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Wed Jul 30, 2008 8:37 pm

good adventure and photos Mike
thanks for sharing with us

hank

Wed Jul 30, 2008 11:03 pm

Sounds like fun, I've been hinting to Clara that we need to do an Alaska road trip. Maybe next summer.

Feel free to hit us up Mike if you pass through Olympia, Wa. on your way South.

Sat Aug 02, 2008 12:03 pm

I'm made it to Prince Rupert, only to get a dog search at the border. It was 2:25 am and I was grumpy from being kept awake by a young annoying American couple that wouldn't shut up. When the border guard told me to pull over for a search, I just said "what ever" then got out of the bus. Another guy came up and said hi to which I replied, "If I drove a 40' RV you guys would havejust waved me in." He claimed that wasn't true while I watched them wave every single motor home in. I think I was the only one drugged searched. After being let go, I drove into town and parked behind a 71 Westy on the street. Tried to fall asleep but the bars must have just let out because a native man threatened to pull a glock 9 on me but he went away when I said Canadians don't have any guns. In the background I could hear someone throwing up and for a brief moment, I could hear the sound of sex coming out of someone's window. Fog causes sound to reverberate and echo throughout the street.

Got up this morning to a smiling young man named Richard who asked if I needed a cup of coffee or a cinnamon roll. He was the owner of the bus and was excited to see mine parked next to his. They are letting me use their internet, fed me a roll and some herbal tea. Canadians, and bus people, are so nice. We had a scare though. My dog snuck out of the backyard and we couldn't find him for 30-40 minutes. Finally, some guy claimed to have him but wanted money for making him late for his job :roll: $10 later, I got my dog back. I just didn't want to deal with him.

Ended up taking a different ferry that went straight to P.R. instead of stopping off in Juneau. It was a lovely boat ride with lots of blow hole sightings (though no actual views of whales), salmon jumping out of the water and dolphins swimming by. The sun never really came out but it never really rained either. I could also feel it getting warmer as we headed south and it gets darker quicker here. Ketchikan is a tourist nightmare.

Today, I have to find out when I can get myself on the waiting list for the ferry tomorrow for Port Hardy in northern Vancouver Island. Most likely I'll get on but if I don't, I'll start heading east to Prince George, then south to Vancouver.

Pictures later when I get a chance.

Sun Aug 03, 2008 10:20 am

Mike, sounds like the road got a little rough there for that 24 hours or so. Hope your spirits get lifted soon. Awesome that you had a fellow bus friend to share some morning goodies with you. We are really excited to see you and can't wait to get to camp together. May your journey continue to be safe and may the sun make an appearance long enough to warm your bones.

Sun Aug 03, 2008 10:21 am

PS. Willow is stoked to meet Boo!

Sun Aug 03, 2008 10:53 am

Hey Mike, you know our home is always open if you are in the area. Welcome back to the lower 48.

Sun Aug 03, 2008 12:21 pm

It sucks the way they don't let you go down to your cars on the ferries. I hate hearing drunk sex/barfing. You have really been to all the places. That inside passage is too much. I thought it was like 100 Yosemites coming into the sea when I passed through there. The logging was a head getter though. Getting dark is weird. You have so much seat time you're going to feel uneasy unless you're sitting in the position. I'm so glad you made it this far. The customs suck with all the profiling they pull. I've seen motor homes with the guy drinking a cocktail get waved in.

Mon Aug 04, 2008 1:25 pm

campingbox wrote: Sounds like fun, I've been hinting to Clara that we need to do an Alaska road trip. Maybe next summer.

Feel free to hit us up Mike if you pass through Olympia, Wa. on your way South.

I may have to stop by and check out the farm. PM me your number and I'll call you.

Galen, assuming Boo doesn't try to run away again (like he as twice today after a cat kicked his ass), then he will be ready to play play play. Can't wait to see you guys!

Roadcow, you are by far the most generous man in America. You may just wake up one morning and find that you have one extra bus parked in your yard with a disheveled and smelly man inside asking "where is a flat spot to camp?"

Let me just say that I am very happy to be back in the lower 48 where gas prices are low (comparatively), the sun shines and I'm closer to friends and home.

I was unable to catch the ferry down to Vancouver Island because it was still full and there were already 20-30 cars on the waiting list. After hanging out with Richard & Frances (thanks again guys for your company and kindness), Boo and I left town but we took a quick hike first at Butze Rapids and watched some kaykers traverse the waters. The rain forest is my favorite place to hike now.

A two day drive has landed us in Bellingham WA where I am staying a few days at an old friend's house. The bus is in desperate need of an oil change and it could probably use some new spark plugs as well. I was happy to see the mileage go back up as it's been warm these past few days with lots of sunshine. :P After P.R., the sun shined the entire way here. It was also cool to see that B.C. has a desert. Is that where are the fundamentalist Mormon's live? Anyway, it reminded me of home a little. What a drive to go from dense pine forest to dry pine forest, then desert, and finally back to dense lush forest again.

