top of page

Day 208 – Vanbuild

It was a really tough day. It was thanksgiving and It began early, under the moonlight and I walked a series of maintained roads, but then the road I was on disappeared and before I knew it I was walking down a river/stream in a wildlife refuge. To say I was surprised and lost is an understatement. I knew which direction the road I needed to get to was, and I crawled through the desert oasis to get there. It took 2 hours to travel 2 miles but I finally made it. I was a bit disheartened by the slowed pace, but pressed on, crossing an aqueduct snd watching the sun slowly set on the horizon. But then something that is still hard to believe happened. But first: all day I was really wishing I either made it to a town or was done so that I could celebrate thanksgiving, but with my wildlife refuge mishap, it wasn’t going to happen. Now to the amazing thing, way ahead I could see some cans parked in a group next to the road and I could hear music and voices. When I got close, I asked a lady what was happening and she replied Vanbuild Thanksgiving. Thinking this was the name of the party, I was invited in with no expectations. From there I got a thanksgiving dinner and was treated to live music. The whole group was there to work and help each other build out their vans they live in. Over 400 vans had been there for two weeks. One person I met, Andy, even let me sleep in the van he was currently building. So long story short, I had a thanksgiving dinner, met over 400 people living off the grid, and got to sleep in a real bed. The kicker is I met for the second time, the founder of Six Moon Designs, a backpacking company out of Portland. Quite the crazy event that is hard to believe actually happened to me. It was a good thanksgiving!

I should finish tomorrow!

Miles 29

Total miles 6870

bottom of page