Category Archives: iLiveInMyVan

Yesterday I took The Camper With No Name to MF Auto for a check-up. She’s in great shape for a 1984. Most of the stuff they found I had an inkling about, except they said that the wheel bearings were … Continue reading →

Thor and I did pretty well on our proof-of-concept camp out in the driveway. Thor and I did pretty well sleeping on the downstairs bed. Standard queen sheets fit just fine on the bed and I got a couple of … Continue reading →

In the past year I have been denied tenure and my house burned down. I now find myself with no spouse, no offspring, no job, no debt, and not much stuff. As I explain below, It’s a beautiful opportunity. I … Continue reading →

Yesterday I opined about the varying responses I get to my espousing that I am going to live in a van, down by the river. I was quite sure that it would be A Good Thing, (with apologies to a … Continue reading →

Sometime this week Thor and I will embark on our first journey. I worked this weekend to get some more stuff done, mostly pretty boring stuff like getting locks installed on all of the cabinets, some little pieces of trim … Continue reading →

This morning as I lay in bed thinking that Thor and I should hit the road, I received a phone call from my therapist to let me know that he/she/zie was expecting me 10 minutes earlier. As one who tries … Continue reading →

This post describes living in a camper from Thor’s point of view and how I awake to find Thor missing and nowhere to be found.

In which I whine about the cold and having to walk to a toilet.

I had envisioned a very exciting piece about a place for everything and everything in its place, but the associated photography and uploading of the pics is more than I can handle right now. Suffice it to say that it … Continue reading →

I still don’t have a name for the camper. My 1972 VW bus that was my first car was named Bessie. Until the fire, I still had a pillow that a girlfriend had cross stitched. One idea is to go … Continue reading →

Around noon, Thor and I left the family we were visiting in Santa Rosa Beach (though the house is on the bay) and headed North to Chandler Mountain, the home of Horse Pens 40 and, well, not much else. My … Continue reading →

Thor and I, after a long day’s drive (well, it was really only about 6 hours, with several stops), turn onto the driveway where we are to stay. A youngish looking (

Thor and I went to a party tonight. I played music. Thor did not, but he was invited in. I didn’t even ask, though I did tether him on the front porch. I’d thought I might just stay parked in … Continue reading →

I decided to name the camper Walden. I liked the idea of alliteration that several suggested. I looked at a few baby name web sites for names with W and Walden was the winner.  Things I like about the name: … Continue reading →

Moving in to a camper is surprisingly like moving in to a house. One difference is that when said house is 85 square feet, renovations are even more inconvenient. I did manage to get the furnace and new propane tank … Continue reading →

I spent most of Wednesday getting Walden back in shape to travel. I removed nearly everything last weekend to do the furnace install, so it took a fair amount of work to get things back in place. I’d also removed … Continue reading →

  Thor and I slept well thanks to the soft purring of the furnace. In preparing to walk Thor to breakfast I learned that I apparently left his leash at the office. And somehow, I’d decided that, space constraints being … Continue reading →

Walden is now parked out in front of my friend Burning Woman’s apartment. BW is about my age, an author, and, as her moniker implies, for the preceeding past seven years she has been a regular attendee at Burning Man, … Continue reading →

I spent the first two nights in New Orleans Parked in front of BW’s house. It was handy because I could go sneak in the back door, which was right by the bathroom. I think I’m going to like the … Continue reading →

I enjoyed New Orleans, as I always do, but life on the mean streets was getting me down, as was the memory of the painfully long drive down, so I headed out to spread out the driving a bit more. … Continue reading →

I arrived at Jim’s house at about quarter to seven. Difficulties with my navigation system had thwarted my attempts having a leisurely beer while Jim and the boys were at baseball practice. After I parked I told Thor to wait … Continue reading →

These kids needed to go to school. Walden’s ancestors were called “buses.”

Walden got to take kids to school two days in a row!

The reason for going to Fairhope was that it was a way to get to Montgomery, the home of Jay’s Imports, my favorite mechanic. Jay did not respond to hails on Monday, and when I finally got in touch with … Continue reading →

Friday is the day that The People come and take away all of the televisions, beds, towels, sheets, and other such stuff from The Rental. I’ve moved pretty many times. I used to be pretty good at it. I knew … Continue reading →

It’s been a busy week at The Rental. I did manage to post that a tree fell on the Subaru (for the second time in poor Super Roo’s life). I didn’t manage to post about going to Pull-A-Part to look … Continue reading →

The last three nights I’ve slept at a dear friend’s house. Staying at a friend’s house is not really living in a van. Friday they took the furniture. I tried Really Hard to get everything out of The Rental. I … Continue reading →

