turtle top

Broken Down In Bend, OR

Though the title of this post is a bit of a spoiler, what it doesn’t reveal is what an awesome week we’ve just had! Breaking down has never been so fun.

We spent our last day on the coast in Newport, and turned eastward on our way to Bend. My brother-in-law’s sister Becky and her husband Mike recently moved there, and we were looking forward to seeing their new place and having some time to catch up with them. On our way, we stopped in Corvallis where Andy went to graduate school, and had lunch there and toured the campus. Then as we continued on over the Santiam pass, we got a surprise:

SNOW!

It was lovely. More so for me as the passenger, but Andy did a great job driving and enjoyed testing the tires on new terrain. The Turtle did well on the snowy passes, though at one point we stopped to chain up just to be sure we wouldn’t slide around too much as we climbed higher.

The snow slowed us down quite a bit, but we made it to Bend in one big blue piece. Becky and Mike made us a delicious dinner and we had a great evening!

The next day, the plan was to go to lunch with Becky and the kids, but as we pulled out of the driveway, the Turtle coughed and died right in the middle of the road! When we got home, Mike towed us to a spot by the driveway, and there we sat while the boys got down to some troubleshooting.

Gracie did almost nothing to help fix the Turtle.

If you’re planning to break down in Bend, I very highly recommend doing it in front of Mike and Becky’s house. We had an awesome few days! Becky is an incredible cook, and spoiled us with delicious meals and even baked us a batch of cookies to take on the road! We got to see more of Bend by way of trips to various auto supply stores, and spent lots of time with Mike and Becky chatting over yummy Bend brews. Scout and Ben quickly became best friends and Scout followed Ben everywhere he went. I think they exchanged emails before we left. Though Andy and Mike were feeling discouraged about not being able to discover the source of the Turtle problem, we managed to have lots of fun in the meantime!

Bend has a bunch of breweries that we like and had wanted to check out, but thought we’d miss due to our original timeline. Well, we had time now! We went to have a beer at Crux on Thursday, and even after seeing bagpipers out front, it took us a minute to realize it was St. Patty’s Day!

It was a gorgeous sunny day, and we gabbed with the locals while watching the adorable little step dancers in their sky-high curly wigs.

A day or two before, we’d also had lunch and a beer with Becky and the kids at Sunriver Brewing, then checked out 10 Barrel Brewing just up the road. We read books, tried Devan’s seriously tricky 1st grade math puzzles, hauled rocks, threw toys for the dogs, and played with paint swatches. Fun!

So you can imagine our disappointment when the Turtle got fixed on Friday morning! Mike and Andy had replaced the ignition coil, the ignition module, the ignition switch, and even put in a new distributor. After all that, it turned out to be a plug that had been pulled loose but didn’t disconnect fully, so it was nearly impossible to see the problem. But now we have lots of new parts under the hood!

We were so sad to have to say goodbye. We loved getting to spend more time with Becky and Mike, who were so hospitable and lots of fun to be around. Thanks so much for everything, you guys!

Oh, and Scout says hello to Ben. 🙂

Catchin’ Some Crabs on the Oregon Coast

As I mentioned in the last post, while on the coast we’ve been on a mission to catch ourselves a crab dinner! And on the Oregon coast, we have primarily Dungeness, which is a meatier, sweeter crab than all the others. It’s YUMMY.

We’ve learned a bunch since we first dropped our rented crab pot over the 12th Street bridge in Seaside. And as we just attended the Crab Races in Garibaldi today—yes, that’s a real thing—this is an appropriate time to discuss what we learned and if we ever caught anything. So let’s talk crabs!

While we were in Seaside and Wheeler, we talked to loads of locals who were happy to share their knowledge with us. And here’s what we discovered about the best way to catch crab:

Drop your pots at high tide
Crab rings are the very best
Drop your pots at low tide
Crab traps are the very best
Always use only chicken for bait
Always use only fish carcasses for bait
Always use a combination of fish and chicken for bait
Never try for crabs after a storm
It’s best to try for crabs after a storm
. . .You can see where I’m going with this.

