Okay, okay. I still haven't put up pictures of the damage but I thought I'd share this one with you.  It's a great Westy but....there's something wrong with the men in this picture.

Enjoy!!

The summer winds down

I had a gentle reminder from a friend that I have been remiss in my blogging duties.  He was right.  I havent posted anything in a while and for that I appologize.  

I haven't really done much with the Westy recently since I have been on the road for work.  Actually as I write this I am in Thunder Bay.  I will be back soon and I'llbe taking the Westy into the autobody shop to get and estimate on the body and paint work that needs to be done from the door falling off. 

To be honest, I have been reuctant to take the Westy out because of the door.  I don't want to be out somewhere either diving or camping and have to door come off and not be able to get it back on.  I don't want to give up on camping this year but I might have to face that reality.   I really hope that I can get the door fixed, painted and it doesn't cost me an arm and a leg to do it.  I also hope that it doesn't snow for a while because I want to go out diving and camping still. 

Well I'll keep you posted and I WILL post some pictures of the damage from the door coming off when I get back.  

500 hits and counting

Well, I had assumed that no one was really reading this but I took a look at the stats and found that sometime last week I topped 500 page views.  Overall not too bad.  I had originally started this as a way to keep track of what I am doing with my Westy so years from now I can look back and admire all of my many accomplishments.  Some interesting things from the stats…

USA – 254 page views

Canada 207 page views

Malaysia – 10 page views

Germany – 7 page views

Austria 5 page views

Then there’s a handful of other places that have 4 or less views… the strangest place Russia.  I didn’t think that there were that many VW fans in Russia.

This weekend coming up I am going to head to Two Jack Lake for camping.  I’ll drag out the camera and telescope too and hopefully I have clear skies and good weather.  I’ll keep you posted.

Vent Windows

I need to add latches to my front vent windows.  You know those little triangular ones.  I know there are a few threads on thesamba.com about this so I’ll do the research and see if I can get them in sometime next week.  I got the latches yesterday from an online supplier for about $10 so I am happy and ready to tackle this small repair. 

I was looking online at classifieds on thesamba.com and had some guy respond.  Wow, he needs to take a chill pill.  He had both windows (complete) and they were in decent shape.  His asking price for them however was $125 for the pair plus $50 shipping.  Let me rewind a little bit here.  He send me a message on 08/03 saying that I was “2nd in line and the other guy didn't pay yet. If you want them send your address for shipping costs. I accept PayPal. If you Pay right away I will delete the ad and send the first guy an email telling him they are sold. If you want to call me my # is 909-396-XXXX.  Let me know.” 

It seemed a little fishy to me that he already had a buyer but if I paid him first he’d let me have them and tell the other guy to bugger off.  I asked how much shipping would be to me in Canada…” I'm sure its $50 to ship so the total is $175 box will be big and a little heavy PayPal is barimanXXXX@aol.com sorry I sent the wrong phone # it 909-496-XXXX Let me know I just checked the the other guy didn't pay”.

This is all in the span of a couple of hours.  Talk about impatient. 

So yesterday I was busy and believe it or not, I didn’t check my email and he sends me this…”So now  you won't answer my emails. Don't bother replying to any of my ads. I won't ship any of my parts to you”   

Seriously?  24 Hours and this guy loses his marbles and tells me that he won’t ship to me, ever.  Seems a little harsh doesn’t it?  Well I sent him a cheery email this morning thanking him for the information and that I’ll pass on these parts but it seems to me that this guy is just on the site to make some cash.  He really didn’t have the helpful, friendly attitude that I have encountered in other forums or when asking questions on the site.  Oh, well I guess a guy like this will reap what he sows. 

On a completely unrelated note I drove the Westy to work yesterday and as I was waiting at the lights at Southland and 14^th street a beautiful older beige bug pulls up beside me.  The guy rolls down his window and says “nice bus”.  I give him a smile and a thanks and compliment him on his bug.  It was in amazing condition.  I’d love to take a close look at it so he gave me the street that he’s on in the neighbourhood so I’ll take a cruise by later in the week and see if I can get a couple of pictures to post up here.  It was kinda cool having a couple of vintage VWs sitting side by side at the same stop light.  We were getting a lot of looks from other motorists.  I had to laugh at myself as the light turned green.  He gave me a wave and rather than wave back I flashed him the ‘peace sign’. Duuude.

Weekend in Drumheller

Well I survived the camping weekend.  In all honesty it wasn’t that bad.  I left Calgary a little later than I wanted as I had really hoped to avoid some of the “weekender” traffic.   No such luck.  Actually There was a huge thunder storm bearing down on highway #2 North of Calgary.  Right at about Airdre the skies opened up and the rain came, then the hail. Golf ball sized hail.   Luckily it wasn’t the really hard kind of hail that dents the crap out of everything but the kind that makes a lot of noise but no damage.  It was one of those storms that whipped in and out in a matter of a few minutes.   Over all the storm wasn’t that bad but it did leave a crap load of water and ice on the road and spawned a bunch of tornado watches for the area. 

The traffic on the #2 got backed up a little bit and I didn’t get to the campground until just after 6:00.  As you can see we got a primo location right by the porta-potty.  Luckily it didn’t smell.

The kids pretty much sorted themselves out in terms of sleeping arrangements and no drama.  All in all a good time was had by all.  We managed to visit the Royal Tyrell as well as Horseshoe Canyon. 

On another note I was down by the A&W last week on a Wednesday and there were a bunch of vintage cars there.  One of them actually came over and flagged me down.  They talked me into coming over and have a look as well as park the Westy in with them.  Since I really didn’t have anything else going on I stayed for a bit and popped the top.  I was amazed at how many random people came over to have a look and check out the Westy… here are a few pictures.

Camping weekend

I was corresponding with a pal of mine who has been having trouble with his bus lately.  He had purchased a new engine for it, installed it but for some reason couldn’t get it running properly.  As it turns out there were a couple of screws that had fallen into the engine and toasted a couple of his pistons.  Kind of a pain in the ass.  He managed to borrow an engine from a pal of his and got it installed and it runs, in his words, “like a top”.  Good news since he’s heading camping with the family this weekend.

He said something interesting to me in one of our emails in reference to my post about the Westy I ALMOST bought.. that I am going to re-post here (with his permission of course).  I am going to edit out names but otherwise these are his words:

 It’s funny how these old things usually have ties to family memories whether it be directly or indirectly.  I think that’s what gives them their vibe and draws people to them.  I remember taking my son on his first camping trip in the Westy when he was 4 months old.  That was before I knew a thing about busses and I packed up the family and just drove.  It was a great fly by the seat of your pants trip and we had an amazing time.  I also remember driving it home in the middle of the night after holding my Grandma’s hand as she died.  I look at the memories I’ve had with the old machine and think of everyone else’s contributions over the last 45 years (51 in Mango’s case) and it’s pretty cool.  At the end of the day, they’re just hunks of metal but I’m convinced they do hold onto the vibe of their previous owners.  We’re just the stewards of them for a couple a brief period of time.  Each repair you do, each camping trip you take, it all adds to the coolness.

I thought this was very profound… Think about all t he stuff that you have done to your bus and all that has been done before you. Each bus keeps a little of the character of the previous owners and we are just the caretakers for the small time that we have them before we pass it on to someone else.  Very cool.  Thanks for that!

Well I am all packed up and ready to go for my camping weekend out in Drumheller.  It should be fun as there are going to be 9 of us all total and hopefully no drama..  I’ll take some pictures and post them on Monday or Tuesday when I get back. 

Have a safe weekend.

The Westy I ALMOST Bought

Back when I was contemplating making the jump into the world of Westys I had a couple criteria.  One, the Westy had to mechanically sound.  As I have mentioned previously I am not THAT mechanically inclined but I am reading “How to keep your VW alive” among others to learn.  I didn’t want to get something that I had to dump a lot of money into right away (hahaha…if you only saw the bills so far). The other criteria is that the body and interior had to be good to…again see reasons above. 

