Baby, You Can Drive My Van

 Tonight, Rubi and I are camping in Cherokee, NC. This is the gateway (on the North Carolina side, anyway; there’s also a gateway in Gatlinburg, TN) to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I wanted to make a side trip here because this is the prime week when the Monarch butterflies rest here for several days before continuing their journey which will ultimately end in Pacifica, CA where they will winter.

I have been to their wintering grounds in CA (and wrote about that here) but was thrilled to know that I could see them earlier in their annual journey as well.

For the past several nights, Rubi and I have been spoiled, staying first in an apartment in Manhattan, NY next to Columbia University and then in cheap motels where dogs and internet access are free!

However, aside from tomorrow night, when we will travel to Hendersonville, NC to stay with one of Rubi’s sisters, Aspen (and her moms, Jane and Gay) we will be car camping for the rest of this inaugural trip, until we arrive back in Colorado Springs on Monday, the 12^th.

Still, the last time we camped, it was outside of Provincetown, MA. You may recall, my ten faithful readers, that I had a dilemma regarding a very damp, leaf-covered screen tent that I needed to pack away. I was finally able to solve the problem but had to throw the tent into the back of my Jeep Cherokee, not packed in its bag so it could dry.

So, yesterday, before I left Louisville to go to Lexington for a protest at Mitch McConnell’s office, I found an out of the way area where I could finally get things back in order. I spent an hour and a half, emptying everything out of my vehicle, getting rid of trash, re-organizing everything and finally putting the tent back inside of its bag and on to the roof of my Jeep.

This made the trip so much better for Rubi, who had been contending with the loose tent flopping into her traveling area. Still, as you can see we are pretty cramped when it comes time for sleeping!!!
A few days ago, in an earlier blog post, I had talked about the cramped quarters and asked folx to keep an eye out for a mini-van or something that would be more conducive to travel, especially when factoring in my cat, Wham!, joining us on the next part of my car camino.

Incredibly, the very next day, after not having read word one of my blog, our fabulous music director, Mark Arnest, emailed me saying that the one item left to be resolved from his mother’s estate was her 2000 Toyota Sienna mini-van. Could I think of someone who could use that?

Could I?????

Soon, the deal was sealed and when I return home next week, I will be taking possession of this

fabulous gem, with only 97,000 miles on it!!! How cool is that??
Now I need someone with carpentry skills to help me convert this into a true SUV-VAN RV. I’ve already found one blog where someone converted this particular mini-van and there are DIY blueprints of how to do it. I will be home for a couple of weeks before I hit the road again!

So, if you have any experience in this area or would like to donate to this next iteration of my car camino, ping me.

I love how the Universe provides when we ask.  Thanks, Mark!!!!

Onward and upward!