HERE’S a reliable indication you might as well be George Clooney on the way out: everybody who’s 40, or sneaking up on 40, is “the kids.”
D2 and her husband spent the winter building a custom travel van on a 2019 Ram chassis. This week they’re on a shakedown cruise to a mountain they enjoy skiing in New Hampshire. Good chance to try out all the amenities, make certain everything works as it should.
I have time to show you a few pics because the little girl’s down for her nap. For how much longer… hard to say…
When she goes home at 5:30, then it’s time for my nap. On the couch if I can make it that far. Some days I just take a knee and roll over, the floor will do nicely for a half hour of blessed unconsciousness.
Here’s the van in its native habitat this morning…
The pic above was taken a few weeks ago in the equipment yard of the construction company D2’s husband co-owns.
I was there yesterday awaiting delivery of new windows to be installed here at the humble manse in the spring. Had them delivered to the shop because one of Jonny’s guys is going to build custom exterior trim for us.
Funny how this picture makes him look small. If you don’t see him coming he can knock the wind out of you… Plants those big forepaws in your solar plexus on a dead run… He got me between the shoulder blades once on a sneak attack.
We’ve got Covid-19 in the nuclear family now, in addition to the extended. This pic is from Daughter #3’s birthday party.
Light the candles on the cake, ring the door bell… start backing up.
I can hear the little girl stirring… Will set this to send at 4. Thanks for reading.
Tony DePaul, January 27, 2021, Cranston, Rhode Island, USA
The “kids” did a great job on that van conversion. Very clean and professional looking. You mentioned wiring, am assuming D2 can work from the road with wifi, can Jonny do the same?
Maybe you and Pam can borrow it for a getaway out west?
What kind of heater did they install?
Ahoy in Houston, compadre. Or are you back up in New Mexico? I keep watching your blog for an update on the Triumph Rocket III build.
Jenna could work from the road a good part of the year but Jonny needs to be on construction sites most of the time, or at his desk. He’d love to be out there wielding a nail gun with his crew but the paperwork often keeps him in the office. He and Adam had 16 guys on the payroll the last I knew. Lots of administrative work.
I need to get up to speed on the details of the van equipment. All I know about the heater is that it’s gasoline powered and draws directly from the van’s gas tank.
They’ll use the van all winter, skiing in New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine. For other seasons, I’ve heard that Pam and I might be asked to help with the logistics; ferry the van around so the kids can fly in, pick it up, travel for a week or two and drop it off somewhere else with friends of theirs, or ours, fly back home. We have family in Yuma, the kids were thinking of driving there on their first cross-country run, flying home, then Pam and I would take the van up to Seattle for them, leave it there. Dunno whether any of this might work in practice but… that’s the what-ifs I’m hearing.
They did a great job on the van conversion. Excellent cabinets and the counters and table top are fantastic – especially the breadboard end on the table. I worked for Bragging Wagon about 50 years ago and most of the work was about shag carpet – not nearly as nice as this conversion. Hope they have many good times.
Thanks, Dennis. They must be having fun in New Hampshire, haven’t heard from them all day.
What was Bragging Wagon? I googled it and struck out.
Braggin Wagon was on Hope Furnace road, in an old mill just at the end of Howard. They customized vans, mostly Chevy and Dodge (because ford had the sliding door hinged in the middle making the extender hard to install – the extender made it possible to open far enough to clear the wheel flares). We also did 120 Dodge pickup trucks on a special order while I was there.
I also googled Braggin Wagon, or Braggin Waggon (two g) and came up with nothing. One comment on “Vanning.com” mentions Doug Worden (DocCyber?) as having worked there. I wish I had kept the old brochures.
Thank you for the long awaited pics of D2 and D2H’s Dodge Ram conversion. Extraordinarily generous headroom in the van and those timber surfaces contrast beautifully with the painted (?) cabinetwork and linings. The best feature of the interior is D2 herself who is just about the cutest lady I have seen in some time. Such a lovely smile. Orange bib-fronts must be ski gear, am I correct? Looks warm and practical.
My last workplace here in Australia before I retired had an American lady engineer managing the workshop. She and her other half have their American home in Steamboat Springs CO and she was telling me that the ski-slopes are so close to home that they can drive there wearing ski boots. I said it must be great to get out there and rub shoulders with all the celebrities and movie stars in designer ski clothes. Oh no, she said, the skiers in Steamboat are all cowboys and roughnecks in Carhartts!
I’ll bet that’s right, Peter, the natural habitat for designer outfits in that part of Colorado would be Vail. A friend of mine in la-di-dah Jackson Hole, Wyoming, apologizes by saying “At least it’s not Vail,” haha…
The kids built the cabinets and the solid maple countertops. D2’s handy with a table saw, router, drill press… Her actual field is film production. Which can be, I suppose, noisy and hazardous in its own way.
Love the pictures aren’t grands Grand! The van looks fabulous, they are so talented!
the dog brought back some fond memories. We have a Dobie, Siah, such a great dog.
We have Covid close to home as well. Our daughter Josie, Nurse practitioner got it at work. She has recovered, been 10 weeks yet she still has some loss of taste and smell.
We got snow flurries for a few minutes yesterday, no accumulation. We were hoping for a bit more!
We will start planting in the green house in a couple of weeks, teasing all those seeds to grow for transplanting in May.
Hope you get a wonderful trip on your bike this summer…Love Jody & Mike
I hadn’t heard about Josie. Very glad to know she’s over the acute phase of it.
