Small steps in the cold north

In a previous post I mentioned that the nice looking step bumper on my van pretty much just fell off. All the internal steel was heavily rusted. Fortunately, the support beams were in excellent shape.

The quick and dirty solution was to build a step bumper out of wood. We had some days that got into the low 40s so I was able to work outside. First, all the pieces were cut, screwed and glued together. Then everything had to be brought inside where it would be warm enough to for the glue to set. Pretty much the same operation for paint. Applied it outside, then brought it back in before the temperature dropped below freezing.

Installing it wasn't a lot of fun. It was pretty simple job -some drilling and stainless steel bolts. Unfortunately, the weather had turned bad and we had mixed precipitation, a lovely combination of snow and rain. It wasn't much fun to lay on the wet and cold ground to tighten the bolts.

I'm glad I pushed through and did it. The mix turned to heavy rain, but I was done before the puddles got too deep. Nothing like a rainy day with the temperature just barely above freezing. After the job was finished, I stoked up the woodstove, got out of my wet clothes, and went back to bed.

It's been a long slow process to build up my stamina since my leg injury. Months of inactivity really took its toll on me. It doesn't help that I've got a small cold right now, so everything aches more than it should. There's no help for it but to push on. I'm also getting plenty of rest and drinking lots of fluids. Even taking off a few pounds. One step at a time.

Mechanically, the van should be ready for our trip. It will need to be registered and inspected before we leave. I've been slowly loading it with our gear. By the time we are ready to go we should be able to just hop in and start driving south.

-Sixbears