It’s likely that there’s a very best way to catch crabs all the time, every time. What we ended up liking best, after numerous trials, was a simple combination of a crab trap, chicken odds and ends and fish carcasses, and dropping our traps in whenever we felt like it—because you really just never know when a crab will be dropping by.

We left Wheeler with no luck, but right as we were leaving we met a guy who mentioned that if we were interested in some delicious crab and fantastic people-watching, that we should look into the Garibaldi Crab Races that were happening the following day. I said “WHAAAAAT? We’re going.”

So we did. But first, we had to stop at Hug Point, which we had passed by on our way north. If you’re driving by, do not miss this! We thought initially that it was a fair hike around the rocks to get there, but it takes all of 4 minutes. And it’s breathtaking!

Fun times were had by all—mostly Scout I think—in the driving rain and unpredictable blasts of wind! The Oregon coast is so wild and dramatic when it’s stormy.

Then we got to Garibaldi, and had to wait until the next day to see crabs race. So we parked near the marina, and dropped our pots off the pier.

We parked overnight in the misty parking lot there, after asking permission from a shop owner on the pier. He said people do it all the time, so we settled in for some coastal boondocking.

The next morning, after a hearty breakfast at Fisherman’s Korner, we headed to the Crab Races. They did not disappoint.

Six crab “coaches” volunteer to race a crab. They are allowed to coax the crab down the ramp any way they like, though the preferred method seems to be pounding the ramp, to get the crab to fall into the net at the bottom first. There are prizes, and varying categories for entries. Andy participated, but his crab was a real bum. He barely even moved, despite Andy’s superb coaching job.

They sold whole Dungeness crabs for just $10 each! We shared one, and took one for that night’s dinner too, in case we hadn’t caught anything in the meantime.

The good news is, that we DID catch one! And it just so happened to be a keeper. HOORAY!

The following night, we ate the freshest crab cakes you can ever imagine. A successful crabby weekend, and a happy way to wrap up our time on the coast, as we’re now headed inland on our way to Montana!

Let’s Refurbish a Van – Part 3: Tires (by Andy)

A Post by Andy

Maybe you noticed the tires. Maybe, like me, you love tires. We have fancy tires, and I would like to tell you all about them. Let’s start with what we had.

Pretty standard look for an 80’s era Class-C RV. The Turtle’s stock tire size was 215/85R16 on 8-bolt Ford rims. Single wheels in front, and dully rear.

We wanted to be able to go most everywhere, up dirt roads, over snowy passes, through water and mud, so we wanted a taller tire for more clearance, with an aggressive mud and snow tread. Also, as a general rule I am a fan of tall, skinny tires. Pizza cutters, some people refer to them as. Lots of trucks these days have big, fat tires, and they look pretty cool, but for most conditions they are less than ideal. I really like the Cooper A/T3 tread and have run it on other vehicles, so that was the choice for sure. As to the size: to get added clearance, a greater load rating, and to keep it nice and narrow, we went with 235/85R16.

Image source

The new tires are almost 32″ tall- a significant improvement over the stock height of about 30″- so we gain almost an inch of clearance with the new tires. Additionally the 235’s have a load rating of 3042 lbs per tire vs. 2680 lbs for a typical 215. The additional load rating does not increase the load we can carry, but it is just a stronger tire so they will live a long and happy life rolling along far below their load limit.

After selecting a tire and size, special consideration was given to the rims. It seemed reasonable to replace the 30 year-old rims, and due to the tire size change, this was actually necessary. You see, dual tires need an air gap between them to stay cool. The gap is a function of how wide the tires are, and the distance between the center of the rim and the plane where the rim bolts to the hub (a measurement called wheel off-set). Because the new tires chosen will be slightly wider, we needed rims with a greater offset, so we ordered 7 new rims with a 5.35″ offset (the old rims had a 5.15″ offset).

The rims actually lived in our house for many months before we were ready to get the tires. Though they did finally get their tires attached.

