The ill fated road trip to Mount St.Helens

When I arrived in Tacoma on Wednesday the original plan was to head out to Mount St. Helens and camp along the way Thursday and make my way back for some scuba diving on Friday ahaead of the long weekend.  

Well it was pissing rain on Wednesday and Thursday so I decided to hang out in Tacoma and I would hit St.Helens on Sunday.  I had a great weekend with some friends in Tacoma.  Helped them with their house warming party, drank some moonshine (with hillbilly teeth too) and did some scuba diving at Rodondo Beach.  All in all a good weekend. 

Sunday rolls around and Jim and I decide to head out to St.Helens.  From their house its about 140 miles along the Spirit Lake Hwy.  It's a sunny day, there is ice and drinks in the cooler, topped up the gas tank and we set out on a beautiful drive through the mountains.

After about 2 hours of driving we cam across this bridge that had some water running out of the mountains under it.  You could tell from the upper slope that there had been a really sever washout in the not so distant past.  The upper slope was choked with rubble and large trees and you can see where water had undermined the slopes.  There was a pull off so we did.  Switched off the bus and got out to stretch out legs a bit.  I think we were about 10 or so miles from the volcano or at least the interpretive centre. Up to this point however we hadn't even slapped eyes on the infamous volcano that errupted back in 1980.  Eager to push on, we climbed in bot of us ready to resume our trip.  I turned the key.... nothing. Understand when I say nothing I mean nothing.  No lights.  No click. Nothing.  CRAAAAAAAAAAP!

Ok, I may have used a slightly stronger word than "Crap" but you get the idea.  I didn't panic though.  Luckily we were parked on a hill so we got the bus turned around and pointed in the right direction.  Thought at least if we could push start it we might get it back part way to Tacoma... as soon as we had a bit of speed I popped the clutch and it started...  hmmm.  Strange. 

We got it back to Tacoma and into the drive way and started looking into it.  Basically at this point all we were able to figure out was that because it was a relatively new starter there had to be an issue either between the battery and the starter ot the ignition switch and the starter.  Simple right?

I got some help from Stuartzickefoose basically a local who I made contact with on thesamba.com prior to my trip.  We were going to meet up Sunday night but with my wheels out of commission that wasn't going to happen.  He did talk us through a couple things before we found the actual issue. We pulled the ignition wires and tried to essentially hotwire the bus to check the ignition switch... no luck there, not even a click of the starter.  Next we tried jumping the started with a screwdriver... yes it's possible.  In this case however no such luck.  

As I was under the back wheel I noticed THIS...

 

You'll notice in the middle of the picture in the lower third there is a wire just hanging there.  I found it was live the hard way.  Apperently the ring terminal fromt he battery cable to the starter had sheared off some how. Luckily there was an auto parts store less than 2 miles away and 45 minutes and a couple beers later the bus was started and running again.  WHEW!

 

 

 

 

More to come.....

 

 

 



Arrival in Seattle / Tacoma and a side trip to Kent

Well I made it to Washington and the bus performed great. I managed to power up most of the hills but going through from Merrit, BC to Hope, BC there are some long freaking hills.  So I geared down and chugged along.  Cruising along the open road with a nonfunctioning radio you have a lot of time to think. 

One of the things that floated through my mindas the hills and mountains whipped by was something someone asked me at the Camper-Jam this year.  "What's your Bus' name?".  No I had always refered to my bus as the Green Monster.  Not really nice but up until now strangely appropriate.  I think the old bus and I have turned a corner in our relationship.  It's not quite a loving realationship yet, but it's getting there.  I think I'm at the point where the bus deserves a proper name.  I was thinking in honour of her original colour I'd call her "Marigold".  Thoughts? 

I'm not going to change the name of the blog, but that's what I'm thinking anyway. 

So I rolled into Seattle on Wednesday afternoon without any issues then I hit the wall of traffic on I5 heading South.  Holy cow.  It took me a little over an hour to go 24 miles.  This is when 2 issues cropped up.  First the window crank came off in my hand, which is no big deal.  One screw and it's easily replaced.  The second however caused me a little concern.  My oil light kept coming on.  Flickering on, then off, then on again.  Damn it!

I didn't panic.  I figured if it came on and stayed on I'd be in trouble.  I made it to my friend's place down in Tacoma, relaxed for the night and looked online for the nearest VW aircooled guy.  The next morning I headed out for http://www.franklinsvwwerks.com .  As it turns out one of my wires was grounding and casusing the light to flicker on and off.  5 minutes later it was secure and with a new window crank in my hand I headed out to explore. 

