Five Reasons I Dig Living Out Of My Van

The van was laid up last week with some electrical headaches and no brakelights. After a several days of tinkering with bulbs, fuses and relays and not having any luck, I gave up and brought it to a mechanic, who promptly showed me to an unmarked box of fuses in my engine compartment where we found the problem. Swapping fuses is easy. Figuring out what is causing a fuse to blow? Not so much, at least for a dummy like me. That's one of the downsides of having mood lighting and a mini-fridge to keep the champagne cold. Mobile elegance has its price!

Now that we're up and running again, I hope to get out for some van camping around Bass Lake this week. The summer crowds are gone and the weather is perfect. 

For now, here's a picture of the inside and five reasons why I dig living out of it...

5. Less stuff! Unless you're a hoarder, it's always a good feeling to get rid of the unnecessary stuff that piles up in our homes over time. When I decided to give up apartment living and make my van my home, it took lots of spring cleaning. At first, I kept boxes of belongings in the garages of family and friends... extra clothes, books and cd's that might be nice to line a shelf with someday, and lots of keepsakes spanning sixteen years of Catholic school and team sports. Over time, I pared it down to what was essential, and shed most of what wasn't. Clothing went to Goodwill, books were replaced by a library card, and my cd's were burned to my iPhone. Now, with the exception of a box of records and a spare guitar, I am completely self-contained!

I think George Carlin said it best: "That's all you need in life, a little place for your stuff. That's all your house is: a place to keep your stuff. If you didn't have so much stuff, you wouldn't need a house. You could just walk around all the time."

4. Van cuisine. Staying on the move means that I get to enjoy my favorite restaurants in different cities more often than most. Best breakfast? Willow Wood Market Cafe, Sebastopol. Best sandwich? Cheese'N'Stuff, Phoenix. Best Mexican? Cafe Poca Cosa, Tucson. Best Thai? Khan Toke, San Francisco. Leftovers go in the mini-fridge, especially if it's the catch of the day. I like to eat, got it?

But I'm not tring to eat my way on to a Segway. Although I'm set up with a well-appointed galley, there are lots of healthy ways to eat on the road while keeping it simple. Farmers' markets are one of my favorite stops when I travel and are an easy way to put a finger on the pulse of a new town. Seek out advice on the best local picnic spot and get some local goodies in your belly ASAP! I always carry a groundsheet, enough utensils to entertain guests, and a campstove for those times when I can't plug in or don't want to use the generator. Water is always a necessity, and a portable spice rack can really take things to the next level. If you do have an ice chest or refrigerator, salad veggies can be washed, cut and stored in tupperware all at once to keep prep quick and easy for several days at a time.

3. The art of travel. On this topic, I know of no more shining examples than my grandparents. I didn't know it at the time, but a childhood's worth of after-school conversations with them, hours spent in high-back chairs, drinking Hires root beer or Vernor's ginger ale and listening to stories of how weeks turned into months traveling in distant places, made a profound impact on me.

Over the course of their seventy-six year marriage, my grandparents made numerous trips to the Mercedes-Benz factory in Stuttgart, Germany to buy a new sedan and follow it through every step of manufacturing. (My grandfather was an engineer and loved watching anything being built from scratch.) Afterward, they would spend several months touring Europe, visiting family and friends, and taking advantage of the freedom to accept invitations for all sorts of side-adventures and extended-stays along the way. By the end of each trip, they racked up enough miles on the diesel engine to import it back into the U.S. as a used vehicle. A transatlantic ferry took them to New York, whereby they'd finish up with some variation on the cross-country roadtrip, again taking the time to visit old friends and explore new places along the way. On their fiftieth wedding anniversary, they capped off the tradition by making their final trip to the factory, this time for a gold 300D. The car was a beauty, but it was only the means to an ongoing journey for a them. The journey itself was the real celebration.