Indulge me as I take a walk down memory lane a little bit here…  I remember as a kid my Dad went to a car auction and came home with a 65 Corvair convertible.  Understand my Dad was always fascinated by older cars and was a bit of a gear head even though he never seemed to have the time or the money to spend working on a classic car. The first few years we took it out in the summers for the day but overtime it didn’t get used that much and spent more time under a tarp than on the road.  Just after Easter he passed away suddenly and I went back to Winnipeg.  I can’t remember which website this one was on but it was located in St.Andrews, Manitoba which is just outside of Winnipeg.  So while I was in Winnipeg dealing with family stuff I took a day (because I needed it!) and went to look at this Westy.

Overall it was in decent shape and had about 65000 original miles on it.  There was some road wear on it but not too bad.  I wasn’t keen on the configuration inside but everything was original.  One thing that scared the bejeezus outta me was that it had basically been sitting in a garage for the past several years and nothing had been done to the engine.  So not only would I have to get an out of province inspection done on it but I would have to figure a way to get my car as well as someone to drive the Westy 1400+ kilometers back to Calgary (that’s about 870 miles for you Yanks btw).  My sister offered to drive it out West but I couldn’t do that to her. 

Here are the pictures of what would, I’m sure be the Orange Monster…  I'm sure my Dad would have loved my Green Monster. :)

Camping weekend coming up!

As the long weekend approaches my preparations for a camping weekend begin in earnest.  The background is that my girlfriend shares the kids with her Ex in the summer and this year she has them for July and he gets them for August. Now they just returned from Norway last week and I promised them we’d go camping this summer.  Since there is only one weekend left in July it’s going to be this weekend in Drumheller. 

Camping on my own I can handle. 

Camping with my girl friend I can handle

Camping with the girlfriend, her three kids (yes three), her  friend and her 2 kids and potentially her husband, I am not so sure about.

Let me be clear we are not all cramming into the Westy.  I think three kids will sleep in the Westy and I’ll sleep in a tent with my girlfriend.  My girlfriend's friend and her husband and her kids will have to fend for themselves (and they don't have a Westy.. Mwaaahahahaha) 

I’m sure it will be fun but also a little chaotic. I guess the good thing is that in Drumheller there is a lot to do. Hiking, swimming in the river, the muesem, etc.    I’m just a little apprehensive because not only am I new to this camping thing (again), but also haven’t had that much experience with that many kids for so long.

 It scares the shit out of me!

So far I have had 3 different leaks in the Westy (fuel twice) and hopefully this weekend goes without a hitch as it’s the furthest so far I have ventured from Calgary in the old van.  It’s only about an hour and a half, but it’s further right?

Fuel leak… again

Well I got the leak at the front end fixed up and yes it cost me.  About $800 all in.  I’ll have to look at the invoice but it was essentially the steering control box and it couldn’t be re-built. 

Friday night I had planned to go camping out to Two Jack Lake as I was going to assist with a scuba class on the weekend.  I figured rather than drive back and forth from Calgary I’d camp and save myself some time and aggravation.  I left work @ 3:30ish on Friday afternoon and was ready to hit the road.  I drove home and started packing up the bus.  Now let me take you back to Wednesday… I was driving past the local A&W and there was a group of older cars there.  I stopped to have a look and they were as interested in the Westy as I was in the old Vette that was there.  One of the guys commented that he smelled gas… not I had just filled up the bus and a little bit of fuel splashed down the side so I thought nothing of it…   Flash forward to Friday again…

As I was packing up the back of the bus guess what I smelled…

So I looked under the bus and didn’t really see anything at first but the foam gasket that surrounds the engine compartment had a discoluoration.  I poked it with my finger and gas started flowing out.  I unpacked the van and started looking around the engine compartment with my flashlight to track down the leak.    Problem found!   It was fairly accessible and it looked like a simple repair.  So armed with a screwdriver and a piece of replacement hose I started the repair.  It took me a couple of tries to secure the hose without it leaking on me but I did it.   My first driveway repair on the Westy!!!  I’ll post pictures later on tonight or tomorrow for those of you that want to take a look and critique my repair job.

So feeling supremely confident and reeking of gas I had a quick shower, packed up the van and headed to the mountains.  I had a great weekend camping and no other problems with the Westy.  Did 4 dives over the Saturday and Sunday and helped certify 3 divers in their Drysuit specialty and 2 divers became Advanced Open water divers.   All in all good times. 

