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Mon Mar 22, 2010 9:00 am

Major bummer , we have a nice site at Watchman's campground reserved for late April and I'd love to putt across the Loneliest Highway from Reno in the Vanagon , which is in perfect running order . Instead we'll drive the Element and tent camp . She doesn't trust it .

Mon Mar 22, 2010 9:06 am

Don't give up without a fight! If I think of all the best friends I have met and other assorted cool folks broke down on the side of the road in my bus... man have I met some cool people! Restores your faith in mankind! The bus is the damned adventure brother! Part of the excitement is maybe you may get stuck. On my latest roadtrip I saw plenty of new model cars busted flat on the side of the road! New and old vehicles break down! ZION IN YOUR BUS FOR 2010!

ASWAH feeling super grovvy this morning! LIFE IS GRAND!!!

Mon Mar 22, 2010 9:07 am

and I just noticed you are in Reno... I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die... love CASH! Reno isn't that long of a drive. Break it up, stop somewhere cool along the way! I try never to drive more than 6 hours in a day! LOVE LIGHT LIFE!

ASWAH

Mon Mar 22, 2010 9:09 am

Sabotage the element on on every trip you take it instead of the van... Remember to use the proper verbiage when the element "breaks down"... Make her set up the tent, get the ice for the cooler, get the propane for the campstove, etc, etc, etc, and gripe the whole time... Eventually she'll either want to take the van or divorce you. Either way you'll get to take the van... :wink: :lol:

Mon Mar 22, 2010 9:18 am

Uniquely positioned to comment on this. I have an 85 Westy with the 1.9L still chugging along. I also have a 2006 Element EX 4WD.

This weekend I had to make an unplanned trip. From Atlanta to the old hometown in Virginia and then back, about a 5.5 to 6 hour trip one-way. Could have driven either vehicle, Just me and the dogs, so both vehicles would have been fine.

True, the Element has better HVAC system, gets better gas mileage (not by as much as you would think). has a better stereo, and it just generally more civilized and dependable.

I drove the Westy.

Why? Because, as much as I love my Element, the Westy is a different experience. When I'm driving the Element, I'm just "getting somewhere" whereas driving the Westy, it's now PART of the trip.

Mon Mar 22, 2010 9:19 am

Time to put the foot down.

Otherwise, sell the van. Why even have one?

Mon Mar 22, 2010 9:42 am

Take both of them. You will each have a better time.

Mon Mar 22, 2010 9:47 am

^^^^ Yes.

The van is FOR road trips/camping. If it doesn't make it out for a camping trip then it might as well not exist. :cry:

Posts like this just make me REALLY appreciate my wife even more - she LOVES our van and talks about trips all the time. We'll be heading off west to the coast (through Zion, Bryce, Death Valley, Sequoia, Yosemite, etc...) and we have a 7yr old and a 6mo old in tow.

Push the atributes of the van. Don't give up!!

Mon Mar 22, 2010 9:52 am

Randy in Maine wrote: Take both of them. You will each have a better time.

that is so perfect.

i say sabotage the element the day before. find a cheap part on it that will take a week to get in at the dealer and break that.

then for the sake of you marriage pray to the gods that your westy makes it there and back.

that or man up ;)

Mon Mar 22, 2010 9:54 am

how about you drive the vanagon...

she drives the Element..

and compare the FUN Factor later when you get back...

:lol:

Mon Mar 22, 2010 10:15 am

easy, go alone and have a great time, call her on the road and tell her about the whole thing. It won't happen again.

Mon Mar 22, 2010 10:24 am

tschroeder0 wrote: easy, go alone and have a great time, call her on the road and tell her about the whole thing. It won't happen again.
Yeah, It won't happen again, one way or the other.
My former spouse never liked the syncro westy. It was the only thing I kept in the divorce.
Yesterday, my special lady helped me clean out my diesel westy. She mentioned that if I drove a BMW instead of the vanagon she wouldn't have been interested in going out with me...

Mon Mar 22, 2010 10:32 am

YES! thank JAH for a great wife! Mine even encourages me to upgrade! She is pushing for us to be able to camp even longer in the pucker brush! I used to tarp camp all the time... many a mile walked in the wilderness. When the metal tent rolled into my life I have (a) gained weight because I prefer to drive in and camp three feet above ground (b) I eat way better because I do not have to lug all this crap everywhere with me...

LOVE YER WIFEY!

ASWAH

Mon Mar 22, 2010 10:32 am

Vanagonner wrote: Yeah, It won't happen again, one way or the other.My former spouse never liked the syncro westy. It was the only thing I kept in the divorce.
Yesterday, my special lady helped me clean out my diesel westy. She mentioned that if I drove a BMW instead of the vanagon she wouldn't have been interested in going out with me...

Same situation with me. It was a fight to the finish for me to even purchase a van. Finish meaning divorce (not just because of van issues though)
My new girl gets sad when we don't drive the van anywhere. I think I found my next "Co-pilot" in life! :lol:

Mon Mar 22, 2010 10:33 am

Eurovan Westy Weekender with AC, cruise, 80 mph on highway keeps the GF happy.
87 Westy keeps me happy.
My mechanic is happy, too. '=D>'

Mon Mar 22, 2010 11:01 am

Yeah luckily I date an awsome woman who would travel 24/7 we just finished a 2500 mile trip and in a month will be doing a trip of 4000 miles, it is a very cool thing to not have to woory about the other person being "afraid" of the van...BTW our first trip in the van wound up with us hiking out of a remote campsite 9 miles in! she's a keeper

Mon Mar 22, 2010 11:37 am

My wife also grumbles a bit about my syncro westy. "Money pit" is used quite often to describe it, right behind "unreliable". The fact that it's currently broken down in the driveway isn't helping my argument on either case. :roll: But she did relent when I mentioned an engine conversion would solve at least half of her complaints.
I'll have a bit of a hard time convincing her to take the westy over the minivan this year, but hopefully next year it'll be a whole new story.

Mon Mar 22, 2010 12:06 pm

You know you all talk the talk. But none of you would get ANY if you walked the walk. So let's all man up and admit it...the ONLY way the Westy is going on this trip is to make it HER idea. That my friends is no easy challenge. You need to sabotage more than just the Element. You need to undermine the whole concept of tenting.

So the challenge is to all you would be men here in Samba Land is to help the man come up with a plan to gently persuade her into thinking it's HER plan.

Just my opinion. Luckily my wife loves the van...Brian. :shock:

Mon Mar 22, 2010 12:07 pm

aswah wrote: YES! thank JAH for a great wife! Mine even encourages me to upgrade!

Me too! She wants me to sell my 4Runner and put all the money in the van! Uh...okay!

Back to the OP, can I suggest a AAA membership? Works wonders for peace of mind.

Mon Mar 22, 2010 12:13 pm

A roadtrip without a Vanagon is just driving.

Chris
:vw: