Update on the road trips

[VWGirl]

Looks like I have missed out on a lot around here in the month or so I have been gone. I've had a blast with the bus... I can't even count the number of sunsets I have driven through in it and they are all simply amazing! I usually get caught up in the sight of them and don't take pics... i did on the way back from TN a couple weeks ago... this was one of my fav shots out the passenger window:

to date I've been 3 different camputs and driven through 3 states. the bus hasn't skipped a beat! We're at nearly 140,000 miles! i am still waiting on new backing plates from bus depot to finish redoing the entire brake system.

You may recall from previous posts that, against beliefs of many others, i replaced most of my brake system... without even looking at the brakes first... well... let me again express my reasoning for this, and i now have proof that it was worth it... When I purchased my bus, it had been sitting in the same spot for 5 years that i knew of... after looking through receipts and mileage logs... i think it was closer to 10 years... yes, the brakes worked on the bus... BUT... after about 100 miles, the front calipers started to stick BAD... I had my original calipers rebuilt and reinstalled. at the same time i replaced the master... which was dry... and i attempted to do the rear wheel cyls... BUT... we couldnt get the drums off at the time... well... they started to leak after a couple thousand miles. at this point everything has been replaced. i did develop a leak at the res on top of the master... but that was due to one of the nylon hose clamps. the only thing left aside from the metal lines and the booster, neither of which i have intent on replacing, are the rear backing plates... and only because of sitting for 10 years, i cannot get the star wheel adjusters to budge... they have been saturated in PB, hammered/chiseled on, and heated to a nice red glow... wont budge... i'll have to take a pic of how they look now actually... anyhow, words of advice... when your bus or bug or whatever vehicle has been sitting a long time... replace all this stuff... it will fail. its only a matter of time. you might as well get it all done with up front and not worry about it later.

I was also having an issue with the bus starting. i think that issue has been resolved with a new starter. while the old one was new as well... i think it had a bad solenoid as it would sometimes not engage. we'll see how it goes.

I decided that the 9.5 year old Michelin Passenger tires were not suited for the road trips ahead and they have been swapped out for some YKS LT tires. I do notice a difference I must say... but then, these tires are not dry rotted like the old ones... so perhaps that is the difference.

My bus can now also be opened from the driver side with a key thanks to Karl

So you want to know about the camping trips? here goes...

The first trip was just kind of a farewell campout to a couple of local bus friends who were moving to asheville. there is a place about 30 min north of here where they have a monthly campout with live bands and people camp in tents and whatnot... i think they are a bunch of crazy hippies quite honestly... but it was a great time with some good bluesy folky music. there were only 3 buses there and a downpour of rain. it's great to camp in the rain... but i discovered that my passenger door leaked! it practically flooded the inside of my bus... so i replaced the door seal with a crappy replacement i got at the local import shop... hey it was only $11 and it doesnt leak (for now) so i cannot complain... i'll get a better one later...

second camping trip was to mudapaluza 8 in chattanooga. This was the first time in a LONG time that my bus had been out of state. We (the bus and i) left early friday morning We were barely in to GA before we were stopped at a rest area and questioned about the bus. some old guy in a van was telling me his vw stories and how he had an 83 at home "just like mine". but then we were off to to meet up with Colin the Great for lunch at my fav VW BBQ place... It's hard to convince Colin that some buses are just too far gone to fix... but I think I managed on this one since it was only half there... so then he was checking it out for valuable parts...

after our lunch date colin took a quick spin in my bus since he had been deprived of driving his for so long... and with colin's approval we continued on our trek. we soon arrived in chattanooga!

when i got out of the bus at the show the ground was already soggy wet. i soon found my chattanooga friends and set up camp with them

had a good afternoon and then the downpour began. was supposed to rain all night and be clear in the morning... well it did rain all night... and it was clear when i got up... lots of vendors had come in the night before... everyone was getting stuck in the mud. luckily there was someone there in a cherokee 4x4 that pulled them out like it was nothing... funny to see a cherokee pulling a dually with a full trailer! then it rained even more! it finally stopped but the damage was done... it was mud city. i moved my bus out of the mud for the day and took a shower in the BUS