And they finally made it onto the Turtle.

Some additional touches included new lug nuts all around, and lug nut covers. We could only find the covers in stainless steel, so we ordered them, had the 32 brand new covers powder coated black for $40, and installed them. They add a nice, finished look, and will keep the threads clean too!

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You can see we have a nice narrow tread but a taller traction tire. I did add a 1/4″ wheel spacer for the front tires to cancel out the additional offset of the rims and preserve (within 0.05″) the stock wheel center line for the steering. Luckily, the front hub was just proud enough to accommodate that and still have the hub-centric wheels centered properly.

The spacing between the rear tires actually increased slightly. All in all, it really worked out pretty great. The new tires will keep us safely stuck to the road in all kinds of weather and terrain, and I sure think they look pretty nice too! Maybe someday we’ll get even bigger tires…

The Oregon Coast: Cannon Beach and Astoria

In our third installment of the Oregon Coast catch-up blogs, we begin our new day in the tent camping sites just south of Wheeler, Oregon. Gracie was running around outdoors, having the best time of her life since October, when she was a free range kitty.

The weather had turned from mild to stormy as we left the park and headed north toward Astoria. We had made plans with our friends Rhema and Lisa to spend the weekend near there at Fort Stevens State Park, so we moved slightly more quickly than normal along Hwy 101 to cover more ground. We did, however, have to make a quick stop on our way through Cannon Beach. While researching places to see along the coast, I’d discovered Cannon Beach Hardware and Public House, and we had to check it out. Plus we had a number of items on our hardware store list, so it was a win-win!

It’s an adorable little pub on one side, and a hardware store on the other. You can take your beer along with you while you shop, so of course we did! For lunch we shared the pastrami melt, after rave reviews from some of locals who informed us that they brine and smoke their pastrami in-house. The same people also highly recommended the meatloaf sandwich, but after having the pastrami melt we’re still going to have to get one again next time we’re there. Sorry meatloaf. It was just sooo freakin’ tasty!

We met Rhema, Lisa and Kona dog at Fort Stevens and got settled into our site for the evening. The following day, we drove into Astoria with a mission: to see the Astoria Column, get stickers and beers from both local breweries, visit the Columbia River Maritime Museum, and pick up some oysters to cook at the camp site. We did it all!

First we climbed the 164 steps to the top of the Astoria Column. The view is amazing from up there! Though my fear of heights made it a short trip for me. They sell glider planes at the gift shop that you can throw from the top, and there were a number of planes laying in the grass surrounding the column. We grabbed them and rebuilt them to see whose modified plane would fly farthest.

Rhema’s was the winner!

Lisa is not really a miniature person; it’s just the perspective. 🙂

We then went to Fort George brewery for a beer and clams, Andy and Lisa pegged their pants on a bet (just including that to explain a few upcoming photos), and then we were off to the Maritime Museum!

They had a rope-making demonstration set up, where you use the old tools to make your own rope! Gracie thanks Rhema and Lisa for letting us have the rope Lisa and Andy made; it’s a new favorite toy.

We also got to tour The Columbia, a ship that served as a floating lighthouse beginning in the 1950’s and was decommissioned in 1979.

Then we stopped by Buoy Brewery for some dinner and beers, and to see the adorable sea lions through the window in the floor to the pier. I wish I’d taken a photo! Since I still don’t have a phone, my photos are a compilation of the ones taken by Andy, Lisa, and Rhema, and none of us thought to take one of the sea lions! I also don’t have any photos of the delicious oysters from NWWP Fish Market that Rhema and Lisa made that evening. But they were so yummy! Lisa’s butter sauce was so tasty that Andy and I included the remaining butter in all our meals the following few days.

It was a great weekend! Thanks to Rhema and Lisa for making the trip out to see us, and of course thanks to Kona for putting up with us and wearing Andy’s hat. 🙂

The Oregon Coast: Manzanita and Wheeler

Where we last left the much-belated blog update, we were boondocking on a stormy cliff just north of Garibaldi. Not a typical Sunday morning in the old life! We keep talking about how funny it is that we’ve gotten used to not knowing where we are every morning when we wake up!

