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campingbox Samba Member
Joined: November 14, 2000 Posts: 10192 Location: Petaluma, CA
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Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 1:37 pm Post subject: Re: New Bus- '56 Springframe Westy! |
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They don't let you stay with your car during the ferry ride but the boat was huge and there was plenty of areas to explore. We were the last two vehicles on the boat. There are tons of seats along both sides of the boat and if you want to spend at extra $30 or so you can get a nice spot up front near the bar. We checked it out but all the good seats were already taken so we passed and hung out in the back and in the room John insisted we get.
IMG_1613 by campingbox, on Flickr
IMG_1619 by campingbox, on Flickr
IMG_1620 by campingbox, on Flickr
The boat was fun at first but got boring after about a few hours. It cruised along at about 25mph, wish it would have done 100! Several naps were taken during the day. I think Matt even got some work done. Too bad they wouldn't let me down below with the bus, I could have spent another 15 hours polishing the roof rack!
At 11PM on the dot the boat landed and I was the last car to pull off.
We went to a campground we had scouted before on the map but about 20 other motorhomes that got off the boat before us had the same idea and we didn't feel like waiting in line. Instead we parked along the road near the ferry terminal. |
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campingbox Samba Member
Joined: November 14, 2000 Posts: 10192 Location: Petaluma, CA
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Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 2:06 pm Post subject: Re: New Bus- '56 Springframe Westy! |
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Matt was totally going through withdraws of being without an internet connection for about 48 hours so John & I dropped him off at the Tim Horton's do-nut shop and we made a few stops in Prince Rupert to pick up a few provisions. When Matt had gotten a good fix we headed North to Hyder, Alaska - henceforth known as "Fake Alaska".
It seemed like the further we got from home the prettier the scenery got. Maybe I should move?
This was a glacier we spotted on the way to Fake Alaska. Henceforth these will be known as Blue Slurpee's.
And we made it to Fake Alaska!
The border checkpoint was 20 feet behind us. Not a single car passed and we sat there for about 20 minutes taking pictures. We did not spot any businesses open. This town was dead!
Fake Alaska is pretty much a dead end after about 5 miles. At the end of the paved road it turns into gravel and you almost immediately go back into BC. We drove down this road for about 20 miles and spotted this killer blue slurpee.
IMG_1706 by campingbox, on Flickr
With some prodding Matt broke out the barrel chair so he could experience the view with maximum comfort.
And Matt could not resist making a snow angel in July.
IMG_1745 by campingbox, on Flickr
I am pretty sure that the only plan Matt had was to make it to the Alaska state line, and for days I had been suggesting that we make a bee line for Inuvik. This is about 120 miles North of the Arctic Circle, and it experiences about 2 months of continuous sunlight in the Summer. I'm sure some of you will remember the trip a bunch of bus enthusiasts took there in the late '90'ies - it was discussed fairly heavily on the vintage bus mailing list. Inuvik is about 1500 Miles North of Fake Alaska, 3000 miles round trip. After several days of lobbying I felt Matt was starting to come around with some reservations about work, but John was not coming around. When John suggested we drop him off at the ferry terminal so he could catch a boat back to Seattle I stopped pushing it. I then suggested we head East into Alberta to see Jasper National Park and Banff National Park. Neither of them hesitated so off we went. |
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campingbox Samba Member
Joined: November 14, 2000 Posts: 10192 Location: Petaluma, CA
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Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 2:20 pm Post subject: Re: New Bus- '56 Springframe Westy! |
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The dude who had spent the last 30 Summers living at the pull out at the top of this Blue Slurpee selling postcards suggested we stay at Camp Run A Muk in Fake Alaska. The campsite was awesome. The hookups were totally to code, with water pouring right onto the exposed electrical connections. Here is Matt taking his chances....
IMG_1751 by campingbox, on Flickr
I suggested he wrap the extension cord completely around his leg but I don't think he'd had enough to drink at that point.
IMG_1755 by campingbox, on Flickr
At this point we'd already spotted a few black bears. I didn't get any pictures of them but I think Matt got some on his Go Pro.
We headed back into BC and drove for a while. It was about 500 miles to Prince George and we decided that was a good target for the day.
We stopped along this lake and found a good picnic spot.
We stayed in a campground outside Prince George and kept heading East. We finally made it into Alberta and then Jasper National Park. Matt is into pictures at state lines so I figured he's probably want provinces too.
And once he ran onto states and provinces I figured he may want parks too so I stopped at that sign as well.
The Highway running East/West through Jasper is a pretty big route through the Canadian Rockies. There is a toll booth you can stop at but it's also free if you just want to drive right through without stopping. I stopped at the booth to pay my fee for stopping at the view points and to ask a few questions about where to camp and had a whole bunch of people honking and swearing behind me telling me to keep going. I paid my 8 bucks and had some insight of which camp sites still had space so it was worth stopping. |
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campingbox Samba Member
Joined: November 14, 2000 Posts: 10192 Location: Petaluma, CA
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Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 3:19 pm Post subject: Re: New Bus- '56 Springframe Westy! |
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Jasper and Banff were awesome. I wish we would have skipped the expensive ferry and fake Alaska and just the whole trip exploring these two parks. I will definitely need to plan another trip in the future.