A guy I had bought some curtains from last year at Toccoa came up to me at the show and said he had some plaid material for my bus too... so I got some extra plaid

Then a couple locals came by and fell in love with my bus... to the point of asking me if I would marry him... I said I would if he would get me a notch but the bus would still be mine and I would let him ride in it sometimes

WE again had a good time saturday night, watching Herbie Fully Loaded. There was a party down the street but I was beat and new there was another long drive ahead of me on sunday... so i watched the movie and then went back to the bus to retire for the evening.

Sunday came and there were more people showing up. I moved the bus out of the mud as i was just not going to tolerate it that day. i had missed out on the much needed shift extender cause i didnt want to walk through the 6" of mud saturday luckily while i was standing in the 6" of mud waiting for my turn to be pulled out by mr. cherokee... a friend said he'd found a shift extender for me it helps a little... but i am still too short to be able to shift in to 3rd with my shoulder belt on guess it's time to find some retractable belts? i dont know what VW was thinking with this design. Some friends from Atlanta came up too... was good to see them again. I checked out the swap area as it was now on dry ground. got a couple of things... a good hella taillight for my bus and a reflector for the drivers side. I also updated the sticker map on the bus

I rolled out of there at about 12:30. I wanted to make it home before dark. Somewhere around Macon we stopped to fuel up. Again we were stopped and talked to about the bus... everyone has a VW story dont they? We made good time and were home before dark. about 8:30 i think it was, the sun set as i walked in the door. was a GREAT weekend.

wow ok, this is a long post and took forever to write... i'll have to continue the story later.... thanks for looking
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Without love in the dream it will never come true

[hambone]

Good story. What the hell is the deal with that shower bus?? That thing looks pretty solid to be all wacky like that.
Soon enough you'll have the whole map white!

[Birdibus]

So great to hear your traveling tales! Yeah, about that shower, do you have any inside photos? Clever idea, but is the entire inside of the bus part of the shower or is some of it separated with a partition or something?

Seeing your map reminds me of a cross country trip I took in a 65 bug (in 1979). My friend and I were setting up our lowly pup tent in a Yellowstone campground (or was it Wind Cave in SD?) when a poptop bus pulled up in the next space. There were all sorts of things strapped on the outside like mud ramps, fuel containers, and a winch. There was a map of North and South America stenciled on the side of the bus, the connected continents laid on their sides to fit them both in the space. There was a red line starting on the east coast of the US, across northern Canada, up into Alaska, then south to Washington, and east again into the northern Rockies. The european owner of the bus looked over our tiny, sagging, $10 yard-sale puptent and our tiny bug stuffed with possesions, bicycles strapped to the rear rack, backpacking stove on the picnic table, and sniffed. HE would never travel like that. He and his wife were going all the way to the tip of South America and they needed a reliable vehicle with room for all the stuff they carried, and shelter from the rain.

I found his attitude condescending, but silently wished my bug would grow up to be a big bus someday, with a map of my travels pasted on the side.
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'74 Westfalia Yosemite Yellow
'71 Bus Niagra blue and white

[thegrover]

where did you get that sticker map? that's a really great idea..
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71 Westy 1600 SP 74 Front Beam 69 Tranny

[TimGud]

[VWBusrepairman]

[lastubbe]

Very nice! Keep us posted as your summer travels unfold.
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Lenny
'73 Westy
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that's one sick bus!

[steponmebbbboom]

When were these taken Ryan? Are there beaches in Bloomington or did you meet her there?

[VWGirl]

Yes I have pics of the inside of that bus... I thought it was quite solid myself... but there were some rust spots you just cant see in the pics... no idea why it was the "chosen one" but i had a couple nice hot showers in it!!!
the front was closed off... then there was a curtain and an area to put your clothes to keep them dry and whatnot... here are the interior pics i got...

did i mention i got 3rd place with my bus? havent gotten my trophy or whatever yet... but still cool to have won

as for the window sticker... you can get them at RV stores... however i found it cheaper at an RV store on Ebay from seller waltmichalsrvparts


so to continue on with the story...