A friend asked yesterday “Well, how does it feel now that you don’t have stuff to do?” “I’m not there yet” was my reply. Yesterday I learned that I did indeed miss my final appointment with my shrink because of … Continue reading →

Saturday I finally drove out of Knoxville. No more couch surfing with friend’s whom I am accustomed to seeing frequently. No more trips to the storage unit, Goodwill, and the same hardware store. My first stop was a party in … Continue reading →

I was going to leave Bell Buckle, TN yesterday, but my friends didn’t leave there until about 4EDT and Marietta, GA was about 4 hours plus a time zone away. I didn’t want to get to Marietta so late, so … Continue reading →

This one’s a bit out of order since it took me forever to get the pictures posted and whatnot. I’m not sure how the whole week escaped without my finding time to post. Apparently doing nothing takes up a lot … Continue reading →

I rolled into my friend D’s driveway at about 6:00. I’d managed to talk to D briefly before my phone battery completely died and he said he was close behind. I found the front door unlocked and walked on in, … Continue reading →

I took some roads less traveled on the way to Pawley’s Island. At some point I decided that I’d not be finding a Rippy Mart to empty my bladder and fill my cup, so I just pulled over. Thor hopped … Continue reading →

I was on the phone with E as I approached his house. “Is it the brick one with dark shutters?” I asked. That’s funny because his neighborhood is one of those with fairly strict requirements about how you can decorate. … Continue reading →

As I approached Pawley’s I phoned and sent a textual message to my hostess, whom I had yet to meet. She didn’t respond to hails. Should I try to figure out something to do in this paradise myself or go … Continue reading →

Woke up. Got out of bed. Dragged a comb across my head. No, that’s not it at all. I got up and had and went for a run. After my run and my croissant I looked for a local establishment … Continue reading →

After my motivational speaking engagement I had to rectify a serious problem. In culling my wardrobe for life in a van I somehow overlooked the fact that a bathing suit could be a handy thing to have. At the direction … Continue reading →

Today marks one month that I have been without an immovable domicile. I’m a bit behind in my story-telling. I think soon I’ll return to chronicling my return from Pawley’s to Columbia to Knoxville, where I resumed moving stuff in … Continue reading →

These are actual quotes from children in Pawley’s Island, as recounted by parents. Seeing that Thor did not try to barge into the house, my hostess commented on Thor’s good manners. Daughter: “Mom, did you know that Thor broke into … Continue reading →

On the way out of Quito, after my family and I had arrived at the airport, secured boarding passes, passed through security, and had our bags searched by hand at the gate, we were ready to board. There was an … Continue reading →

With help from Google Maps, I’d planned a seven day trek to Ft Collins, CO (Nashville, Memphis, St. Louis were the notable stopping points). There’s a beer festival in Ft. Collins next Friday, so that seemed like a good target. … Continue reading →

Though the counter says that my trip began 51 days ago, which is when I moved out of The Rental, the part where I don’t have anywhere to be for months started last Friday. This post describes a most auspicious … Continue reading →

I thought that staying at the Aaron Presley Boulevard RV Park might make a good story, but I hadn’t anticipated this one. I called the Aaron Presley Blvd RV Park Sunday morning. There was no answer. I didn’t leave a … Continue reading →

After spending a day on the couch avoiding the Memphis heat, I headed over to my friend Apolloswabbie’s house. Apolloswabbie is the owner and coach of CrossFit Fire of the Gods and a career Naval officer. Apolloswabbie and I worked … Continue reading →

OK. I can’t really figure out how to do justice to all the other stuff that I did in Memphis, but it was now long ago, and I’m about to leave St. Louis, so I’ll have to just mention a … Continue reading →

Today, I bid farewell to my long misplaced friend from high school band, the only one, to my knowledge, who actually has made a living playing music. My plan was to hit Kansas City today. Just as I got out … Continue reading →

I got up this morning and made coffee, eggs over easy and half a smoked trout. I spent way too long posting about the previous days travels, having to crank the engine twice to produce enough electrons to finish the … Continue reading →

This morning I bought the parts to make Walden move again. It took me only 42 minutes to bike the 12 miles. I did take water. After a while, I managed to install a new coil, spark plug wires and … Continue reading →

When we left off, gentle readers, Walden was dead on the street, and I was thinking that the Wynkoop Brewery might be my new home. The only catch was that I had to put two dollars in the meter every … Continue reading →

Well, I finally did it. I left suburbia. I drove my limping car out of town toward a National Forrest. I stopped at an REI and bought a new rack for my bike and a cool bag to sit on … Continue reading →

I was sitting in Walden minding my own business. There was a cute chipmunk sitting on a rock nearby. Just look at how cute he is. The next thing I know, the little fellow jumped into the camper and started … Continue reading →

