Mod Mischief

I don't think we're in Kansas anymore...

The cheesy tourist photos continue! Anchor outside Union Station, Kansas City, Missouri Giant Van Gogh, Goodland, Kansas Gorilla in Wynkoop Brewing , Denver, Colorado

If we're going to post pictures of Chris with signs , you can bet I'm going to pose with all the oversized roadside attractions we pass. Washington Monument, Washington D.C. Louisville Slugger, Louisville, Kentucky

It's the return of our cheesy tourist photos! Here's Chris posing with signs.

I saw this van and its fantastic trailer downtown on Friday. Maybe Chris and I should make Sally a little miniature version of herself to tow around, but it'd be hard to beat this version.

Way back in 2009, I blogged about wanting to turn an armoire into a rat cage . Well, 3 years later, we've finally gone and done it! Before  (just the top part) We found a cheap hutch at Value Village and cleaned it out, sanded it down and then painted it. making it shiny! We varnished the whole thing and added a stainless steel back splash to part of the inside. glueing in the back splash The bottom of the inside was sealed with countertop coating to make it rat proof and easy to clean. mix A and B, apply and then wait forever for it to dry We installed wire mesh on the doors and front where the glass panels used to be. the shelves started their life as a shoe rack Finally we added shelves and ladders and food dishes, and all the other rat necessities. rat cage! The new occupants think it's great! Barley enjoys her new digs And since we finally had the space, we took the opportunity to introduce two new rats to our misch...

Last time we drove to Burning Man we built a bed in the back of the van  ( full instructable here ). If you were wondering if we could reuse the same bed in our new van, we can! While Sally, the GMC Savana 3500, is longer and taller than Bertha, the interior is actually narrower in certain parts. We trimmed the bed's joists and plywood top, and now it fits perfectly. We also adjusted the bracket holes to make use of the GMC's seat locking mechanism.

Our friends Mike and  Erica are having a baby! To celebrate we got together with some friends to throw them a Settlers of Catan themed baby shower. Lots of geeky good times were had. so much yummy food! There was tons of delicious food including fantastic Settlers of Catan cupcakes by The Litttlest Cake Shop . cupcakes We wanted to keep the games fun for everyone, be they girls, guys, family or friends, so we set up a bunch of different activity stations and let guests choose what they wanted to do. onesie decorating station We got a bunch of plain onesies in several sizes and I broke out my collection of fabric paints and iron-on letters so guests could make one of a kind onesies for the baby. pieces of Erica & Mike One of my favourite activities was the "What will Baby look like?" game. We cut out photos of the future parents' facial features and let people mix and match them on a blank baby head. The results were both creepy and hilar...

She brought us across the continent and faithfully carried us off on many adventures, but last week Bertha, our beloved Ford E-150 van,  finally quit on us. about to be towed back to Ottawa I'm really going to miss her, but truth be told, we were already looking around for her replacement as we doubted whether she could make it back to Burning Man.  the final km count, a little over a year and a half after hitting all 3s  kissing Bertha goodbye Our new van, long tall Sally, is the blue 2003 GMC Savana in the photo at the top of the post. A 3500, she's even longer and bigger than Bertha!