It was Valentine’s Day, and we spent it the best possible way—walking around and admiring the tinier towns on our way up the coast. We eventually made it to Manzanita, one of my favorite towns on the Oregon coast. We had lunch at a super-tasty Mexican restaurant called Left Coast Siesta. They are best known for their well-stocked hot sauce bar and display of over 500 hot sauce bottles, but I love going there for their enormous, yummy burritos.

He was commemorating Valentine’s Day with the heart, but he also loved the burrito. After lunch, we walked down the beach with Scout in the blustery wind and rain.

I was delighted to find the beach covered in Valentine’s love notes written in the sand! Some were sweet, and some were hilarious.

We packed the wet dog back into the Turtle and backtracked a bit to reach our RV site, just south of Wheeler. As we checked in, the manager saw our rig and said that due to our small size, we were welcome to stay in the tent camping sites if we wanted. And of course we did!

The tent camping sites followed a winding road into the trees, and there was not a single soul around. We had the whole place to ourselves, but still had water and electric hook-ups so Andy could work. The best part was that since we were so isolated and there was no traffic or other foreseeable dangers around, we got to see how Gracie would do on her own outside.

It was the best day she’d had in months! We were also so pleased to see how well she did. I thought with her first taste of freedom, she’d be gone for a whole day before coming back as she remembered her outdoor kitty roots, but she stuck right with us. She followed along on walks with Scout up all around the tent sites, and came running every time she was called. She would even race off with Scout when we’d throw the frisbee for him, and then follow him back after he caught it.

FREEDOM!

The other great part about this spot was that we were a quick 20 minute walk from Wheeler, so one night we walked into town and had some fish and chips and a few beers at the Tsunami Bar and Grill. Our bartender Justin was stellar! He gave us excellent suggestions on beer and food, and was friendly and attentive the whole time. Thanks Justin! (It’s been a while since we were there, so if I got your name wrong, I apologize!)

Additionally, due to our isolation, we could work on projects all day. While we did have some rain, a few days were clear enough to work outside and get the Turtle in ship shape. And as we saw how great Gracie continued to respond when called, she got to spend whole days outside. She’s like a whole new cat now!

Spoiler alert: We’re going to be back in this same spot in a few days! I’ll continue the expedient updates so we will soon be caught up to present day in Seaside, but in the meantime, here’s a picture of Scout trying to get us to play fetch with an enormous stick.

The Oregon Coast: Netarts and Tillamook

As you can see, it’s been some time since our last post! We’ve been keeping ourselves so busy exploring and better learning the ropes of full-time RV life that computer time has fallen by the wayside. We’ve been making our way north up the Oregon Coast, and as of our last post we’d just left Pacific City. Since then, a lot as happened!

So instead of trying to fill a post with all the goings-on of the last few weeks, I’ll break it down into bite-sized pieces so you don’t feel like you should get school credit for all the reading you just had to do. In the next few days, I promise to get you all caught up on what we’ve been up to, and by the time I get to our current spot in Seaside, hopefully part of the tale will include us catching a bunch of crabs! (We’re still working on that part.)

All right, so after leaving Pacific City, we made our way north, stopping along the way to take advantage of the Scenic Viewpoints that we often just drive by in the interest of time.

I also took some time at one of the viewpoints to wash and dry the sand dollars I had picked up on the beach in Pacific City. I couldn’t get the camera to capture the view in the window, but use your imagination.

Neither of us had been to Netarts before, so we drove up to check out the bay we’ve heard so much about. It did not disappoint!

Apparently it’s also a good place to get oysters.

While we were there, we stopped to have a beer at the bar right on the bay while the sun set, and planed where we were going to stay for the night. I came across a web site called overnightrvparking.com that has been a real game-changer! It’s a site where users report areas that are legal to park and stay the night. You can look at a map of the area you’ll be around, and it lists the spot to park, directions and coordinates, and any amenities such as restrooms and potable water.