Leaking… not oil Damn it!!

I haven’t driven the Westy in a couple of days just had some things to do that required the other car.  I noticed that my driveway was getting all spotty with the leaks and such from the Westy.  I wasn’t too concerned because I KNEW I had a fuel leak, which has been fixed and I KNEW that the Westy sweats out some oil… no big deal right.

Now I noticed a spot under the front of the vehicle.  Its kinda right in the middle just in front of the tires.  I crawled under the front to have a look quickly yesterday.  I couldn’t find the source but it looks like a clear – yellowish liquid that’s coming from somewhere.  It’s also thick.  I have no idea what the hell it is. 

*****Added some pictures to give you an idea of where it's leaking from (you can see the spot on the driveway) and the approximate colour of it... yellowish. It seems to be collecting  anddripping from the towing loop on the underside****   Have an appointment to take it in to Concept1 here in Calgary on Tuesday.  Grrrrrr

I am starting to wonder if I made a huge mistake buying this thing.  Not only because I haven’t got a clue how to fix anything but also because I don’t have a garage, nor the tools to get in there and attempt anything myself.  I can’t really afford to keep taking it in to the local VW shop here and getting things fixed.  On the other hand, I have to get things fixed if I want to keep using  it… I'll try and get some pictures of it later and post them see if any of you have any suggestions.. (well my ONE faithful reader anyway)  :)

Problems in paradise

 

Good news last night I was at Lake Chaparrel here in Calgary finishing off my Assistant Instructor course for scuba diving.  So that’s done now.  It was a tough course but finally done.  Strangely it felt like a bit of a whirlwind and now all I have to do is get out there and start applying what I have been trained to do.  I managed to nail the skills… 5 out of 5 on one and 4.8 out of 5 on the other.

When I went to leave the lake I loaded all my gear in the Westy and started it up.  It started no problem but it seemed that it was idling very low and it stalled out on me.  It started again no problem but again idled low so I tried tapping the gas pedal to give it a little “Umph” but it stalled again…  grrrrr.  Third time however it started up and idled no problem and no stalls.  Hmmmm.  Not sure what would have caused this.  I’ll probably throw something up on the Samba website or the local VeeDub club and see if there are any suggestions out there. 

I feel like a bit of an idiot having to ask “what’s this for…” or “why is my Westy doing this…” but there is such a wealth of knowledge out there I may as well tap into it right?  Besides we weren’t all born experts.    I’ll update as soon as I have anything. 

WTF is this!?!

I was poking around in the engine compartment last night as I knew one a clamp had wiggled loose and needed to be tied down.  While I was in there I noticed THIS….

I had a local shop here do an inspection and nothing was mentioned but I can’t help but think that components in the engine compartment shouldn’t be held together with duct tape.  I suspect that this is part of the fuel system to handle vapour (notice the Canadian spelling) when the gas expands.  The bus runs just fine with it bodged up so I am not going to touch it for now.   Here are some more pictures as I followed the lines back a little bit.  Any thoughts / comments would be appreciated. 

Now that the door handles are replaced the next project will be the vent windows (I ordered the latch kits for the yesterday).  Should be a bit of an adventure but should be able to handle it.  Baby steps right?  I mean how hard could it possibly be?

Camping August long weekend... YAY(maybe)

I committed to this… or perhaps I should be committed for this but I am going camping to Drumheller, AB on August long weekend.  That wouldn’t be so bad in itself but it looks like there are going to be 5 kids as well.  They are already calling dibs on the top bunk in the Westy for the weekend.  As far as I know only 3 kids are staying with me in my campsite so it’s not THAT bad but the logistics are getting complicated.

Here’s why.

The kids want to sleep in the Westy.  3 kids  leaves no room for me or my girlfriend in there so we are in the tent.  Do you trust kids in there by themselves?

We could disappoint the kids and stick them in the tent but then their mother would be up all not with irrational ears of them being eaten by bears or whatever else lurks in the night.

Maybe I’ll sleep in the tent and leave the Westy for the kids and their mom…

Any thoughts?  Recommendations?  Come on faithful readers I need something here.

