13 Humans, 8 Dogs, 2 Goats, 2 Cats and a Hip Replacement Patient So Far

Since we put our house on the market May 1st a lot has happened and we have learned a lot. After the house deal closed we began our life untethered and learned even more. Here's what we learned.

There is no way to properly describe the feeling of the kindness shown to us by friends old and new. Most of our first couple of weeks were spent with a friend so that the house could be shown as easily as possible. We had to spend much of that time continuing to downsize our stuff to an appropriate amount for van life. At the time we were still attempting to make the transition in our 2013 Ford Transit Connect. It proved to be too small and underpowered for what we needed to pack into it. That became clear on a Memorial Day weekend trip around the Olympic Loop where we struggled with access to things we needed without rooting around.

The day we returned from our trip we went to look at a van we had researched before the trip and -wham bam - we traded in the old van, Vinny, for our new larger van, Vincenzo, who is a 2017 Ford Transit 150. He has a large 6 cylinder engine and is 5 feet longer which makes it easier to have a sleep inside option that we determined was necessary for our future exploring.

We also realized that we were not going to be able to fit our bicycles in the van so we sold them and bought some Dahon folding bikes from friends who weren't using them. Our initial efforts to pack them in the van showed that we weren't done expanding our storage capability so we added a 2 ft wide and 6 ft long roof basket which required us to get longer crossbars for the roof rack and a cargo cover. Now the bikes fit well inside and there is room to get to everything.

So, new van built out we headed off to Vancouver BC to visit friends and see how we did crossing a border or two. All went well and we were off to start a long run of pet sitting.

We began with Sadie the Labradoodle who I nicknamed The White Shadow. She is a kick to hang out with and enjoyed bossing me around which I love. From Sadies' we sat 3 dogs and two goats on Vashon Island for a super nice family where we learned that Pygmy Goats have fun personalities and precocious puppies are a handful. The puppy is a Husky mix named Kenai who had a thing about hats, gloves and ties. You had to listen carefully because she had mad skills at sneaking them out of their proper place. Luckily, only one hat was sacrificed.

That is where friend magic kicked in when one of Pam's friends from grade school on invited us to stay with them for more than a week while we were between sits. I busted out what Judy referred to as the "magic pan" because food kept appearing in it and we all learned the limits of the electronic lady on the Hey Google device they have. Our canine pal there was Ms. Nicky whose name I probably just misspelled. She was another treat along the way.

Next up we headed to Gig Harbor where we hung out with Toby and Phoebe who are both older pups and hard of hearing, but with a zest for life still. The house is beautiful with views of the Narrows Bridges and Mt Rainier. We enjoyed relaxing with the pups and don't get us started on the recliners!

Our sit after that was more unconventional. We were sitting two nearly 18 year old cats and their owner who was having a hip replacement and needed someone there so the doctor would schedule her surgery. The operation went well and our patient was ahead of the game in terms of recovery. She ditched the walker in favor of a cane after 2 days and I had to remind her to use the cane sometimes as well.

Now we are sitting Ms. Bandit who is an aging herding dog. She is currently fast asleep in a ball on her dog bed while I type and Pam works remotely. We are here until Sunday afternoon when we move to another couple of friends who kindly offered to share their home with us for some time this month.

We have a couple of outings this month. We have PCT Days in Cascade Locks Oregon from the 15th through the 18th. and at the end of the month we head out to Montana to visit Pam's old boss from the Vashon Theater and get in some Yellowstone, Glacier and Waterton Parks before hanging out with a college friend in Calgary. From there we head into Banff National Park and then North Cascades National Park before heading to yet another friend from college's place for a night before a string of dog and cat sits that take us into November.

All of that seems a little busy, but tonight we get some friends time with a Happy Hour near where we are staying which is much needed since we have been everywhere but what used to be home.

We decided to save the pictures for when we are actually travelling in the van, so look for them in the next couple of posts.

Thanks for reading and more soon - we promise. Peace.