Most of the places are rest stops and view points, and the site operator verifies the legality of every report that comes in, so you can be sure that you’re well within the law to stay there. I can’t tell you how much we love this site! It’s $25 a year, but for us it’s well worth the cost. Since we primarily only stay in RV parks so that we can be hooked up while Andy works, it’s so nice to pace ourselves however we like and be ensured we have a spot to park and stay the night as we make our way slowly to a destination. That night we stayed at a rest area south of Tillamook with loads of grass for Scout to run around and a little river running by. It was safe and quiet, and best of all, free! Plus we can plan ahead where we’re going to stay ahead of time, instead of driving all around looking for a spot or paying for a camp site or something.

Pardon the long-winded report there, but we’ve so appreciated the site, we hope others living a similar lifestyle will be able to benefit from it as well. (I swear I’m not getting paid for this endorsement—but now that I think about it, I should be, considering how many people I’ve told about it! Did I mention we love it?)

Anyway, the next morning, my head popped off the pillow when I realized that we were headed to Tillamook, and you know what that means. . . the Cheese Factory! When you’re doing yoga and they tell you to clear your mind and meditate on pure happiness, mine is a toothpick loaded with “squeeky cheese” samples at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. But first, we went to the Tillamook Air Museum, which is super interesting and fun to check out! Also, huge.

Do you see that little twig at the bottom? That’s Andy.

It’s a blimp hanger they built right before WWII to house blimps that were used for spotting submarines and other coastal patrol. There used to be two, but one burned down in 1992. They’ve filled the hanger with lots of old planes and cars, but even just going to see the building itself is worth the trip.

They also have a “Mini Guppy” cargo plane you can go inside. I should have said it was a Star Trek set, because that’s what it feels like and maybe you would have believed me.

After leaving the museum, we happily arrived at the Cheese Factory, where I took no pictures because my hands were full of cheese samples! We left with an actual grocery bag full of cheese. (This is the part where I explain that I really, really love cheese, but I think you’ve probably inferred as much at this point, so I’ll just move past it.)

That evening we found another viewpoint on our new favorite website, and spent a windy night on a rocky cliff overlooking a stormy ocean, which is where I’ll leave you for now.

Stay tuned for Valentine’s Day in Manzanita!

Our Last Days in Pacific City

As excited as we are to see what the lies ahead of us on our journey, as we were going over the pre-flight checklist on our last day I found myself feeling wistful to leave Pacific City! Even though Andy had to work every day we were there, including the weekend, we were able to wring every drop of fun out of that little town. And we made a name for ourselves on the pool’s check-in log, with our name filling nearly every other line on the list!

Our friends Kelly and Jason came to visit over the last few days, and we introduced them to the pool and hot tub, Pelican Brewery, and the incredible views on the beach. With their help, we discovered the superbly tasty fish and chips at the locals’ favorite hangout, The Sportsman’s Pub (skip the high prices on that menu item at Pelican), as well as the scrumptious fish tacos and scratch margaritas on the deck of BJ’s Tacos. They stayed in a nice little cabin on the same site we were staying, where we had room to play games and watch the Super Bowl. We had an unbelievable stretch of sunny 65 degree days while they were here, so we got plenty of beach time and even a few farmer’s tans!

The sunsets each night were breathtaking.

Sadly, the day after this sunset, my phone took a lethal swim. It had been in my coat pocket on the edge of Kelly’s bed, and when I wasn’t looking it slid off the bed and right into the dogs’ bowl! It sat there for the precise amount of time necessary to completely crash. I lost a bunch of photos, and am still working through that grief.

On our last day, the rain and fog rolled in, giving us a misty, moody final walk down the beach.

Scout ran up and down the sand dune three times, and was still ready to take on the remainder of the beach.

We assured him that we were only leaving one beach to reach another, grabbed some coffee, and hit the road for the next stop on the journey!

We Made It!

We’re here!

