Note this is an older post from May long weekend 2013
Over 1500 KM logged in the Green Monster over the past week and the one thing that sticks out was the one of the first stops at the Mount Baker Pub in Cranbrook. Brian and I stopped in there for a break and to meet his buddy from law school. I park. We walk in and there are some big guys at the bar and the only thing that they could say was "heh, two dudes in a micro-bus". That phrase defined the trip.
Overall, it was a great little road trip and the bus held up for the most part without any major issues. First night we camped in Moyie, BC by the river . A great little spot. From there we hit the road in the morning and cruised through Oliver and up towards Penticton. I took some pictures, Which I'll update onthe post later when I have time.
From Penticton, we spend a grood part of the day cruising various wineries and we eventually ended up at Brian's parent's place in Vernon. Had a relaxing couple of days with Brian's parents and I even cashed in at the Legion "Meat Draw". For those of you who have never been to a Royal Canadian Legion meat draw...i have to say you are missing out on one of life's little pleasures.
We had planned to take a couple of days from Vernon coming back from Calgary but I received a phone call from a friend of mine once we were on the road telling me that my hot water tank had given up the ghost and leaked all over my basement. So Brian and I pressed on back to Calgary and made the planned two day return in one . Upon arriving home we unpacked the bus, I took off my socks and waded into my basement to survey the damage. Not that anyone cares (or sometime I wonder if anyone is reading this) but the carpet was soaked as well aas some of the drywall. Insurance handled it, but it was a bit of a pain in the ass.
A couple years ago I bought an old VW Westfalia...good Gawd!! I have no ideas how to do anything to these vehicles...
Showing posts with label Alberta. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alberta. Show all posts
Monday, 26 May 2014
Fahrfromhome - Sylvan Lake 2014
Now that the fuel lines have been repaired and the bus is road worthy I decided to take it out for a little run this past weekend. Nothing too far a field just about 300 km ( 187 miles for my American friends). There was an event called FAHRFROMHOME in Sylvan Lake, AB. It was billed as a massive gathering of Alberta Volkwagens. It didn't disappoint. I don't know what the official count was but I'd bet it's somewhere between 250 - 300 VWs of all shapes and sizes.
Sadly there weren't many buses, maybe 6 in all and for people who like the air cooled VWs you'd be crushed with disappointment as there were maybe 14-16 air cooled VWs in all . We were far out numbered by GTIs, Cabriolets and other water cooled VDubs.
If you check out the Club Vee-Dub Facebook page for some more pictures.
Additonal FAHRFROMHOME PICTURES
All in all it was a great time and a good opportunity to go for a cruise and meet some new people.
Looking ahead to this week, I think I'm going to head out and go camping for the weekend. Not sure where I'm going to go but I was thinking Two Jack Lake or maybe McNabb. They aren't too far and hopefully reasonably warm over night.
Here's hoping for a good weekend, no rain, warm fire and no breakdowns!
Sadly there weren't many buses, maybe 6 in all and for people who like the air cooled VWs you'd be crushed with disappointment as there were maybe 14-16 air cooled VWs in all . We were far out numbered by GTIs, Cabriolets and other water cooled VDubs.
If you check out the Club Vee-Dub Facebook page for some more pictures.
Additonal FAHRFROMHOME PICTURES
All in all it was a great time and a good opportunity to go for a cruise and meet some new people.
Looking ahead to this week, I think I'm going to head out and go camping for the weekend. Not sure where I'm going to go but I was thinking Two Jack Lake or maybe McNabb. They aren't too far and hopefully reasonably warm over night.
Here's hoping for a good weekend, no rain, warm fire and no breakdowns!
Spring has sprung, and so have my fuel lines
Spring is finally here in the Canadian North and most of the snow is gone. I say most because here in Calgary because of the proximity to the Rocky Mountains there is still some snow at higher altitudes. All that said, it's a clear signal to the buss cleaned out and ready to roll for the next 5/6 months.
I rolled the bus to the end of the drive way, cleaned it out then went and got the keys. I was a little hesitant as it had sat for the past 5 months dormant in the drive way with suffering through one of the coldest winters on record. I turned the key, and to may shock it started on the first try. I was so excited. I sat in the driver's seat listening to the engine idle up dreaming of the road trips ahead. That's when things went off the rails.
