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!

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.