Now it's official. . .

Indeed, the saga that is our effort to create the ultimate tailgater is official.  How is it official you ask?  Let me count the ways. . .


It's officially ours
As of today, Carmen has some new owners - legally that is.  The title has been issued, and the customized plates are on their way.  See below for a sneak peek.  It's amazing how many different combinations of Carmen and Carmen Ohio we tried, but we feel lucky to get something that's at least close!

It's officially a project
So we've spent the past few nights working on stripping the interior of the ambulance.  This is a ton of fun...nothing better than demo.  Our goal is get everything out from the back except for some built in cabinets that will be refaced.  This includes all electric, lighting, ambulance type items, seating, and wall panels.  There will definitely be some items we re-use and those are being set aside for refinishing and then will be reinstalled once the main build is done.  So far, we're feeling pretty confident about our ability to re-do the interior of the ambulance on our own and will only outsource a few key jobs like recovering the seat cushions.  The reality is that most of the things we need to build will use familiar home improvement materials.  She's gonna take a lot of time and energy to get right, but really encouraged by what we're finding so far.  See some pictures below of both before we started and after we started pulling things out.

 She was being used as a work truck!

 The original ceiling

 Here's command central...future site of a TV

 Tons of great interior storage  

Notice the lights already pulled

Jeremy hiding out and admiring

It's officially a "family affair"

So remarkably, every night this week Rian and Grace have not only been out in the ambulance working, they've had to ask me when we're going to go work on Carmen.  Amazing!  After Monday night which was the first night of my drill wielding girls putting in some hours on our project, Grace looks at me and says "Dad, this is the best night ever!"  Awesome...hope the enthusiasm continues and that they can join Jeremy and I as well as Mindy and Nancy in feeling like this was a true team effort.  A little proof...you can't fake smiles like that!

It's officially a "Team Up North Killer"

For those that may not be familiar with ambulance construction (should be most of you), it's essentially a two part vehicle.  The front (cab, engine, etc.) is made by companies you've heard of (Ford, Freightliner, International) and the back, or ambulance, is a big box that's mounted to the frame and made by an ambulance specialist.  Ours happens to be made by a company called McCoy Miller out of Elkhart, Indiana.  So as we're taking things apart, there are a ton of panels and pieces covered in blue vinyl.  These pieces are nothing more than plywood cut to shape with vinyl stretched around it and then installed.  On the back of every piece you can see the bare plywood and apparently we had some jokers who built Carmen originally as there were some writings on the back of certain pieces.  Take a look at the picture below to see the most ironic and interesting of all the messages...

An omen?  I think so...no way it's merely coincidence that we are creating a supreme Ohio State tailgate machine and along the way ripped out this feeble piece of fanfare for U of M.  I mean Tebow passed 10 times at an average of 31.6 yards for a total of 316.  That apparently wasn't a coincidence and neither is this.  

The journey continues...