To be fair, it was a minor thing but it still had to be dealt with. I smelled gas. Raw gas. Here we go again with the fuel lines. I cut the engine and went to work. It took me about 2 hours and, a lot of cussing and the obligatory sacrifice of blood. Fuel lines replaced and ready to go. Just in time too...
Wednesday, 4 September 2013
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...
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.....
Tuesday, 27 August 2013
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.
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.
Monday, 22 July 2013
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.
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.
Tuesday, 30 April 2013
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....
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....
Tuesday, 23 April 2013
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.
Monday, 8 April 2013
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.
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.
Wednesday, 3 April 2013
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.
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.
Thursday, 28 March 2013
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.
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.
Tuesday, 26 February 2013
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.
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.
Tuesday, 22 January 2013
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?
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?
Monday, 14 January 2013
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.
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.
Tuesday, 4 September 2012
New Canvas
Well, I have been lax this year in updating the blog. My apologies, if anyone is still reading of
course. A couple of things to get you up
to speed. I can’t remember if I
mentioned this previously but the canvas in the pop top ripped earlier this
year. Not a huge deal but it was big
enough that I had to slap some gorilla tape on it to keep it from ripping
further.
I ordered a new hemp blend canvas from gowest.com It was a little pricey but I figured I wanted
something that was durable, going to last and that was going to fit. The canvas arrived a couple of weeks
ago. I called up my friend Matt and
asked to see if he was up for some Westy work.
Thankfully he was up for it do I threw some beers in the cooler, grabbed
my tools and headed out to Cochrane, AB to replace the canvas.
Once I got there we got down to business. We cracked a couple of beers and took a look
at how to tackle this job. It seemed easy enough. There was a gasket at the bottom of the
canvas that was easily removed by taking out the Phillips head screws. Then it was on to the tough part. Taking off the top. Let me say this for anyone thinking about
replacing a canvas on the Westy pop-top… it can be done with 2 people but
really taking that top off and putting it back on it a 4 person job. Seeing as it was just Matt and me, we kept
calm and soldiered on.
We undid the bolts that held it at the top then went to work
on the brackets that held it on at the bottom.
It was a little tricky with the bracket of the bottom due the strange
angles and confined space but we managed.
Once the top was off we took the old canvas off and went to
work with our handy dandy staple gun attaching the new one. Once we got the new canvas attached to the
top we went about putting it back on the bus.
That was the hard part where having 4 people would have made a world of
difference. We got the top back on and
all the brackets secured and went to work securing the bottom of the canvas to
the bus.
Overall it went fairly well.
Friday, I headed out to Dinosaur Trail Provincial park for a weekend of
camping with a shiny new canvas.
Thursday, 28 June 2012
It rained, then rained some more, then rained some more
Last Weekend….
So last week I headed out to Kananaskis Country, (K-country
as it’s called around here). The weather
forecast called for a 40% chance of showers so I figured I was good to go. I headed out Friday after work in a light
rain that slowly intensified on the drive out.
By the time I got to the Blue Rock Campground it was a fairly steady
rain.
http://albertaparks.ca/sheep-river.aspx
It was so
wet and cold I couldn’t even start a fire.
I popped the top and settled in for the evening. After a cold meal and reading I called it a
night.
That night
it poured
That
morning it poured
Finally around
11:00 or so it let up enough that I could start a fire with my wet fire wood
and cook dome food. After a hastily prepared
breakfast I headed out for a walk. I
surveyed the low hanging clouds and decided to chance it. There was a nice looking 2.5 km loop that I thought I’d
try. I dressed and headed out. The path was really nice along the river and
easily walk-able. Due to the recent
rain (see above) and the mountain runoff the rivers were swollen and running
fast.
I’ll continue
this post and add some pictures later
tonight or tomorrow….
Okay, I’m behind a little bit. Lets rewind a couple of weeks ago for my
first camping outing of the year. I
headed out to Two Jack Lake in Banff National park. It was great, as always. It was a fairly quiet weekend and there were
loads of choice spots to choose from.
For a little while I was the only person on the entire loop. I settled in, started a fire, cracked a beer
then cracked my book. The peace and
solitude was amazing. I’m not complaining
but the peace soon ended as the RVs started arriving.