Green Monster vs. Green Lantern

I have no question in my mind who would win.  The Green Monster.  I went to go see the Green Lantern last night and to sum it up in a word... lame.  Now I'm no movie critic but the movie really dragged in parts and really felt like it was about an hour too long.  I am not going to spoil it for you by telling you the ending but how he defeats the main villain is really lame and anti-climactic.  That’s my two cents worth anyway.

I have to get under the hood of my bus this week.  There’s an air hose that’s rattled it’s way loose that needs to be clamped down and there’s some general tweaking that I want to do.  There’s also some strange unknown thing that’s just kinda hanging out in the engine compartment that’s held together with duct tape (I’m not kidding, apparently it was a quality repair job that was done previously).  This isn’t a picture of my engine but if you look at the top of the picture there’s that yellow hose… I think that’s it.  I’ll take a good look at it on Wednesday night and get some pictures of it. 

Other than one or two nights coming up this week there might not be too much going on here.  The Calgary Stampede starts on Friday and Wills and Kate will be here (yawn).  Oh, and I have a poker tournament on Saturday at a friend’s place.  Last year I finished a disappointing 4^th (the top 3 got paid).  This year I WILL finish in the money. 

More to come later….

Oh and before I forget, I saw pictures of the new concept camper / Westfalia.  Not bad.  Let's see if someone actually puts it into production.

Dating advice

I took the Westfalia out last night.  Not for a long drive just to Adventures in Scuba and back.  I think that this is the first time I have actually mentioned a business by name.  Anyway I was finishing off my Instructor Development Course so I can become first, an Assistant Instructor then an Open Water Instructor.  I have to say that I love using the Westy for heading out to the lake with my scuba gear.  It’s like a change room on wheels.

I also have to relate this story about online dating.  A friend of mine has recently decided to give online dating a try.  Now she’s asked me a couple of questions about the process, like I’d know, so I gave her me two cents worth anyway.  I told her that dating is like shopping for shoes…

“You’ll know too within the first couple of minutes if you are into him or not.  If things don’t click don’t worry about it, but make sure you tell him either via email or text that you don’t think it’s going to work.  There’s a certain amount of rejection built into the online dating system… think of it as going shoe shopping.  You see a pair you like, think they are kinda cute so you try them on.  If they don’t fit, you take them off and move on.  If they kinda fit you may wear them for a little bit but in the end you are going to get blisters on your feet and you are going to end up hurting.  Sometimes though you’ll put on a pair of shoes that fits perfectly… that’s the one. That’s when it clicks.  You have to remember that they are doing the same thing too….” 

I thought it was a great nugget of advice.  Anyhow, if you have any dating advice let me know and I’ll be sure to pass it on to her. 

With the Canada Day long weekend coming up, sadly there won’t be any camping in the Westy.  It’ll be a hang around town type of weekend I think… maybe I’ll bugger off once the Stampede rolls into town.

Not much happened this weekend in terms of the VW.  Basically because I didn’t drive it. On Saturday I took it down to my IDC (Instructor Development Course) for my scuba diving.   I have been working my ass off this week trying to get all of the assignments done which sadly isn’t leaving me with a lot of free time for playing with the Westfalia. 

I still have to get the oil changed.  Not that the oil is THAT bad but I’d like to get it done.  You know that whole fresh start thing. 

I am keeping it short and sweet today, sorry folks.  I have to finish two assignments for my IDC as well as work today.  As you can understand I have a full plate. 

On positive note before I leave for the day we hit just over 200 page views sometime last week.  Thank-you.  It lets me know that someone is reading it and some of you are actually coming back for more. 

Any questions or comments, fire them in.  I’d love to see em.

I have seen the ultimate food and it is BACON

I'll admit that this has nothing to do with my Westys or VW's in anyway but I have to share it.  We just had doughnuts brought in and they were amazing.  They are from a place in Calgary called Jelly.  Zoinks the Maple Bacon doughnut was heavenly... yes I said bacon and doughnut in the same scentence. 

If you are in Calgary you HAVE to give them a try.  AMAZING!!!

http://www.jellymoderndoughnuts.com/

We'll back to work... I'd be interested to hear your thought if you do try them!

