My 86 year old grandpa is starting van life :)

This video is sponsored by Quaker Oats.

If you're new here, I'm Nate, and this is my wife Kara. We've been living out of this van full time for the last year and a half. And this van, the one that's covered up with the camo tarp right behind me, that is my grandfather's van. And for as long as I can remember, it's looked about like that my entire life. It's lived in my parents driveway here, my grandparents driveway at my aunt's house. It just kind of moves from one driveway to the next. Note, really running. Throughout the years, my grandfather has always made promises that he's going to restore this van, but it's always one of those projects on the to do list that gets pushed to the very bottom. But it's not because he's lazy. It's actually the complete opposite. Pop is one of the most selfless and hard working people that I know. The reason that this van has not been running for the last 30 years is not because he's a procrastinator, but because he's always prioritizing other people's projects and ahead of his own, Whether that's helping my parents build their first house or helping me change the oil in our van.

Hooray.

When co made everyone retreat back into their own little bubbles, that finally gave Pop the time to bring this van back to life. It's almost finished. It doesn't look that way because it still needs a fresh paint job. But I want to show you the progress that he's made on it.

Hey, world traveler.

Hey, Bob. How's it going?

I'm good. How are you doing?

I'm doing good. I have a question for you.

All right.

I wanted to know what your fee would be for co starring in another YouTube video with me.

I come rather expensive, you know, when you get talent like this.

Okay, well, we've got a good sponsor for this video. I think we can cover it.

What's the idea?

I want to make a video about the story of the van and how it's gotten to the point that it is today.

Oh, really?

Yeah.

That would work out perfect. Nate, I can't imagine why you want to photograph these old feet.

If you watched your grandmother tie her shoes, she does the opposite of what I do. See this? I go forward, she goes backwards. I'd be interested in knowing how you tie your shoe.

You're gonna be embarrassed of how I tie my shoe. I make one bunny ear.

Okay.

Then I make another bunny ear, and then I tie the bunny ears together. I told you you'd never see any button ears that way. Let's go for a run.

Let me get my New York cap on. Over top of there. We went up to help.

Feed the people at the 911 who were getting all the garbage out from the doctor. Billington. I bought this hat then. All right, I'm ready to roll.

Looking good. Is it only 28?

I think I brought enough clothes for.

Since we were gonna be filming together for the day, my grandfather invited me to come over early and join him for his morning run. At 86 years old, he still goes to his local track and runs a mile and a half, five days a week, even if it's below freezing outside.

All right, Tara, this is the last sprint. Okay?

That's it.

All right. Good work, Pop.

I'm in charge of breakfast this morning.

Getting a behind the scenes look at the vlog.

Oh, don't put me in the blog. They'll say that lazy woman wouldn't even fix breakfast for them when they came to our house.

And I was in charge of the coffee, which is most important.

When Eamon and Beck hosted us at their cabin, Amon made us these oats every morning, and I fell in love with them. Chia seeds can, which are pretty much like adult sprinkles. My favorite granola. Fresh cut apple. Can't have oats without Nate's favorite, which is Honey.

That's got about every food group included, hasn't it?

Pretty much.

Pop, you'll never guess who's sponsoring this video.

Quaker Oats.

What do you think?

I like it.

How do you eat your oats?

Quickly.

While we finish our oatmeal real quick, I want to share our top two reasons why we love Quaker oats. Besides the fact that they're delicious. That was weird. First, it's a great healthy option. It's 100% whole grain, a good source of fiber, and no cholesterol, so it's also heart healthy. Second, oats are so versatile, you can eat them in a million different ways. Our friends Eamon and Beck taught us the beautiful masterpiece that we just made for mama and Pa. And this week, I tried a new recipe called Peanut butter Banana Energy Bites. Plus, I added a bunch of my favorite things. We've spent the last two weeks in Mexico surfing every single day, which is amazing exercise. And it also makes me so hungry. So I've been taking these down to the beach with me. They're quick, convenient, delicious.

I love you so much. There are tons of other recipes online, so if you're interested in learning more ways to enjoy your oats, go to quakeroats.com.

Whoa, Pop. I'm gonna be honest. On the outside, it doesn't look a lot different.

Before we show you around the van, we're gonna catch you up on a little bit of family history.

This van has been a part of our family ever since I can remember. Most of the time it's just sitting around, but it's made some big appearances.

I bought the van from a lady who's about 30 years old.

What do you think? Will you and Mamaw ever live out of the van full time? Maybe sell the house one day?

I tell you, my thought was that when I retired, my goal for the van was to take it to every state park in Tennessee.

I think we can do that.

I think we will be able to do that.

The first time anyone in my family saw the van running was at my aunt's wedding. When my dad and my uncle decided to play a joke on my aunt. They told her they would arrange a limo to pick her up after her wedding. But instead.

So am I looking here?

That's perfect.

She opened the door, and I heard the hideous ice cream truck music. And all I could see coming down the driveway was the front of something like, that's not a stretch limousine. And why is there ice cream music playing? This photo is the first time that I knew I wasn't leaving in a park black stretch limousine.

And instead of a red carpet, they had a toe sack for her to walk on. She could not believe her eyes.

Whose idea was it? I don't even know who came up with it.

Then the van was forgotten about until years later when it made a second appearance at my uncle's wedding. Spray painted half orange and half red. Because in the south, which football team you cheer for is very important. There's a chance that you might not marry someone who likes a different football.