It’s 3PM on Friday and, though my earlier hike was quite enjoyable, it seems that maybe I should try going a bit further. The problem is that I don’t have any maps of the hiking trails in the area. Fifty … Continue reading →

After I bid the VeeDubs farewell, I finished packing up Walden and hit the road. I was still a little concerned about Walden’s well-being. Someone in a forum had suggested that the temp he was running seemed alarmingly high, though … Continue reading →

I got to the drive-up Will Call booths at the Red Rocks amphitheater a little before 5:00 and they were closed. Happily, there was a walk-up office where one could stand out of the rain and get tickets. I got … Continue reading →

I got to Fort Collins, parked Walden in a public parking deck, got on the bike, and headed for the closest brewery, Cooper Smith’s Pub and Brewery. I got a table outside and found that they had wireless. After a … Continue reading →

I woke up in Fort Collins pretty early and, not wanting to use the bucket, headed for a coffee house that sounded pretty good, Wild Boar Coffee. Google did an exceptionally poor job of getting me there, but I finally … Continue reading →

I planned to leave Fort Collins on Saturday. I got up and wrote and charged my (literal, not figurative) batteries at a coffee house. It was nearly one when I left. I headed to REI on the way out of … Continue reading →

I got up in the morning and headed on down the road. I came to this place where a fairly wild stream was rushing down the mountain. I actually got out of the car and went down to check it … Continue reading →

I had this nightmare in which the van was rocking. It was one of those nightmares where you want to scream, but can’t. Then, I realized that I wasn’t asleep. I had just turned out the lights. I had to … Continue reading →

Since the bear had apparently licked the bacon grease out of the frying pan, I opted to clean it before using it to make breakfast. At the other end of Roosevelt National Forest was a little down called, wait for … Continue reading →

I didn’t manage to get up in time to avail myself of the continental breakfast at the little motel in Walden (the town). I’m not quite sure how I found it, but I noticed that Saratoga wasn’t far away, and … Continue reading →

On the way out of Little America, I stopped at the truck stop next door to use the facilities and get a Diet Coke. I checked, and showers there are $10. I decided that I was clean enough. I considered … Continue reading →

I had to check out the Hobo Pool, especially since on my trip to Pawley’s Island I had been called a hobo. The hobo pool was, in fact, pretty darned hot. No one was in it, and it had some … Continue reading →

At a bit after noon, I headed down Portal 1 and found my way to my seat at my first rodeo. Sure enough, it was right above the chutes. The guy next to me asked where I’d gotten my ticket. … Continue reading →

When I awoke parked on the street near the Flying J, I noticed that there was a car behind me and that it contained a couple of twenty-something guys who were sleeping. I didn’t actually get a close enough view … Continue reading →

My path in the morning took me through Deadwood, a little touristy town that’s supposed to look like an old mining town. It’s kept afloat with gambling money. I rode by this little mine and decided to do the tour. … Continue reading →

I really liked my campsite in the Bighorn Forest, and considered hanging out there another day, but decided to roll on. Before I left, I chatted with the guy next door. He was there with his daughter doing some fishing. … Continue reading →

In the morning I drank a cup of coffee with my new family that I’d met the night before. We then headed to the public bath for a soak. In the park there were people selling kettle corn, hand-forged knives … Continue reading →

I got out of my spot in the Shoshone national forest pretty early in the morning. I crossed the pass, which included several miles of unpaved roads. I’m told that there are two seasons in Wyoming, Winter, and road construction. … Continue reading →

I woke up pretty early in the crappy campground. I was ready to get out of there pretty early. Before heading in to town I headed up the mountain to scout dispersed camping spots. There were plenty. I should have … Continue reading →

On my way out of the campground, I arranged for a spot at the north end of the park, closer to where the backpackers that I’d met earlier and planned to meet up with. It wasn’t the perfect place, but … Continue reading →

Out in front of my new friends’ house, I woke up pretty early. I turned on NPR and lounged in bed for a while. After a while I got up, put some clothes on and headed in to the house. … Continue reading →

I woke up and showered and blogged at the home of my gracious hosts. I also went through their DVD collection and backed up some of their stuff to my laptop’s hard drive. That way, if their house burned down, … Continue reading →

This was my first day alone in quite a while. I’d had Little Bird and Ox with me for ten days, and after that I was staying with friends in Portland, and then with the strangers crazy enough to invite … Continue reading →

This being Seattle, it seemed like it’d be easy enough to find a nearby coffee outlet. I don’t really care that much about coffee, but those places often have the Three-P trifecta: potty, power, and porn. As I would soon … Continue reading →