Trip Reports AND Quick Trips!

[Walty87]

The wifey and me snuck away from the kids for a night. It was our first serious trip in the Walty Wagon! We traveled about 250 miles round trip from our house to Felton CA near Santa Cruz. Stayed at the Henry Cowell campsite. We’re pretty new to all of this, so we wanted something pretty easy.

To start our trip we traveled from the Modesto area towards Los Banos. I wish I could say it was a trouble free voyage, but on highway 33 almost to Hilmar CA the van started to overheat so I pulled over quickly only to find a bunch of white smoke coming out of the engine area and vents. I had my wife quickly grab fire extinguisher and when we quickly took a look at the engine. I could smell and see burnt antifreeze everywhere. Turned the van on for a second and found the problem! We had a small piece of plastic barb break off on the coolant junction where a small hose attaches. Luckily.. we were able to get the broken plastic piece out of the hose and we were able to attach the hose back onto the junction piece where it broke. I had to trim some plastic to make a makeshift barb so we could attach the small hose back on. I’m glad I was carrying antifreeze and water with me because we had to fill it back up! We continued on our way and boy it was a warm ride (Walty Wagon is an 84 with no ac). Because of the incident delay we were traveling later in the day than we had planned. Anyways, the Walty Wagon did great through Pacheco Pass (1.9L engine). Even in the heat we were able to pass some big rigs when it was safe to do so hahah. We were super happy to get near Watsonville because it got way less smokey and the temperature dropped! Since the Van was running so well we decided to take highway 1 and 101 to quickly get to our campsite in the Santa Cruz mountains.

We went on a 6 mile hike and then settled in for an early night. The next morning we made breakfast and had some coffee. Then got on the road to head home!

We were eager to get home to the kiddos so we decided to take the freeways home. On highway 17 heading towards San Jose we saw another vanagon! We were in front of them for a bit, but I think they turned off somewhere as we lost them. Then getting onto 680 we saw another gold syncro! It was smooth sailing the rest of the and we made it home in no time. Back to the smoke and heat in the Central Valley!

Since it was our first time on a trip in the Walty Wagon we definitely learned a lot along the way and we can’t wait to get back out there with the kids!

[mikemtnbike]

Thanks for starting this thread ertse.

Paint Creek Campground Cherokee National Forest. 2 nights cheap camping with just the amenities we want (a water pump and clean vault toilets). Creek side site swimming hole nearby tons of trails and 4wd roads to explore laughing ourselves to tears around a fire just about perfect.

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1991 Vanagon GL 2.1 AT Westfauxlia. "Frankie" Totaled https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=764510&highlight=carnage
1995 Eurovan Camper "Marzivan"
2020 GTI SE manual

[mikemtnbike]

Happy 4th!

3 night at Bandits Roost campground Wilkesboro NC. Lake, trails, 0% chance of rain all weekend. First time mountain biking trails since major knee reconstruction fan freaking tastic.

Photo is right now, there’s a van in there.

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1991 Vanagon GL 2.1 AT Westfauxlia. "Frankie" Totaled https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=764510&highlight=carnage
1995 Eurovan Camper "Marzivan"
2020 GTI SE manual

[thebigben]

Now that my van is actually not ejecting every type of fluid it holds (well, besides the famous gas-burp problem), I’ve been busy with so many various trips. Most of the trips deserve a more detailed write-up — but I made a fun trip to Big Sur last weekend.

I was intending to camp at Prewitt’s Ridge, but Namiciento Rd is closed due to fire risk, per huge signs in the middle of the road. So, we ended up finding a vista point that was far enough from the road to be comfortable for the night — the views of the milky way were insane! This is only a 30s exposure.

The vista point had a nice little area to sit down for breakfast. Used a nice french press that I bought recently at descendon.

My friend and I did an 8 mile hike at Andrew Molera, and then jumped in the freezing ocean.

I dropped my friend off on the other side of the bridge and he took some awesome pictures. He also split the cost of gas. I need to find more friends to bring.
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Ben

'85 2WD Westy w/ Peloquin TBD + 2.2 Subi (Kurt Vannegut)

[dabaron]

[joetiger]

Great to see you out and about, mikemtnbike!
_________________
Joe T.

'86 NAHT Vanagon GL Syncro/ supercharged ABA 2.0 "Pigpen"
'91 Wolfsburg Carat "Barchetta"
'02 Baja-ish Beetle "Bubbles"

"get metaphysical with it. if it's simply a means to get to and from places, it will let you down. if it becomes your zen, it can't fail you." -dabaron

"Still, it's good to be afield."--VWagabond

Justice for Megan: https://linktr.ee/justiceformegantrussell

[mikemtnbike]

3 nights at Upper Cove Creek group campground near Brevard NC, one of my favorite places on earth. 4 great friends/families, hikes, waterfalls, swimming holes, bike rides I could have stayed forever.

Finally got a 12 volt fridge, game changer!

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1991 Vanagon GL 2.1 AT Westfauxlia. "Frankie" Totaled https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=764510&highlight=carnage
1995 Eurovan Camper "Marzivan"
2020 GTI SE manual

[mikemtnbike]

Live from the field!