For me, the art of travel comes is akin to the art of allowing. It involves the right balance of planning and non-planning, a nose for adventure, a knack for finding kindred spirits, and a willingness to go with the flow. Somehow the van, like that 300D, seems well suited to all those things.

2. The song. For me and for most, there is a special connection between music and driving. I'll never forget putting Houses of the Holy into the stereo of a '72 Chevy Blazer and taking my first drive alone on a brand new license. Music has rarely sounded so good! But as it became more and more a part of my livelihood, I naturally became more and more obsessed with vans. Outside every good show, there was a van. In every tour documentary, there was a van. Then I went to South by Southwest, and there were hundreds and hundreds of vans! I understood why. It just made sense, at least to me: I needed to buy a van and start touring immediately! What ensued was one of the most formative periods of my life, and one of the funnest too. And I learned that musicians, although flaky and irresponsible with cash, do in fact know what they're doing when it comes to choosing vehicles. Just don't trust them to keep them maintained.

Beyond touring, the van has also been the perfect companion for one of my favorite summer pasttimes: music festivals. I'm all for roughing it in the mountains, but there is something about a bit of luxury for festival camping. At most of my favorite ones, you are allowed to camp right next to your car, which means that means that I'm close to a comfy bed, cold beer, a guitar and games. (One rule of vanning is that you must be able to provide some sort of entertainment when groups of two or more gather, so I never travel without a frisbee, smashball, or washer toss. Keeping Yahtzee and a deck of cards on hand for stormy weather isn't a bad idea either.)

1. The story. There is no shortage of curiosity out there about the practical details of the van lifestyle, particularly when it comes to how one takes care of certain business within the confines of a van. Currently, I am lucky enough to park on a friend's property where I can sneak inside when I need to use the facilities. When I originally bought the van, however, there was a porta potti in the back, which I removed and replaced with storage. One night at a bar, I was describing the renovation and had to explain the mechanics of a porta potti to a curious friend, specifically how the tank seals up, locks, and pops out "like a briefcase" so you can carry it somewhere to empty. Slightly uncultured bar chat I know, but I didn't bring it up, okay? A girl standing behind me had been eavesdropping and approached me later to ask if it was true that I "shit in a briefcase." At the time, I was able to think of at least two or three other rumors that I would have preferred to hear floating around about myself!

The point is that I find it really fun to do something that people find interesting and feel compelled to ask about. Like most things I like, I like to talk about vans. I also like to talk about travel, music, mountains, food, beer, people, and the many interesting things that people do. This blog seemed like the perfect way to share the story, whatever it is and however it unfolds.

Backup Plan

I wrote this song last night. I guess I wanted to get something out of the recent experience of losing a hard drive filled with lots of irreplaceable video footage and man hours to an inexplicable crash on a brand new computer. Sometimes seeing the positive side of things takes a little creativity.

Wine Country Harvest

After graduating from college back in 2001, I moved to Sebastopol with my bandmates for a hiatus from the rigors of city life in San Francisco. We'd had enough of paying exorbitant rent for both apartments and practice space (we liked to play loud), so we found an old farmhouse up north that needed some love but gave us the space and solitude we were looking for while recording our demo. There was something about Sebastopol that felt free, as if the news of the outside world didn't matter nearly as much as the local weather. I remember taking a phone call on the porch of that house nine years ago today to let us know that a plane had just flown into the World Trade Center, and having to walk down the road to the flea market to buy a television so we could follow the news on a dusty old set with rabbit ears.

After all these years, not much seems to have changed. The same old dilapidated barns still make postcard pictures against a horizon of mature oaks, and the same old rusty farm equipment still gathers dust along shoulderless country roads. Independent businesses still dominate the commercial landscape, and old vine zinfandel, the rural. Most importantly, local food and wine are more valued than ever, making Sonoma Country one of my favorite places to eat and drink... especially at this time of year!