Team or might regret it or wedding.

And it was a big deal that an Alabama fan was marrying a Tennessee fan. All right, Pop, we're ready for you to show us around.

The van had to reupholster the seats.

So that's the original wood.

It's original wood sanded down with maple finish. The side wood. This is original. I didn't have to do anything to that.

Did you do anything to the floor?

The floor had linoleum and I'm sure probably had asbestos in it, as most old, old flooring did. Oh, dear. So all I did is just put this right on top of the old Flooring. Amazingly, this is original upholstery. Looks almost like new.

Where do you go to the bathroom?

There is no facility in this floor for a bathroom. I guess the assumption is you're going to be camping in places that have restrooms or just have to do like you guys have done in some of the wilderness areas where you've been.

We've gotten really good at doing that. This is a latrine, which is basically a toilet seat in the middle of a forest.

Okay, here we go.

Whoa.

How easy was that?

We're going to convert the back seat into a bed. Here's how difficult it is to do.

Just a few less steps than our.

Van and we go from the bed back to a back seat.

This is where you keep your milk and all your cool stuff. It's not electric. The ice goes on this shelf.

It's like a really high tech cooler.

This is extra workspace here. There is a storage water storage tank.

Do you know how many gallons of water it holds?

I'm estimating about 15 or 20. Here's another workspace.

How does the sink work?

Back and forth, back and forth.

You just pump.

It pumps the water out of the tank. Here's how quickly you can convert this into a table.

Wow.

You can sit on the chair that's behind the driver. You can pull this little seat out.

Wait, so you can sit three people at this table?

At least.

Oh, wow.

There's a storage space. Nate back here.

Got all kinds of storage in here.

There's a little storage space above right here.

The whole back of this seat is storage. Under my seat is more storage. Under your seat is storage. What do we have here?

That's your closet And a mirror.

Just the fact that there's room to hang clothes in this van. We don't even have that here.

We're making the extra bed.

No way.

It's like a cot.

I love it. So you can go from driving mode to sleeping mode with two beds in literally five seconds.

I want to see Kara get in the cot.

Will it hold me right now? This is 50 year old fabric. Here we go.

I'm in. How is it? It's great.

This is amazing. You wouldn't be able to move much because you'd roll off. But I mean, it's comfier than you would think. Oh, look at there. You can even have some fresh air up here. Here, Pop, could you bring me some coffee? Oh, sorry. I've always wondered how these work.

We're going to put the baby hammock up now.

You Think I can fit in that?

No, I don't think you can fit in there.

Okay, just unroll it. It hooks on either side.

Hey. All right.

There we go.

And I'm thinking you could probably put a couple of sleeping bags this way.

Oh, I'm gonna give it a try.

Or it depends on if you children.

Oh, okay.

This is an ashtray. Where the ashtray win. This is an aftermarket item which becomes a cup holder.

There were no cup holders in 1970, apparently.

Of course, the glove compartment. This will actually hold something. I mean, how many glove compartments have you put your hand in? And, you know, you can. You've got plenty of room in there. Of course, everything in German and English. This is heat, the red. And this just lets fresh air in.

So instead of ac, you would just put those green ones down, and you just get fresh air from outside. How does a seat belt work?

Not very well.

It hooks onto the side here.

You unhook it over here, bring it.

Down, then you gotta manually tighten it.

I have to say, I am very impressed with the van layout that they already had figured out 50 years ago. This van is maybe half or a third the size of ours, and somehow they figured out how to fit everything you need in this space. Do you mind to just tell me what it took to get it running again?

I took it to a mechanic who took the motor out, and that's the completely rebuilt engine. The engine, of course, being German first, was used in the old German biplanes before World War II. Some smart German got the idea that, hey, we could modify this engine just a little bit and make it a car for the people. Volkswagen.

Can you pop it?

You go down here?

Almost.

Never seen it this hard to start.

Want to take a ride around the block? Let's do it.

Good job. Wow, that's stressful.

They're so shiny. How cool is that?

Your grandmother wasn't enthused about our getting the car, so your Aunt Galena's idea was that we needed to name it after your great grandmother, whose name was Ruby.

So this is your way of saying, mamaw, thank you for letting me buy this 30 years ago, even though you didn't want it at all.

Now, that looks good. You're out in the woods. You could come in that shave every morning.

Yeah, you don't even need a mirror.

Well, Nate, we've had a tour of the unrestored van. Your mama and I, you and Cara will take your van and ours on a Buchanan camping trip. I love it.

Papa's a special man. Oh, my gosh, Nate.

Yeah, it feels like it.

Now use your legs.

You found that break yet?

Good job.

You're into the trash can.

It rolled backwards when you cut the motor off.

I'm not sure the Quaker company knows this.

When I was a kid, we took the old box like this. You put a little hole in the bottom of the box, put a button in there and tie a string and take rosin and hold this. And you pull the rosin down the string. It makes one of the awfulest sounds you've ever heard. I mean, it scares people to death to hear that at night. That was one of our toys when I was growing up.

I'm looking forward to getting to go camping with you guys.

Yeah, Maybe we could trade vans.

Yeah. Or at least when we get where we're going, you guys try sleeping in.

Ours and we sleep in yours.

Yeah. You've been watching too many Karen Nate videos.

Thanks again to Quaker Oats for sponsoring this video.