demo time.

/

Now that we've finally finished up all the road trip blog posts, it's time to dive into the work we've been doing on the Campbulance since we've been home.

"Before" tour of the interior.

When we arrived back in Colorado, it was still cold and snowing pretty regularly. This made work a bit difficult, but we were lucky enough to be able to use the not yet active space in Christian's rafting boathouse for some of our work as we waited for it to warm up.

When I arrived to help Christian get some work done, I'd found that he'd pulled the metal anchors (used to secure gurneys) to reveal the plywood flooring beneath. It was right then and there that we decided we would be ripping the linoleum out of the box.

Some of the spots were easier than others, so a mallet and a wedge tool provided just the amount of force we needed to strip the old linoleum out. As is true with most projects like this, things got more complicated as we worked and we realized that the linoleum was so old and brittle that it was leaving behind most of the paper backing on the wood. Add that to the fact that there were multiple spots of dry rot in the wood and we were fairly convinced we'd be replacing the entire sub flooring as well.

We took turns working on the floor, making little to no headway and getting discouraged fast, Christian decided it was time to attach the airway chair box that we'd decided to pull out. Nothing but screws stood between us and that empty corner, so Christian began working to remove them. Sadly, the screws were so deeply in there and very much stripped that any attempts with a screw driver were in vain. A Sawzall was finally taken to the box to make the screws more easily accessible so we could try and drill them out. 

Christian celebrates taking a Sawzall to the airway chair box after struggling with getting to the screws.

We've made a lot more progress in the last few weeks, so I can't wait to keep posting and updating about it as we work.

- Chelsea

homeward bound.

/

It's probably obvious that Christian and I have been strapped for time to blog since our return to Colorado. He's been working every day but two since we got back and those two days were spent working morning to night on the Campbulance. For this reason, I've decided I'm going to just have to write the remaining posts on my own so we can get caught up and finally start updating you on our progress!

Christian got word that he needed to be back to work Saturday morning for a rafting trip going out that day. This meant we had only two days to drive 1600 miles (Google maps told us it was 25 hours, but we were going slower than the speed limit, so we knew it'd take longer). We knew it had to be done, so we loaded up on coffee and kept our stops to quick breaks at gas stations knowing that every minute counted.

Given our mission, photos were few and far between on that first day of driving. We set out to get to Kansas City, but fell short by a little less than 100 miles due to pure exhaustion and a pretty hefty dose of insanity.

Well into the next day's drive, Christian got word that the trip had been canceled and he was now off the hook. We looked at each other in utter defeat and I said, "Find me a Cracker Barrel…now." (I'd had to give up my hopes of stopping at a Cracker Barrel or Waffle House along the way due to the time constraints.)

The universe was on my side, as the very next exit had a sign for a Cracker Barrel. We pulled off with relief and excitement to be enjoying a meal that wasn't eaten behind the steering wheel of the Campbulance.

It was Christian's first experience at Cracker Barrel and he was not disappointed. We stuffed ourselves silly with unhealthy breakfast food and then decided we'd take a nap in the Campbulance before getting back on the road. Let me tell you what…there has never been a more satisfying meal at Cracker Barrel than one immediately followed by a nap in the shady parking lot.

I hung my camera from the ceiling grab bars to try and take a "staged" photo of our nap…I should've known better.

Knowing we now had an extra day to get back, we opted to spend the night on the east side of Denver and drive the mountain pass during the daytime. We'd stayed in truck stops the entire way and it'd become "our thing" by the end of the trip, so we decided the best way to spend our last night on the road was one final truck stop.

Insanity from the road has obviously started setting in.

We passed a train carrying windmill arms.

We hit the road the next morning with the Continental Divide on our mind. The Campbulance handled the climbing roads with no problem, but we took it slow just to be safe. We stopped just after getting across Loveland Pass and the Continental Divide to breathe a sigh of relief and revel in the snowy landscape after days of heat and humidity on the road.

Less than an hour later, we were home and never happier to be off the road and in close proximity to a shower. For the first time in ten days, I parted ways with Christian and the Campbulance and watched them drive away to their home down the road in Eagle.

Stay tuned over the next few days and we'll be posting updates on the actual work we've been doing to the Campbulance!

-Chelsea

the breakdown.

/

Our morning drive out of Vermont and into New York was perfect. It took us through some gorgeous towns and winding roads that were a far cry from the thousand-plus miles of interstates we knew lay ahead. With nothing but the cost of diesel in our way, we chugged towards Niagara Falls with the intentions of staying nearby for the night and exploring the falls early the next morning before beginning the massive trek home.