On Sunday we arrived at Pacific City, Oregon for the first leg of our exciting new life.

It was a bittersweet farewell from Portland, which was to be expected after living there for a combined 17 years! Portland holds a very special place in both our hearts, and it would take nothing more than a thrilling new adventure to convince us to leave such a unique and beautiful city.

January 30th was both the last Saturday of the month and my birthday, so shortly after noon we left our cozy slice of Sauvie Island and headed to my sister’s house in Washington. There we got to hang out with two of my three sisters, along with their husbands and all 8 combined kids! I was in sister/auntie heaven. The following morning, after a delicious pancake breakfast for me and a (requested) leftover pot roast breakfast for Andy, we said our tearful goodbyes and hit the road.

About a week earlier , we had purchased a Groupon for the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum, and stopped there on our way to the coast. If you’re ever in the McMinnville area, I assert that it’s worth the seemingly-high ticket price to check the place out! You can easily spend at least 3 hours there, and more if you see a show in the theater or go to the water park. They have a waterslide that starts at the top of a Boeing 747! (Check it out at http://evergreenmuseum.org)

In the interest of time we didn’t do the water park, but we got to walk inside the Spruce Goose, take a tour inside a B-17, and see an SR-71 right up close.

We arrived in Pacific City just in time for the wild hail storm hitting the coast, and checked into the park. The following morning we were lucky enough to get a bright and sunny start to our stay here! Andy had work to do, but over his lunch break we took Scout down to the water for some border collie beach fun! He was grinning from ear to ear, bounding down the beach and back, jumping up to spring off our legs, and then would bolt away for another lap. It was hilarious!

The rocky coastline makes for a dramatic backdrop! It’s also a lot of fun to climb around on. Scout made it to the top and back five times before we made it halfway up. This really is the happiest I can ever remember seeing this dog. He was having such a nice time he even let me catch a few photos of him.

We have a nice little spot for our tiny house right in the middle of the park. It’s a clean and friendly place, and as a extra bonus, the grounds are home to dozens of wild bunnies!

We also have a great pool and spacious hot tub, which we have been taking full advantage of. Our new schedule allows us pool time before breakfast, during lunch, and after Andy finishes working. Andy gets so excited about pool time that his new work uniform consists of a warm hat, sweater, hiking boots. . . and swim trunks.

On our second day here, we opted to stay in the hot tub for the entire duration of Andy’s lunch break, so afterwards Scout and I took a trip down to the beach by ourselves. The sky was mostly overcast and the wind was incredible! It was stunning and invigorating.

The waves were crashing and pounding on the horizon, and they whipped up the frothiest sea foam I’ve ever seen! A wave would push mounds of foam on to the sand, and then the wind would push it in peaks sideways down the beach. When I tried to pick it up in handfuls, it would vanish instantly in a wisp of airy bubbles. It was magical.

We endlessly marvel at how unbelievable it is that after working so hard over the last year, our vision has finally become a reality. It was incredibly hard work, but our dream to make our lives more about quality time together outside is now our real life! We’ll keep you posted on the goings on of the upcoming week, but so far it has been made up of relaxation, lots of laughing, and especially much more time for days like this:

Let’s Refurbish a Van – Part 2: Exterior Paint

Hello everyone! I hope your New Year has been off to a great start!

We’ve been spending much of our time lately getting ready to hit the road—we have just a little more than two weeks before we leave! While we’re as excited as can be to start the adventure, it’s also a bittersweet process as we fill up our social calendar to say our goodbyes. So for now I’m going to pretend I have plenty of time to discuss that aspect of the journey, and instead we’ll go into how we made a brown Turtle blue!

Shortly after we bought the Turtle, we began dreaming up plans for change. Right away, Andy was envisioning the rack and its sky boxes, beefy new bumper, and fancy new tires. For my part, I could hardly wait to cover it from top to toe in an exciting new color! So while Andy created scale model paper pieces of the roof and the racks he wanted to attach, we yelled out colors and mentally tried them on for size. The moment we imagined the Turtle in a bright Crayola blue, we were sold.

