Don’t worry—the title is a Doctor Who quote, not how I actually feel about the redecoration—well, at least most of it. In between regularly scheduled thunderstorms I’ve managed to get a couple of significant van projects done. The biggest is a complete revision of the passenger side of the van over the bed. Previously, my original bed was under there, and I didn’t want much storage above it so I didn’t bump my head on it. The situation has changed, however, and there wasn’t anywhere for Melissa to put her stuff since I never designed this van for two. So we made a new shelf.
While my previous angle iron design is functional, it isn’t aesthetically pleasing. I also got sticker shock from the price of the angle iron when I rebuilt the bed, so this time we did something different. I bolted L-brackets into the pre-threaded mounting points on the wall, then used some scrap plywood I remembered moving out of her storage unit as the shelf. I let her pick the colors and paint it herself, and then she helped me install it in the van. I added a couple of diagonal supports as well, which was my uncle’s redneck engineering solution on the original shelves on the driver’s side. The plastic drawers are screwed into the shelf with small L-brackets, while painted pieces of quarter-round prevent her totes from sliding off the shelf while we drive. At least, that’s the theory. I haven’t actually driven anywhere yet to test this, but we will be today.
I also finally installed the trim piece for my front roof vent. I’m not happy with how it came out. I measured twice, cut once, and ended up half an inch short, leaving an ugly gap between the trim and the fan. For now, I’ve filled that gap with white tape, so it’s a little bit less ugly.
The good news is that it functions for the purpose I needed it to. The bottom layer of roof insulation has been falling down. Melissa suspects it may be due to the high humidity these past few weeks in Arkansas causing the adhesives to fail. She might be right. They never stuck well in the first place. Whatever the reason, I added some wooden supports right next to the fan (using the piece I removed from the wall to make room for the new shelf), then screwed the trim piece into them. It now holds up the insulation in the front of the van. I’ll have to look around to see if I can buy another trim piece to try this again, but it’s functional for now.
What is pretty, however, are the butterflies that have been hanging around here. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many in one place in the wild. While frustrated at how the vent trim came out, it was good to stop for a minute and admire the beauty in nature.
I’ve been in a bit of a rush to get these projects done this week because this afternoon, we’re leaving to spend a couple of days at a nearby campground. Melissa finally has two consecutive days off work, so we decided to take advantage of that and get a brief change of scenery. Now that these projects are done, I just have to clean up and make preparations for warp speed, and we’re out of here this afternoon.
Smokey Da Van 