Big Bend Bush Bash #2, Austin to Big Bend and back [pics]

[Longboardluv]

Gasing up in N. Austin

meeting up and last checks in S. Austin before heading off!

First Gas Stop

Pulling the crank shaft pulley using rachet straps to make sure it was all good

Then I broke down with vapor lock, turns out it had over heated because the idler screw was clogged causing it to run lean and heat up. Ended up not being able to keep it idling for about 100 miles and we fixed it in the morning.

made it to our first stop of Marathon Tx for the first night.

our host Dan has this amazing 65 that I fell in love with.

Dan put a lot of love into this and it shows he's the perfect combination of artist and mechanic.

This is a whole other world compared to home

we thanked our gracious hosts and bid farewell

a stop in a grocery store parking lot for lunch at this point we were the farthest away from Austin in Presidio TX. It's about 400 miles away and on the far west side of the Ranch Park on the West side. Right near Mexico.

at the park entrance we choose our camping spot and bought a toilet, a bucket. yes, my bus now officially has a bathroom.

and spotted our Vanagon friends from Austin, who later made a visit to our site which was no small task.

We made it to the park!!! We then drove a road that was about 27 miles long that took us 2.5 hours to get to our campsite, we were out there!

and as soon as we got there we climbed the nearest ridge to take it all in!

our campsite was called Ojo Escondido and it was beautiful

we left our spot making the trek back up that crazy road and south along the river. We stopped along the way for the photo next to our buses.

the next night we camped along the river at the Lower Madera camping site were we circled the wagons and ate jiffy pop.

we then noticed how incredibly dirty our motors had become from the trek in and out of the ranch park.

our last night under the stars in Big Bend with the sound of the river rapids in the background was great!

then our end bus got hit on I-10 coming back, we were doing 55 and this idiot wasn't paying attention. We got his insurance and it will be repaired. no one was injured and we were able to continue. He was ticketed and one of the troopers was a VW guy who told about his 72 beetle that him and his dad built.

we drove to Junction TX in the night

we stayed at the South Llano River State park, it was nice

Helga did a hell of a job on a 1200 mile five day road trip. I'm happy with her and the group of fellow travelers I was able to share the journey with. THANK YOU!

[BusPriest]

Awesome post! I need to join y'all next time!
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1977 Champagne Transporter Custom Camper.
SOHC EJ25, tubbed, wagenswest
Work in progress build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=619684
Not a Priest.

[Longboardluv]

[Longboardluv]

Link

[BusPriest]

[Longboardluv]

[camit34]

That's cool trip! And WOW that ass end hit could've been so much worse!
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In search of a Vanagon
1971 Westy (SOLD)
1971 Deluxe (SOLD)
1967 Freedom Camper (SOLD)

[heimlich]

Wow. That looks like fun.
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[Dan Hiebert]

What a great trip, thanks for posting. Brings back fond memories. You'uns went to my high school stomping grounds. I graduated HS in Presidio and knocked around in the desert all over that area, especially the Big Bend Ranch when it was a working ranch, not a state park. Yeah...its been a while... A lot of my wife's family still lives in Presidio.