To Utah

This morning we left Melissa and Stu's house and headed to Utah.  We hit the road around 9 to try to avoid traffic.  Our drive today was about 11 hours :( The drive's scenery was absolutely breathe taking though.  We decided to take highway 50 instead of the interstate due to our inability to go over 70 mph.  The stretch between Canon City and Salida was amazing!!  We enjoyed cruising and taking in the beautiful sites.  Then the hard part hit.  We had to work our way all the way up the mountains.  This was painful.  We rode at about 20-30mph the whole way up the mountain but the van kept chuggin along.  She got us all the way up the mountain to an elevation that was just unbelievable.  We were at the same level as the snow and where the tree line almost ended. Once we reached the summit, we gave the van a break and relaxed for a bit.  On the way up the mountain, we got passed by a group of F150's that we later found out where the new 2015's and they were torture testing them.  When we pulled off at the summit they were recording data in the trucks.  Pretty neat.  Coming down the mountain was great.  We enjoyed the speed for once :)  Our long drive continued on.  We had no troubles until we smelled something weird and noticed the van had tons of white smoke coming from the back end.  Panic set in.  Brad walked to the back of the van and looked at the motor.  Luckily, the belt for the AC compressor broke.  That's it!!!  Who needs AC when you have windows?  We were so happy that that was the only thing that broke and that it was not all that important.  We continued on.  We headed into Utah and worked our way up into Canyon Lands.  Beautiful country that we have not had too much time to see yet due to the long drive time.  The camping inside Canyon Lands was full, but we found a site close to Canyon Lands called Horse Thief.  Wonderful place to set up for our first night of real camping.  Brad and I fixed some dinner and enjoyed a few beers while the sun set.  We are looking forward to spending the day in Arches tomorrow!!!

Pictures cannot upload where we are at tonight, but we will try to get a bunch up on tomorrow's blog post.

<3 Chelsea and Bradley

Brighter days are here

Good news...  We can continue on!!!!

This morning we woke up still in Highlands Ranch.  Brad installed yet another part on the van and decided that we better take it to a shop to really make sure the van could make it through this trip. We said our goodbyes and thank yous to Tim and Marylee and headed to Colorado Springs. We found a shop in Colorada Springs that was only about 25 minutes away from Uncle Stu's and Aunt Melissa's. They were our next stop so that worked out great. We talked to the gentlemen at the shop and he did a few things to the engine and then took it on a test drive with Brad. The work that Brad and Tim had done really made a difference.  The shop worker told us that our van was running the way it should be. The best part was that we were getting better gas mileage!!!!  We took his words as our o.k to continue our trip. 

We left the shop with a great sense of relief. Although the van was still slow, it was running the way it should and would get us to our destinations. The destination for today was Melissa and Stu's amazing home in Colorado Springs. They have one heck of a set up and an amazing view. We arrived at the house and were greeted by Stu. He have us the grand tour of the house and then took us out for lunch at his favorite restaurant.  The Airplane Restaurant was one of the most unique places we have ever eaten at. We walked in and were seated inside a real plane. This plane was  right next to the building outside while the wing of the plane protruded through the building. It had so many neat pictures and displays to see and really great food. We enjoyed great conversation and a tour of the restaurant. 

After leaving lunch, we headed to the Garden of the Gods. This was absolutely stunning. We walked through the trails and saw some great sights. This was just what we needed to enjoy our stress being gone. We also saw the balanced rock and the steamboat rock. Both so cool. This was a great adventure. 

We left the Garden of the Gods and took a drive through a small and unique town. Our tour of the area was great and we headed back to the house to wait for Aunt Melissa to come home. We then went to dinner at a brewery called Phantom Canyon Brewery. Great beers, great food, even better family time. We took a stroll around the downtown area to walk off some of the beers and food. We enjoyed the neat setup and it reminded us of the Old Market back home. To finish the evening, we stop at a liquor store and found some really unique and local beers.  We went back to the house and cracked open a few beers and enjoyed eachothers company. 

