We didn't make it very far...

We really did leave Las Vegas. Honest.

We made it all the way to the Hoover Dam.

Well, about 3.5 miles from the Hoover Dam, that is. From there, we parked Liberty, unloaded our bikes and biked along the Historic Railroad Trail (full trail review coming soon!) until we reached the Hoover Dam. We completely wore ourselves out!

The bike ride was tough and later we discovered that it really isn't recommended to do it during the summer months. Oops. We nearly collapsed after returning to Liberty, and it took us several hours of relaxing to recuperate.

In the meantime, it was a huge eye-opener to us about doing this trip during the hot, hot summer months in the southern states. It became abundantly clear that sleeping in the van would be unbearable in the summer. We both still really wanted to do the trip, though, so we decided to try to make it to St George, UT, that night and then make a decision on exactly how to proceed from there.

It was already dark. Clarinda (aka the navigator) was super tired. So, we decided to stick to the freeway from the dam to St George, which would, of course, take us right back through Las Vegas.

As we were driving through Vegas, we saw a sign that said:

I-15 Northbound Closed.
Use alternate routes. 

We didn't know any alternate routes.

And our conversation went a little something like...

Jeff: Now what?
Clarinda: I don't know. Maybe it's a sign.
Jeff: A Sign? What? Where?
Clarinda: No, no. A sign. Like an omen.

And so, we proceeded back to the hotel we'd checked out of earlier that day, and checked back in.

After considering all the problems, with the heat, that Sallie had; the mechanical issues with Liberty (brakes, suspension); complications with Liberty's title transfer from the MN DMV we decided to stay in Vegas for a few months -- add to that the fact that we loved Las Vegas and its low cost of living, we were excited about our temporary stay.

The next day we began looking for short-term leases, and Friday we signed a lease for a cute little studio at a very pet-friendly complex complete with not one, but three, pools.

Hey, we told you this would be an organic trip. :-)

We're hoping to hit the open road again in 6-months when the weather is a bit cooler. In the meantime, we'll try our best to explore this area and maybe a bit of Southern CA. We've still got a few posts to write about our trip so far, and there will be additional posts about our adventures in and around Las Vegas, so please check back now and again.

Now, to find jobs for the next few months.

Wish us luck!

Building a Lofted Bed with Storage Underneath

It took us all day, but we did it!!

When we originally purchased Liberty, we knew we'd be taking out the captain's chairs, but we were kind of excited about the cool bench seat in the back that electronically transformed into a bed with the push of a button. After close examination, we decided that really wouldn't work for us. Not only was it designed more for a bench seat than a bed making the bed lumpy and awkward to sleep on, but it had zero room for storing anything underneath.

So, Jeff came up with a brilliant plan on how to create a lofted bed for Liberty.

Well, a couple plans actually. After some discussion, we decided on one design and spent the entire day yesterday making it a reality.

We started out with a trip to Menards, but the quality of their 4x4s was poor. Plus we were trying to get to my brothers' house before 8am, so we could get into the garage where many of the tools we needed for the project were located.

After getting into the garage, we headed out to Home Depot to get a bit more hardware and, of course, the wood.

Once back at the garage, we realized there were still two seat belts bolted to the inside of the van that needed to be removed. They were in tight and proved to be a real bugger to remove. After loosening them a bit, we decided to saw them off the rest of the way.

We did have access to a reciprocating saw, but no appropriate blades.

Back to Home Depot we went.

Before we headed out, we had this conversation:

Clarinda: You want to go alone, while I stay here and continue to vacuum out the van?

Jeff: Think that through.

Clarinda: thinking ... thinking ... thinking ...

Clarinda: Oh! How I can stay and vacuum when you'll need the van to get to Home Depot!

D'oh! Clarinda was still giggling about this conversation hours later. Well, still this morning a little.

We both went to Home Depot. :-)

Once back from our second trip, we were really able to hunker down and get to work. We got those pesky seat belts removed. Jeff got to measuring the plywood while Clarinda concentrated on vacuuming out the van.

Getting the plywood into the van was a bit challenging and took a LOT of finagling, but we did it with little to no damage to the wood or the van.

Clarinda continued vacuuming while Jeff measured and cut the 4x4 into blocks to use as additional support.

Time to wedge those posts in. Perfect fit!

But will it support our weight?

In an early design, we were going to sleep curled up in this amount of space, but Jeff brilliantly devised a way to extend the length of the bed - using hinges.

Problem: The screws that came with the hinges were a tad too long.
Solution: Filing, sawing, sanding those babies smooth.

We did as much work as possible outside of the van, but there were times when Jeff had to lie on his back under the platform and use a drill very awkwardly. It was a little touch-and-go on how to maneuver all the tools and hardware while on his back with about 12" of clearance!

Success!

It was bit a slow going in the beginning, but once we got into a groove, the day really just flew by! It was hard to believe when 6pm rolled around.

Not to say it wasn't physically challenging. It was. And today, we are paying for it.

Overall, despite all the physical pain, it was incredibly satisfying to work on this project together and have it turn out so perfectly!