Next to me a big RV pulled in and a really nice German
couple were my neighbors for the night. Christoph,
Isabelle and Levi. I invited them over
to share the fire and have a beer. Other
than loving the Westy, it turns out that Christoph and the family are trekking
across Western Canada and into the US, Alaska and into the Arctic Circle. Apparently it’s been a dream of Chris’ to go
that far north. He’s been doing his own
blog of sorts. Check it out here http://trackmytour.com/Xg2sv . They
had a little trouble with the visa for little Levi and had to hang around
Calgary for a little bit so I suggested they head out towards Drumheller. They had a great time and even stopped into
my place for some burgers and Smores for dinner one night before hitting the
open road again.
That
weekend I also had my friends Nicole and Linda show up. It was really kinda fun. We had a great meal, drank far too much wine
and played Jenga on a picnic table that wasn’t quite level. The interesting thing about the Jenga game
was that it was the “Truth or Dare” version.
The red blocks were the Dares and the black blocks were the Truth. Dares and Truths ranged from exchange an
article of clothing with the person next to you, kiss the person next to you
and so on. It was fairly tame and we
didn’t actually play the Truth or Dare version.
Maybe next time we’ll play and after a few more bottles of wine.
Overall not
a bad weekend.
Monday, 7 May 2012
Busy weekend kinda…
Well on Saturday I was supposed to meet up with a friend and help him work on his bus but Mother Nature conspired against us and dropped snow in the Calgary / Cochrane area. From what I understand Cochrane wasn’t too bad, but I had over 6 inches in my back yard. Needless to say we put it off for a bit. He’s in the process of putting in a new engine that will leave me in the dust. I’ll be struggling to go up a hill without losing speed and he’ll be gearing down and actually ACCELERATING up the hill. It’s the journey not the destination right? RIGHT?!?
He’s also in the process of selling his other bus. It’s a 1967 and it’s sweet. Check it out. If you’re interested drop him a line.
On Sunday I participated in Calgary’s 45th annual pathway and River cleanup. There was a group of divers that went in the river and braved the current pulling up trash from the river. We had everything from cans and bottles to knives and a little model of a Hindu temple… seriously. All in all we pulled about 500KG out of the river. It’s amazing that in this day and age people still think it’s okay to litter. Smokers are the worst… there were hundreds if not thousands of butts.
The blurb on the diving starts at about 5:16 on the video. Check it out.
I of course had the Green Monster out for this. Besides being fun to drive it was a great vehicle for getting geared up in scuba gear. All in all a great day out on the river, even though it felt like being in a washing machine sometimes and my buddy twisted his ankle. Hopefully Donnie takes it easy this week and gets some frozen peas on it and he’ll be ready to go when Lake Minnewanka opens up and we can camp and dive. Good times!!!
Friday, 13 April 2012
Invasion of busses planned May 5th
Wow, what a dump of snow yesterday. It kinda sets the invasion of the busses and bugs on the streets of Calgary back a little bit. Probably only a few days though. Speaking of an invasion, if you are reading this and in the Calgary / Southern Alberta area mark May 5th @ 2:00pm on your calendar. Thinking of an informal get together / flash mob of busses at Mckay’s ice cream in Cochrane, AB. I’m just putting the word out now and I don’t know who or how many will show up but I think it’s be kind of cool to have an army of busses show up at a Southern Alberta landmark for an afternoon. I’ll keep you posted as to level of interest and how it all works out. Posted it on the local VeeDub club forum.
Other than that, not much is going on this week. I’m heading to Vancouver for a couple of days for work and in a really geeky kind of way I’m hoping to see some busses while I’m there. I’ll take my camera and post pictures if I happen to see any.
Tuesday, 10 April 2012
After some initial spring pains I am back on the road. I do want to take the old girl out for a bit of a longer run this weekend if I can. Maybe I’ll trek out to Nanton and check out the antique stores. It’s about an hour drive down the highway from Calgary. Not a lot of hills and no snow. I figure that it’s a better what than heading West into the mountains.
May long weekend is typically the start of the camping season here in the Great White North but with the unseasonably warm winter we’ve had here maybe it’ll start early. We’ll see. Maybe I’ll even get into the water diving this month.
Other than getting to work on the heat issue it feels like she’s ready to go for the summer. Just a couple of spring cleaning things to do like get the upholstery cleaned professionally. It’s original and there are some stains that I am just not comfortable with. I’ll be a little happier once they are cleaned.
Other than the odd adventure around town there won’t be too much going on. Maybe I’ll post something on the Vee-dub club of Calgary’s webpage and see if we can all descend on one location in and around the city like Peter’s Drive in or Mckay’s Ice Cream in Cochrane…. Hmmmm I’ll let you know how that shakes down.
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