Chazwazzers Meet Victoria

Today was a hurried day. Work was a huge grind. In the afternoon I drove my ass from North Vancouver out to Aaron’s shop. It was the Friday before a long weekend (Canada Day), and it was hell getting there in traffic (see above), but worth it. John Brooksmith and Annette of JB’s JB fame were passing through on their way from Victoria BC (the provincial capital) to Banff, Alberta.

As it happened, the van was about 500 meters away from the highway they were scheduled travel along, so I drove out to meet them and show them my van. It was the first time I had met a real operating J Van owner, and I think they were impressed with the progress, effort and workmanship they witnessed.

There’s John above. John talks fast, and I learned a new meaning to a familiar word, "Crust". Still don't know what a Moke is, but apparently he got two of them, and they're different colours. John and Annette are coming back to Vancouver next month, and I'll host then then. We'll even do a field trip over to see Duncan, a few blocks away.

Progress on the van has slowed, owing to the absence of a few parts. In the meantime, I’m working on the engine and some other details, but I don’t want to proceed to paint while I’m missing some metal bits. It's exciting though. It'll be the most unique, original BC vehicle when it's done.

There was a new van discovered in Saskatchewan this past week (and announced of the Register). That makes five known Canadian J types -- "Victoria", "Duncan", "Moose" (Calgary, wen to US), "Swifty" (Swift Current, SK) and the new one -- which I'm calling "Joni" (after famous Saskatchewaner Joni Mitchell). The Reactine van is originally from Mexico.

Last night I was making some maps for John and Anette to find their way to the van using Photoshop and Bing Maps. Well, as it was, their hotel in Victoria was near the storage facility where I picked up the van in 2008. I focused in on the location and, using the “Bird’s Eye” feature, whoa, I could see my little van, lonely like I found it nearly four years ago. Awesome.

Chazwazzers?