I occasionally travel to the area to play gigs at Harvest Moon Winery, but last week I returned exclusively for dinner at the home of winemaker Randy Pitts and his fiance, my good friend and songwriter extraordinaire Alison Harris, along with several other friends, old and new. Randy and Alison's home is just a few blocks away from Harvest Moon, so we stopped by the winery before dinner to help Randy with the afternoon punchdown. This is the process by which the cap of grape skins and other organic matter that forms on top of fermenting wine is punched through and pushed back into the wine with the help of a tool that resembles a huge potato masher. The punchdown helps to extract color and flavor from the grapes, while also reducing the threat of bacteria that can grow in the cap as it dries out.

The winery was buzzing with a sense of harvest time urgency, which made it a particularly fun time to visit. Workers on forklifts moved barrel after barrel of wine to make room for all the work at hand in the crushpad, and Randy made rounds to check on the progress of his young wines in their various stages of development. After a walk around the vineyard and a glass of sparkling gewurztraminer, we jumped in the van and headed to the house for the main event.

We didn't have a plan for dinner, other than to pillage Randy and Alison's amazing garden and pair whatever we found with way too much good wine. Their backyard shows off the banquet that the Russian River Valley has to offer, from zin vines to olive trees to organic fruit and vegetables. Wine glasses in hand, we walked through the garden and marveled at the delicious ingredients at our disposal. We picked tomatoes, peppers, beets, corn, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, onions, garlic, basil and rosemary, all of which looked and smelled incredible.

The theme of the night was farm to table, and the freshness of our food and wine was unmistakable. We gathered around a small fire and watched as our recently harvested goodies transformed into a beautifully roasted vegetarian medley. Less than an hour after picking them, the fruits of our labor were in our bellies! For the remainder of the night, Randy led us through an assortment of regional wines, no bottle originating more than a few miles from where we sat and celebrated, and we chatted happily until the moon rose about food, wine, land and localism.

If you haven't yet tasted Harvest Moon's wine, you really need to. Save yourself a trip to the supermarket, because it's only available directly from their website or at the winery itself. I'll be back for a gig there on November 7th for what promises to be a fun afternoon of food, wine and music. 

Beer Camp!

I love beer like a fat kid loves candy, so when I received the Golden Ticket in the mail last month, I felt like Augustus Gloop on the banks of the chocolate river...

Rewind. Earlier this summer, numerous friends sent me a link to a contest offering folks a chance to attend Sierra Nevada Beer Camp. The prize consisted of extensive touring and tasting at the brewery during the days, VIP treatment out on the town at night, and the opportunity to conceptualize, brew and name a batch of beer.  I had recently written a song about my love for Sierra Nevada, and it seemed that it had found its calling! The contest called for a short video, so I recorded the song along with my good friends Tim and Nicki Bluhm at Mission Bells, Tim's studio in San Francisco's Mission District. (You can watch the video here.) 

On the 1st of September,  I found myself driving northbound on Highway 99 towards Chico. The late day wind blowing past my windows was warm and dry, the kind that really stirs up a thirst, and I was giddy with excitement for happy hour at the brewery. There in the pub, I met the other winners who'd arrived from Arizona, Connecticut, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, New York and Virginia, as well as our Beer Camp counselor, Terence, who must have one of the coolest jobs in the world.

It was obvious right away that we were in for some incredibly special treatment. All we had to do was utter the words "Beer Camp" and magic seemed to happen. Bartenders gave us beers, waitresses brought us wings, and all of them seemed almost as excited for us to be there as we were! After getting to know the other campers as well some of Sierra Nevada's longest tenured employees and Ken Grossman, the brewery's founder, we all headed to The Bear for burgers and beers. I went with a peanut butter bacon cheeseburger and Pale Ale combo, and I was not disappointed. After watching some local friends play music downtown, I ended the night with a late dip in the creek and a nice, cool bike ride back to the van. 