What an amazing day we had today. We did not have to end our dream trip and we got to catch up and enjoy our wonderful family. Melissa and Stu have been so welcoming and down right delightful. One day was definitely too short of a stay with them, but we will be back soon!  Thank you for EVERYTHING you two!  <3 

Goodnight - Chelsea  

Long day #2

Today we were still in Highlands Ranch with our aunt and uncle.  The van is still having issues :(  Brad and Uncle Tim worked on the van for most of the day and dealt with the crummy weather that occurred.  We were having problems with the power and the gas mileage so the boys had a few things they wanted to check out.  First, they pulled the spark plugs and saw that the van was running rich.  They also pulled the O2 sensor.  This made them think to get a new O2 sensor, new spark plugs, a new coolant level sensor, and a new fuel regulator.  These parts were replaced, but the power was still lacking.  Brad has one more part that he wants to replace tomorrow morning.  We are hoping to be on the road in the morning heading to Colorado Springs to see our Aunt Melissa and Uncle Stewart.  If we notice no improvements on our one hour drive, we will be admitting defeat and taking her to a shop :(

Although the day was crummy on the van and weather end, the day with family was great.  We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast with Tim and Marylee at No No's this morning along with great conversation.  After stuffing ourselves, we returned to the house and the boys went to work on the van.  I had the privilege to keep my hands clean and stay indoors with Marylee.  I had such a great day talking with her about friends, family and our men in our lives <3.  She is one of the easiest people to talk to and is just so full of happiness.  In the garage, the boys worked hard and made several trips to several different parts stores. (7 total)  We are so unbelievably grateful for Tim.  He was so helpful today and really went above and beyond to help us out.  We are very lucky to have him.  When the boys finally called it quicks for the day, we went to 3 Margarita's to partake in some tequila and mexican food.  We enjoyed more great conversations and so many laughs.  Come to find out, King Sooper's does not have doors!!  I know!! Crazy!!! :)

Again, as we go to bed tonight we are extremely grateful for our amazing family here in Denver and looking forward to seeing more family as we move onto Colorado Springs tomorrow.

Much love - Chelsea 

Long Day...

Last night I had posted about having problems with the gas tank.  Brad looked at it and decided that the fuel hoses on top of the tank were old and worn out.  He purchased more hose this morning at 7:30 and worked on it until about 10:30.  This was quite a process, but he finished it.  We left Greensburg around 11:30 with hopes of having better gas mileage and no gas smells.  This unfortunately did not happen.  8-10 mpg.  Countless stops at gas stations and curse while underneath the van was what this 7-8 hour trip consisted of.  We also had a lot trouble with power while driving the van.  These Colorado hills are not working for us.  At one point we were going up a hill at 20mph.  Not fun!  Not all of the hills were that bad, but most were around 30-40mph or as we called it crawling.  We brainstormed what the problem could be and contacted some people that could maybe give us some advice.  The best part of our day was arriving at our Uncle Tim's and Aunt MaryLee's home in Highland Ranch, CO.  They are always so welcoming of us and today was no exception.  We were greeted with big hugs and some ice cold beers.  This was just what we needed after a pretty stressful day.   We had a lovely dinner and great conversation.  Brad's cousin Brian and his girlfriend Rachel were over with their adorable baby Zoey.  She is almost one and is such a happy baby.  We enjoyed watching her run around and play.  The best part was to watch her grandpa and grandma interact with her.  They both adore her.  After dinner we had some dessert and Brain and his family headed home.  Brad and I were exhausted after our long day.  Our plans tomorrow consist of having breakfast with Tim and MaryLee and then the boys are going to work on the van for a bit to see if they can figure anything out.  My fingers are crossed that they figure out what is wrong or that they can take it somewhere to get it fixed so that we can continue our adventures.

Thank goodness for great family and beer!

XoXo- Chelsea 

And so it begins...

Greetings all!

    Last night we had several of our closest friends drop by the house to see us before we left.  We enjoyed some drinks and laughs that will hold us over until we return.  xoxo

This morning we set out for the trip we have been dreaming about for a long time.  4:00am came quick, but we both jumped out of bed and got ready to leave.  We loaded the rest of our stuff into the vanagon and kissed our pets goodbye.  