This was a Friday night and all of the campgrounds were full. Fortunately we found some space in the overflow parking near the Snaring River campground.
One annoying thing about Jasper was how crowded it was. You would be trucking along at 55mph and come around a corner and there would be 50 cars stopped along the sides and then right in the middle of the road blocking traffic. You would skid to a stop, then hope the person behind you stopped.....it was always tourists taking pictures of animals. Caribou, mountain goats, elk, bears.....
IMG_1825 by campingbox, on Flickr
We drove by one spot where there was a huge grizzly bear, and there was about 30 people standing outside of their cars taking pictures of it. They were all probably about 20 feet away from it. As we drove by the bear looked up me and I imagine he thought something along the tines of "are you fucking kidding me?". I'm sure if I had read the papers the next day it would have described the attack on the dumb tourists. What's the saying, I don't have to be faster than the bear, I only have to be faster than you?
We headed up to the Miette hot springs which were nice but not epic or anything. They were basically commercial pools that you paid $6 to soak in for a while. It was nice though and made up for the lack of showers at the campground.
We then took a drive and went hiking and looked at Maligne canyon and Medicine lake area.
IMG_1839 by campingbox, on Flickr
We headed South on the 93 and took a hike to check out some waterfalls.
IMG_1845 by campingbox, on Flickr
We drove for a few hundred miles on a road they called the icefields parkway.
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campingbox Samba Member
Joined: November 14, 2000 Posts: 10192 Location: Petaluma, CA
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Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 3:37 pm Post subject: Re: New Bus- '56 Springframe Westy! |
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It started raining as we went over the pass between Jasper and Banff - which was roughly 6000'.
We then stopped to camp at the Rampart Creek campground in Banff which was almost totally deserted - this seemed surprising to me on a Saturday night in peak season but we were still pretty high in elevation and it was sprinkling. The campground had no power or running water but firewood was included with a $8 permit so we did it up despite the rain. I think this was the best camping spot we found on the entire trip.
The lakes here are gorgeous.
IMG_1977 by campingbox, on Flickr
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campingbox Samba Member
Joined: November 14, 2000 Posts: 10192 Location: Petaluma, CA
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Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 4:06 pm Post subject: Re: New Bus- '56 Springframe Westy! |
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We stopped at Bow lake and took a nice hike up to a waterfall.
IMG_1981 by campingbox, on Flickr
IMG_1982 by campingbox, on Flickr
IMG_1983 by campingbox, on Flickr
IMG_1992 by campingbox, on Flickr
IMG_1997 by campingbox, on Flickr
IMG_2013 by campingbox, on Flickr
IMG_2021 by campingbox, on Flickr
We then drove out of the park to a town called Golden and had dinner and found a campground called the Eco Adventure campground. Apparently they have a VW show there in July (I think it might be this weekend) and they also have people who like to paraglide there. It was a strange campground, lots of mosquito's and they wanted you to take your shoes off to use the bathrooms.
The next day we woke up, realized the trip was coming to an end and decided to bomb home.
We made a quick stop in Cranbrook to look at some buses in a junkyard.
IMG_2029 by campingbox, on Flickr |
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campingbox Samba Member
Joined: November 14, 2000 Posts: 10192 Location: Petaluma, CA
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Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 4:10 pm Post subject: Re: New Bus- '56 Springframe Westy! |
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We then dropped back down into Idaho.
Stopped at a junkyard with this cool sign out front. No buses inside though....
Had dinner and had a quick visit with Corey in Sandpoint.
Then crossed over into Washington and spent the night at Eric Carlsons.
The drive from Spokane to Olympia was done on the Interstate and I didn't take a single picture.
Hopefully Matt & John will add some more pictures and details! |
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zuggbug Samba Member
Joined: June 17, 2008 Posts: 3479 Location: Anderson SC
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Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 5:16 pm Post subject: Re: New Bus- '56 Springframe Westy! |
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Thanks for sharing your trip guys. The pics are awesome _________________ SOUTHERN INTEGRITY AIRCOOLERS
58 15 window
56 westy |
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cdennisg Samba Member
Joined: November 02, 2004 Posts: 20231 Location: Sandpoint, ID
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Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 8:00 pm Post subject: Re: New Bus- '56 Springframe Westy! |
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campingbox wrote: |
Stopped at a junkyard with this cool sign out front. No buses inside though....
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I pulled this panel out of that yard before it changed hands about 8 years ago.
There was a Jersey Looker 23 in there for many years, too. It is now about five miles down the road, and just out of sight from the highway.
