ASTRO UPDATE

It been two months and about 9,000 miles, the biggest question people ask is "how is the Astro?"

Well..... she's still running, BUT there are a few issues...

#1 - The check engine light. Yeah, its been on since Eau Claire Wisconsin day one of the trip

#2 - Side window. I managed to break it way back in Ft. Collins while trying to fix it (it wouldn't shut tight). Now we have some cardboard in it.

#3 - Side mirror. On our way out of Portland, OR Kate managed to "bump" the side mirror on the highway, causing it to break. Here is a before and after.

#4 - Gas milage. The first month of the trip we were getting about 16mpg on average. Since leaving the west coast we've face a sad downward decline. Currently we are getting 11 or 12 mpg. Could it be the cold rainy weather? Something to do with the check engine light that has been on since day 1? is the van suicidal? Probably all the of the above.

#5 - Headlights. For some unknown reason (maybe a fuse blew out?) the regular headlights stopped working when we were in the UP of Michigan. Now we just get to drive around with our high beams on and make the other drivers happy.



Going strong!

Wardriving

"Wardriving is the act of searching for Wi-Fi wireless networks by a person in a moving vehicle, using a portable computer or PDA." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wardriving)

This is one of the main ways we access the web while we are traveling. It's so easy to find unprotected wireless its a joke.

A parking space outside of a coffee shop? Pull the van up next to it. City Hall? Pull the van up next to it. An apartment complex? Pull the van up next to it. A large-national wide chain of hotels that doesn't protect it networks? Pull the van up next to it.

Here are some photos of us surfing the web from the van.

Kate always looks this happy when she is conducting illegal activities.

CARHENGE!

Woke up at dawn in the Thedford, NE (pop. 100) municipal building parking lot, jumped into the front of the van and drove to a gas station before anyone could notice we slept there. According to a free campgrounds book we had this was a legit place to sleep over night. According to my gut instinct it was not. When we pulled in the night before after dark Kate thought someone was watching us from the building across the street, it turned out it was a poster of two people. This was discovered after I drew the curtains of the ASTRO, pulled out my binoculars and proceeded to peep through said curtains across the street.

After getting coffee we drove well out of our way, but well worth it, to see none other than CARHENGE.


Yes, it is a replica of Stonehenge made with old cars and it is in the middle of nowhere (Alliance) Nebraska. There is also some other art there.


FACT:

Since it was deserted we took the liberty to get a photo op with the ASTRO inside of carhenge.

Drive To Denver Part 2

After Wal-Mart we blasted through Minnesota and made a special detour for Kate to have an exciting childhood moment and visit the "Little Town on The Prairie", former home of Laura Ingalls Wilder:


Next stop: the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD. And what a treat it was!


Sadly, the building is not made of corn rather decorated with cobs. We happened to be there for "Corn Palace Days" or something of that nature, which turns out is like a county fair.

We stopped by the Democratic bake sale and talked to the old ladies who were running it and we also happened to notice that the republicans were up to their old tricks, trying to win votes by bribing. Hard to see but the republican's sandwich board reads "free water and peanuts"


After that we stopped into Winner, SD.


Slot machines are legal just about everywhere in SD and i figured Winner was the place to give it a shot; however, the dark musty room and sallow faces of the people in the slots room at the gas station made me run the other way.

I'll leave you with this:

Getting To Denver Part 1

After leaving the Boundary Waters we started driving to Denver. The first city of note is the Grand Rapids, MN. Not a big city, but a city full of amazing signs and northwoods glory. If you don't believe me check out the stylish VFW, straight out of the future (or the 80s, whatever).

A few hours later we stopped at the St. Cloud Wal-Mart for the night. Wait, Wal-Mart? Yes, Wal-Mart! For those of you who don't know 24 hour Wal-Mart stores permit you to stay the night in their parking lots for FREE. Now you wont catch me actually shopping in one of these stores anytime soon, but its great deal if you can sleep in your vehicle. We were one of four other vehicles staying at this particular Wal-Mart.

Here we are in the morning enjoying breakfast.

It might be a bit of a stretch to be cooking in the parking lot, but dont plan on going back there soon.

Madison to Beaver Bay (Aug 22nd)

Our first day of solid driving in the Astro! We left Madison around noon and drove straight up to Duluth. We found an overlook of the town, which is built on large hills, and ate dinner.


We drove up the Lake Superior Coast and found a rest area to sleep at a few hours from the Boundary Waters. Unfortunately, we forgot to take a photo. Bummer.

ASTRO mods

Here are some modifications we did to the van to make it the greatest ASTRO ever. Lets start with the ASTRO chillin' in the bushes

fuzzy dice compliments of dinner night. stuffed duck compliments of beth ditter.

jams.

the bed is made out of some closet doors i found on the side of the road. yay move out days. the rest of the stuff was made from crap in our apartment. I think in total it cost about $18 in wood and screws to make all the stuff.

T-Minus 2 Days

Greetings from Kamp Kretchmar!

Today Chris and I added a hood ornament to ASTRO van.




Who needs a security system when you have jaguar protection?

Leaving Madison

Ok. Blog time. Since we are moving out of Madison and doing a bunch of traveling it's the easiest way to keep you informed with what we are up to.

If you aren't up to speed here is the abridged version of our recent life.
1. Kate was accepted into a Masters program in neuroscience at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. Because of this we are packing up and moving to New Zealand.
2. We purchased a teal 1994 Chevy ASTRO van.
3. We will attempt to live in said ASTRO van for 12-ish weeks. Before moving to NZ.
4. We love and will miss you all.

Here is the rough itinerary, most of it subject to the health of ASTRO van.

Aug 14 - 22: Kamp Kretchmar
Aug 22 - 27: Boundary Waters, MN
Aug 27 - 29: Drive to Denver
Aug 30 - Sep 06: Costa Rica
Sep 07 - Oct 07: In CO, drive via south & east coast to Montreal
Oct 07 - 21: Montreal Kino Kabaret
Oct 21 - 30: Montreal to Portland
Oct 30 - Mid Nov: Hang in OR, drive to Wisconsin
Mid Nov - Dec 03: In Wisconsin
Dec 05 - Jan 13: Australia comeback tour
Jan 13 - Feb 01: Arrive New Zealand, make our way to Dunedin
Mar 01: Kate starts class