We started the next morning by meeting with pilot brewmaster Scott Jennings and brewery ambassador Steve Grossman to finalize the recipe for our beer camp creation. As a group, we had exchanged emails for several weeks in order to hone in on our collective tastes and vision for the brew. After initially voting between a Saison and an IPA, we gathered around the boardroom table and decided upon a fresh-hopped double IPA weighing in at a whopping 9.3% (9/3 being the date of our brew day). Our group consisted largely of experienced home brewers, so I sat back and soaked it all in as the others dialed in the ingredients and process needed in order to achieve the desired flavor, strength, color and balance for our beer. I was particularly excited by the group's commitment to using as many local and organic ingredients as possible, especially Sierra Nevada's very own estate-grown hops. 

Following the meeting, we headed out to the field to harvest some of the Chinook hops for our recipe. (Other hops we used included Centennial, Citra, Amarillo, Simcoe and Hop 366, one of the brewery's favorite experimental varieties.) Nobody ever talks about what heaven smells like, but I'd imagine this was pretty close to it. Sierra Nevada also grows some of its own barley as well as veggies for the restaurant and gorgeous plots of flowers, all with the help of their house compost. Talk about terroir!

After a bit of nourishment and rehydration in the pub, we set out for an afternoon of touring the brewery on one of the most practical contraptions I've ever seen... The barcycle! Terence shouted directions and steered up front, while Andrew bartended in the back.  Ten of us sat on stools along the bar and pedaled our way around the premises like we owned the place, laughing and shouting and singing and drinking, visiting various brewing facilities, bottling lines, and the warehouse. Our final stop of the day was the pub (surprise!), where I had the pleasure of singing The Sierra Nevada Song for a small but rowdy crowd including Ken Grossman himself. Check it out!

Day three was the final and most important day of Beer Camp... brew day! We showed up early for coffee and breakfast burritos before getting started on our to-do list. Tasks included gathering up an impressive variety of hops, weighing our malted barley and hops, and bringing all the ingredients up to the pilot brewery, home of Sierra Nevada's more experimental endeavors. There, Scott broke down the processes involved in brewing our beer and we watched as the beer moved through its various stages, from grinder to tun to kettle. We also tasted the wort, examined its color in the sight glass, and helped carry out several of many hop additions.

              

While Scott took care of monitoring the brewing process, we set off with Terence to enjoy our final afternoon of touring the brewery. Accompanied by Tom Dalldorf, founder and editor of Celebrator magazine, we had lunch in the pub and then moved on to the fermentation rooms for some special tasting. Highlights included the soon-to-be-released 2010 Estate Harvest Ale, a rare Oaked Bigfoot, and one of my personal favorites, Sierra Nevada ESP (Extra Special Pale). We also visited the brewery's quality control department, research and development lab, and sensory testing and tasting room, where I confirmed that Sierra Nevada does, in fact, know what they are doing.

 

Our final order of business was deciding upon a name for our creation. As easy as this step may seem, it was actually one of the biggest challenges of camp. For the sake of government registration and legal ease, the name must be original and unique. For the sake of Sierra Nevada, it should relate to our vision for the beer and fit in stylistically with the rest of Sierra Nevada's catalogue. And for practical purposes, it must be an easy and memorable bar call for those loud, busy nights. Having tested ourselves drunk, we whipped out paper and markers and started working away at a name. Seeing as we had quite a musical group of campers, and also that we'd created one of the hoppier beers ever attempted at Beer Camp, we voted for "Hopsichord." Nice!

Once Hopsichord has spent the requisite time fermenting, it will be kegged and served at select venues including the Sierra Nevada pub. As an added treat, they will also be sending a keg of it to the local pub of each camper's choice, wherever we may call home, and are planning on bottling some of it for us as well! Stay tuned, I hope to figure out an ideal locale and share a pint of Hopsichord with you soon.

To my fellow campers and to the entire Sierra Nevada family, thanks a million for making Beer Camp a  trip of a lifetime!