Day 13 - WET WET WET

I had to hit a speed bump at some point. After all, I did spontaneously buy a 3+ decade old van in under less than 24 hours of searching. And drive it up to a remote mountain area with no plan.

The morning started off pretty solid. Still pretty charged up about potentially landing a fun job for the time I’m here, I got up early and took a little morning stroll through the mist. The van again remained dry through the night, and the rain had subsided greatly by the morning, so it was just a light drizzle. I bought a coffee from the Bev’ron, used the rest stop bathroom, and then decided to head down the hill to run some errands prior to the Hoodland Farmer’s Market.

Since I had headed down the hill, I decided to re up on some food and go to the thrift store, where I found a rug! I must have manifested that shit, because I legitimately was saying “I need a doormat” as I was going to bed last night, looking at the mud on the rubber mat. I then left my gas station coffee in the van as I went into this little shop to buy another one as justification for using their outlets. The rain returned, so I waited a little to see if it would calm down before going to the market. It did not.

But, just my luck, it did right as I pulled up to the parking lot. I love this little farmer’s market. I’m not sure why; it’s much smaller than almost any other I’ve ever been to. Probably mostly because of this one guy’s kimchi/fermented shit. I still have some of the pickles I bought from him last week, and copped a kimchi and a hot honey carrots from him today. I unfortunately had to skip the produce lady I usually visit- my “kitchen” does not yet exist and I have too many perishables as it is at the moment.

I did my what seems to now be daily routine of heading up to the lodge for responsibilities and electricity. I really wanted to go hiking instead, but it was wet, and not just wet but cold wet, and I have enough wet things in the van as is from the last few days.

shoutout Hood Hills Farm @hoodhillsfarm on IG

While I was there it started dumping snow. It’s almost July; wild. What’s even more wild is the fact that less than a week ago it was like 90 degrees. The Northwest is a crazy place.

I eventually decided it was time to head back down to town. That’s when I started to kind of learn my lesson. As it turns out, the van is still waterproof while stationary . The way the water runs down from the roof while in motion, however, allows it to enter through this one rubber gasket in a rather dramatic fashion. So, I got back down with a freshly wet left side of the van, I myself with wet feet and freezing cold, and surprise surprise- it wasn’t that much warmer at the bottom of the access road. And the heat in the van doesn’t really work.

In a positive light, however, this is the perfect time for this to happen. It gives me plenty of time to prepare before the winter. It’ll be summer again in a few days, and I can dry my shit off then. I should probably do laundry tomorrow anyway, so really, the timing couldn’t be better.

That doesn’t change how wet and cold and miserable I was for the evening, though. It was pretty rough. I decided to just sit in the van and draw while listening to random bullshit I finally got my speaker up to 100% 🥰 . When I finally laid in bed, I was more than warm enough; I have a kind of absurd amount of blankets and comforters. Mainly because they used to be the matter that made my Subaru bed. But now with an actual “mattress”, I just have an absurd amount of bedding.

oh, and I also bought this ridiculous fuzzy charger :

Next time down the hill I’ll find something to seal that leak with. I’m hoping to make it until next Saturday before I need to go back down but I’m not sure if that’s realistic. We’ll see!

Happy Sunday everybody. Stay gold <3