Ta-da! It’s Safety Guy!!

I love taking the VW out.  Last night I headed down to the Bull and Finch in the SW to enjoy some sunshine, beer and wings on the patio.  I managed to get a primo parking spot and it was kind of funny actually because people were looking at the Westy and interested in it.  It’s almost like it’s a relic from the past.   Lol

Anyway, had an enjoyable night but I don’t know that I am going to go back to that pub anytime soon.  The service wasn’t great and the wings were kind of tasteless actually. I can live with mediocre service on its own, but mediocre service with crappy wings…now you’ve crossed a line!

Oh, one last thing… there was a group at a table next to me who were all clearly drunk.  I don’t mean fall down drunk but impaired none the less.  So as the night winds down this group disperses and one of the ladies whips out her car keys and staggers her way over to her Chevy Cavalier.  Really?  Seriously?  My friends call me “Safety guy” sometimes, not a sexy nickname, but I can’t stand it when people get injured because they failed to look and take account of what’s going on around them.  For some strange reason, I feel the need to say something to this woman who is sitting behind the wheel of her car after drinking for several hours…  Obviously this is not something I do all the time.  I come up to the driver side window.  Tap,tap tap.  I look into her glazed over eyes and ask her, “Are you sure you should be driving?”.  I do this in the least accusing was possible.  I did think about saying, “Look lady, your efff-ing hammered there’s no way you should be behind the wheel of a car”, but I didn’t. 

She assures me that she’s okay and that she’s not that drunk as she shifts the car into reverse and pulls away.  I’m no expert, but if I was a cop I would have totally given this woman a sobriety test.    I hope she made it home safely but stupid people however, have a way of taking themselves out of the gene pool. 

Reminds me of the lady I saw cycling out by Elbow Falls on the weekend who wiped out and was poorly equipped for riding in the mountains…all I can say is I am glad I had my first aid kit and water with me.  It came in handy but that’s a story for another time. 

The tally so far....

I might be jinxing myself by saying this but so far this week there have been no repairs to the Westy that have cost me money.  A couple of weeks ago I had a bit of a fuel leak.  I noticed it  when I got home from Canmore one day.  There was the smell of gasoline and a small puddle under the rear driver side wheel.  :(  I could see where it was leaking from and I have some spare fuel line but didn't have clue #1 as to how to fix it. 

So off to the shop I went.... $125 and change later and it's fixed. 

So far....
$125 leaking fuel line
$308 clutch/shifter repair

This doesn't include the door handles ($20) and my labour (couple of hours) so far.  There is also an oil change on the horizon which I have the filter and some 20-50 oil already purchased. 

I really hope this doesn't turn into a  money pit because it is a lot of fun to drive and camp in.  Besides my friends kids love it.  they think it's the coolest thing ever. 

A couple of upcoming planned trips for me...
I am going to go camping with my girlfriend and her kids to Drumheller, Alberta sometime in July.
Also going to go to Winnipeg in September for a family thing.  I am debating on this one.  I have no problem running a couple of hours out of town in the old V-dub but we are talking about a 1300 km journey of epic proportions.  Usually I drive this in about 11 or 12 hours but this would be significantly longer.  Maybe I’ll take a run to Kelowna or something first… it’s only 6 hours drive.

One interesting phenomenon that I noticed while driving the bus, other than people waving and giving you the thumbs up… despite the time constraints, I find I am never in a hurry and you can’t help but smile while driving it.  Strange I know…  

If you have any driving stories, I’d love to hear them, just post them in the comments section.

1 Picture... more to come

Behold! It's alive..ALIVE!!!!!

Okay, okay so it's not much but it gives you an idea of the overall condition.  Nice wheels, but I think I might go back to the stock rims.  Call me nostalgic. 

Oh, and there is a really strange, for lack of a better word, thingy in the engine compartment.  I'll post pictures and any suggestions on how or what I should do with it would be appreciated.

Frankenwagon, me no like fire.

Let me start by saying that I didn’t set my Westy on fire, nor has there been a fire (but I did pick up the How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive book this weekend).  I did get some from a dead VW and transplanted them into mine... It's alive! ALIVE!!!