I envy you the green thumb, Jody! And you’ve got so much space to grow things in, really a beautiful place. Pam will enjoy seeing it when we can finally get there together. We hope to be passing through your part of Washington next year.
In four months she’ll retire from the bank and be free to see more of the country. Albeit definitely not from the back of a motorcycle…
Looking Good.Nice job on the van.
Man you are slack about putting rubber on your bike.
Is there enough snow there for the kids to build a snowman?
It is getting lighter out these days,enjoy the winter and have a great day Tony……..Bob
I’m not sure we’ve had 18 inches of snow yet this winter, Bob. Always a toss-up at sea level, we might get 100 inches over the season, might get nothing at all. Go safe on the snow sled, amigo.
Nice job mounting the tires Tony. That’s a skill I’m planning to learn. My Honda, the one you met in Alaska, has a car tire on back and a rear MC tire in front. They last a long time. I probably couldn’t mount the car tire by hand anyway, so I have a tire shop do it. I bought an R1150GSA last August. With no double dark side options for it, I’m on the hunt for tire tools. Something I can pack. Funny, I don’t carry tools on the Honda, just tire plugs. Not so with the GSA. Cheers!
Hey! Great to hear from you, David. So this news of the GSA… would I be right to suspect that your plan is to get north of the Yukon/NWT border next time?
I’m still astonished that you made it that far on the behemoth Wing. I tell that story all the time, been spreading your legend far & wide.
I guess we are twins, for my dear, late Mom used to insist that Clooney looked just like me. Naturally, this was when GC was a young, studly guy and I was, well… me. I will gladly let you own the GC “on his way out” aspect and will now stay with being identified as Iggy Pop (really) by a barista who had watched VH1 the night before. I think you may have the better deal here.
That van looks fabulous! Where is Piggy headed next season?
Stay healthy my friend!
Right away you can tell George is trying to look like me… we see his work station in the fourth, maybe fifth image in the movie. There’s a desktop statuette of Anubis, the jackal-headed Egyptian god of On The Way Out.
Wish I knew where the iron piggy might be headed. Hopefully somewhere, but, as of today I expect to be here. Lots of construction planned… two new porches out back, windows all around, doors, siding, but… I can’t say I really need to be here. Jonny will be on site.
I enjoy the snow pictures…it feels quiet….don’t know how a picture emits a sound, but from my experience, I always liked the quiet world after the snow. Your description of your nap after your little one leaves is priceless. I like the inventiveness of taking the cake to the birthday girl and being a part while being apart. New celebrations will stick out years from now.
Hope all the family members regain their health from the covid visitor.
I applaud your time spent with the little one. You’re both feeding each other in such wonderful ways. The pandemic has taken things from most of us, and here you are being given the gift of time with her, as she is with you. Rich times, for sure.
That van is the bomb diggity! I have enjoyed the journey they’ve shared and it’s just plain (nothing plain about it!!) beautiful! Stunning. I hope they had a good trip.
Thanks, Cynthia. Have you been seeing pics of the van project on FB? Insta? I’m not there myself but I imagine the kids (kids!) have been posting there all along.
Hello Tony, nice pics of the Dodge,
They did a great job, especially considering they did it outdoors (brrr!). Your grand daughter is adorable. I am truly sorry to hear your family is having to deal firsthand with Covid, praying for your health.
As for the Doberman, yeah, he looks mischievous! Your pics of the snow conveys the mood perfectly, beautiful and…bleak. We are only a few degrees warmer than you, but the nighttime temps where you are, no thanks!
Thanks, Will. D3’s seeing some slight improvement over the last week or so.
She got it where she works, a small business where she was the only one who wore a mask and washed hands frequently. And that’s all the way back to the beginning, spring of 2020, the owner just didn’t take it seriously.
About three weeks ago the business shut down because everyone except D3 had tested positive. And then she did, too.
I said “works”… make that “worked.” Needless to say, she’s not going back there when she’s over it.
I love the van, and want one too!
Thanks for the update…
Thanks, Jon. It’s nicely outfitted, made for coast-to-coast living. 300 watts of solar on the roof.
The van interior is beautiful. I do not understand how you live with that weather. It is 72 here today. Worst thing is the wind is from the north at 10-15 and cool. Had to wear a fleece over my T-shirt at 8am. Hate to hear about COVID getting close. Wishing all of you well.
Houston weather is pretty comfy, no doubt. On the gray Sunday morning last I was gathering up tools to go bolt the wheels back on the bike, then I thought, eh… 5 degrees with the wind chill… maybe I’ll wait for a nice 30 degrees and sunny!
The wheels bolt on quick. What takes time is getting the belt properly tensioned… Tighten the axle, loosen it, tighten it, loosen it…
And the slip-on mufflers… a misnomer. The last thing they do is slip on.
Love the backsplash and fancy faucet in that beautiful van, just think of all the wonderful trips in this lovely home away from home.
Just wondering, is that a Doberman. He looks like he could take me for a walk.
Sorry to hear that Covid 19 is in your family. I hope everyone gets well and soon.
Stay safe.
Thanks, Ellie. They did do a nice job. The backsplash is ceramic tile, too. Most van builds go with vinyl, to save weight I suppose.
The Doberman belongs to Jonny’s business partner, Adam. That’s a lively family, three boys and Godzilla. Oldest boy’s only 4, I think.
Very impressive van interior! Did D2 and her husband do the woodwork?
Sure did! They both have mechanical skills, and worked the project outdoors all winter. Did everything themselves except final connections on the wiring; too much pricey electronic gear to risk a misstep on that.