As I headed back towards Tacoma I was thinking how lucky I was to travel all this way and the only thing that went wrong was a $5 window crank and a loose wire (now secured).  If only I knew,,,

Kelowna this morning, next stop Washington

In eventful drive last night really. Hit the highway at about two in the afternoon yesterday and just kept going.  I spent the night in Kelowna and I'm up and ready to go this morning.  

Just outside of Sicamous I stopped and took a coupe pictures by the big Smokey the Bear statue.  I can't remember the entire story as to why it's there but I do know a friend of mine's uncle Peter built it.  This thing is massive and it's built entirely by hand.    

Just on the South side of Sicamous is this strange little building covered in hubcaps.  Gordon's.  Apparently he sells new and used hub caps.  Used I can see but I highly doubt there are any new ones there.  If you peer over the fence there are stacks and I do mean stacks of hubcaps.  Thousands of then.  The sign out front says he'll sell off his daughters too. Maybe I'll stop in on my way back through and see if they have managed to rescue themselves or are they inline to inherit the hub cap empire.  

Did manage to find myself at the Starlight drive in last night. It wasn't so much about the movie, which was Pacific Rim the way, it was about taking the bus to a drive in theatre.   Oddly enough there was another bus there.  I had a great chat with the owner who runs a body shop here in town.  I'll post his info later.  

As I sip my coffee this morning a light rain washes the dust of yesterday's roads away.  I slip the old bus into gear, pull out on the road and head for the border. 

Epic road trip - BC, Seattle and maybe Mount St.Helens

Today is the day!  After work today I am packing up the bus and heading West. 

The tentative plan is to make it as far west as I can today before I get too tired or it gets too dark.  Maybe Vernon, maybe Kelowna, maybe Sicamous.  You never know.  Tomorrow I'll head South-west into Washington state and make my way to Mount St.Helens for a night or two.

Mount St.Helens has always held a wierd facination for me.  It was one of the most dramatic erruptions in North American history.  I still remember as a kid looking at the cover of National Geographic and reading their coverage.  As much as I love going to visit the Pacific Northwest I don't think that I could live in that close to an active volcano but on the other hand, when it's your time, it's your time. 

After a night or two in the shadow of Mount St.Helens I'll make my way back up North to Tacoma for a weekend hanging out with some friends of mine scuba diving and helping them celebrate their housewarming.  It should be a fun weekend. I have to confess that the two things I'm looking to most is camping at Mount St.Helens and going diving.  My hope is that while diving in Seattle I see a couple Pacific octopus (or two). 


The oil has been changed in the bus, and it's all tuned and ready to head out on the open road.  I just have to haul ass home after work today and get her all packed up. 

Das Volks 2013

I got talked into it.  Really I did.  I decided this year that I am going to do more with the VW community here in Calgary.  This past wekend I went to Das Volks and met up with some great people from the Calgary Club Vee-Dub.  Met up with them on Friday night at Big Rock Brewery for a couple of beers and they convinced me to come to the Show and Shine that was bing held on Saturday. 

My initial thought was that I was just going to park the bus and walk around and look at all the nice VW's, chat with a few of the owners and move on but that wasn't going to happen.  Tracy talked me into forking over my cash and entering the Green Monster.  Having never been at one of these events before I had no idea what to expect. I backed the bus into a shady spot by a tree, opened it up, had a coffee and waited. 

I was amazed by the number of people that were there but about 12:00.  Not just VW's but also all kinds of Euro cars from Alphas to Ferarris.  People would just stop in, say hi and poke their head in your vehicle.  I had a great time chatting with people especially the kids.  They would be amazed that you can climb up on the top bunk and go camping in the little old bus.  It reminded me that a lot of these kids had never seen anything but their family's 5th wheel or Grandpa's big RV.

Awards went out for each category from Air cooled car, Type 1, Type 2, Mark 1 - 4 and so on.  As I was chit-chatting with one guy who stopped by I hear my name on the PA system.  I made my way up to the front and much to my shock, I had won for my category.  I'll post pictures of the award later as it's still sitting in the bus. 

As they day wore on people came and went and it seems that everyone had a story about their time in a VW bus.  Some were stories of how they uesed to go camping in them as kids and others were cross country treks that they did as they just were heading into adulthood.  I feel priviledged that these strangers shared a little slice of their life with me. 

Overall a great day.  A big THANK YOU to everyone who stopped by. 

