Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 14:35:01 -0700
Reply-To: Bill N <freeholder@STARBAND.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Bill N <freeholder@STARBAND.NET>
Subject: Re: Why I LOVE My Westy AND my other vehicles
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Yes, an open van is easier to haul in than a Westy, and a Westy is better to camp in.
Different vehicles have strong points, and none is perfect. As a result, I have become a
collector.
I will incur the wrath of many on the list by freely admitting that both my wife and I use an
SUV as our daily driver. (Mine is a Rodeo, hers is a Rodeo Sport). We live in the boonies, 8
miles from a very small town. My wife drives 25 miles one way to work, most of which is dirt
roads which get very muddy when it rains. A 4x4 is a necessity for her. I visit many ranches
in the course of my work, and many of these are far up what wouldn't pass for a path in most
places. There's a reason I carry a GPS loaded with topos of the area in my truck. These
vehicles both get much better MPG than our Vanagon.
We also have the '81 Westy, which we love for its ability to camp easily, quickly, and
comfortably and be self contained. We put a porta-potti in in, and also added the grey water
tank, so we are really self contained. We drive it only for camping. It pulls our small boat
easily, and we have taken several long trips in it, including to Key West and back from
Arizona, with little trouble. Of course, I maintain it to excess.
If I want to haul a LOT of stuff, I have a Ford full size van. It was a conversion van, but we
removed the rear seat/bed and the two rear captain's chairs. It has the raised fiberglass top.
It is a cavern in there, and comes in handy for my business as well as just regular hauling.
It's an '85, but has only about 40,000 miles on it. We drive it maybe 1500 miles a year.
Finally, if we want to "camp" in a bit more style, we are currently restoring an older 26'
motorhome. We are members of the Tin Can Tourists ( http://www.tincantourists.com/ ), which is
an organization for people with an interest in motorhomes over 20 years old or camp trailers
over 25 years old. Many older Westys would qualify. Our '81 Westy does, and our motorhome is
a '73. (Ute Liner on an International chassis)
Since I live in the country, parking is not a problem. I mention this because I know many of
you were concerned.
The point it, no vehicle is perfect, and most have some good points or nobody would have bought
one to begin with. The most versatile vehicle we have is clearly the Ford van. If I put the
seats back in it, it carries 7 large adults in luxury, along with lots of luggage. With them
out, it will easily haul 30 sheets of plywood, 100 studs, and a few bags of reddi-mix. Or, we
can put a full sized futon mattress in it and still have plenty of room for the dogs, gear,
porti-potti, etc. I expect the non-westy Vanagons are pretty much the same deal. In fact, I
am still amazed about the ping-pong table. Lots of room in my Ford van, bud I'm not sure a
5'x5' item would fit through either door.
So, if you like (love) your vehicle, great! If you don't like it, or worse, don't trust it,
sell it and replace it with something you do enjoy. My criteria is simple. Every time I get
into one of my vehicles, I want to feel good about it. I certainly feel that way about the
Westy. One of our dogs is a Daschund, and whenever we let him out, he runs over to the Westy.
If we open the door, he jumps right in. He doesn't do that with any other vehicle, because he
hasn't been camping in any other vehicle. We know what he thinks cars are for.
Bill
|