Fort Bragg

The first order of business in customizing Rita, was to get a shower installed.  There are lines already in place, and a hot water heater.  Just needed to waterproof the bathroom, put in a drain and hook up the shower head.  Easy peasy, right?!  Well...no.

I headed up to Fort Bragg, CA to hire my ex for this project and a few others.  We owned/lived on a sailboat together for 10 years.  He knows how to do everything and he happened to have time to and interest in helping me.

10 long days in Fort Bragg… Did not end up getting what I thought I was coming for.  The shower install turned out to be too complicated,  and there was not enough time to sort it all out.  I had a deadline to get to a 4th of July camp out!  But I got a lot of what I needed/didn’t know I needed. Jonny busted his butt for me and did things I wouldn’t know where to even start with - better than most people would or could, and under-charged me for sure. And no one got murdered. But we did joke about me throwing him under the bus a lot… Working on Rita is so much like a boat - maybe because she was designed by someone who builds sailboat interiors. It feels so comfortable and familiar to me. BUT…we can drill holes at will and not worry about sinking!! I still want a damn shower, somehow, so that is to be continued. Unlike a boat, I cannot just jump overboard anytime I want!! But I have learned a lot and still have a long way to go. (see list below for what-all we did)

After several days I did realize that I could actually GO somewhere else to spend the night.  Jonny told me about some potential pull offs by the ocean, just a bit north. I headed out and found a spot that said "No Camping", so I thought I'd give it a go (afterall, I'm not camping, per se...right?!).  Turned out to be a gorgeous spot, quiet and no hassles.  After a beautiful sunset, I got the heater fired up and settled in for a cozy night, with the sounds of crashing waves lulling me to sleep.

I woke up early and opened all the ocean-side curtains and enjoyed the view, snuggled in my bathrobe, drinking tea.  It hardly gets much better than that!.

 

Starting to make it home-y. Jonny said the new rug "really ties the room together"

 

Juggling all this bus work and my client work, and trying to stay warm and a few other layers of self care was a lot...by the end I was SO ready to go off and have some fun finally.

Rita's tires were pretty well spent. I went to a highly recommended shop in Fort Bragg on my way out of town.

As soon as they finished putting on Rita’s 6 new tires I was off to my next mini adventure.

 

 

 

 

 

I am grateful to have been invited by Q to a campout in the Sierra Foothills with a group of people who have been doing this annually for decades. I will be launching from this cold, rugged coastal zone and stressful headspace into the fiery inferno of inland CA (can’t wait to sweat!). After this jaunt it will be back to Santa Cruz for a bit - get some mechanical work done on Rita and hang with some of my favorite peeps, while preparing to set off across this big, insane country of ours. This will be my shakedown cruise for sure.

Being behind the wheel and on the road, I noticed I was smiling a whole lot...

 

 

 

 

 

Projects completed so far:

• New/empty water tank has been plumbed and connected to my sink. I can now switch between tanks with knobs under my sink, when one runs dry.
• New 20 Gal grey water tank has been mounted securely in a wood frame and connected to the sink by a pump. No more emptying a 3 gallon jug from under the sink every other day…This will also serve the shower one day!
  These 2 projects took up the vast majority of time and so so so many trips to the hardware stores…
• Cell phone booster antenna has been mounted on the roof and I did all the internal set up. Gotta keep working wherever I am.
• Bricks placed in front of driver’s seat…so short little me can rest my foot on the floor while driving. I swear my knee almost exploded after that first 7 hour drive. Need a more permanent solution but this should work for now.
• Extra latch on door - for security and to insure it doesn’t pop open while driving. Door latch plate also got fixed -as it was falling off.
• 6 New Tires (ouch $$$$$, but they were SO old and bad, I’m surprised I made it up here)
• A bunch of smaller things worked out and still need to be worked out, poco a poco.