 

http://youtu.be/J4HRGMZKmLM

 

 

Camper Jam 2013 - I'm in!

Just forked over my $75 to reserve my spot at this years Camper Jam.  I have no idea what I am getting myself into (again) but what the hell right?   Don't get me wrong I fully expect to have a great time but have no idea what goes on at these events.  I suppose I should have gotten off my ass earlier and gone in 2012 or even 2011 for that matter. 

Are we all going to sit around the campfire, holding hands and singing Kumbya?

You know in a way I kinda hope we do.  I remember as a kid sitting around a fire singing.  I was never lucky enough though to have that cute girl sit beside me and hold my hand but maybe this is the year!

It's weird, I don't have expectations, but I kinda do.  Bottom line is that I think it'll be fun and I'll come away from the weekend with some new friends and I'll smell like wood smoke. 

I'll have to do some digging but maybe I'll see if i can find my old "Jarts", or Lawn Darts.  What a great game, we'll just have to keep the kiddies away.  I have to laugh because I remember as a kid watching my parents play this with their friends in the back yard at a Sunday afternoon BBQ.  What a great idea having your friend throw weighted metal darts your way while teetering back and forth trying not to spill their beer...  Ah, the good times that were had. 

Here...hold my beer and watch this....

Snow again!

I think the weather has finally turned here in Calgary andwe have seen the last of the snow. Famous last words right?  I wantit to warm up but the sad reality in Canada is that we will likely get anotherdump of snow probably right around the May long weekend. That said the forecastfor the balance of this week actually looks good.  In the mid-teens and sunny throughSaturday.  For my American readers whohaven’t quite caught up to the rest of the World with the Metric system takethe temperature in Celsius and multiply by 1.8 and then add 32 which will giveyou the conversion.  So ( 15 Celsius x 1.8) + 32 is 59 Fahrenheit. 

 

Off I go on a tangent, don’t get me wrong I am not slammingthe imperial system… but it really makes conversions way more difficult than itneeds to be 

 

12 Inches = 1 Feet

5280 Feet or 63360 Inches  = 1 Mile

 

Oh and you use FRACTIONS of Inches.  Think back to your grade school math andremember how much you loved adding and subtracting fractions.  You didn’t did ya?

 

100 Centimeters in a 1 Meter

1000 Meters to a Kilometer 

 

Everything is base 10…makes adding and converting WAYeasier. 

 

To be honest I still struggle with the bus and the speedometerand odometer because of the miles and mph. More than once I caught myself ripping through a playground or schoolzome going 30 MPH not 30 KPH ( about 18 mph). Just glad Officer White wasn’t around to hand me a ticket.  

 

I’m hopeful that we have seen the last of the snow untilnext winter and I can take the bus out for a spin this week. 

 

Snow again in Calgary... will it ever end

Well damn it.  Calgary got about a 2 inch dump of snow last night. I keep looking forward to weekends so I can take the bus out for a cruise but I keep on getting dissapointed with the weather. 

A former co-worker of mine bought a Delorian last year and man does it look great. I think we are going to try and go for a drive together and maybe re-create the chase scene with the Libyans.  If you aren't sure which scene I'm talking about here is a link to the Youtube video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPeHFDxKUP4

As i sit here the snow is still falling in Calgary and the forecast for the week doesn't look.  DAMN.  Well hopefully I can get into the van next week, clean her out and get her ready for the coming camping season. 

Oh, and I found a place in Calgary that actually works metal when it comes to body work and they look not too bad.  I might take the Monster in and get a couple of things touched up. 

From plus 19 C to 1 C in 24 hours - more on the planned roadie!

Yesterday was a beautiful day in Calgary and it hit +19C so I HAD to take the bus out for a spin.  It was great to take it out for a bit of a spin and it made me want to hit the road and go camping that much more. 

More on the planned road trip...

My buddy Brian and I planning a trip to Vernon / Kelowna over the May long weekend.  The plan so far is to head South through the Crowsnest pass and stop at Creston, BC or maybe Nelson and continue on thru Ossoyos and finally Kelowna / Vernon.   There might be a couple of unplanned stops since the highway from Ossoyos to Kelowna is littered with wineries.  The return trip is going to be less exciting as we head back through Golden.  We are looking on suggestions on where to go and what to see along the way. 

If any of you readers are in that area or our route please feel free to drop me a line as I haven't been that way in years and have no idea what to see in the area other than fruit and wine. 