Last weekend was Wild Weekend in FL.. I had to work Fri and Saturday... but since it was a night show I got down to the pier just in time to see everyone leave... pretty cool still to see all the VWs. Met a couple new people too.

the camp ground was full so we decided to find alternative camping... we found a pretty sweet spot though!

and since we were so close we had time to take some other cool shots before we met up with the other 240 vws

so noon rolls around and the traffic is stopped to allow us to all go through together. was pretty sweet. a caddy pulled in the line behind me and not even 1/4 mile away a cop pulled him out

240 vw's, mostly aircooled, rollin over the skyway bridge! it was definitley a cool experience!

we all drove over to boyd hill and had a swap meet and cookouts and what not. had a great time

stay tuned for more stories to come [/img]
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Without love in the dream it will never come true

[VWGirl]

[camit34]

Nice pix...looks like a good fun time...thanks for sharing...
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In search of a Vanagon
1971 Westy (SOLD)
1971 Deluxe (SOLD)
1967 Freedom Camper (SOLD)
1965 Bug (SOLD)

[CAstuckinMN]

That sticker map is awesome...I need to get one of those...Your trip sounds like a lot of fun!

[VWGirl]

Farfigtuben may 5-7 Ginnie Springs FL.

Well... I didn't get too many pics this weekend... mostly cause my digital camera is not water proof met up with the "local" moonies for a campout on the river... i was only there for one of the two nights... we had a great cookout saturday night... followed by some mudslides and white russians after the kids were asleep. cops came around probably around 11 and approved of our camp site full of buses and beer

woke up saturday morning to some breakfast burritos... and momosas. went out for a few trips in the boat scaring the turtles off their logs. then somewhere around lunch time we gathered up all our rafts and walked up the river to start floating back. stopped for a little while in the springs and froze in the fresh water... came back out in the river and it felt nice and warm. continued back to camp and made up some lunch around 3 or 4.

we took the boat back out and got some shots from the water... it's unlike me to get so few pics... but this was fairly close to my house and like i said the camera is not waterproof... it was cool to have a gathering of such a small number (25ish) as you got to actually meet everybody... some i remember seeing at other shows... some i knew their old roommates and vw's... and for the most part they seemed to recognize me from thesamba and FMBC

was another great weekend... i've gone to more VW events so far this year than i have ever gone to in an entire year... i hope i can keep this up!

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Without love in the dream it will never come true

[VWGirl]

Been a while since I updated this. I'm presently sitting in Bloomington, Indiana... heading out to St Louis in the morning. I made it to BugOut in Manassas VA this past sunday... the bus is getting good at 3rd places I met a lot of cool people... including someone that drove up all the way from McIntosh FL... which is right near me... how crazy is that?

at the show i realized it had been exactly a year since i first drove that bus. If you remember the threads back then... my goal was to drive it by memorial day... which i did... and well that was about it. i could go a whopping 10mph or so. I appreciate all the help and support i have gotten over the past year

I made a lot of new friends so far this trip... and ran in to a lot of old ones as well. i've gotten so many thumbs up, peace signs and waves on the road that i have lost count. i believe this trip is on mile 1600 or so now. it will be over 3000 before its over with.

it's been a beautiful trip so far... a lot of eye opening events and realizations... there are some changes to be made again. i would not trade this trip for the world. I can't wait to share with you all what is to come!

but for now... here are a few pictures to hold you over!

Present state of the map!

What would a trip through the carolinas be without....

this sweet 98 seems to be attracted to sage green westy's... maybe it wants to spend some time with one in FL?

Bored somewhere in Ohio.....

I wish I had roads like this in FL...

well its off to bed and on the road again tomorrow... i'll be at the show in effingham this weekend. come by and say hi
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Without love in the dream it will never come true