Curious Souls

After a relatively uneventful international border crossing, we are back in the States. We're not quite sure why it was easier to get into the US from Iceland than it was  from Canada , but we didn't mind in the least. We've shaken off most of the jet lag and fired up the van which, by European standards, now seems as big as a house. And, technically, it is our house. Video And now, we head West again. Check out the tentative plan! ( and the map ).

I admit that at least 70% of the motivation for this post was, indeed, the title. Eat your heart out, Luda. As you know, we recently removed everything out of  the van and separated the stuff that will stay from the stuff that will go away. Here is the pile of stuff that we actually used during the trip: Here is the pile of stuff that we did not use, but that we are still going to keep because of utility, sentimentality, or some other reason: And here is the pile that will be going off to Goodwill*: For some unknown reason, I decided that it might be fun to take a picture of every... single... item... in the van. Near the end of this exercise I questioned my sanity, but I persisted in my efforts and here are the results (10 random items chosen by flickr): www. flick r .com ---- * May or may not have been used during the trip.

Friends, the Curious Souls turtles are officially shell-less! We parked our van and will be relying on our wits and the vagaries of public transportation and kindness of others to get about from now on. How un-American of us! Here are the final moments... Video

We only have 13 days left until we hop on a big ol' jet airliner for Europe and so we decided to start the process of mothballing the van for storage tonight. My nephews are here in North Carolina visiting Grandma and Grandpa and they decided to have a little fun while Aunt Ellen and Uncle Jon were out sorting through the van stuff in the garage. Van Party!!! Video We're just a little bit jealous that they are both able to completely stand up inside the van.

See that little "Where Are We Now?" map in the upper left corner?  For the past four weeks, as we have prepared the van, gathered supplies and recovered from illness, it has read "Loveland, CO, USA".  Today, the map will move. Yesterday was the first day of Spring, and a time for new beginnings.  Today, exactly one month after we left Phoenix, we are beginning our journey across the country. We want to thank Ed and Connie for putting us up and putting up with us.  As you'll see in a future post, they did a tremendous amount of work in outfitting the van and they will continue to help us out by taking care of Asher, storing our additional stuff and minding our mail.  We wouldn't be making this journey without them. And now, we present to you, The Eagle... Movie Link It is time for us to fly!

The frame for the bed (with storage) is almost done! We tested out the size today and it fits great!! My dad is a woodworking genius! Here is an overall view of the frame in the van: Video link here . This is how we are going to get to our storage space: Video link here . Just for fun, a view of our storage space from ground level: Video link here . And most importantly, here is my dad trying out the frame and discovering an unexpected bonus feature of the van: Video link here . Jon is also almost finished with his modifications to the dash: Video link here . Now for finishing work and the all important task of making it match the super awesome existing wood decor in the van. Go Dad Go!

Our van is looking quite different than she did when we first got her . Video can also be viewed here .

And we are off! After a quick visit to the myopractor and a yummy breakfast at Los Taquitos , we picked up Asher and pointed the van (+ trailer) north. Destination: Albuquerque, NM. So it turns out that there's a ginormous storm cloud covering Arizona and New Mexico right now. The rain in Phoenix turned into snow in Flagstaff and ice in New Mexico. Yikes. There were a few stretches where we were literally skating. We couldn't turn or we would skid and we couldn't brake or we would skid. A tiny bit unnerving, to say the least. But Jon did a fantastic job of driving and we are now (nine hours later), safe and sound in a lovely La Quinta hotel room. Now it's time for sleep. Sweet dreams, everyone!

I know everyone has been dying to know how we are planning on traveling across the country. Well, we officially purchased our new conversion van today! Check this baby out: Your eyes are not deceiving you. That is leather. And woodgrain. I know. You're totally jealous. Customization and associated photos to come!