    Today's trip was to Greensburg, Kansas to visit our dear friend Jason.  This was a seven hour drive with some dull scenery.  The van drove great other than the gas tank, which was giving us trouble.  Brad is currently outside trying to figure out what is going on with it.  Update to follow.  The van loved riding at 65-70 which was extremely surprising to me.  I drove quite a bit today and enjoyed every minute of it :)

   Jason has been working in Greensburg for the last few years and we finally had the chance to drive seven hours to see him.  If you have not heard about this town, it is really neat.  Google it.  In 2007, Greensburg was destroyed by a F5 tornado.  It is now a totally "green" town.  The town has been rebuilt as a sustainable community.  Very interesting!  Jason had always told us about the town and now we got to see it all.

    We arrived around 1:00pm and meet up with Jason at his place of work.  He gave us the grand tour of the Greensburg Greentown facility and it was super interesting.  We could tell that Jason is passionate about what he does and is super knowledgable about it.  

    Jason left work and took us to the largest hand dug well in the world.  It was very neat and we also got some history of the town too.  After leaving the well, we met up with Jason's wonderful girl friend Katie.  She manages the towns museum that was great to go through also.  We left and got some lunch at the local green bean cafe.  

    We grabbed our lunch togo and Jason drove us out to the Fromme-Birney Round Barn.  It was built in 1912 and is a 16 sided barn.  We enjoyed our lunch inside picnic style and looked through the cool barn.  http://skyways.lib.ks.us/orgs/barns/roundbarn/

   After leaving the barn, we took a drive out to see some awesome art.  There is a gentlemen that creates amazing pieces of metal art.  He has his sculptures displayed along the road and the highway.  They were so interesting and funky.  Some were controversial and some were just down right silly.  The four of us enjoyed strolling along the highway and admiring the art.  Then the rain started.  We had to walk back to the car in pouring down rain.  We enjoyed every minute of it :)

   We changed out of our wet clothes and headed to the meteorite museum.  This was a tiny little building that held so many meteorites and tons of information.  The woman running the museum, Sheila, was an absolute pleasure to be around.  She was so passionate about what her and her husband do and was very friendly.  We found out that Sheila was originally from Omaha, which was pretty cool.  This was a fun stop that we all enjoyed.  

    After leaving the meteorite museum, Kate let us back into her museum and made us some treats and laughs at the old fashioned soda fountain.  We headed back to Jason's house and he made us an amazing meal.  We had a great day with one of our oldest friends and one of our newest.  

    Thanks for showing us a great time in Greensburg, Kansas Jason and Katie! <3  

                

    

Changes

Well it's been awhile. A lot has changed. Let's start at the beginning. I went on the first camping trip with some friends. Sleeping and camping in the Vw was great. Driving was not. So as soon as we got back I took the van to a Vw shop. Two weeks later we have it back. With a newly rebuilt 1.9 waterboxer. It runs fantastic now. Even pulls up hills. It turns out that we were running on only 3 cylinders. And the mass air flow meter was also in bad shape. So that was replaced as well.

Although I could have done the swap myself. We did not have time for me to do this. Because we leave in less then 2 weeks!(so much to do!!!)

Although we are into this van a lot more than we wanted to be, I am happy to know the motor should(knock on wood) not give us any problems.

Brad

Tuned up and ready for the open road!

Back at it again!

I took the Westy to my house the other day. It was horrific. It took a full mile to get up to 60 mph.

The next day I took it to my friends house to figure out what was going on.

Come to find out the timing was way off. So, we messed with it and ended up at 34 degrees. It was like night and day. I no longer think that a motor swap is in my future for a few years now. It went up hills great and drove wonderfully.

It was then my wife's turn to try driving it. She liked it a lot. The cab over design takes some getting used to and the non-power steering is quite heavy. But over all she liked it a lot.

My wife and I took it to her parents to show them the home we would have for over a month this summer. They liked it.

This last week my dad and I installed the new Gowesty 3 window tent. It was a pain at the rear and all the corners. But, it will make all the difference when camping.

Roof Off

Convertible Shot

New Tent And My Dad

Looking Good

Mounted The Roof Back On

Photo Of Me

All Done

-Brad