i sold the van last week. today while riding the bus i saw the van parked in an autodetailing lot. it had been stripped of its stripes and was between two other white vans.
a few things conspired to result in the end of the van trip. my original plan, as i described on this blog, was to find a parking space in seattle and go from there. i never succeeded at that. seattle is a very busy city and its oversaturated in cars. that's my impression, anyway. parking spaces in any meaningful part of the city simply didnt exist. not to mention that seattle has an ordinance against vehicles over a certain length being parked overnight on the street.
i took a trip down to portland just to regroup. but i wound up staying. i reclaimed my old van spot, the one i utilized in april, which gave me access to internet, coffee, a gym (showers) and a downtown strip. it was all right. then one day i happened to look at the registration sticker on my windshield and i realized it was about to expire. within 3 weeks.
i wrote up my options. i could renew the registration online, but it would cost me $160. but the inspection sticker was also about to expire and that was a pisser. i would need a RI inspection sticker, i learned, and clearly i wasnt going to get that in portland.
my conclusion, after a lot of considering, was that it was time to let go of the van and start a new life here in portland. so i started that process. i found a room which i populated with the bed and decorations from the van. i sold or traded the rest off the van merchandise. cleaned the van. and put it up for sale.
it was the wrong season to sell it as a campervan. nobodys buying campervans in autumn. i tried to advertise it as a work van. with the hi-top and battery system, it could be an excellent work van. for whatever reason, i got no takers. nobody even emailed me with questions. i lowered the price and still nothing. maybe the leak scared people off... i dont know.
finally somebody called. he wanted it for a work van. i sold it to him that day. the van was worth more than the bastard paid but that's life. i had to let it go and move on.
so that's that. i wont deny that selling the van caused me some serious internal psychodrama. it had been such a loyal and trustworthy van. i hated giving it away to these strangers, especially since it was going to become a workhorse. but, i guess the van had some good adventures with me. it got to drive cross-country 3 times. it saw everything i saw and i saw some great stuff.
that's that. i'll leave this site up as a resource. thanks for reading and for all your positive feedback. take care,
JM
