One of the goals of this expedition was to keep it as cheap as possible.
Vehicle selection was the first challenge. My budget was roughly one months rent. The logic being, that if things went really pear shaped, it wouldn't be a financial disaster. At that price, I could literally drive the thing off a cliff after ~11 days and not feel terrible (roughly the equivilant cost of staying at an average hotel for that time).
Luckily vans are dime a dozen but many are on their last legs - it was a matter of finding one that was mechanically capable of surviving a month.
Used vehicles are always a gamble. I have been burned in the past (many of you are familiar with my RX-7 story), so I'm extremely paranoid when it comes to car shopping. That said, one of the best things I've ever owned was a 86 Firefly that I thought wouldn't last a couple of months (last 4 years) - I still miss that car. <3
Though I had hoped for a Dodge Caravan (mainly for the Doge references I could use in this blog) - I ended up with a 98 Windstar - 150k on it, original owner(?) - for $1000. In retrospect, I probably could've whittled the price a little lower - however, I was tiring of searching and was happy to find an example that wasn't a soggy, shit sandwich.
Don't get me wrong, it's still a shit sandwich - just not a soggy one. The craiglist ad stated the power locks didn't work. No problem - don't need them. I get there and take it for a quick test drive. It rolled, it shifted, didn't leak - even the A/C worked. Nothing overly dysfunctional (passenger window didn't work). Done.
The moment I start driving to the gas station, it started to groan and whir (power steering pump, I was warned about that). Typical. No problem - nothing a radio can't cover up - I could live with that. The check engine light flicked on permanently and the ABS light makes an appearance every once in a while....whatever.
I immediately drove to Wreck Beach for a hippy baptism of sorts (I caught a lovely sunset and a lot of full moons).
Every vehicle I have is named. I feel it's important - I've decided the van's name is Walden (the Windstar).
Then Walden started to leak coolant. A lot of it...within the first 78k...fuuuuuuuuck!
The engine bay is tight so I couldn't immediately source the leak - I just knew my time was running out before he overheated. So, bleeding out, I went looking for a Crappy Tire - and didn't make it. I ended up pulling off 41st onto a residential street in a cloud of steam and swears.
I have a history of cars dumping coolant the second day of ownership. The first time I showed my RX-7 to my buddy Mike, it spewed coolant everywhere (Sangria almost got the name Ralph the Rex).
I mounted the curb with one wheel and stuck my head under Walden and found a sink drain sized hole in my coolant system (turns out the block heater FELL OUT). How that even happens, I'm not sure (the backing plate snapped..which is weird because it's not under load).
Of course it was late Saturday night. Welp. Time to test out my theory of camping anywhere! I spent the night in the back.
Due to the fact I didn't buy the van on the island, I wasn't able to ease into this / bring everything I had originally planned (like a socket set). Luckily my brother in law and sister were able to come and help! We got Walden back on the road, burning through my parts budget of 0$ (cost was ~ 53$).
I then drove Walden to Chilliwack with no drama to visit friends and stash one of the captain chairs at buddy's (to make a little more room to lay down).
I spent the night in a suburb and had my first 'home made' meal of oatmeal on the side of the road.
Coolant crisis behind me, today is the start of the rest of adventure. :-)
For your listening pleasure; the soundtrack to my adventure(?) (Thanks Darren!):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS13ioci9FU&feature=kp
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