First Sprinter camping trip

By -
Our new Sprinter - She needs a name
I ordered Sprinter 144 4x4 cargo van a year ago and just received it last week. I wanted a camper van to give Susan and me more freedom with our adventure runs and likewise my husband and I have a lot more freedom for all our hiking or weekend adventures. We are not planning quitting our jobs and living in the van, but we want to build it out as if we were. I plan on documenting the build out process on our blog, but I promise this is still a trail running blog.

 When I first ordered the van I thought I would have Outside Van do the conversion, but the quote they gave me was way over my budget, so we started googling "Sprinter Van Conversions". After reading a lot of blogs and watching numerous youtube videos my husband John and I figured we could do most of the work ourselves. He built a brewery at our house, how much harder can converting a Sprinter be (heh)? I also thought I would have the van 6 months ago and have a lot of the build out done before the summer. 
Van BFFs

 Well I didn't get the van 6 months ago, but instead a year later and the week before the long 4th of July weekend, which made me really want to go camp in it. At first I thought we would buy a mattress load up our camping gear and take off, but the more I thought about it the more I wanted to use part of the weekend to start insulating and sound deadening the van. 
Installing FatMat
We were able to get all the sound deadening (FatMat RattleTrap)  and half of the insulation (Thinsulate & Refletix) done before we took off (blog post on this coming soon). I also purchased a foam mattress from Ikea. 
View from Neahkahnie Mountain 

View from Neahkahnie Mountain hike
We decided to spend the night at the coast with our friend Chris, his dog Oscar and his VW Van. John and I hiked Neahkahnie Mountain in the morning and met Chris and Oscar at Cove Beach in the afternoon to geek out on van stuff. Before settling in for the evening we headed over to Manzanita to check out the new whiskey bar, MacGregor's. I can not recommend this place enough, the owner Chip MacGregor really knows his whisk(e)y and loves to chat about it. After we few drinks and cheese, we headed back to our camp area to sit by a campfire and actually camp.
Oscar living the #vanlife

He drinks a whiskey drink

Oscar showing John how to #vanlife


I have to admit I was a little apprehensive about sleeping in the van, I was afraid I might get too cold, since it wasn't fully insulated. Overall I was quite comfortable in the van overnight and never got cold, my sleeping bag probably helped with that. 
Cove Beach next to where we camped


 The next morning I was able to sneak away for a few hours to run with Susan who also happened to be at the coast, I promise we didn't plan this. Then John and I went to Astoria for more van research over beer at Fort George. 

our quickie on the coast
It was a great first trial run with the van, I am excited for our #vanlife adventures. But first we need to spend more time building it out, which includes a lot more research. The rest of the summer will be a balance of playing and building the van. 


My first pint glass for the van

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

24 for 2024

By -
Image
Top of Saltzman 2024   Susan and I decided to run 24 miles to kick off 2024. As I was looking through our previous routes, I found one called ' 24 mile taper run ', which seemed perfect - how hard can a taper run be? I didn't scrutinize the route closely. Nine miles in, I realized we had to run from the bottom to the very top of Saltzman. Who does that as part of a taper? Apparently, we did, ten years ago. Upon reaching the summit, I had Susan take a photo in the same spot as before. It felt great to push ourselves, which we plan to continue in 2024. Same route, different year -- 2014 Honesty, I love that we are still running routes we created 10 years ago, may be a bit slower though but who cares. I love that for us! 
Read more

Three days in Wonderland

By -
Image
Mt Rainier, glaciers, alpine forests, and a trail through the heart of it all 16-18 Aug 2015 No run has reshaped the borders of my soul like circumnavigating Mt Rainier. No run has infiltrated my dreams like spending three days just running and not much else, in the middle of the longest summer in the Pacific Northwest's recent memory. No run has made me fall so deeply in love with the magical combination of mountains, wilderness, and summertime. Like all of our great long runs, Ann researched and planned this one. She discovered that most people run the 93-mile Wonderland Trail clockwise, and that we could split the route into three days with a cushy hotel stay each night. We, however, would run the route counterclockwise to start with the longest day of running first. We had a beer with our friend Heather McGrath, who had run around Rainier the previous year, to hear more about her trip, get tips, and make sure that our plan wasn't too crazy.
Read more

Deception Pass 25k: Race Review

By -
Image
Welcome back to our blog and our only race review of 2023! This time, we're sharing our experience at the Deception Pass 25k – a true PNW trail runner's dream in the heart of Deception Pass State Park.  A Weather Miracle! We feel incredibly fortunate about the weather during the race. Having known the 50k runners battled through some pretty tough conditions the day before, we geared up for the worst. But, as luck would have it, we were greeted with near-perfect weather on race day. Clear skies, gentle breezes, and just the right amount of sunshine made our run more enjoyable than we could have hoped for. Lollipop Loops: A Sweet Surprise One of the most exciting aspects of the Deception Pass 25k is its infamous 'lollipop loops'. These trails, winding and unpredictable, add an element of surprise and fun that you don't often find in other races. Every twist and turn brought a new landscape into view; we ran through rocky trails, dense forest and a seaweed laden beach...
Read more