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

 

"this is how Chris gets stuck in Ohio." - Hunter Tuttle

/

It may not have been made completely evident by previous posts, but Chelsea and I have not taken delivery of the Campbulance yet. In fact, with the exception of the two grainy photos posted on this website, we haven't even seen the thing. As of now, all we've done is throw cash at a man in the mid-west, whom we've only met over the phone (we'll call him T-Dub). Our first big Campbulance adventure starts today, as we travel from Vail Valley to Ohio, borne on the backs of airplanes and Chelsea's college friends, to trade a stack of dead presidents for an old van.

T-Dub, the seller of the Campbulance and soon to be previous owner, is a stand-up guy. It was his service/maintenance record that made Chelsea and I comfortable with rolling the dice on this adventure. The conversation that sold me on this particular E350 went something like this:

"So, T-Dub, at the top of your Craigslist ad you've written that the 'AC is bad, rear lines bad' but towards the bottom it says 'AC is good'. What happened to the air conditioning?"

"Oh yeah, I thought the rear lines were bad, but I ended up replacing the compressor, condenser, pump and all the lines anyways."

At which point, I made a delighted frowny face of confusion; frowny because that's a lot of work for non-vital system on a vehicle listed to sell and delighted because it meant that inside the time that the ad was on Craigslist, T-Dub had poured hundreds (if not the better part of a thousand) of dollars into that AC in parts and labor (the AC in an ambulance is extensive). If he took such good care of the AC in a van he wasn't going to own, I could only imagine the rest of the vehicle was babied as well.

I spoke with T-Dub again yesterday, and we've hit another hiccup. The recently replaced, really big alternator went belly up. Luckily a quick diagnostic check on both the van and the part showed the fault lay with the alternator's wiring, and not with Campbulance's circuits. T-Dub scrambled, warranteed the part, and laid down another $50 for an upgrade, with the hopes that the van is ready to roll out when we arrive tomorrow. He even had his mechanic call the parts distributor and request that part was checked before it left the warehouse, to reduce the chance that another lemon alternator is installed. Fun aside: the next two alternators pulled off the shelf were faulty.

I called my little brother last evening to tell him the story. About two sentences in, just after I said, "So now we need to replace the alternator," he interrupted:

"This is how Chris gets stuck in Ohio."

Maybe. Maybe he's right. Luckily we'll be stuck in Ohio in a camper.

So now the mighty Campbulance adventure hinges on the USPS, and the arrival of a big 'ol alternator. We're leaving the valley this afternoon, driven by one of Chelsea's buddies from Epic Mix photo, and then we'll fly out of DIA this evening. Wish us luck!

Lastly, this will hopefully be the final photo-free post. As soon as we actually get to the Campbulance, this site will be inundated with images. Wait and see.

-Christian



how I almost lost the campbulance.

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A week into waiting feverishly to hear that the current owner had received the deposit check, it was realized that I'd made a dire mistake. I'd forgotten an integral part of the address when labeling the outgoing envelope, and as a result, the check was now headed back to Colorado. How did we know this? Well, I'd been so excited to put the check in the mail that I took a photo while doing so, and upon closer inspection, we noticed the missing component of the address.

To solve the problem, we decided to Western Union some money instead. Since Christian was at work, I was responsible for getting this done. All went smoothly on my end, but the folks at the counter failed to inform me of all the details the receiver would need in order to pick up the money. As a result, the poor seller of the vehicle was now convinced we were trying to mess with him.

Christian very kindly tried to insist it'd been both our doing, but it was clear that each of the instances of failure were very obviously no one's fault but my own. I decided to appeal to the seller myself and take full blame in hopes of restoring his faith in us. We'd already bought plane tickets, after all, so it was imperative that I somehow found a way to salvage the situation.

Thankfully, after a few slightly tearful moments of explanation and apologies, I'd convinced the kind seller to give us another chance. Despite the happy outcome, it'd been a torturous 24 hours of roller-coaster emotions that almost sent both of us off the deep end. It's now been decided that any and all important tasks (such as labeling an envelope) from here on out will be done together and double checked by both of us.

- Chelsea

well, we bought an ambulance.

/

Against the better judgement of our friends and coworkers, Chelsea and I have bought an ambulance. With the exception of the two photos below, the purchase was made sight unseen. We're going to Ohio just after the mountain closes to take delivery of the vehicle.

Our long term plan is to convert the 1992 E350 ambulance into a camper. We'll install running clear water, outdoor propane cooking, sleeping accommodations, and overhaul the interior. An RV needs to be a solid vehicle first, so we're testing the Campbulance with a road trip 2,700 miles across the country. How hard can it be?

She's a beauty.

She's a beauty.

It's not a total impulse purchase. We shopped around online, looking at the right mix of cost, quality, body style, and engine specs. The previous owner's maintenance history convinced us that the truck was a good bet (because buying any vehicle is a bet, honestly), and the engine and body style matched what we were looking for. The price was right, the timing was right, and we pulled the trigger.

Construction equipment not included, hopefully.

Construction equipment not included, hopefully.

-Christian