About an hour after Christian took over the wheel, he aimed for an exit ramp to a service station. Excited that he'd sensed my impending need to empty my tiny bladder, I hadn't realized there was an odd sound and smell eminating from the engine. As soon as we'd pulled off and began to slow, I too noticed the sound and smell. We quickly parked and popped the hood to inspect. It was immediately apparent what the origin was, as we found a small trickle of smoke wafting up at us from the belt around the AC compressor. Apparently, the compressor had somehow seized up and was now static as the belt spun around it, creating a massive amount of friction.

Being that it was well past closing time for any garages nearby, we opted to head to the next main exit to a truck stop for the night and figure out a plan. Christian did some Googling and made a few phone calls to local shops, leaving messages explaining our situation and asking for a callback as soon as they opened the next day. Given our predicament, we did the only thing we could…we popped a few beers and hunkered down for the night, hopeful that we could get our dear Campbulance into a shop first thing in the morning.

We got up bright and early the next morning and made some coffee with anticipation that we'd soon be heading down the road to a nearby shop. We received a phone call from one of the shops we'd called the night before and they immediately referred us to Dave's Service Center knowing that they worked on diesels. I slurped down the rest of my coffee as Christian made the call to prep Dave's for our arrival.

Dave's made quick work of diagnosing the problem and figuring out the solution…we needed a new AC compressor. Lucky for us, we got there just under the deadline to get same-day parts, so they ordered it quickly and assured us we'd be on our way by 3pm. That gave us an entire morning and afternoon to explore the nearby city of Geneva, so we grabbed our daypack and set off on a walk.

Knowing that we'd have few opportunities to blog on the road, we set out for the library to make use of their free internet and do some catching up. After a few hours of photo editing and blog-writing, we decided it was time to take advantage of the beautiful weather and go exploring.

As inconvenient as the engine trouble was, we ended up having a blast walking around Geneva and exploring the shops and lake. I think we were both grateful for the mandatory break it gave us from the road. After poking around shops and thrift stores, exploring the nearby lake and filling up on a tasty lunch, we figured it was time to head back to Dave's and see what progress had been made.

True to their word, Dave's had Campbulance all ready to roll by 3pm and we were on our way west with renewed confidence and one thing on our mind…making it to Niagara Falls before nightfall.

We've taken to yelling "Whoop whoop!" at every ambulance we see on the road now…

- Chelsea

we've made a huge mistake.

/

I left off yesterday while we were driving towards NYC. Though optimistic about our endeavor as a whole, we knew we might hit a few stressful moments as we breached the city limits in the Campbulance. Not surprisingly, the traffic getting through the Holland Tunnel was bumper to bumper and put us behind our already delayed schedule. It was sitting in said traffic that we both began to question the soundness of our decision. In fact, our optimism was quickly turning to a sense of dread and realization that we might've made a huge mistake.

When we finally made it through the tunnel (Christian was still driving and I was navigating), we knew we had to find our way through Manhattan and across the Williamsburg Bridge to Brooklyn. The stress was mounting as we fumbled our way through turns and forks, hoping against hope that we'd make it the first try without having to backtrack or turn around. Thinking we were in the clear once on the bridge, I got out the camera to take a few photos and video just as there was a clear division in the road and two very different options ahead of us. We cut it close, but made it to the right lane before mistakenly heading towards the Bronx. Surprisingly, there was no yelling or cursing between us, but we did have a few of the more tense moments in our relationship during that stretch of driving.

We pulled up in front of his brother's apartment with a sigh of relief as we saw a giant spot right in front. I hopped out to play defense as Christian maneuvered it up beside the curb. Never has such a sigh of relief been so anticipated as that moment when the engine was shut off and the driving for the day was done. Initially, we'd plan to take Campbulance down to Park Slope so that my friends meeting us could see her, but it was obvious in that moment that we wouldn't be moving her from that spot.

We were greeted by Christian's brother with hugs and offers of hot showers for the both of us, which we gladly accepted on behalf of our three days of ripeness. Once we'd cleaned up and sufficiently recovered from our traumatic drive, we headed to the subway to go meet my friends and get dinner and beers.

I'm still taller.

As much as this is a road trip laid out with the intentions to see Christian's family, it's turned into one to see mine as well. He's met eight very good friends of mine ranging from high school through college and beyond. It's been so amazing to get to catch up and share our pasts with each other as we enjoy our first road trip in the Campbulance together.

