On the Road with Adie

Headbanger cabinet

I built this badboy myself. Took the measurements and made a template out of cardboard, figured it all out on my own. I did find a company that built exactly what I wanted, but they were located in England and said they would not ship to the US. Meanwhile everything I could find in the US was built like the original headbanger cabinet in the Westys—with the left third cut off to accommodate the closet. I wanted the cabinet to stretch edge-to-edge.

Seat belts

This was an easyish project. After replacing the seats, I decided I also needed to upgrade my seat belts. Originally I had the usual, floppy belts that are now only found on airlines. Now I know why they are only found on airlines: they constantly get shut in doors, making them unsuitable for automobiles, but great for getting stuck under your seatmate’s butt on a transcontinental flight.

Retractable dog run

Our dog, Jolene, goes everywhere we go. She’s a rescue and still a bit skittish, so we don’t like to leave her and we don’t know exactly what will spook her (although the list now includes butterflies, gravel, and chipmunks). More than once, she has bolted out of the van before we could grab hold of her leash. So I decided I need to devise a way to keep Jolene contained or tethered—at least safe—whenever we open the van door.

Trail Magic

My mom always told me that the best place to network while you’re on the road is the laundromat. Many of my family’s sidetrips on our two-week-long rambles were the direct result of Mom striking up a conversation with some other moms who were in the laundromat. (And yes, it was overwhelmingly moms. It was the early 90s and dads had been taught to behave like babies.)

Podcast: Peg & Moira

In early autumn of 2020, Miracle and I conducted our first interview for our podcast with two Irish sisters, Peg and Moira. They messaged us on Facebook after Miracle put out the initial call for stories and told us about what they called their Irish Catholic edition VW Bus. As you might imagine, with a name like Ryan Patrick Ireland, I grew up both Irish and Catholic, though my childhood van looked nothing like theirs. (Ours was a giant Chevy conversion van and we toted a pop-up Coleman camper behind us.)

Waterfalls, Little Towns, & Public Libraries

Finger Lakes, NY

Podcast: Chris

Chris’s interview covers the two topics everyone wants to talk about—love and money. We interviewed Chris just south of Springfield, Ohio, at a barn sale where he’s selling all manner of leather goods—suitcases and coats, furs and hats. People come and go from the barn where the sale is taking place—the same barn where he is temporarily staying. Farther back on the lot is his 1985 weekender edition vanagon. It’s one shade of brown and he calls it The Groundhog.

Ohio Wine Country

Canadian bacon

Short one for you all. Nothing goes with breakfast quite like a cut of pork whether it be bacon or sausage or, if you’re from Cincinnati, goetta. Miracle and I love some Canadian bacon. I prefer to buy as plain of a cut as possible (Miracle’s note to Ryan: you don’t know the difference between ham and Canadian bacon. All Canadian bacon is plain cut. It comes in packs of eight. You, my love, make it delicious, but you don’t know ham from Canadian bacon) and prepare it in the following way: