Date:         Tue, 24 Apr 2001 14:04:13 -0700
Reply-To:     Zoltan <zol@foxinternet.net>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Zoltan <zol@foxinternet.net>
Subject:      Why I like my Westfalia Camper(very long, don't read it)
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;

I always wanted to roam around in Europe freely and I got to the conclusion that the only way to do it is to have a Camper and that way you don't have the uncertainty of where and which train or bus to use to the next town and when will they come and go, where and how to find a suitable hotel that I will like and can leave my belongings and all the presents and mementoes that I have hoarded up on the way, safely.  And all the time to drag my bag all day on my back and walk and walk and crawl till you drop.  No, no, no.  I am a practical man, I can't do such a stupid thing like that, there has to be a better way.  Even if it has not been done before in my tribe.  
One day as I was waking up, this camper van came into my mind and did not leave me all day.  Although I have never seen one before, I could imagine how I would make it out to be suitable and practical in every way.  They did not have this Westy campers in South Africa.  They had the vans but not in camper style.  So my mind made up itself.  
And years later when I got married, I promised to my wife that we will go to Europe for a big tour in a camper van that we will buy there and sell or leave as we depart.  
The following spring she started to pester me about it.  She was here in the US and I was down in Africa.  I said OK let's go.  She got there first, my nephew was waiting for her and took her around a little.  Next day I got there, they waited for me at the Frankfurt airport, we were taken to the hotel where she stayed - right in the middle of the red light district - I was exhausted, later even more and we made arrangement with my nephew that we will look in the paper the next day and see what there is on the market.  
The next day we went to see a couple of junk that was not worth the print.  I wanted to spend less than four thousand dollars.  These were all VW buses made into camping with some home made boxes and horrible stuff.   And I was a neat Mercedes kind of guy, looking at these concoctions.
Finally we found one that had a high top, was had painted with brushes in two tone blue, was leaking oil profusely but had a factory built kitchen and sink and fridge with gas stove.  There was no top bed and the side cabinets were level with the bed or just slightly higher and they were more like boxes with doors that would open from the top.  I took it for a drive with the owner and I must say it did not mach my Mercedes in any way as a car.  But this bus had all that we wanted for our vacation.  A home on wheels with an engine somewhere under the car.  It was offered for 3.5 thousand German Marks, I gave an offer of mine for 2.5 thousand in cash and promised I will not come back bothering him with all the faults after I bought it, but I will not offer one more Mark for it.  There was a very short debate between the man and the wife and they decided to make the deal the way I wanted.  We signed the papers soon at their little flat and off we went with it into the German traffic, following us was my nephew to the licensing place.  We had to pay an enormous amount of money for license and insurance and the fitting of the plates.  After that we were legal and on our way to ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.  
Drove back to the hotel to check out, said good bye to my nephew and headed south towards Heidelberg.  The car was going fine, everything was working on it very well.  Mostly because they have a compulsory test every year or so on all the safety devices and for rust and oil dripping, tires, muffler, emission etc.  Very few old cars make it through.   This guy's dad was an airline pilot and practically lived off his father and had a cheap life, a little like a modern hobo.  He needed the money for his new project, a Mercedes diesel van that needed to be fitted out with all the necessary cabinets and shower and all.  
After the first few hundred miles all the oil was gone.  I poured in more and more.  We went to see an old friend of mine in Nuremberg and there a mechanic suggested I should change the air filter because for some reason the oil getting sucked in with the air and that is why it is going away so rapidly.  After that it was a lot better.  Once I noticed an AAA place with a repair facility.  Stopped and asked them if they want to see why I loose so much oil.  They looked and found one of the push rod tubes cracked.  
Advised me that it should not cost more than two hundred dollars to fix.  We left and it stayed that way.  In Hungary my brother who worked at a gas station gave me a few gallons of cheap but good oil that lasted the next ten thousand miles.  
