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What Did We Do This Month? (June)

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 Hey Y'all! So what have we done this month? Not much... adventure wise.  We did enjoy the scenic route back to NW Indiana.  We drove through: 2 National Forests, 3 states, over one massive river, through multiple mountains, a tunnel or 2, past countless fields, and wind turbines... We took some time out to swim in a little town with multiple animal sculptures. No pictures, because they were on the side of a highway. Very neat to see though. ( Haubstadt IN ) We met the nicest people at a random BP in a tiny little Indiana town.  (Benton County) We drove through Terre Haute (How do you say that?!?). That was pretty easy, it's big, but not a huge city. Since we've got back we've just been chilling at the campground when we're not working. We spent a day on the beach/in the water- and both got quite the sunburn. We've watched some stunning sunsets, storms, and viewed the stars. We've done the mundane chores, like laundry- which we hung to dry, because the local...
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3 Things We DON'T Love About Our 1990 E350 Shuttle Bus Home

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 Hey Y'all, In a previous blog we wrote about 5 things we love about Wildebeest, our 1990 E350 bus. In this blog we'll discuss 3 things we're less than thrilled about. We don't love... 1) That the main entry door is power only. Not a huge thing, but it'd be nice to not have to reach up front and flip the switch (to turn the power on) to open and close the doors. Power doors. 2) That the generator is missing. It'd be nice if that was still installed (and operational). We could run the A/C then. Currently it's only available if the bus is running. It works great, so it'd be nice to be able to use it more frequently. Especially on this extremely hot days. I'm not a huge fan of A/C, but when it's 90+ outside, I like to use it!  3) This one's a fairly easy fix, and we'll get there, but for now it's a bit annoying- No window tint in the cab. It makes driving around a bit warm, and super sunny on nice days. Things have already changed some ...
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Amanda's 43rd Birthday!

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 Hey Y'all! What are our plans for my birthday?  Nothing much. Chris is working, I read electric meters this morning. Later we have a meeting about hours. I already received my gifts from my Mom & Sister.  Mom got me: a few pair of earrings, a Diamond Painting kit, a pair of PJS, and a box set of the Nightmare on Elm Street films. (Awesome!) From my Sister & fam: A Winnie the Pooh backpack, a beautiful blush, and a Christopher Robin book. (Woohoo!) Chris and I already decided the bus, and all the parts & things to get it going was going to be both of our birthdays, anniversary, & Christmas this year. We'll probably cook dinner outside, hang out for a bit, then retreat indoors and watch some YouTube before going to bed. Have a great Thursday, The Outlands
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5 Things We Love About Our 1990 E350 Shuttle Bus Home

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 Hey Y'all, We've only been living in Wildebeest, our bus, for about a week plus a few days & 600mi. That's long enough to choose some things we are LOVING about the bus and our temporary layout. Here's our list: 1) So Much more room! No more crouching, no more shuffling things, no more squishy. (I feel like that's already more than one, but we'll count it all together.) 2) She's much bigger, but still easily fits most places... everywhere we've been so far. She also feels SOLID, Brunilda did not. 3) Handles wind & weather like a champ! We had to go through a thunderstorm crossing Clinch Mtn and it was easy peasy.  4) This desk area Chris built, that we decided on very last minute. It's great for working on our laptops, folding clothes, etc. 5) So many storage opportunities, which will grow and change as we can afford more, and needs arise. The cluttered-ness is bother me, but we had to get here, and we've been busy working this past week...
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Wildebeest, Our New Home...

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 Hey Y'all, If you follow us on social media, you've seen Wildebeest (or Wilda for short). Our 1990 Ford E350 Shuttle Bus, whom we're converting into our new home on wheels. In her previous life she was a Mobile Emergency Unit Command Center, lots of words to say she was a Parking Lot Princess most of her life. We picked her up in Tennessee, did a bunch of mechanical work, and started on our clean up & temporary build. We've already discovered things we're liking and things we aren't (and plan to change in the future). The accompanying video isn't ready yet, unfortunately. We've been busy traveling and getting back to work. While she was in the shop we didn't have access to the footage to begin editing. We hope to have that posted by Saturday the 14th, and I'll add in the video HERE. Some work in progress pictures: Clean up, and planning. The middle table doesn't work for us. Passenger seat installed! (And seat belts.) A warm day! Moving ...
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Updates!

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  Y'all, May was a real one. If you follow any  Outland Adventures  social media you already know... We started out in NW Indiana, doing our jobs, and a few fun things in-between. Then we left for all my doctor's appointments and scans in NE Tennessee... And things went far more south than we expected.  Multiple breakdowns, big decisions, new/bigger vehicle purchase, troubleshooting and repairs on it.... Taking forever. Chris did what he could and then it went to the shop.. it's been there for over a week, as they waited on parts to arrive, and getting work done. That took far longer than expected. Once parts arrived they supposedly continued work. Monday, turned into Tuesday, Wednesday... Thursday they gave an actual update that they hadn't even really began the 2 big jobs, but should be done by Friday. It's the following Monday... We're still here. What was supposed to be a few days turned into almost a month in Tennessee so far... All my doctor's appointm...
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Kankakee Sands (Indiana)

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 Hey Y'all, We enjoyed our drive through Kankakee Sands, and while far away, we did see the Bison. We also saw several birds, butterflies, and many different plants. More about Kankakee Sands: Kankakee Sands  is a 10,000-acre (4,000 ha) complex of  tallgrass prairie  and  oak savanna  restorations and remnants in  Kankakee County, Illinois  and  Newton County, Indiana . [ 1 ] [ 2 ]  It is managed by  The Nature Conservancy  staff and volunteers. The Efroymson Restoration at Kankakee Sands is 8,400 acres (3,400 ha) of prairies and wetlands connecting  Willow Slough Fish and Wildlife Area ,  Beaver Lake Nature Preserve ,  Conrad Savanna Nature Preserve  and  Conrad Station Savanna . This creates over 20,000 acres (8,100 ha) of dry,  mesic  and wet sand prairies, sand blows, sedge meadows, wetlands, and black oak savannas. This area is part of the Grand Kankakee Marsh system and th...
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