A few weeks ago while doing a clients hair I brought up my Mobile Salon idea. I talked about the UltraVan we got and how we brought it to the house and were going to start working on it soon. She began to tell me about her brother in-law that restores vintage buses and vans. I thought that was such a random coincidence. She said he was picking her up and would I like to meet him, well yes of course I would!

I met and spoke with Stephan Shay for no longer than ten minutes but immediately felt this was serendipitous encounter. I asked if maybe he could come by to see the UV and let us pick his brain. Fast forward to last week when we began to have some issues with storing the UV at our house. Dan and I were both trying to figure out what our next step would be. Put the engine back in and take it back to an RV storage lot? Try to bribe our neighbors with cash and/or cookies? Although these were both viable options, none of it felt right. I really didn’t want to take one step forward and two steps back. Then I thought it might be a long shot but why not reach out to Stephan to see if he may be able to store the UV. I figured while the engine was being re-built we could get an expert opinion and start laying out a plan for the interior of the UV. When I called Stephan and told him the situation we were having he heard me out and more importantly really helped us out! To our delight he said he had space for the UV and that we could bring it up that weekend. Which was great because at that point we had it parked on the street for longer than 72 hours and were just waiting for parking enforcement to write us a ticket.

So onto the next step of actually getting it to Stephan’s shop, which is about 70 miles away. I had heard that AAA wouldn’t take a vehicle without a motor in it, I’m not sure why, but desperate times call for desperate measures. I called AAA first thing Saturday morning and said my RV broke down. I had to give a detailed description of the UV including that fact that it CANNOT be towed and needed to be loaded on a flatbed and secured by its tires only. The UltraVan is super light, only about 3500 lbs and made primarily with aluminum and fiber glass. A few phone calls and a couple hours later a flatbed pulls up, a 50 ft one to be exact. Why? I wish I knew… The first thing the tow truck driver did was get on his back to look under the vehicle, which clearly has no motor in it. Meanwhile I’m biting my fingernails, hoping and praying we can get this thing out of here. He pops up and says wow, this thing is too cool… WHEW!

I got to steer the UV up this insanely long flatbed as it was being pulled up. The whole time it felt as though I was going to drive the UV right off the side of it. Once we finally got it locked and loaded we hit the road. It was a little nerve racking but mostly awesome getting to see the UV up on that flatbed. I saw so many people slowing down next to it to see just what exactly that big marshmallow vehicle was. As we got a little closer to the shop the roads became narrower and less paved.  Once we reached the shop we realized the truck was not going to make it down the driveway and that the UV had to be pushed. I assured everyone that it was really light and if I steer we could make it. Within a few minutes she was parked in her new home. Stephan and his assistant joked the UV is so light that we could’ve just pushed it from Long Beach. Which is pretty accurate.

Having the UltraVan has already brought so much adventure into our lives. I’m sure there will be many more ups and downs but I guess that’s the journey we’re all on.

If you would like to check out Stephan’s work, go to his website – http://www.epochcollective.co/

So after only a few short weeks of UV383 warming our driveway and the hearts of (most) the neighbors, a can of worms got opened. Monday evening after taking the engine out the previous day, we got the e-mail from our landlord, who was none too happy with us having an RV parked in the driveway. We had to figure out what to do and fast, as he wanted it off the property within two days. Dan was leaving on a business trip early Wednesday morning, which meant we had to act fast.  First thing was to get it on the street but without a motor that was going to be an interesting task. We heard that Ultra Van’s are about as lightweight as the standard car but were still not sure what to expect, so we rounded up some friends. These young bucks helped to push and guide the vehicle while I pulled off the parallel parking job of a lifetime… 22ft RV without a motor, on the first try – BOOM!

Eric, one of the previous owners of #383, came over to help Dan drop the engine. It was a success, out in about 30 minutes flat. Now onto cleaning all the parts before we send it off to be rebuilt!

So after keeping the UV in storage for months we decided to see if it would fit in our driveway so we could start working on it. Wouldn’t you know, it fit!

To keep the driveway in spotless condition we needed a big piece of plywood to put down. We don’t have a truck but we do have a friend with an AWESOME old VW “Thing” – Dan and Brad were able to strap the plywood to the roll bars and the rest is history folks!

 

After getting fully immersed in the UltraVan online community we were excited to meet all the folks we had been corresponding with for the past few months in person. The 50th Annual National Ultra Van Motor Coach Club Rally took place in Tombstone, AZ. We were hoping to drive our UltraVan out there but after learning it was only running on three cylinders that wasn’t really an option. So we drove our little Hyundai out to the desert and tent camped. The first day we got there we were greeted with open arms and a delicious dinner provided for us by the hosts of the rally, Linda, Terry, Cyndie and Chuck.

Over the course of the week we got to know everyone in this very special community. It was really cool to see all the relationships that have been formed over the years with everyone involved. Every morning we gathered for coffee and pastries, promptly at 9am. At the group meeting the president went over any updates as well as having a “health check” for members that weren’t able to make it. That really stuck with me and gave such an insight into what a close knit community this really is. Over the next few days Marlene taught us how to play Phase 10, Carl and Fran had us over for breakfast, we had a Yankee gift swap (that got preeeetty rowdy), a potluck and even fit in Bloody Mary’s by the pool with Olga and Cyndie. By the last day of the rally it was really hard to say goodbye to these people we just spent all week with. It felt good to make new friends and we certainly look forward to the next rally which I believe is in May at Yosemite. Now all we gotta do is get that engine rebuilt….

 

So it’s been a dream of mine for the past few years to start a mobile salon. My husband Dan and I had looked at countless trailers and nothing ever felt right. I love the idea of being able to practice my craft any time or place. Hairstyling for me represents creativity and personal freedom. I think adding the mobile aspect to the salon really brings it all full circle for me. One day while my father in-law Neil was getting his haircut, he told me he had a dream that I was cutting hair in an RV not a trailer. He went into full detail of what that looked like and the benefits of creating this space in an RV. Mainly being it having a restroom, which is one of the Cosmetology State Board requirements for running a mobile business. That was obviously a big problem with my trailer idea. So taking Neils vision and running with it I started looking up RV’s on Craigslist and came across a 1968 UltraVan (#383) right here in Long Beach! Now I had never heard of an UltraVan but it was too adorable not to call and inquire.

When I spoke with Bill on the phone he was very pleasant but I could tell a bit let down by the fact that I wasn’t aware of the UltraVan history. Bill and Amanda were nice enough to take a chance and meet up with us anyway. In the meantime I sent a link of the ad to Dan and he recognized it immediately… our friend Sparky actually owned one! Which is in fact pretty rare as there were only 376 ever produced and only about 100 of these still on the road. Sparky was so excited for the prospect of us owning one as well that he offered to check it out with us. As we pulled into the parking lot of the RV storage facility, next to the Long Beach Airport, I see Bill and Amanda. Now one thing you should know is at the time I have bright pink hair and wouldn’t you know, Amanda had a head of neon green hair! I knew we would hit it off right away.

After spending a few hours checking out the RV and getting to know each other I knew this was it… we had found THE ONE! Amanda added us to the UltraVan owners group on Facebook and we were immediately introduced to a community of wonderful helpful folks. Not only were we getting an amazing RV to realize a long awaited dream, we were gaining a family and we couldn’t be more excited. So the journey begins…