This morning we headed over to U-Haul and had a hitch installed on our van. We got a 2-inch receiver — not a ball hitch. This is by far our biggest expense besides the van itself: approx. $200 for the hitch and installation. Chris ordered the parts online and the installation took 30 minutes at our local U-Haul. Now we need a bike rack.
Normally, we’d just get the cheapest bike rack we could find, but this needs to:
- Be sturdy enough to hold both of our bikes 24/7, even at extremely high speeds
- Have some security features so our bikes and/or the rack aren’t easily stolen
- Move out of the way so we can open the trunk
We’re thinking about the Thule Doubletrack. It’s not the highest priced, but it’s good quality and creates more stability than racks where the bikes hang loose at the bottom. U-Haul offered us a 20% discount if we bought it from them! We’ll keep you posted.
Red Delicious also has some new flair hanging from her rear-view mirror:
It says: Food / Water / Shelter / Love. Inspired by the folks at Our Open Road, who designed a poster with these words, it will remind us of what’s really important — even when van living gets tough. Their poster was a beautiful watercolor painting; beads and string is about as artistic as we can reasonably manage.
Now that our departure date is getting closer, we’re getting more and more excited. It’s starting to feel real! We’ve started booking some Airbnbs (sign up and we can both earn a $25 travel credit!) in places where we know we’ll stay longer. Who wouldn’t be excited when they receive a message like this from their hosts?
That’s one of the things we’re excited about besides visiting new places: meeting new people. Hearing about their lives and why they love where they live. While we all eat candy.
Lastly, a very happy 16th birthday to the one-and-only globetrotting Cairn Terrier, Holly. Thanks for being our friendly adventurer!
