In the Beginning, there was The Whole Earth Catalog.

And it was good.

Thus begat Shelter, and that too, was good.

Eventually, after some recreation, and most likely wine and cheese, and about 30 years, which must have seemed like an epoch to those involved, came Home Work, then Builders of the Pacific Coast, followed by Tiny Houses in short order.

Now, word comes down the grape vine, (well, OK, it actually came down on the satellite internet connection) that Lloyd is getting ready to start production on his next book, this one titled Wheels & Water: Tiny Homes On The Move. As the name implies, it revolves around mobile accommodations of all sorts, housetrucks, buses, bikes, boats, caravans, etc. Lloyd always manages to make his subject stand away from the wall with exemplary writing, sublime photography and innovative and pleasing layout.

This book is sure to be a winner, and not just because it's on a subject so close to my heart. Have a look at Lloyd's blog for tidbits about the new book as they become available. The particular blog post announcing his book intentions is here. More of Lloyd's books, as well as selections from other authors at Shelter Publications

Feb 28 Is it unusual for a nomad to get wanderlust? Sounds like Rob is getting ideas about breaking out into the wide world and having a go at Europe, or The Americas, or Africa, or (gasp), Antarctica (???? if he goes there, he'll need one of these).

April 7 Something Rob said in this latest update took me aback, he doesn't (or at least up until the beginning of this year) own any shoes! Now, I myself do run around barefoot most all summer, but I at least own one pair of shoes. Well, that and four pairs of rubber boots. This is Oregon, after all.

www.robgray.com/graynomad/issues/issue_067/index.php#latest

Hop over and have a look.

Readers familiar with this site will recognize that I don't spend any time on "ordinary" bus conversions, be they sleek tour bus units built by professional converters, or "throw-an-old-mattress-in-a-corner-of-the-school-bus-and-move-in". In order to qualify for a mention here, the vehicles has to be unique, substantially modified from the factory configuration, and most important, it has to have soul.

I've been following the construction progress of a shorty school bus for a couple of months now, a project undertaken by a young couple residing, for the time being at least, in Santa Cruz, California. The bus is taking shape with proper pace and appears to have the correct character to become a new example of what is mostly a lost craft in the new century, a genuine Housebus.

The exterior is still a bit rough, but once a coat of paint covers the school bus chrome yellow. and the various bits of trim and corner molding are put into place, it has a lot of promise.

Much of the interior wood, as well as the construction timbers are salvaged from the local landfill. Around here, no one would toss out redwood, no matter how pecky it was, but I guess when you live among the Redwoods, you get kind of numb to the beauty of this wood, especially when it is weathered and rough. Underneath lies a heart of golden violet waiting for the knowing wood butcher to release it to view.

More complete construction photos and accompanying essays are available at the Glitter and Grit blogsphere. There you will also find blog posts devoted to food, petite outdoor living, and some femisophic imaginings to stimulate your inner child.

Terry and Hardy Evans' hand built trailer "Wayzalot" was a familiar fixture at RV shows and gatherings in the East, and on various media (it was featured in Some Turtles Have Nice Shells).

Unfortunately, the trailer and it's tow vehicle (not the one in the photo above) were totally destroyed on May 11, 2010 in a traffic accident in Indiana. The good news was that no serious injuries were sustained.

Within a week of the accident, the couple went shopping for a new trailer frame on which to build the successor to Wayzalot, this one to be named "Wayzless", as it has been designed to be more compact, lighter and capable of being towed by a one-ton pickup truck.

Construction has been taking place over the last year and some months, and the Evanses hope to take the new trailer touring by May of this year.

You can view a gallery of construction photos on the Wayzalot/Wayzless site, as well as see many photos of the old trailer both before and after the accident. Myself, I'm looking forward to seeing some interior photos of the finished trailer, and see it parked outside in some beautiful setting, all hitched up to that gorgeous International Harvester tractor.

In car-collector circles, a "barn find" is a vehicle that someone put away in storage, under cover and safe from the elements. Years later, some lucky enthusiast stumbles upon it, makes a deal with the owner (who may or may not know the true value of the piece), and then runs and tells all his buddies about his amazing "barn find" before restoring to to some resemblance of it's former beauty.

Steve didn't have to go too far to find his restoration project, and he didn't have to haggle with the owner much, either. Truth was, it was as close as his own family's barn in Ohio. The car, a 1925 Studebaker, belonged to his grandfather, who had it custom built as an early car-camper, so he could enjoy trips to Canada to fish.