Ever since I got the Westfalia I have been having trouble with the locks and the handles.  The locks either didn’t work at all or were extremely finicky.  The latch / lock on the back hatch didn’t work at all.  Now in looking at it I could have just adjusted the latch so that it opens easily but for some reason it wasn’t keyed the same as the other locks.  I put an ad out on The Samba looking for a set of handles (with a matching lock set).  Lucky for me there was a guy (Westy Nut) locally who was parting out a late 70’s bus and had the parts I needed.   

So after I got home from my camping adventure I parked the bus in the driveway pulled out my tools and took a look at what I was about to attempt.  How hard could it be? Right?  It only looks like a couple of screws, maybe an alan-key and I’m done. 

There is a line of thinking that says that you should start with the simple task first, complete it successfully and build confidence in yourself for the more challenging tasks ahead.  So with this mindset, I popped open the back and started pulling it apart.  After about 30 minutes of pulling the lock and latch apart and re-assembling it with the new part I am happy to report that the transplant was a success.

With new found confidence I proceeded to tackle the passenger side door.  I removed the inside panel and took a look.  Fairly simple or so I thought.  I pulled out the handle and lock set, placed the new one in and tightened things up.  I then put the panel back on THEN tested the lock with the key… guess what happened.  IT DIDN’T WORK.   So I pulled the panel off again, took the a look at how the lock mechanism works and realized my mistake.  I had somehow flipped the lock flange around.  I pulled it out, corrected my error and an hour and change later had a working handle and new locks. 

I managed to get the sliding door done without incident and proceeded to the driver side  door with the knowledge of my previous mistakes on the passenger side.  I got everything installed without a problem but for some reason the lock is still VERY stiff.  It’s not the handle and lock set but I think it’s an issue with the lock mechanism.   I’ll research it a bit this weekend and see if there is anything that can be done with it. 

With my girlfriend pulling into the drive way and dinner with friends in about 45 minutes I figured I'd get cleaned up and put the Westy away for the night.


Oh, I forgot to mention that I did take some pictures and I will post them as time allows in the next day or two.

Camping in the rain and learning how to start a fire

I had booked a site at Little Elbow Campground for this past weekend and was ready for adventure! Despite being hospitalized last Wednesday I  was determined to head out, set up the Westfalia and rough it for the weekend.  I did make the smart decision to not go scuba diving though.  I figured if I ran into issues they would be easier to deal with if I was above the water and not wearing 100lbs of scuba gear.

I arrived at the campsite shortly after 7:00pm unpacked the bag of fire wood, set up a couple of chairs and popped the top.  Remember I said in one of my earlier blogs that I hadn’t been camping since I was about 8 years old…  This was clearly evident this weekend. 

Problem # 1 the fire.  I had ample supply of newspaper and kindling but for some reason I couldn’t get that roaring fire that would project heat and light.  As a result I ended up sitting very close to the fire pit and struggled to keep my eyes from tearing as no matter where I sat the smoke seemed to follow me.  I felt and smelled like a turkey that had spent the weekend in a smoker.  Oh, and I learned too that to cook over an open fire you should wait for the coals and not over the flame (and smoke).  The chicken didn’t turn out that badly, but the veggies that were cooked…yikes.  They tasted like they had been pulled from a burning building.  Not good.  I guess that’s why we have camp stoves and bbqs right?

Lesson #1  Campfires are for heat, light and hanging around NOT for cooking on.   Oh, and that jerry can of gas that I keep in the Westy (just in case), comes in handy for starting fires.

Problem #2 it gets cold at night.  Now you would think that a sleeping bag rated to zero degrees being used indoors would be sufficient.  Not so.  Damn it gets cold in the mountains.  I think I must have woken up about a dozen times as a struggled to stay in my little bag and stay warm .

Lesson #2, When it comes to warmth while sleeping in a Westy at night you have options.  Bring some extra blankets to stay warm with or bring a friend that you can cuddle with (sadly, my girlfriend was out in Canmore that night and I didn’t have those extra blankets)

So I put it to you my faithful readers (if there are any), is there a checklist that you use when going camping?  A list of essentials?  Help a Noob with your camping supply list!