Date:         Wed, 17 Apr 2013 15:45:02 -0400
Reply-To:     Harold Teer <teer.vanagon@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Harold Teer <teer.vanagon@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Back in Virginia from Baja trip
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

I finally found a block of time to type up the final report on our trip
from Virginia to Baja and back to Virginia.

The day after my last posting, we met with Mark and Anne and people in the
other 8 Vanagons in San Diego and headed toward Baja.  Mark has already
posted details of the 10 days in Baja so I won't even try to add anything
to his excellent Baja trip reports.  That is other than to say "Thank You,
Thank You" to Mark and Anne for putting so much time and effort into making
this a wonderful trip for everyone.  Mark and Anne would have a much more
relaxed trip without having to "herd cats" through Baja.  But, they took it
in stride and went out of their way to make certain everyone had a good
trip and arrived in the US safely.  If our large group did not discourage
them from making this trip again next year, I encourage anyone wanting to
see a glimpse of Baja and view the whales to join their next group.

Traveling with a group of vans was a first for us since we like to wander
and take things minute by minute rather than having a fixed itinerary.
But, we loved meeting all the other owners, learning from them, and just
hanging out.  We met some new good friends and hope to see them again.
However, with us in Virginia and almost everyone else living on the West
Coast, visits will probably be infrequent.

After coming back into the US, we drove through Arizona and tried to meet a
list member in Prescott, AZ but did not give them enough advance notice to
make it happen.  However, we did meet up for lunch with a member of the
Baja group who lives in Flagstaff.   We then spent time in Monument Valley,
Valley of the Gods, and thanks to a recommendation from Larry and Maggie,
drove the Moki Dugway road North of Mexican Hat and took a left on an
unpaved road where Moki Dugway levels out at the top.  We had an unimproved
campsite with incredible views and only saw one other vehicle the entire
time.  From there, we could see both Monument Valley and Valley of the
Gods---just incredible views and not to be missed if you are in the area.
A sign at the beginning of the road says "Impassible When Wet" and while it
was dry, you could tell it would be really, really slick when wet.

From there, we drove to Capital Reef National Park where we hiked before
heading West on the Burr Trail Road and entered Grand Staircase Escalante
National Monument.  Camped in a "dispersed camping area" with no other
vehicles before heading toward Bryce Canyon.   At Bryce, we hiked an
incredibly beautiful 8 mile double loop trail but with the snow, mud, and
slush in places, it turned into a 5 hour hike.

One warning for anyone driving through small towns in Utah --- watch the
speed limit and strictly adhere to it.  Seems as if every town has a
patrolman stationed after the speed limit goes quickly from 55 to 35 to
25.  While we did not receive a ticket, we saw many people being ticketed
and it became a game guessing where the patrolman would be stationed.

After Bryce Canyon, we drove back through Arizona and into New Mexico to
visit some areas we had explored and hiked over 40 years ago on our
honeymoon.  The towns (perhaps a stretch) of Mogollon and Pinos Altos,
while still tiny, have more people than when we last visited.  While
driving in Pinos Altos, I saw a Vanagon under a shed and it just so
happened the owner was outside.  We visited for several hours and the owner
(retired dentist) is restoring a splittie and has a great workshop where he
is restoring 3 or 4 old Porches, rebuilds engines, etc.   We exchanged lots
of tips, tricks, and ideas for modifications and it was a delightful and
unexpected visit.  I encouraged him to join this list and hope he does or
has.

We wandered some more through New Mexico and West Texas before deciding to
make Belton, TX a destination stop.  While we are not "horse people" we
loved watching the documentary "Buck" which details a little of the life of
Buck Brannaman who worked with Robert Redford on "The Horse Whisperer".
Buck was holding a 3 or 4 day horse clinic in Belton and we spent a special
and enjoyable day as spectators watching him work with people and their
horses just like he did in the movie.

We wandered home after dodging some bad weather along the way and as you
can imagine, have spent a good bit of time getting the house, yard, taxes,
bills, ext, in order.

We had a wonderful trip and put 9,500 virtually trouble free miles on the
van.  Only issues I can think of were a nail in a tire, broken rear
windshield washer line, and a rock chip in the windshield which happened in
Texas, not Baja.  Have been working on cleaning the van, fixing a few minor
interior issues, and keeping the tradition alive of making van
modifications for the next trip.

I have not taken time to go through all the pictures from the trip, but
hope to post a link to a few this weekend.

Thanks everyone!!!   As always, knowing we have the wisdom of the list as a
backup if needed makes a trip like this possible.

Harold

Harold Teer
1991 Westy -- VANGAUX
Harrisonburg, VA