On The Road With Ophelia

“Hey, what are you doing with your van when you go to Swaziland?”

“I dunno, do you want it?”

“Really…?!?!”

That’s how this whole van life begun. As one would say, I didn't choose the van life, but rather the van life chose me. To jump back a bit…

As I get ready to begin collecting more materials for this whole radical tiny house dream, I was pondering the idea of buying a bigger vehicle in which I could haul materials around in. I decided if I truly wanted to be independent, I couldn't rely on my step-dads truck any longer. I was considering buying an old pickup, but didn't like the idea of a truck. I mean like, could YOU see my driving a truck? Exactly. I was driving behind an old van one day and the idea popped into my head “Maybe I could get a van.” but then slowly dissipated into the other million thoughts I had that day.

My friends Nick and Clarin had a super sweet van that I always admired. They took the van all over the western half of the US multiple times and had amazing adventures in and out of the shiny gold beast. The van already had a built in bed which i thought was extra rad and it even was adorned with loads of stickers from all over. Just my style. Nick purchased the van back in 2013-ish from a super duper tight couple who originally bought the van to honeymoon for multiple months, driving through every state. Not only did this couple drive from Portland, Or to Portland Maine, and everywhere in between, they ate breakfast with a different stranger in every state and then wrote a book on it. Their book is called Breakfast With Strangers and although I don’t have a copy yet, I am stoked to get my hands on one.

I was hanging out with Nick and Clarin, taking some photos of them before they departed for Swaziland (they left last week!!), when I casually questioned what they were going to do with their van. After some chatting and some price exchanging, the van was all mine. Arguably one of the best spontaneous decisions I have ever made. Buying a ticket to Brazil is a close second.

And it just gets better.

This super groovy ’97 For Aerostar runs in my family (not the exact one, but you get the point). Yeah, you’re probably thinking “what a lame car to run in a family, but just hear me out for a wee bit.

I started skiing when I was 9 and some of my fondest memories were piling into my step-dads Aerostar at the early hours of 6:30 am as we took off for the mountain. We would lay down all the seats, spread out blankets, and 5 of us kids would squeeze in tightly while eating Costco muffins and hot chocolate out of a Stanley thermos. I remember getting aggravated as it would get extremely steamy with 7 people occupying the van, but other than that annoyance, these were some of the best times. We ended up growing fast and the 5 of us could no longer lay in the back, but graduated to the expansive seats. When I hit my cranky and sassy middle school age I vividly remember rolling my eyes as my step-dad rolled up to school with the big gold van.. “Jeez, how mortifying”, I thought.. All my friends’ parents had cool cars, and there it was, that old thing. Who woulda thought that I would end up with the same ‘ol van later on… and be STOKED about it.

Not only did my parents drive the van, but my grandparents had the same van as well. Granted, it was a couple years older than a ’97, and it was white instead of gold, but the resemblance is incredible.

My grandparents were some of the neatest people I have ever known. Although my grandpa became sick when I was in middle school, and later died when I was in high school, I was extremely fond of him. I remember visiting my grandparents in Ojai, California every year since I was a kid. My grandpa used to take me out to the back of the house and show me all the hawks and eagles that would scour the landscape below us. He was a master fisherman, a gifted carpenter, and an expert tennis player. I remember tossing around tennis balls with him when I was little. Sadly, I was not able to get to know him well before he became sick with dementia when I was about 12. One of my biggest regrets is not having him teach me how to fly fish. I have a few of his handmade flies and I am looking forward to the day I can cast one out for him.

My granny was equally as talented. She always had the most exciting art projects (building popsicle stick houses was always on the agenda) and would teach me little sayings in Spanish. My favorite: uno momento porfavor, poquito chicha. My mom still says that to me as well. Granny was a spirited and passionate woman who fought for the rights of people in poverty as well as women in her community as well as abroad. She was named NOW’s most influential women of the year back in 2008. I had no cool how neat that was until I grew older. Granny had a heart for people and community and knew almost everyone in Ojai. I loved spending time with her. She passed away unexpectedly this past September, and it has been a long road processing her death. I had so many future plans for us. I wanted to travel with her to Mexico and Scotland and loads of other countries and cities. Since her death, I have carried her ashes with me in my car, and now in my new van.

My grandparents were married in 1973 and since their kids were already decently old, they packed their lives with adventure and excitement. My grandpa ran a hunting and fishing camp out at Santa Cruz Island, off the Channel Islands in Ventura, CA. My granny and grandpa loaded up their van and took it all over the western half of the US. From Wyoming to Utah back to California. In the images shown, they pulled a small wooden trailer that was named the “kangaroo kitchen”. My grandpa built this shiny kitchen set with his bare hands. It houses a stove, a sink, shelving, and other kitchen amenities. This was the first prototype. The second kangaroo kitchen came about years later and now resides at my uncles house. When I first saw these images, I was extremely giddy and excited that I would be able to continue our family legacy of owning a Ford Aerostar. I get it, not many people hope to fulfill a legacy such as this. Owning an old beat up van was hardly on my bucket list either. But nonetheless, here we are. And while we’re at it, I might as well ride the wave.

The day I picked up the van, I drove straight to my friends house in Olympia to show off my new set of wheels. Kevin and Annie anxiously asked “Well, whats its name?!?!” While I have never been a fan of naming inanimate objects, it felt as though this sweet ride needed a name. When I asked Kevin and Annie if they had any ideas, Kevin replied with “Well, this is kind of cheesy, but what about Ophelia?” NOT CHEESY AT ALL, KEVIN. The Riggs share my cheesy love for the Lumineers, so Ophelia was only appropriate. I took a poll via Facebook and Instagram debating between Ophelia, Elouise, and Cleopatra. Ophelia won by a landslide and the name stuck. And then along came the hashtag #OnTheRoadWithOphelia. Which is by far the cheesiest part of the whole thing. Going from thinking car names were silly, to now having a HASHTAG for my car? Jeez, Shelby. Cool it. But, that stuck as well and we’re riding that wave too.

I am so excited to get on the road with Ophelia and check out loads of amazing places throughout Canada and the United States. So far, we have hit up: Vancouver BC (where we went to see the Lumineers live!!!), Eastern Washington, Idaho, Central Oregon, and the North Cascades. We are heading out on a super exciting 2 and a half week adventure down through California, through Nevada, heading into Utah and Arizona, landing in Wyoming and then through Montana and Idaho before we make it home for the first day of school in Bellingham. Phew!

Ophelia has been a trooper so far, although we miss our buddies Nick and Clarin who are now in Swaziland. The amount of possibilities with Ophelia are super exciting and I am looking forward to being on the road with her until she retires in a couple of years.