After 6 months of surgery, physical therapy camping at Keowee Toxaway state park simple campground quiet small old tent sites. 3.5 mile hike in beautiful woods wonderful to be outside again.

Sunset short walk from campsite.

Campsite right now.

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1991 Vanagon GL 2.1 AT Westfauxlia. "Frankie" Totaled https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=764510&highlight=carnage
1995 Eurovan Camper "Marzivan"
2020 GTI SE manual

[thatbaldwinlife]

Looks like great sites you found and glad you got the misfire figured out.
nate
_________________
1987 Westy
Insta: @Thatbaldwinlife
Vanagon Adventure and DIY videos:
That Baldwin Life YouTube Channel

[joetiger]

My little two-day escape to the hills last week doesn't really warrant its own thread, so...

After a severely stressful few days at work (same as all the other days) I snagged a couple of days off and headed for the hills.

Found a great spot on Wed. night in Buffalo Creek Wilderness area. There wasn't another soul for miles.

The next morning, I headed south to Crestone, a little spiritual commune-type hamlet in the Sangre de Cristos. However, I was either still stressed about work or just plain dumb, because I went to Westcliffe, clear on the other side of the mountains. It was all F150's, a saloon, and cowboy hats. This was not at all what I expected when I pulled in thinking it was Crestone.

After gathering my thoughts and mapping a route around the mountains, the van fired up and started missing terribly--my ongoing problem had returned.

With no confidence in the van, nor my ability to diagnose it, I headed north to Buena Vista and John at Urabus with hat in hand and self-reliant pride demolished.

New beige tire cover! It looks kinda Jeepy but the black one I had before had gotten toasted and cracked by the Colorado sun. This one seems much more durable.


John was sure it was a straight misfire, and he was right. After testing the wires, we found that I had yet another bad coil wire. He pulled a nearly-new one off of a removed Tiico, I threw it in, and was back on the road. Too late in the day to get far, I headed west up Cottonwood Pass.

And the misfire returned, worse than before. Might as well camp, figure it out, and hope I could make it to Denver Friday morning.

(I was scheduled to carry some friends up to the Leftover Salmon show for our triumphant return to Red Rocks so I had to get back and get the Syncro figured out.)

Great spot, nobody around, anywhere.

Pulled the hatch, stuck my hand on the distributor cap, and got a familiar shock. ANOTHER BAD WIRE.

I mixed and matched from my spares until I got it to run right. Crashed for the night, exhausted.

The next morning I drove from Cottonwood pass straight to Denver, one of those super-serious drives where you don't even turn on the stereo.

I made to about a mile from my house before it started misfiring again. The #1 wire was shot this time.

I found a set of new wires locally and changed them all out. #1 from the bad set actually came apart in my hand. (No, I don't pull on the wires, I use an extraction tool on the boots.)

Fired it up, drove it all over town, and it ran perfectly. Just in time to head west again!

Had a great show, got everybody home safe, and Pigpen is running like a top.

My constant misfire problems were an issue of pride. I had refused to believe that a brand-new set of Beru wires from ECS could possibly be the culprit, but as it turns out, it was a very bad batch. I mean, they only had about 4000 miles on them.

Live and learn.
_________________
Joe T.

'86 NAHT Vanagon GL Syncro/ supercharged ABA 2.0 "Pigpen"
'91 Wolfsburg Carat "Barchetta"
'02 Baja-ish Beetle "Bubbles"

"get metaphysical with it. if it's simply a means to get to and from places, it will let you down. if it becomes your zen, it can't fail you." -dabaron

"Still, it's good to be afield."--VWagabond

Justice for Megan: https://linktr.ee/justiceformegantrussell

[thatbaldwinlife]

Our trip up to Leavenworth Washington.


Link

_________________
1987 Westy
Insta: @Thatbaldwinlife
Vanagon Adventure and DIY videos:
That Baldwin Life YouTube Channel

[Blakesinclair]

Kids had the day off from school, and no little league practice so we took advantage of the day and hit San Onofre. First time "fully loaded" with surfboards, camping box, wife, two kids and the dog.

Was a little gloomy this morning so everyone was pretty happy hanging in the van.

Eventually the sun came out.

Boone is ready for me to install my ARB awning.

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1985 Weekender Vanagon 1.9L - Manual

[Slimvest]

Quick trip over the mountains to look for fish. When a friend says they'll loan you their extra fly gear, teach you the ropes, and has the same shoe size, you go. The only thing I caught was a tick trying to climb up my leg, but it was a good weekend on the Deschutes river. Time to start looking for my own waders and 5 weight fly rod.

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'87 GL w/ Reimo top (sold Aug '21)

[Merian]

[erste]

There's been some really good trip reports in the past few weeks.

SSWesty's trip to the Redwoods and Oregon Coast (1200 miles)

Blaicsinclair's first offroad trip report in a new vanagon: Running Springs

markleford shared this video of their trip to the lost coast

Link


dabaron's trip to a sweet drive-in and Lehigh Gorge

[erste]

[erste]

[tjet]

[thatbaldwinlife]

[Merian]