car, and had been maintained very carefully. i was very fortunate!

twokniveskatie said...

lone eagle, we are doing just fine! i'll be checking your blog now and again....keep at it!

brian- i so look forward to meeting you. what will be interesting is what part of the country that will actually happen!

Mar said...

Are you really leaving that soon? End of September or beginning of October? I dunno if I can make it to PA that soon!

twokniveskatie said...

mar-
those dates have been pushed back. i am going to a 10 day (give or take) rendezvous in southeast pa this friday. expect to be meeting up with NM brian and david hair the first week of october. will be here throughout october raising gas money. after that???? when do you think you will be here?

Unknown said...

Arrrrrg.. Okay I am liking your van set up. I am at the point of setting up my bed and storage. Looking at yours looks so much easier so I thought I would check out the storage bins and milk crates. I have been to every dollar store on eastern shore and wallmart. Cannot find either one, zero crates and zero sterilite single drawers.
Doesn't it figure... So I will drive to the next town and see what's up there. Ur set up might work in my chevy uplander. I think it is smaller than your astro but it would be so much easier on me to set it up that way. Thank you for your picture posts they have been so helpful. If I can get this done I will be on the road by the end of October. With my dog luci.
I have also been working with your set up for keeping clean. Wow, I didn't think I could feel clean enough to climb in to bed without a shower. Hats off to ya. Keep them educational posts coming.
hugs to you
kidiekat
luci
and the big white moose (van)

twokniveskatie said...

Hiya! Glad you got some ideas from the post! I think walmart quit selling those sterilite drawers....I had to pick up some new ones and had ro switch to some black ones which seem to be working out okay. I'll try to grab some pics tomorrow!