Date: Fri, 31 May 2002 21:25:30 -0400
Reply-To: "Karl F. Bloss" <bloss@CITYNET.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: "Karl F. Bloss" <bloss@CITYNET.NET>
Organization: little, if any
Subject: Re: living in a westy or weekender for a few months while
traveling
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
We took a 6-week trip from PA to AZ and back. We spent one night in
a motel, which was really a 1950's airstream trailer in Bisbee, AZ
(and only because it was a cool idea). However, we did stay at
volks' houses in the LiMBO TTT manual, the Westfalia.org site, and
people from the Vanagon list with whom we had communicated prior to
showing up. FWIW, we spent about $300 total on campground and
lodging fees on the entire trip.
We did stay in campground and RV parks that had showers quite a bit,
so bathing was typically not an issue. A porta potti took care of
the necessary tasks, taking care to find public facilities for #2.
We found the Westy facilities to be more than adequate for the 2
adults and an infant. The baby slept in a bassinet top on the rear
table while we were on the lower bed. The stuff from the back was
tossed on the top bunk at night. We chose this mode of sleeping
since my wife was nursing the little one and didn't have to climb
down every 2-3 hours.
I maintained a web page along the way, which I'm in the process of
putting back up. As of now, I don't have all the pictures uploaded
yet, but the text should be there. Some of the e-mail addresses in
links have changed (bloss@enter.net no longer exists):
http://members.citynet.net/bloss/vw/vwtrek/index.html
The toughest part about the web page was finding internet access
along the way. Even with a proper phone line (which is a trick to
find), the credit card dialing (access # plus account # plus pin #
plus dialup #) is a challenge. With today's nationwide cellular
plans, this might be easier.
There are some additional words about traveling in a Westy somewhere
in the Phoenix, AZ write-up. I never did complete the epilogue, even
though Joel Walker, with whom we stayed (and he sent us home with
quite a few goodies), has complained bitterly that I didn't complete
that.
-Karl
Karl & Kristina Bloss - bloss@citynet.net
Hurricane, WV
'85 Westfalia Camper "Fred"
'87 Westy Weekender "Bev"
'00 Subaru Legacy "Forrest"
All waterboxers :-)
Almost Heaven West Virgina VW Club:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WVVW/