Looks like a great trip guys. Nice to have you stop by for avisit. _________________ nothing |
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oakman Samba Member
Joined: February 05, 2014 Posts: 1708 Location: Edge of the Desert, Ca
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Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 8:42 pm Post subject: Re: New Bus- '56 Springframe Westy! |
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Beautiful pics! Those blue slurpees are impressive. |
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easy e Samba Member
Joined: May 28, 2008 Posts: 3930 Location: 1 hr north of Santa Barbara
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Don66bus Samba Member
Joined: January 11, 2006 Posts: 401
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Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2016 6:50 pm Post subject: Re: New Bus- '56 Springframe Westy! |
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Love those photos you are taking. I agree that a bus run through the Canadian Rockies is hard to beat. Thanks for the great documentation. |
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BlastMasterMannyFresh Samba Member
Joined: November 21, 2001 Posts: 6102 Location: #31peach
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Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2016 6:32 am Post subject: Re: New Bus- '56 Springframe Westy! |
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cdennisg wrote: |
I pulled this panel out of that yard before it changed hands about 8 years ago.
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that panel looked like it was very solid when they cut it. |
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BarryL Samba Member
Joined: November 01, 2004 Posts: 14216 Location: Casa de Oro, California
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Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2016 9:10 am Post subject: Re: New Bus- '56 Springframe Westy! |
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Some serious eye-candy raht there. Any border crossing hassles? |
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cdennisg Samba Member
Joined: November 02, 2004 Posts: 20231 Location: Sandpoint, ID
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Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2016 7:08 pm Post subject: Re: New Bus- '56 Springframe Westy! |
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mannys66 wrote: |
cdennisg wrote: |
I pulled this panel out of that yard before it changed hands about 8 years ago.
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that panel looked like it was very solid when they cut it. |
62K on odo, and solid as they come. It was a dream to cut into salvageable pieces. Straightest original nose skin I have ever seen.
Hey John, I thought we might see a pic of Matt enjoying your BRAT lounge chairs. _________________ nothing |
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j.pickens Samba Member
Joined: December 03, 2002 Posts: 9787 Location: Exit 7, New Jersey
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Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2016 9:02 pm Post subject: Re: New Bus- '56 Springframe Westy! |
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cdennisg wrote: |
mannys66 wrote: |
cdennisg wrote: |
I pulled this panel out of that yard before it changed hands about 8 years ago.
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that panel looked like it was very solid when they cut it. |
62K on odo, and solid as they come. It was a dream to cut into salvageable pieces. Straightest original nose skin I have ever seen.
Hey John, I thought we might see a pic of Matt enjoying your BRAT lounge chairs. |
Don't think I got a shot of the chairs, but I'm still figuring how to get them East to mount in the back of the Baja Barndoor truck. I'll let you know when they get mounted in a year or so... _________________ Founder and Chairman Emeritus, ECMSAS
BBX BBXII and BBXXI Long Distance Award Winner
BeaterBarndoor wrote: |
i wish more people would actually drive their vws rather than just talking about what they have in the garage. |
Red Fau Veh wrote: |
If you've seen one sunroof swivel seat kombi, you've seen them all! |
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joshbuchan Samba Member
Joined: April 12, 2007 Posts: 712 Location: victoria bc canada
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Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2016 9:09 pm Post subject: Re: New Bus- '56 Springframe Westy! |
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Top notch write up Greg! You guys hit many spots I've never been and I've lived here all my life! |
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j.pickens Samba Member
Joined: December 03, 2002 Posts: 9787 Location: Exit 7, New Jersey
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Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2016 9:11 pm Post subject: Re: New Bus- '56 Springframe Westy! |
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That photo reminded me, that was by far our latest morning wakeup at a campsite. Reason was that the towering mountains to the East kept the Sun from rising until nearly 10am. It was dark when I first looked out and saw how late it was. _________________ Founder and Chairman Emeritus, ECMSAS
BBX BBXII and BBXXI Long Distance Award Winner
BeaterBarndoor wrote: |
i wish more people would actually drive their vws rather than just talking about what they have in the garage. |
Red Fau Veh wrote: |
If you've seen one sunroof swivel seat kombi, you've seen them all! |
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Stocknazi Samba Member
Joined: June 18, 2004 Posts: 5146
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Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2016 5:04 pm Post subject: |
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Clara wrote: |
Greg squashed the aluminium trim in place carefully and firmly with the Knipex pliers and a piece of wood cushioning the jaw of the tool, while I tapped each nail in holding the trim through the roof panel into the bow:
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What type of nail did you use for the subhatch surround trim? _________________ WANTED:
58 Westfalia cabinet knobs (3 needed), roof rack, and (7) privy tent poles (silver painted).
"When the people are afraid of the government, that's tyranny. But when the government is afraid of the people, that's liberty."
"Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God."
Thomas Jefferson |
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Clara Samba Member
Joined: June 14, 2003 Posts: 12383
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Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2016 9:14 am Post subject: |
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StockNazi wrote: |
What type of nail did you use for the subhatch surround trim? |
We used a brass plated trim nail found at a hardware store.
I don't have the 56 handy for a pic, but....
I just put some pics of Lance's 61 SO-34 Westy's sub hatch in the gallery.
This is his bus:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_search.php?...t_dir=DESC _________________ The Obsolete Air-Cooled Documentation Project http://oacdp.org/ |
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