homeward bound.

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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

niagara falls.

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We were racing nightfall, with sunshine fading fast as we drove west towards Niagara Falls. The driving wasn't as busy as Manhattan, but Chelsea was actively navigating the entire way. We eventually ended up taking the non-scenic route through the back suburbs and industrial properties of the city, which was neat.

Despite my reassurance, Christian was convinced he'd be letting me down if we didn't make it to the falls before the sun set. I was just happy to be en route given the hiccups we'd had with the ac compressor earlier that day. It was the only place I'd specified wanting to go on our entire roadtrip, so to actually get there was enough for me.

There were pictograph signs to follow once we were close. After parking we raced to water's edge, and I went from tired/nervous to giddy once I saw the rapids above the falls. There's at least a quarter mile of good looking ledge holes and wave trains (technical terms) above the horizon line of American falls. I only saw one problematic must-make move in the entire section.

"And that line has a massive must-make boof at the end!"

Even though the detour to the falls was for me, watching Christian run up to the rushing water when we got near was well worth the trip. He's a raft guide, which means he obsesses about water and the lines through rapids. He stood there in absolute awe of the massive waves for a solid minute before we were able to move on to check out the falls.

Due to the season and a handful of construction projects, most of the viewing platforms were closed. The crowd at the falls was concentrated to a small amount of space, and we had to vie for uninterrupted shots. This became even harder when Chelsea wanted to do some longer exposures later in the evening. Regardless, it was magical.

Another view of American Falls.

When we first got to the falls and struggled to find a spot for photos that wasn't completely filled with people in our background, we were both a bit underwhelmed by it all. It wasn't until we did a little walking and poking around that we realized we weren't even at the massive Horseshoe Falls yet. We stumbled our way to a path that wound around through a poorly marked and poorly lit park, finally making our way to the other side and on to the famed falls I'd been anticipating.

On our way to the main falls. 

As you can see, the best viewing area for the main falls were completely iced over and therefore closed to the public.

Night fell and Canada turned on the lights. The falls glowed white, pink, yellow and green as the lenses changed across the border. A drizzle started to fall, but we ignored it. The falls are a different place at night, and arriving late turned out to be a blessing.

Despite the fact that the best viewing areas for the main falls were also blocked off due to the massive chunk of ice covering most of it, once the spotlights turned on, we couldn't help but gasp in amazement at the scene before us. The contrast between the Canadian side and the US side is quite stark, with high-rises and colored lights lining our northern friends and a dark lush park on our side. I was disappointed at first at what this did to our view until night fell and it added a nice cityscape to the background of all my photos. 

Stunned by the whitewater.

We ended the night with a couple more hours of driving west. After a quick Walmart shopping trip, we parked at a truck stop, cooked dinner, and went to bed in an ambulance that was really starting to feel like home.

We decided that Backpacker's Pantry should sponsor us.

- Christian

-Chelsea

the breakdown.

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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

northbound to vermont.

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After the Cape we drove north towards Vermont to visit my mum, her husband Tim, and all the animals that have been part of their life (and mine!) for the past decade. We set the navigation app for Norwich, VT, put the Campbulance in drive, and rumbled away.

The spring we saw in NYC had already faded to early spring by Boston, and as we moved north the buds got smaller.  Vermont is just coming out of a long winter; the grass is green, the spring floods past, but the trees still carry a cautious attitude towards the season. The drive was beautiful, nonetheless.

Driving into Norwich, Chelsea and I were trying to coordinate with my mum, and find a place to meet, until she texted us:

“We see you!”

Apparently the Campbulance is easy to spot when you want to see her. We met, and they led us to the build site of the new house, and then on to their current rental, a quaint, old farmhouse with room for the three Australian shepherds (Bear, Flyer, and Piper), the old goat (Puggy), and the cat (cat).

Pantomiming a poop!

"So here's why this isn't a completely terrible idea..." 

Dinner and bed were both excellent. The next day was started with a morning jog, which felt so good after days of relative motionlessness, followed by breakfast at Lou’s Restaurant, and then errands and Campbulance cleaning. The cleaning, which started as heavy vacuuming, quickly turned into light demolition work as we tore down ugly padded panels and other bits useless to us.

Pay no attention to the man behind the shoulder.

Chelsea had multiple flashes of genius, and solved two huge problems. We had been struggling with finding an elegant solution to the placement of the kitchen, which would hopefully have room to include a sink, a burner, and an RV style freezer/cooler. She saved us from a disappointing compromise by noticing that the rear facing airway chair would be easy to rip out, and open up a lot of room with direct access to the exterior storage units. In addition, she found hardware located under the bench seat that was used for carrying an extra gurney in situations that required the ambulance to transport two patients. She’s planning to use that same hardware configuration to support a two person sleeping solution, which was a lot more elegant and refined that my “get-drunk-and-sleep-outside-under-a-tarp” strategy. After all the heavy thinking, we called it a night.

Just as I suspected, a ceiling.

Day two of the Vermont excursion included breakfast with mum at King Arthur’s Flour headquarters, and then a few more hours of heavy vacuuming and bleaching. Also, we finally started to use the cabinets for storage, and it is amazing how just using the feature made the box feel like home.

Christian took this…his talents behind the camera are getting pretty impressive.

We packed up, gave the puppies goodbye treats, pet the goat, looked at the cat, and started the van. A few kisses and tears later, we were west bound, off to Niagara Falls and the Great Divide.

- Christian

pit stop on the cape.

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Our day on the Cape was well worth the drive. We met my father, Chuck, at his house hours after we escaped the NYC traffic. He was properly stoked to see us. About an eighth of a mile out from his house, dubbed the “Wilton Hilton” after its location and likeness to a hotel for weary travelers, I spotted him, and remarked:

“Look, Chelsea, there’s my dad,” to which she replied,
“I can’t see – oh wait, is that him waving frantically?”

He was waving like a marooned man on an island, hoping the low-flying seaplane (which was slowing to a crawl, and had its signal on to turn left, and was waving back, and calling him by name over the P.A. system) would somehow see him and stop by for a bit.

We were welcomed with snacks and then packed up for a quick tour of my childhood homes, for Chelsea’s sake, and a jaunt down to Craigville beach. Beach chairs, surf, and a blonde ale from Cape Cod Beer were accompanied by Chuck’s stories of my eventful youth (that knife fight at Charles De Gaul airport seemed different to me…).

Returning home we saw my uncle William and nephew John, watched the Kentucky Derby, and eventually cleaned up for an excellent dinner of swordfish and vegetables with Chuck and his girlfriend Beth.

The next day Chelsea and I squeezed in a run/walk through Centerville, did some laundry, and headed out for the nearly-soverign nation of Vermont to check in on my mom, Tim, and all their animals.

- Christian