Let the Build-Out Begin

Deciding what one needs in a vehicle one is going to live in encourages much thought and planning.  You have little space to work with and every square inch counts.

I don't want to mess with the flooring, the walls or the windows.  The Kraken is pretty nice and reasonably well insulated for my purposes, as I don't plan to have him in any extreme hot or cold weather.  Unlike a typical cargo panel van, the Kraken has windows all around the cargo area because it once was a people moving wagon and those windows offer great visibility which is wonderful to me.

I'm essentially looking at a couple of furniture structures to provide some basic support and minimal comfort as I travel.

The build-out on the Kraken is going to be very minimalistic.  The reality is that I need more space for my glassblowing show: inventory, tools, tent, tables, et cetera than I do for everyday living amenities, at least for now.

I've basically decided on a table and a bunk.  The table will some day hold a basin and possible water tank and a small camp stove of sorts.  The bunk obviously will be my bed.

The table will be on one side of the van and the bunk on the other.  Both will run along the length of the cargo bay instead of the width.  At 6 foot tall, I need a full length mattress on which to sleep but I don't need it to be very wide, maybe a narrow twin will do.

During my last two years of minimizing my possessions I have given away many of my tools and am left with the basics.  Do you think a screwdriver and hammer will be all I need?  Perhaps I should shop the flea markets and find furniture that's already built that will fit my needs.  What to do...  Time will tell the story.

On thing is for sure, the captain's seats in back need to come out!

The Memorial of the Kraken's BuildDay

It was cleaning day and also, I would discover, the build date or birthday of the Kraken.  He turned 23 today!  Happy BuildDay old fellow!

Interestingly enough it was also the Feast of St. Chad today.  You can learn a little bit about this saint of old on this very interesting blog of a dear friend of mine: PEREGRINATIONS WITH ST. CHAD

The Kraken and I spent the day getting to know one another while I cleaned and tenderly cared for the beast on his special day.  For a 1995 van, he wears his age well.

I also did some measuring for the upcoming build out.I am, at this point unsure whether it will be a build out or a buy out from Amazon!  Time will tell the story.

The first thing on the agenda was tending to his worn out steering wheel.

1 #VanLife Meet the Kraken

Meet the Kraken in his YouTube debut.
My 1995 Ford Econoline E150 Club Wagon Chateau

New Beginnings

About two months have passed since I purchased the Kraken and our journey together began.  After bringing him home I discovered some that perhaps the Kraken was possibly possessed or he had electrical problems.

We went to my mechanic and I introduced them to one another.  My mechanic was perplexed as to why I would buy an older van, you see, the Kraken was born in March 2, 1995.  (He has a birthday coming up.)

After a weeks stay with my mechanic he called me with bad news.  Mice had been living in the Kraken and had chewed on some wiring.  There was nothing they could do as they were not an automotive electrical shop.

I searched and searched and found many electrical automotive shops who only changed batteries and alternators, until finally I found a shop on Facebook no less.  They had great reviews and seemed to know what they're doing and so I called up and made an appointment.

Long story short, they discovered the Kraken needed a new brain and had two bad batteries.  A brain was ultimately located and the Kraken, like Frankenstein before him, had a brain transplant.  I brought him home bought him new batteries and his possession seems to have been exorcised.

Now on to the interior...

How Happy Are You?

I've been watching lots of #VanLife videos on YouTube of late and for the most part there are a couple common themes running through them: the absolute happiness of the people participating in #VanLife and the sense of freedom they feel in doing so.

While I'm sure there are those out there who have found such a lifestyle not to their liking, I am not one of them.  Having lived in a 24 foot Class C RV for a couple of years many years ago, I can say it was one of the happiest two years of my life to be sure.

I can see my own experience mirrored back to me in this short video and it takes me back and makes me smile.

The Kraken Rises

"Let Loose the Kraken!" is a catchy memorable command shouted by Zeus in the 1981 fantasy film called The Clash of the Titans and hearkens back to the time of Homer's Odyssey and the travails of Odysseus.

It conjures up images of grey tentacled beasts from the depths of the dark ocean, angry Greek gods, rum swilling pirates, majestic seafaring ships, and lots of high adventure.

Such is the theme of this blog: high adventure!

I am embarking upon a new great adventure, that of living and traveling in a beautiful grey 1995 Ford Econoline Club Wagon Chateau affectionately named "The Kraken" and in the belly of the beast I will travel in search of my own white whale - that next great elusive craft show.

I'm a glassblower by trade and for years I've had a stationary gallery of one sort or another but prior to that I traveled the states blowing glass and having fun, living in a 24ft motorhome.

It is to that latter lifestyle I hope to return and as such, I purchased "The Kraken" in which to haul my tools and wares and make my home while on the road.  And while The Kraken is not a 24ft. motorhome he will introduce me to #VanLife, a new way of living.

Let loose the Kraken!

Stay tuned!

After the Dinner Party

After the Dinner Party
By Robert Penn Warren

You two sit at the table late, each, now and then,
Twirling a near-empty wine glass to watch the last red
Liquid climb up the crystalline spin to the last moment when
Centrifugality fails: with nothing now said.

What is left to say when the last logs sag and wink?
The dark outside is streaked with the casual snowflake
Of winter's demise, all guests long gone home, and you think
Of others who never again can come to partake

Of food, wine, laughter, and philosophy --
Though tonight one guest has quoted a killing phrase we owe
To a lost one whose grin, in eternal atrophy,
Now in dark celebrates some last unworded jest none can know.

Now a chair scrapes, sudden, on tiles, and one of you
Moves soundless, as in hypnotic certainty,
The length of table. Stands there a moment or two,
Then sits, reaches out a hand, open and empty.

How long it seems till a hand finds that hand there laid,
While ash, still glowing, crumbles, and silence is such
That the crumbling of ash is audible. Now naught's left unsaid
Of the old heart-concerns, the last, tonight, which

Had been of the absent children, whose bright gaze
Over-arches the future's horizon, in the mist of your prayers.
The last log is black, while ash beneath displays
No last glow. You snuff candles. Soon the old stairs

Will creak with your grave and synchronized tread as each mounts
To a briefness of light, then true weight of darkness, and then
That heart-dimness in which neither joy nor sorrow counts.
Even so, one hand gropes out for another, again.