Just to get a reference point, we looked into having it done professionally. Needless to say, it was a lot. There is a lot of surface area on this vehicle! So Andy did some research (those words will be seen frequently on this blog) and decided our best bet was to buy some boat paint and do it ourselves. As we looked further into the process, we were really happy with the plan to use marine grade paint. Unlike car paint, we could paint it with a brush instead of a spray can or gun. And unlike other paints that could potentially be applied with a brush, it is made to be super durable in the elements. When Andy found a brand he liked, we looked at their color options and found, to my delight, the absolutely exact shade of blue I had been dreaming of! It was meant to be.

We sanded down the entire Turtle with wet/dry sandpaper, and primed it with white //ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ac&ref=qf_sp_asin_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=blueturtlecro-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B0017KKKDO&asins=B0017KKKDO&linkId=fc0af2f1af67f4d14ae20361bec4c6d2&show_border=false&link_opens_in_new_window=false&price_color=333333&title_color=0066c0&bg_color=ffffff“>Interlux Pre-Kote primer. The Interlux paints we used ran between $40 and $50 a quart, but compared to the cost of having the job done, it’s a great deal.

Then it was time for the serious business of painting an RV. Neither of us had any experience here, but thankfully Andy’s love of research saved the day again. The method most commonly used to paint boats is called “Rolling and Tipping.” One person uses a small roller to apply a thin layer of the top coat in small sections, then the other person follows behind and quickly but carefully uses a high quality brush to smooth out the bubbles. It’s important to make each section small in order to be able to blend it all together smoothly before the previous section dries.

For our project, we used a badger hair brush and //ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ac&ref=qf_sp_asin_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=blueturtlecro-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B001BWF718&asins=B001BWF718&linkId=d2af3fdcae720aa23812e2cc28f381b9&show_border=false&link_opens_in_new_window=false&price_color=333333&title_color=0066C0&bg_color=FFFFFF“>Interlux Brightside paint in Sapphire Blue.

Before we began painting, I was incredibly nervous that I would make mistakes and the Turtle would look like a bad kindergarten arts and crafts project. But as we neared completion of the three coats it required to cover the Turtle, I think we both gave up on the need for perfection, as it was astonishing enough that we were just two people and we were painting an RV! The paint goes on super smoothly, and it’s pretty incredible to watch as the brush glides over the bubbles and melts the texture into a glassy sheen. If you look closely at the surface, you can see light striations in the paint, but overall we are extraordinarily proud of ourselves! It took weeks to sand, prime, and paint three coats, but in the end we spent far less than we would have if we would have had it professionally done.

In addition to the blue, we painted the top of the Turtle with Interlux Brightside White, and the bottom with Rustoleum flat black. Though it adds visual interest, the primary reasons were practical. The white top will keep us cooler when the sun is beating down, and the black hides mud and dirt and camouflages hatch doors. We have small cans of all three colors on board, so if the Turtle gets scratched or dinged, we can easily mend it ourselves. We found that taping off the layers still resulted in leaks and a super uneven line, so I just used a small brush to freehand the transitions. So don’t look too closely there. 🙂

I’ll share some lessons we learned for those of you who are thinking of tackling a similar project. But first, some process photos!

It was a bunch of work, but our sense of ownership and accomplishment is a great payoff. Here are a few things we learned throughout the painting process:

It’s best to paint on a cool, overcast day. Otherwise, the paint dries quickly after rolling, and by the time you begin tipping it’s impossible to blend sections well.
We had better results when tipping if we lightly dipped the very end of the brush in mineral spirits.
It’s easier to blend the sections if you tip into the previous section.
Edge around windows first so you can move more quickly over the main surface. We started by edging as we went, and it made for a more frantic painting session.
Relax and be realistic. We wanted so badly for our very first vehicle paint job to be as perfect as those we saw in YouTube videos, but as we painted we realized that we’re beginners, and that’s OK. Sometimes bugs land on the paint. Sometimes the paint streaks a little. Sometimes you have to sneeze and the paint dries some while you look into the sun waiting for the sneeze, and then by the time you start tipping again the paint has dried a bit and it smudges, and then you dip the brush into mineral spirits to help it blend better, but you use too much and the now-wetter paint drips down the side and on to your shoes and driveway. After the job is done, those little details aren’t as glaring as they seem when your face is right up against the vehicle.

