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| Giving a tour of the van |
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| My cousin Hilary and I hanging out in the minivan (pre curtains) |
They treated us to delicious food and beer, gave us a place to crash, and provided the tools, materials, and know-how to help us fabricate and install curtains into our minivan. I practiced my sewing skills on Hilary's sewing machine upstairs while Max and Steve worked on installing them in the van.
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| Curtains done! |
On Monday morning we got up bright and early to begin our long drive (12+ hours) back to sunny California. We stayed a night with Max's friend Luke in Davis, then drove to Lover's Leap, a climbing area close to Lake Tahoe. We had 2 days of stellar climbing on beautiful granite, with perfect weather (a far cry from the rainy clime of the Pacific Northwest!). We did a bunch of the area's classic climbs, including the Traveler Buttress (5.9), pictured below. This short section is an incredibly awkwardly sized crack in which you have to jam your whole body inside to make upward progress!
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| Awkward... |
After a couple days of climbing at the Leap, we decided to do something a bit different before we left the area. We met up with our old high school buddy Jeff Smith (who lives in North Lake Tahoe now) and headed into Desolation Wilderness Area for a hike.
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| Hi Jeff! |
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| Max and I in our skivvys after a dip in the lake |
Jeff had to head back before dark, but Max and I spent the night up near the lake, putting our light and fast backcountry gear to the test and enjoying spectacular views of the surrounding mountains and water...
Today finds us back in San Francisco working on some gear reviews and hopefully getting out to enjoy some free music as part of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, a massive music festival with an overwhelming lineup of artists. Next stop, Yosemite!
-Dan
Loving these adventures! Makes me want to quick my job and follow you guys around. Do you think you guys are still going to be on the road at Thanksgiving?
ReplyDeleteTrish, that's the plan.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you Trish!
ReplyDeleteWorking on pulling up the roots to do just this! great pics of the happy climbers, and also of Jeff, who is obviously happily re-rooted!
love and hugs,
mom of max
Hey Dan,
ReplyDeleteI've been trying to figure out a way to put curtains in my minivan. I slept in it last season while I was tree planting and I used adhesive velcro on the windows to keep them up. Of course during the hot days the glue melted and by the end of the season, the curtains had lost their effectiveness. Your set up looks great! Just wondering if you could give me some tips!Thanks Dayna
Dayna,
ReplyDeletewe sewed the curtains and fed them onto a dowel "curtain rod" which we actually screwed into the plastic of the van at the front and back. Worked really well, left a hole, but it sold so it must not have been too bad! Hope that helps
Hey thanks a ton! ya I'm not too worried about keeping it in perfect condition. I'll try out your technique! Thanks
ReplyDelete