new hitch

CWV got her a new hitch. It's the one SBF took from Sister Van on his first visit to the junk yard. Looks ready for a bike rack!!

Austin Auto Parts

Me and SBF have spent some quality time at this place. It's actually really cool and would be fun to explore all the smashed up cars one day. (Can you see the guy under the limo in this picture? I think he's just fixing it. But he was there the whole time we were so who knows.)

Also, the owner is extremely generous or just really, really likes SBF. After we pulled out the seatbelts he told SBF that he normally charges $75 a piece for those, "But for you, $25 each." Seriously. Apparently he gives that kind of "deal" on any and all parts. 

Pile of tires and junk AND a sink hole.

crazy garage

I like this crazy garage picture. All of the captain chairs are pulled out right now and just chillin in the chaos. I'm pretty sure the only thing that would make this manageable for my SBF is that, at the very least, all the tools are in their right places. That's a thing that people who work with tools REALLY CARE ABOUT. I mean really, really. 

The fabric chairs on the left are from Sister Van, and the plasticy ones on the right are from CWV. Eventually the fabric ones will go in the front and the original chairs will shift to the back.

The benches

The benches are what my SBF was most excited to GET RID OF. And I must say, removing them created a lot of space and really made it so you can see all the POTENTIAL. Like how a big ol' mattress would fit. And where the fridge will go. The important things.

When my big kid drove the CWV she said she felt like she was driving a bus. Y'all that's because it really does look bus-ish. The CWV with all her benches in place:

The CWV with all her benches GONE!

Sister van getting loaded with benches ... For some reason someone already took all of her old ones.

Sister Van is crammed full with benches now! If you're looking for rows of benches for really short people, THIS IS THE PLACE.

Captain Chairs

If I'm to stay with the theme, then this should be titled "musical captain chairs." This was one of the first things to change after the initial trip to the salvage yard. SBF took Sister Van's captain chairs and put them in the from in place of CWV's captain chairs. Apparently Sister Van's are more comfortable and they have armrests. They are also covered in fabric and need a good bath. CWV's chairs are covered in vinyl and look a little worn, but otherwise they are mostly the same. CWV's chairs will be bolted into the back for Thing 1 and Thing 2 to ride in comfort and safety, replacing the need for any and all rows of benches.

CWV's captain chairs.

A captain chair taken from Sister Van and bolted into CWV. I'll get better pictures of these, but you get the idea. We now have 4 captain chairs and we are very happy about that!

musical cup holders

Did you know you can just pull out the entire cup holder section of your vehicle? I did not. Not that I ever attempted such a thing. But it's perfectly doable if you have a handy, strong guy with tattoos nearby. SBF just yanked it out and then yanked out Sister Van's. We did side by side comparisons  and the conclusion was that both kind of suck, as far as cupholders go, but Sister Van's was a little bit better. Both are a sticky gross mess and I'll have to post pictures of the new cupholder in place when we get it all washed up.

CWV's guts behind the cupholder.

CWV's cupholder unit, complete with ashtray and Hall's cough drop.

Sister Van's cupholder unit. It almost holds SBF's big ol' coffee cup. But not really. Conclusion: He's gonna have to start drinking less coffee.

musical bumpers

One of the nicest things we took from The Sister Van was her bumper. Apparently it is pretty simple to take off bumpers. You just need a couple tools and a strong man (preferably covered in tattoos). This is the part where we discovered that THE FLOOR IS LAVA, aka covered in STICKERS. I didn't have to get in them, but it hurt when I tried to brush them of SBF's shirt. Anyhow, CWV's new number looks FABULOUS on her!!

The original bumper. 

The bumper we were snagging from Sister Van.

Rolling around in the stickers to remove the old bumper while the new bumper waited patiently nearby.

Putting the new bumper in place. (I helped with this part!!)

And ta-dah! CWV has a brand new-to-her shiny bumper that you can STEP ON so you can see the rusty roof better. It's pretty dang cool, actually. Thank you, Sister Van!  We didn't install the old bumper onto Sister Van. It's right next to her in the dirt if you want your own rusty old Club Wagon bumper.