The job in Saranac Lake was great! I was able to brush up on my generalist skills and I got to be close to my parents again. One of the other reasons Jesse and I took the position in Saranac Lake was to work on the van. We were only 1.5 hours away from my parents and the way our schedules worked we went down many Sundays and just did van projects. My dad has a great garage and all the tools we could ever need.
The first project was the floor. We pulled up the factory floor and I was terrified of finding a bunch of rust around the wheel wells but everything looked great! We swept up and put the factory floor back down, it was level and was only two big pieces so there were not a lot of seams to worry about. We found this think insulating layer to put down that helped even more with leveling around some of the D rings and odd bits. The flooring we bought came from Lowe’s and was Richmond Oak (Jesse likes to remind me that he picked it out) waterproof vinyl planks. It was a bit tricky cutting and forming the first few pieces around the bulkhead but once that was done we got a pretty good flow. It took longer than we thought it would so it took two Sundays to get it all done. We could not have done it without Dad’s help, he is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to so much. Once it was done we admired our work and thought about the next project… the bed frame.
Lumber was in a bit of short supply when we were looking so we probably paid more than normal for our white cedar 2x4s and Baltic Birch plywood that we used to build the frame. Since Jesse is so tall we had to do it longways, with our heads at the back and our feet towards the front. We decided to put the platform across the whole back so we could use it to put cubbies on the far side. Thankfully Dad thought of a great way to reinforce the platform so it would be strong without having posts right in the middle of the “garage” area. This was completed in just one day! Most projects took more than one day. I did get to use a really cool new tool, it puts in rivenuts. It makes it so that you can put a screw or bolt in the sheet metal and it makes it stronger. I think that was my favorite part of the van build.
The cubbies and kitchen unit were next. My Dad built the cubbies all by himself during the week while Jesse and I were at work. I appreciated it so much! I sent him the measurements and he made a beautiful unit with 9 cubbies of various sizes that we can put all sorts of stuff in. Plus it fits perfectly between the wall and mattress and it holds the wall up! The install was a bit harder. We used bigger rivenuts and had to make a pretty big hole in a little metal bracket we were using, after much trial and error we finally attached it to the wall of the van and the top of the bed platform. The kitchen unit we bought from Home Depot and had it delivered. Jesse worked on it while Dad and I installed the cubbies. He built it all himself! It looks great and gives us lots of cabinet and drawer space to put things. Betty White is starting to really look like an adventure van!
The last project (for now) were the walls and ceiling. We found some stuff at Lowe’s that was thin, flexible and it had a wood pattern on it that worked with the rest of the aesthetic of the van. Jesse also picked that out, he is quite the designer. We knew it would be a big project and it was; three days it took to put up the walls and ceiling. There were a few pieces that required some creative cutting for the ceiling fans and side window. We only needed a few furring strips to reinforce the side panels and have a place to attach them to van walls. They even bent to fit the curve of the van. Once they were all up we were so excited. All the things that we wanted to get done in this time in NY were done!
Technically we finished the walls after the assignment was over. The next steps were paring down our stuff even more, making it all fit better in the van. We have loaded, unloaded, loaded and unloaded the van so many times between leaving Utah and getting ready to leave NY. It was utterly packed to the gills when we left Utah, we had too much stuff. When we went to Saranac Lake we left a lot at my parents house just because our place was so small, but now we had to get ready to head to GA. Packing up everything again seemed so daunting but as we loaded bins with what we really thought were important and started putting our things in the van we saw how well everything fit. It looked good and was organized. We were thrilled. We could finally leave NY after accomplishing so much and also with so many great memories of working on the van with my Dad and Jesse cooking dinner with my Mom. It was an amazing three months. We are so grateful for my parents’ help and for letting us (and the cats!) stay with them while we were between jobs and places to live.
The van was loaded, my car was packed and the cats were loaded up, we were heading South for the winter like true snowbirds. Next stop was Jesse’s Mom’s house where she is so gracious and kind to host us (and the cats), feed us and treat us so well. We are truly spoiled and lucky to have such a great family to help us out when we need a place to stay.
Since we are not going to go the whole shower, toilet, heater, AC, or so many of the other things that people can put in a van we feel great that we got so much done. Now it is just finishing touches like curtains and paint to make it even more homey. We love it and can’t wait to show it off to everyone that wants to see it. I can’t wait to take it to our running events in CA; that was the biggest reason we did this build, to have a place to sleep and change where the tarantulas on ranch have a harder time reaching us!
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