I’ll check with Andy to get his input about our learning process, and update the list. But that’s what I can think of so far. If we can do it, anyone can! And the results are amazingly satisfying.

The Very Beginning

The question we hear most often is, “How did this plan come about, anyway?”

The story goes like this:

Andy and I had been living in our little house in John’s Landing for a few years, and loved the space, the neighborhood and all our good friends there. We were lucky in that we were right on the bike trail that gets us all around Portland, we had walkable access to restaurants we loved, good coffee options, and our favorite tap room that allows dogs! (If you’re ever in John’s Landing, check out NW Growlers; everyone there is so friendly and there are loads of dogs to play with. Also, a sweet little pig named Q-bert who doesn’t seem to mind that Scout is obsessed with him.)

Scout and Q-bert: a friendship for the ages.

Sweet little Amos, the bartender’s dog, who our friend Lisa asserts was made in a button factory.

But the highlight of our location was that we had beach access right across Macadam Blvd., barely over a block from our front door! Our summers were spent walking back and forth from home to the Willamette River Trail with our tubes on our backs and Scout pulling anxiously on his leash for some frisbee time in the river. We’d plunk our tubes in the water, paddle out a ways, and drop anchor (a rock for me and a chunk of lead for Andy). There we’d float, drink a few beers, get some sun, and chat with the friends we’d often invite along. Most hot days, Andy would get home from work, change into his swim trunks, and we’d be on the river in 10 minutes, staying until the sun went down. Our front porch looked like a beach house with the float tubes at the ready and a consistent layer of sand!

Andy and our friend Jason enjoying the spot.

Stop taking pictures and throw the frisbee already!

So one day, Andy and I were bobbing around on the river and enjoying ourselves throughly. Andy made a comment about how he wished he didn’t have to go to work at all, and wondered how we could make that moment a lifestyle. What we had a hard time being able to justify was why we spent so much time working for the majority of our time, just to have small slivers of quality time outside, enjoying each other’s company and playing in nature!

I found this quote which summed up our conversation perfectly:

We started tossing ideas around, and I think it was Andy who mentioned living in an RV and traveling. I wholeheartedly agreed, and we began making lists and plans!

Just a hilarious picture of Scout riding in the car.

What was working in our favor was that I had recently graduated, and Andy was in a position at his job where he could potentially work remotely. He had also just sold his house in Seattle, so he was no longer tied to that project and also had a little walking around money. So we began making plans. One day about month later, I got an email from Andy with a link to a Craig’s List post for a cute little 1985 Class C RV. We went out to take a look, and once Andy determined the bones and major working parts were in good shape, we bought it!

This was just 10 minutes after we bought the Turtle, when we pulled in for a little lunch and celebration!

Our original plan was to just work away on it in our free time, and move in when the project was complete. But as the year went along, we realized that it was going to take us exactly the amount of time we gave ourselves to complete it. With an infinite deadline, we’d just work and work until it was perfect, which would take an infinite amount of time! We also realized how much project time we were going to lose once the Portland rain and shorter days hit.

In the spring of 2015, we decided to make the deadline the end of September. As we all now know, that deadline did get pushed back by a month, but after months of hard nonstop work, we did it! We had to remind our friends what our faces looked like afterward, but it was worth it. With a deadline, we pushed ourselves much harder, and made quicker decisions. It made it easier to prioritize tasks, and helped us not to dwell on small details. We still have some things we’d have like to have completed, but the Turtle is comfortable and livable, and let’s be honest, at this point we wouldn’t know what to do with ourselves without some projects on the list. 🙂

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