I bought a new Van!

My new van! Thanks to Stirling from Northwest Honda, and with soooo many thanks to my sweet friend Richard Klemm, and his John Moore Good Deed Fund, that went to pay for half of this new beauty. I paid the other half and "exchanged" sweet ol' Vincent Van Go for this new honey, Vanita Klemmentine.

Even though it's quite an upgrade (nothing leaks, heater works, all doors open, gas gage works, cigarette adapter works all the lights work, etc), it wasn't easy saying goodbye to my good ol' buddy Vince.

 We had nearly 5 years together. Bought him for $150 and put a lot of work and miles into him. He was a great purchase value, and of great value to me... living in him, traveling with him, and relying on him.

And as the thoughtful trade-in guy said, "We will take him now where he will be valued for his weight." Thanks for the memories Vince!

Vince in San Francisco

In my most recent post, I mentioned craigslist riding a couple from Portland to San Fran. I made my way down here to meet up with friends and show collaborators Shannon Collier, Alex Allan, and Mark Growden. One interesting element is that Shan and Alex are sorta couch surfing and I'm living in my wonderful vehicle, home, and little blue buddy... Vince.

One might not think it, but 3 essentially "homeless" people putting a show together doesn't come without complications. All that aside, one hilarious moment came just after packing up ye ol' Invinceable Vinceinator with 3 bikes, three people, their food and personal belongings, including but not limited to aerial, climbing and surfing gear... yes, the board. I'm kicking myself for not snapping a photo, but to wrap this up, not 5 minutes into chugging down the San Fran hills, Vince, the convincingly hopeful, sputters, coughs, then dies. Thankfully I have towing insurance, and thankfully the house we just moved out of had a car so Shan could make it to the class she was teaching on time.

I didn't realize how much I've grown fond of this little blue van until I saw him get loaded up onto this tow truck... just thinking to him, "don't worry little buddy, you'll be ok!"

That night we (Vince and I) spent the night outside "The Garage" the place where he would receive a new $600 fuel pump. While waiting for the "procedure", I was in a cafe across the street and found this in the (seemingly ironic) comics...

 I'm going to take it like this... "I will spend a lifetime nurturing the things/ones I love". And though in this account I'm also spending a small fortune, I quite like that as a general notion.

SanFran Craigslist Rideshare!

For about a month, I will be in San Francisco working on a show for the Oregon Country Fair with the amazing Shannon and Alex. To save a bit of cash, and have some company to California, I searched Craigslist... and it turned out great. Heather and Noah put me up in their house the night before, complete with pre-bedtime sauna! They were great company and we made a safe, quick, fun adventure of it.

All in good time, good taste (that might be questionable), a good price, and in the good 'ol ConVINCEingly, InVINCEible, VINCEnt Van Go (that's my little blue van)! Hooray for craigslist rideshares!