In time I really liked the van, we had clean clothes every day, dressed as if we lived in the best hotels,  did not drag all the stuff around all day other than the cameras, we loved to stop in Greece for a swim in the warm waters near the shore, joining the locals, or even in Turkey.  Never missed the airconditioner, never wanted to go any faster, always felt safe sitting higher up and be able to observe the traffic in front in anticipation, it was very practical for a horny Hungarian with a new wife to stop at the drop of a hat and indulge, or just for a mountain of melons where an old man was sitting on his bed in the sun listening to his radio and selling the best, red, seedless sweetest melons in the Mediterranean and indulge in that up to my ears.  
In Europe it is commonly acceptable that you stop and sleep in your van anywhere that is decent to do.  Once a policeman was pointing out a good place next to a nice park.  We only went to a camping place once.  It was crowded and we did not even stay for the night.  Only did the washing and had a bath.  It is cool to park in front of the Versailles palace a hundred yards from the bedroom windows of Louis XIV or under the Eiffel tower, next to the Vatican or at Check point Charlie in Berlin, next to the Colosseum, drive up to Michelangelo Square in Florence and look down on that almost ancient city loaded with art and tourists, and anywhere and everywhere we wanted, or just park on the beach the farthermost point of the Greek peninsula and sit down at the table that is being almost washed by the waves in the sand order a calamari and watch the old fisherman fixing his net and the other in a distance swinging an octopus to bang it's head to the rocks while nearby the priests of the local church is having a heated argument over good wine and something most important, or stop at the Acropolis, next to the old and real Olympia stadium, sleep in the middle of king Leonidas' - the man who made Odyssey famous - palace, drive across the Panama canal of the ancient times; the Corinthian Channel, stop at the gates of Pompeii and Herculaneum, sit on the five thousand year old column of the palace of Agamemnon the Greek king and look down on his small but most beautiful kingdom where our history is, or just drive between the most prettiest houses you can imagine in your mind that is in the south in Germany's Romantic Route, listen to the music drink a bear with them drive on to the next, take a walk between their houses that are loaded with the most beautiful geraniums under every window, happy smiling  faces, shiny eyes, bouncing walks, - or go to Venice and they make you park in the lot than you have to take a boat which acts as a bus, to the St. Mark Square and there you really have to drag yourself all day around since there is not even a bicycle in town, and one can sleep with the thousands of solders with crosses six feet above their heads who died for a noble cause in their belief although history writers may alter that somewhat one day and their graves that is so well cared for today would be plowed over and forest to grow, you would wonder if Mt. Vesuvius will blow the top while you are passing it so close and you hope it does not until you gone, or how about parking next to the bell tower of Pisa's huge cathedral that is leaning quite a bit, or just stay in bed 'till two and go for a great late breakfast and practice founding a dynasty all afternoon, then go for a great dinner at a cozy little French restaurant where they keep on bringing works of art one after the other, and you can leave it over there with some guys who you trust a little and go again or send your relatives to do the same.  
Here in the US I bought a burnt out ten years old Westy, took me a year to fix it and I am using it every year for an average of six thousand miles, last year was a little longer when we went up to the Arctic Ocean and Alaska.  Air-cooled so it is more trustier than others, takes a lot of beating yet be kind and gentle to it.  The kids call it "Campy One" because at one time I was buying them to set up a rental business.  I wanted to share the fun with the world.  Well it did not take off and I now sell them.  
When the kids were real small they could hide three of them in that side cabinet and not make a sound until I made them laugh.  They thought this car is the best fun ever.  We used to go around town between the houses and playing "getting lost" until we found a familiar place and drove home.  We set out at a look out place with them and had hot dogs there looking at the majestic Olympic Mountains at the Puget Sound with their snow caps.  
It is always ready to go anywhere without a plan.  Never asking for constant attention.  Always at our service.
In short this is the reason why I personally love this vehicle.
Not to mention it is a daily driver, a truck that has a top and things don't get wet in it, kind of a three in one that takes up less space than a Volvo, and only needs one parking spot and one license fee a year.
I maybe hard to please, but this thing is a highly respectable member in our family.  
In the not so old times the family's vehicle was the wagon with the horses and the horses were kept in high regard.  That lasted for a few thousand years until now.  Today it is a car or a van.  The Mercedes is only a car, the camper is freedom, home, safety, store, a reliable friend, and when I am behind the wheel I am on vacation, I am young and in love.
Zoltan

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