Cranking, cranking, cranking then starting eventually

I fired up the bus yesterday and had some issues.  New starter from last year so it's cranking just fine but it's just not firing.  I don't know if its the fuel injector or the points or what.  I'm loathe to drag it in to a mechanic to take a look at but I really dont have the time to do it myself.

Especially since Im planning a bit of a road trip with a buddy for the Canadain May long weekend.  We are planning to head South from Calgary through the Crowsnest Pass and take the southern route to Vernon, BC via Nelson and return to Calgary via Golden on the #1.  Should be interesting, I just hope the weather holds this week so I can get the plates on the bus and take a run at fixing the problem. 

Camper Jam 2013

Well the location and dates have been set for this years VW Camper Jam.  I missed last year AND the year before.  Not going to miss this year.  I'll probably hit it on my way back from Seattle.  Wow thats a lot of miles on the old bus.  Hopefully she'll hold up.  If you are at all interested and want to check out the page, here is the link to the Facebook page that was created for it. 

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=tn_tnmn#!/events/531626200201491/

Other than looking forward to the road tirp this year, I'm jsut stitting here looking out the window wishing the snow would melt ;so I can take out the Bus.  I did manage to finally get my copy of The Bus movie but haven't had time to watch yet.  Hopefully I'll get to it next weekend. 

I did pick up one of these for my camping adventures this year

http://www.gizmag.com/mr-quicksplit-kindling-maker/25385/

I tended to get frustrated last year as I would use up all the small bits of wood for the initial fire, then be left with nothing to light subsequent fires.  Not this year though.  This little device will help me split all the kindling I need.  Fun times ahead. 

That's it for this update.  In the meantime, think warm thoughts so the snow will melt and i can get out in the bus.

Look out Seattle here I come

Well not next week, but I'm thinking over the summer sometime.  I took a look at Google Earth and its about 1100 km (700 miles for you non Metric people).  I figure I can do Calgary to Spokane in one day and then have a relaxing 2nd day drive. 

I'll be honest with you I'm more than a little nervous about the trip.  I've had the old girl out 2 or 3 hours on the open road but never so far from home.  I guess you have to kick them out of the nest at some point right?  I just worry about having a break down in the backwoods of Idaho and having to depend on Cletus to get me back on the road.  Friends are telling me not to worry because everyone loves a VW bus.  I'll remember that when i am creeping up a hill at 60 kph (40mph) and i have a line of traffic behind me a mile long.  I'll just flash them a smile and a peace sign as they go whizzing by me honking their horns in appreciation of the Green Monster. 

The tentative route so far is South out of Calgary (duh) through the Crowsnest and down through Coutts/Kingsgate on to US95 to Spokane.  Over night somewhere in or around Spokane and hope I don't get killed in my sleep (thank for the mental images Kel!) then onward on Seattle.  The other option is to stay in Canada and head West on the #1 right to Abbotsford and cross at Sumas.  Either way I have to make it from one side of the rockies and back again... maybe out one way and back the other?

Any comments?  Suggestions?  Things to do and or see along the way?

Snow, snow and more snow.

Well it's January 14th and it's snowing in Calgary.  Again.  I think it was about this time last year that my thoughts started to turn to camping and heading out in the Westy.  I keep thinking that mid-march / early April I'll b able to fire up the old bus and take her out for another season.  I'm actually thinking of making a couple reservations for the May, July and September long weekends. 

I think the reason I'm excited to head out is one of the problems I had camping last year was that I never seemed to have enough kindling to start a fire.  Problem solved this year.  I was in Naton, AB and stumbled into a blacksmith shop.  they had this cool device for splitting wood and making kindling for your fire.  You can bolt it to a permanant structure (for your fire pit in the back yard) or you can strap it to a tree for when you go camping.  The guy actually appeared on Dragon's Den... I won't ruin it for you but here is his pitch. 

http://www.cbc.ca/dragonsden/2012/11/mr-quick-split.html

I'm also keen to try a new method of building a fire.  I got tired of having to constantly add logs to my fire and found myself  burning though a lot of wood (pun intended).  So this year my ifres are going to be build "upside-down".   Check out the handy link.... I'll let you know how the trials go. 

http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2009/02/02/how-to-build-an-upside-down-fire/


Well that's about it for now.  I'll let you know if I make reservations so soon.  Right now however I'm dreaming of my Cuban vacation in a couple a weeks then another trip to Bonaire for some scuba diving shortly after. 


PS  Just a quick note... apparently you cant make camsite reservations more than 4 months in advance. I'll have to set a reminder in my calendar.