In the early days of motor vehicles, it didn't take very long for owners to realize that they made a good base for what would eventually become the "motor home", or "RV". There are many early examples, from rickety old Model T's to custom made vehicles such as this one. "Car Camping" became a popular craze with city-bound residents, the automobile allowing them freedom to roam much farther from home than ever before, and when properly outfitted, allowed them to sleep off the ground in relative comfort, and with some of the "normal" amenities of modern life.

Steve has put together a page describing his grandfather's Studebaker, which he helped restore as a teen:

www.lastchancemarina.com/studebaker.htm

There are additional photos, as well as Studebaker literature, including old bus maintenance manuals in PDF format. Drop over and see some of the history that led to our small sub-set of the craft, house trucks and buses.

Jan 16 A couple of weeks back, I posted about a very nice Victorian housebus that had just come to my attention. The builder and owner of the bus, Paul has decided to put up a "build page", showing a large selection of old(ish) photographs of the construction of the bus and detailing some of the custom modification that help make it unique.

Paul started with a bus that already had a rough start at raising the roof, then added an obligitory VW microbus graft. Fortunately, he saw the light before it was too late and cut the bus down to a bare frame so that a proper dwelling could be built.

There are many more construction photos on his build page: www.stuffibuilt.ca/StuffIBuilt/The_Mary_Ellen_Carter.html. As of this writing, he is just writing about replacing the light-duty front axle with a class 8 truck axle to improve the handling and provide power steering. Stop over and view the creation of this beautiful bus. Myself, I'm waiting to see the photos and hear the story about the fire...

Feb 23 Updated! More photos! Additional Text! Everything enhanced! Well, OK, maybe that last is a bit of an exaggeration, but Paul has edited the page and put up more photos of the fire (Oh Nooooo!), and the most recent engine work. Click up the link above to see the additions.

A start of a new chronicle, and the new comment feature gathers replies. Looks like the start of a forum to me.. Watch out, Rob! Be afraid, be very afraid!!

http://www.robgray.com/graynomad/issues/issue_066/index.php

Nov 5: Rob dicovers that it is possible to camp free in Western Australia (like he didn't know that already)

Jan 1: A few day's journal and three photos added. Rob's been having a big slack attack.

Feb 10: I've been cussing Rob for a few weeks, wondering if he would ever update his travels. Time and time again, I clicked in on the link to the chronicles index, only to see no indication of new information being posted. Tonight, I actually looked instead at issue 66, and found that there is indeed been an update, but that hasn't been included in the page header for the chronicles listing. Just goes to show that I should be using my blog links instead of browser bookmarks.

Feb 16: Rob and Chris go on a fruit and vegetables diet (at least until they pass an agricultural inspection station in their travels), the then head east, covering a lot of ground in four days or so. This brings to a close issue #66, ending up in Pt. Augusta on December 13th, 2011. Fingers crossed that we get the first of issue #67 soon.

http://www.robgray.com/graynomad/issues/issue_066/index.php#latest

Ken Kesey's novel One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest turns 50 years old this week.

To commemorate the half-century, the newspaper in Eugene ran a feature article in the Life section last Sunday.

Like Kesey, I had never seen the film based on the book, at least until recently. Need to dig the book out and read it again.

Those of us who grew up and came of age in the 1960's had the (perhaps inflated) thought that we were making history with our Age of Aquarius ideas, musical directions, literary accomplishments and alternative living habits. There can be no denying that The Beatles and the subsequent British Invasion broke open a whole new way of celebrating and observing life, and the mind-expanding use of religion, drugs, and be-ing were the catalyst for much of what passes for ordinary life experience these days.

I've only just begun to write up my own contribution to the historical documentation of those times in the 30 Years in a Housetruck tale, available for your reading and perhaps enjoyment elsewhere on this site.

Another interesting insight into 1960's communal living is contained in the Digger's journalistic chronicle of "Home Free: A History of Two Open-Door California Communes". (Note: the Digger's journal "Home Free" should not be confused with the New Zealand book of housetrucks and buses of the same name.)

This is a rather long read, I actually took a week or two to read it slowly, chapter-by-chapter. There were quite a number of things described in the story that I could relate to from my own cooperative living experiences. Other events I could easily see happening, especially considering the wide and varied temperaments of some of my former fellow communists.

Here's a clip-and-paste from the introduction:

Not long ago, the local County museum had an exhibition focused on the 1960's and 70's in Eugene, Oregon. It proved to be a popular event, and the curators are discussing bringing it back, perhaps as a permanent exhibit.

Gee, maybe be were making history, after all. Changing the world? Well, not as much as I would have liked...

The Residents at the Schoolhouse organize their own political action committee and Occupy the Schoolhouse.

Read Rent Revolt to see how we got out of being stuck in a rut.