Back in the summer of 2014 I bought an antique pop-up camper and a Honda Element and decided that instead of using my college degree I would seek adventure on the road. I already owned two dogs and a goat, and I was determined to bring them with me. I also decided I needed another person for this adventure, and so I met Dan online and invited him and his two cats to join me for life on the road. Dan is an experienced traveler (with cars, airplanes, and hotels), but he had never been camping before joining me in the popup. The week before embarking on our big trip I acquired a stray cat in addition to the other five animals that we already on the agenda. The majority of our trip that year was recorded on this blog, until I got a bit lazy and stopped updating things. Okay, a lot lazy. For a few years. But I'm typing new stuff now so stop complaining!
The Wanderer, our original lovely home
Elemental, our gallant steed
After existing during October in Wyoming with no electricity I was not having a great time in the popup. An antique popup is literally just a tent on top of a box with cushions in it. Zero amenities and no way to effectively heat or cool the room. Not to mention no bathroom! One of Dan's cats added to the our lifestyle problems as the popup was never escape-proof. He could even Houdini his way outside from a dog crate that was zip-tied shut inside the locked camper. Ask us why we built a school bus and we'll reply without hesitation: that darn cat. It became evident quite quickly that we needed a home with hard sides to keep this darn cat IN and other animals (think bears) OUT.
Enter THE BUS.
Haulin' Oats, the One Nation Under Goat bus.
Dan and I built the bus in the summer of 2015 and finished it just in time to drive to North Dakota to work at the sugar beet harvest that happens every October. The interior is customized to fit the needs of our many pets, so that they can be alone safely for up to 12 hours at a time while we are at work. There's a whole post about the conversion process here and another link to my Skoolie.net forum build thread here. In short, our bus has three rooms and a front driver's area. The driver's area has a fold-up passenger seat over the stairs and a wall with a door in it right behind the steps and seats. This prevents animals from getting underfoot while underway. I almost always drive the bus because Dan doesn't like driving it. The first room has a living room and kitchen with a sink, a fridge, two fold away tables and a couch that can extend to a bed. The second room has a single person bed, a wardrobe, storage a 60 gallon fresh water tank, and a rabbit hutch. The third room (we call it the stinky room) contains an elevated 30 sq. ft goat bedroom with a washable grated floor, storage underneath, and the cat litter box and a toilet. The bus is also outfitted with 60 gal grey water capacity, 30 gal black water capacity, a window AC, a generator, 900w of solar panels, and 400+AH battery bank. It is also set up to tow my Honda Element. We are ready for anything! Now for some brief introduction and backstory.
Meet the Herd:
Piper, the Queen of Hearts
Piper is an 8-year-old complete mutt who thinks she's the "mom" of the trip. She was thrown over a fence and left in my cousin's yard when she was a 5-month-old puppy, and I rushed home from my last day of freshman year in college to take in my first "just mine" pup. She really loves sticks. A lot.
Juno the frivolous
Juno, now 7-years-old, was acquired a year later as a companion for Piper. Nine months old at the time, the story is that she was sent to the pound as a result of being dubbed the "Farm Chicken Eater." She's not the brightest pup in the dog park, and you'd think to expect more from a likely Jack Russell and Cattle Dog shelter special.
Rosie the reticent
Rosie is the star of our show! Weighing in at 60 pounds, she's small even for a Nigerian Dwarf. No one expected to see a full time traveling, hiking, camping goat, but that's what he have here. She lives in the bus with us, and loves to watch the world go by past her panoramic bedroom window while she chews her cud. Actually, she tends to be better behaved than the dogs! Goats are pleasant for nature hikes because they prefer to nibble instead of bark and chase the wildlife.
Oscar Wildecat the omniscient
Oscar Wildecat is Dan's fat cat. He's too smart for his own good and knows just how to push my buttons when I'm trying to sleep in. If you ever need to get me awake quickly, take a note from Oscar's book and start chewing on the Reflectix bubble wrap covering the windows. I'll be up and yelling in moments. He's also an expert at unscrewing the lid to the cat food barrel and unlocking locked doors when he can't even see the latch. I'm certain that if we had numeric keypad locks he'd learn to type in the combination within days.
Bartleby Herman Meowville the dainty
Bartleby Herman Meowville is Dan's skinny cat. No, let's call him svelte. He's quite timid but enjoys being petted so much that he almost falls over leaning into it. Dan trained him as a kitten to sit on his shoulders, so oftentimes you might see Dan wearing what looks like a feather boa. It's not a feather boa, it's a Bartleby.
Frankenstein the frankfurter
Frankenstein is my idiot cat. Her nose looks like maybe it got broken when she was small and I think that affected her brain somehow. She was a starving skeletal stray in my parents' yard and I fell in love with her. The first time I pet her she was so happy that she began to drool profusely. I'm glad she's over that, but now I think she's a little bit complacent about her comfortable and pampered lifestyle. She became a member of our herd the week before we began living on the road in the popup camper.
George the fuzzy lump
George is a French Lop bunny that came from a rabbit breeding farm. He had lived there as a stud bunny in a 3 sq foot cage for his whole life, so he never really learned that he could move around. He doesn't seem to actively like or dislike much of anything or move much at all, even when he's in a large environment. But I enjoy him and I like to think he enjoys being lightly petted. I've owned over fifty rabbits in my lifetime and George is my last pet bunny. Most of the rest lived over 10 years (old for a bunny!) and I hope George does too.
Dan the Man
Dan is an eclectic young adult (and old man) from Long Island, NY. He has traveled the world and lived in various settings such as Las Vegas, New Orleans, and even Amsterdam. He is also a writer and will hopefully be contributing posts to the blog. For someone who had never been camping before full-timing it on the road, he really takes it all in stride.
And their fearless leader and wrangler, Fred!
Fred is a recent college graduate who decided she didn't want to use her degree and get stuck in a career to pay for a stationary life she didn't need. She's the main author of this blog, and intends to turn the adventure into at least one book in the future. Growing up, she always told her parents she wanted to live far, far away and now she does most of the time.
Now that our players have been introduced, please join us in the shenanigans as we continue our untethered lives on the road. We will be updating this blog as often as possible with all new photos, stories, and tips garnered from our travels. Feel free to give us any advice on traveling, especially if you know of any free camping spots for us to hit up along the way!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Got any advice or recommendations? Love us? Hate us? Let us know!