"Think of it as an adventure," I said. 

I was nearly done teaching, and Calvin still did not have a solid job offer. He was doing some temporary work as a tree surgeon. We looked at each other.

 "Alaska," I whispered. "I know you've always wanted to go I said." 

It had always been Calvin's dream to go fishing in Alaska. 

"No! we can't do that," said Calvin. "Why not?" I said. 

We let the idea stew for days. After after exhausting all transportation options, (including hitchhiking, planes, trains, ferries, buses, and rental cars,) we settled we would travel by van. 

We may have watched a little too much The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, because the travel bug had bit both of us. 

We searched KSL ads religiously until we settled on our top three vans. 

True to all episodes of the home renovation show Property Brothers, we had to have three decisions with funky names, go to a cafe shop, and choose the one we liked best. 

The three options were, "Grandpa's van," "Delta Van," and "Shiny Van." 

However, instead of talking in a coffee shop about our three choices, I got a phone call instead. 

"Hey, How is your day going?" Calvin asked while I was at work. 

"Oh good I replied. Nothing is special going on here. What about you?" 

"Oh nothing," Calvin said. "I just bought a van." 

"What?! I don't believe you! Which one?" 

" The Delta van," Calvin replied. "I also may have thrown in your cool backpack to sweeten the deal." 

"What?" I  didn't know if I should be proud, angry, or in disbelief. 

Yes, this is really how it happened. 

So that was that. We bought a 1990 Ford E150 with 89,000 miles and a wheelchair lift from a high school farm kid. 

The adventure began. 

We spent hours getting new seats, taking out wheel-chair lifts (don't worry, we donated it,) unscrewing rusty bolts, building bed frames, cleaning, packing, and moving. We were ready.