Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 19:44:47 -0400
Reply-To: "Kate Sumbler (ktpupp)" <ktpupp@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: "Kate Sumbler (ktpupp)" <ktpupp@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: New to the list!
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Hello fellow Vanagon owners!
My name is Kate and I live in Okemos, MI - just outside of Lansing. I
thought I'd post an introduction and the story of how we aquired our
Westy.... It's a 1985 Gold/Beige Westfalia Camper with about 124,000
miles on it. It's in need of some repair and that's why I joined
this list. Hopefully, with a little help from listmembers, we'll have
this baby on the road soon!
Here's the story: Three years ago, my husband Rob, daughter Kayleigh
and I were vacationing in Michigan's Upper Penninsula (UP) and saw
this VW Westphalia camper with a "For Sale" sign in the window on a
side street in Grand Marais, MI right off of Lake Superior. We took it
for a test drive and talked at length with the gentleman selling it.
It was a cool van, with the fridge, sink, stove in the back and
sleeping space for 4 using the pop-up top camper feature.
Alas, we couldn't afford it at the time although we really wanted a
van of some kind for camping trips, etc. Last fall, we ended up buying
a Honda Odyssey minivan so that we would have the space we needed when
camping and for hauling larger groups of people around town, etc. The
Honda is a great van and has proved itself to be a good investment
already, but there was a part of us that still wished we had a hippie
VW camper...
Fast forward to this year's summer vacation. On our way up to camp
again in the UP we wondered aloud if that Westphalia might still be
for sale. Considering what a tiny little town Grand Marais is, it
wouldn't be surprising for no one to have come through town to see it
and/or buy it in three years. We laughed that it would probably be
sitting there in the same spot, faded "For Sale" sign still in the
window. Of course, we drove through Grand Marais with our eyes peeled,
but the van wasn't there.
On one of our trips back into town to get ice, firewood or whatever, I
was looking down all the side streets hoping to catch a glimpse of the
VW... Bam! There is was, in a grassy alley behind a row of homes,
parked behind a shed with foot-and-a-half tall grass growing up along
side of it! We pulled down the next street and decided to take the
chance that the owner may have just parked it when it didn't sell, so
Rob walked up to the house and knocked on the door.
A nice older woman responded and Rob asked her if the VW van was still
for sale. She said that it was her daughter's van and called to her to
come talk to us. Becky, the daughter, was the most adorable thing!
She's probably about 20-22 years old, a cute little hippie chick in a
homemade patchwork dress and about 8.5 months pregnant!
She told us she was interested in getting rid of the van because she
and her husband couldn't really afford to keep it. It was parked here
at her mom's house because they didn't have anywhere to store it and
if we wanted it we could just have it! Rob told her we would be happy
to buy it off of her if she wanted to give us a price, but she
insisted that just taking it away would be fine because her mom has
been bugging her to get it out of the backyard for a long time.
Turns out, the guy selling the van three years ago was her stepdad and
he ended up giving it to her. She drove it for a bit and did a little
camping but then one time it overheated as they drove out in the
backcountry on a slow winding dirt road. She had it towed home and
hasn't really done anything with it since. She does go out and start
it up every few months and it always runs for her, but she hasn't
driven since it overheated because she didn't want to cause anymore
damage if there was something seriously wrong with the engine. Now
that she and her husband are expecting a child, she just doesn't think
they can afford to keep the VW as a recreational vehicle and handle
the maintenance and upkeep.
We got her contact info and told her we would be back in touch with
her if we were interested in taking the van. After we left, we hemmed
and hawed about whether it would be wise idea - the concept was
awesome: free hippie VW camper, but would it end up being a similar
burden for us as well? After considering our budget and the fact that
we already bought the Honda, (at great expense), and have Rob's high
maintenance 1988 Audi to keep running we realized it just didn't make
sense to take on another vehicle right now.
When we got home from vacation, the Westy was still on our minds. We
talked about it for a few days and decided to go ahead with it and get
in touch with Becky.
So, a couple of weekends ago, Rob and I drove up to the UP yet again
and towed the Westy home. There's more to the story that I will fill
in another time, including one trip up with hopes of driving the Westy
home, but that story deserves an email of it's own!
I'll be writing more later with some links to pictures, some questions
and more stories of our Vanagon adventure!
-=kt=-