The only interesting thing that happened on this leg of the trip included installing a much needed stereo that I bought from a Wal-Mart in Terrace. Going over 1000 miles without tunes sucks. The old radio got wet one too many times. I enjoyed it at first but then it drove me crazy. I installed the radio in Terrace next to a music festival they were having in town. After making sure it worked, Boo and I checked it out for a while and it was pretty cool. "Riverboat Days" I guess. And I can't seem to cross a border without getting shit from the guards. On my 9th and final time crossing, the US guard wanted to know if my "Arizona Bus Club" plate was real. I explained that my real plate is in the back. Then he asked what I was doing this far north to which I answered I was coming from AK. "What were you doing up there?" in a confused voice. "Vacationing" I said as if this was a new concept to him. Then has hassled me about where I stayed, how could I afford it if I don't have a job and he couldn't understand that it is possible to drive through Canada and not buy any food. He finally just said "welcome back" and let me go. 30 minutes later, we camped out in a Wal-Mart parking lot and crashed.

Chilkat S.P. Haines AK

Front row on the ferry. There were so many giant RV's that it was difficult to get to my bus.

Richard & Frances Prince Rupert.

See if you can decipher their full flow system a P.O. set up.

Mon Aug 04, 2008 1:40 pm

The house and bus are a perfect match!

Mon Aug 04, 2008 1:51 pm

truckersmike wrote: See if you can decipher their full flow system a P.O. set up.

WTF???? I bet changing that filter is not pretty. :roll:

Mon Aug 04, 2008 1:57 pm

der58SC wrote: WTF???? I bet changing that filter is not pretty. :roll:

The oil exits out the pressure switch to the filter, then wraps around the battery area before entering the block via a drilled out hole in the generator stand where a stud used to be.

Mon Aug 04, 2008 1:59 pm

damn I don't think I have seen so many tubes and wires in an air cooled VW before. That is just too much crap.

Mon Aug 04, 2008 3:09 pm

der58SC wrote: damn I don't think I have seen so many tubes and wires in an air cooled VW before. That is just too much crap.

HotVWs had a picture of a guy with a baywindow...exhaust tubing, springs all hanging out the backside of the bus...that guy needs this set up.

Mon Aug 04, 2008 3:24 pm

Forgot to mention what I thought was a fatal engine problem heading south on Canada 1 last night. I was climbing one of many hills on this curvy part of the road when the bus loss most of it's power. There was no noise and a quick check of the dash lights showed they were not illuminated so I checked the rearview and to my relief, saw no billowing plumes of smoke. There was a closed business just up the road so I down shifted into second, babying this thing up the hill as best I could with my heart pounding thinking we were SOL. After coming to a complete stop, I notice the engine was idling fine and at the correct RPM. Weird, so I headed back to check on the engine and at first didn't see anything out of the ordinary. No oil dripping from the roof, no burnt anything smell, just a smooth running motor until I saw the problem. The driver's linkage had fallen off the carburetor, which is the first time that has ever happened to me. A quick snap back on and we were on our way. I'll have to wrap some safety wire around it to prevent it from happening again.

Mon Aug 04, 2008 7:36 pm

glade you got on a boat mike, Rember us old Alaskans telling you about making RES?

Mon Aug 04, 2008 7:53 pm

Mike, it sounds like you have been having quit the adventure. Been reading daily, welcome back to the lower 48 and to our beautiful state of WA. If you decide to travel south and see Clara and Greg and you want a day to work on your bus, I have a real nice shop with everything needed to tune-up, change oil, check tranny, do a front lube etc... Even have a nice lift for easy servicing of your bus. Also a nice level area for camping if you want to stay over. Always a cold beer in the fridge and a nice stocked small bar for refreshments. We're in Olympia outside of downtown in the country. Just let me know and I'll fire up our barbque. Your dog is welcome too, we have two for yours to play with.

Mon Aug 04, 2008 8:50 pm

Sounds like the trip is still going well. If you pass through the Bay Area, you know there's plenty of us you can hangout with. :)

Mon Aug 04, 2008 10:10 pm

Olymale wrote: Mike, it sounds like you have been having quit the adventure. Been reading daily, welcome back to the lower 48 and to our beautiful state of WA. If you decide to travel south and see Clara and Greg and you want a day to work on your bus, I have a real nice shop with everything needed to tune-up, change oil, check tranny, do a front lube etc... Even have a nice lift for easy servicing of your bus. Also a nice level area for camping if you want to stay over. Always a cold beer in the fridge and a nice stocked small bar for refreshments. We're in Olympia outside of downtown in the country. Just let me know and I'll fire up our barbque. Your dog is welcome too, we have two for yours to play with.

Looks like some of my time is being squeezed. A friend in Nor Cal is leaving so I need to get to his place a little earlier then I expected. I also need to stop off in Portland as well. Too many folks and not enough time. I'll do my best though. A cold beer always sounds good.

I'm not going to tell you how many tries it took to get this right but let's just say I'm glad it's over. There are over 300 photos on this link, some of which you have already seen but many you have not due to the lack of VW content. Some are bad, some are good and some even amaze myself. It's hard to go wrong some times when the scenery is so amazing. So if you have the time or the interest or you're bore at the office and just want to daydream about what it would be like to go on a long road trip in a bus, then please feel free to take a gander.

http://s71.photobucket.com/albums/i135/truckersmike/Alaska/?albumview=slideshow

Mon Aug 04, 2008 10:13 pm

Alaskan Adventurer wrote: glade you got on a boat mike, Rember us old Alaskans telling you about making RES?

that's true but sometimes it's more fun to play it by ear. either way, it was a fun trip down. i'd still be driving on Vancouver Island right now if i would have taken the boat and spent a lot more money that I don't have.

Mon Aug 04, 2008 11:24 pm

Awesome slide show Mike! Thanks so much for sharing, very inspirational.