The next morning, we escaped the clutches of the city with some more painfully slow traffic as I attempted a flawless execution of navigating us out of there. We faired pretty well and were meandering up I-95 by noon with Cape Cod as our destination and nerves intact.

- Chelsea

the adventure begins.

/

The last 48 hours have held a lot for us. I’ll attempt to fill you in on all the juicy details without overloading you. 

GETTING THERE

 My friend Jonas picked Christian and I up at 3pm on Wednesday, April 29th, to take us to DIA. By the time we were loading into the car with him, we’d already been seething with anticipation and nervousness about our impending adventure.

Our flight was delayed a bit, so we calmed our nerves with a beer near our gate and mulled over what we’d do if the alternator didn’t arrive by the time we found our way to Ohio.

I happened to have an old college friend located in the Detroit area that had agreed to pick us up from the airport. Unfortunately, Spirit airlines had decided to change our flight to over twelve hours later than it’d been scheduled when we originally booked it, so that meant Coleman would be picking us up in the wee hours of the morning to truck us back to his house. Good man that he is, he waited patiently as we were delayed by a lack of gate and slow luggage. Around 3 am, our heads finally hit the very welcome pull-out mattress and we went to sleep with our fingers crossed about the alternator.

The next day, Coleman took us to his favorite breakfast dive for some much needed grub and coffee before giving us an awesome driving tour around Detroit. While we learned some of the more interesting history of Detroit, we received word that the alternator had arrived and was being installed. It was time to go to Ohio!

MEETING CAMPBULANCE 

When we pulled up in the driveway and saw Campbulance, both Christian and I knew instantly that she was everything we’d hoped for and more. T-Dub gave Christian a tour of the engine work while I eagerly went exploring in the back end. It’d been used as a work truck by T-Dub, so the interior was in tact, but pretty dirty since he’d spent his time and effort (thankfully!) replacing the alternator instead of cleaning. Even through the dust, I could see nothing but pure potential.

The first test drive was to the DMV and it was immediately apparent that this gal had been taken care of. She ran like a dream and drove even better. Christian was all smiles on that short drive to finalize the paperwork and we couldn’t wait to get on the road.

FINAL PREPARATIONS

Before leaving Colorado, we’d done some initial research to see if there was anything illegal about driving a fully equipped rescue-ready ambulance around. Thank goodness we did because it turns out that it’s highly illegal to have any red lights on your vehicle, even if they’re off or inactive. In light of this news, we opted to assume other states would have similar thoughts on the subject and went ahead and removed the light bars and all red lights before hitting the road. Seeing as our road trip plans would take us through at least 9 additional states, we didn’t want to chance it.

With all the red lights off and covered with tape, we eagerly found the nearest gas station and topped off the tank so we could get on the road and start heading east.

YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO

 Being that we were in a fairly rural part of Ohio, I asked Christian if I could get behind the wheel for a few blocks and see how comfortable I was driving her before we hit the open road or traffic. By a few miles, I was happily merging onto the interstate with Christian grinning in the passenger seat. Our goal for the day was to get to Youngstown, Ohio, only three hours from where we picked up the Campbulance. I have a friend there that works at a swanky craft beer bar that I wanted to visit and since it was directly on our route, we figured it was a good destination for our first night.

Since we were planning to spend the night in the Campbulance, we wanted to clean her up a bit. After a Walmart run for some Armor All wipes and other supplies deemed necessary for our trip, we found a gas station with a vacuum and went to town.

Satisfied with the quick cleaning job, we headed to Vintage to meet up with Graig and enjoy a celebratory beer. We settled into a cozy couch at Vintage and let the reality of our new adventure sink in. Later, Graig and his girlfriend AJ joined us, which led to the hilarious realization that AJ had encountered us at the gas station vacuum earlier. Apparently she’d assumed we were two medics cleaning up a particularly horrific disaster.

Seeing as our accommodations were mere steps from where we were enjoying good company and beers, Christian and I opted to stay right there for the night. I woke up a little nervous about our location, so we quickly moved on and found a nearby truck stop to fill up, brew some coffee and grab an extra half hour of sleep before we hit the road.

BROOKLYN BOUND

Yesterday, I found myself happily enjoying the road from the passenger seat as Christian drove us through the fattest part of Pennsylvania. Christian’s brother lives in Brooklyn and I have a slew of old friends there as well, so we made arrangements to meet up with them and enjoy another night of good company before continuing our quest north.

- Chelsea