Date: Fri, 21 Jul 1995 11:12:33 -0700 (PDT)
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: "Tobin T. Copley" <tobin@freenet.vancouver.bc.ca>
Subject: Finally! Big Trip Report!
I'm thinking I'll do an installment of the trip report each=20
Friday. Hope you all enjoy!
NOTE: These reports my be a little long, so be forewarned!
The Big Trip
A preface to the story
Finally I can do the trip report for the circum-continental=20
road trip Christa and I took in the first three months of=20
this year. Maybe I needed a couple of months to reflect on=20
our experiences, or perhaps I am just intrinsically lazy. =20
Let me provide a little background here.
Both Christa and I enjoy travelling immensely. Christa=20
never had many opportunities to travel when she was younger. =20
My father and I would jump in our =D476 Rabbit and drive from=20
Vancouver to Iowa and back to visit relative most summers. =20
My father is a geographer, and I shared his interests in the=20
environment around us--watching the landscape change as it=20
slid by, figuring distances to places we might visit or=20
stay, and just poring over the road atlas for hours. =20
I think it was on these trips that I first thought, "gee, it=20
would be neat to drive all the way around North America." =20
Too bad I was only 8 or 9 years old, because dad wouldn't=20
let me borrow the car.
Last year found me working in a job I hated, and Christa=20
feeling stagnated in her work. Both of us were stressed=20
out, and didn't know what to do with this "life" thing. =20
Last summer, Christa and I were driving near Grand Forks,=20
B.C. on the very mountainous Crow's Nest Highway when=20
Christa lost control of our little Korean econobox and sent=20
the two of us through the on-coming lane and off the=20
opposite embankment backwards and upside-down at about 100=20
km/h. The car rolled, hit and climbed a tree, acquired a=20
highly unusual shape, and landed right way up. Poor car. =20
Bye, bye car. We were both OK, and I walked away without a=20
scratch. =20
We were both impressed with how quickly life could end. =20
Epiphany! We needed a change, so...
We had been admiring VW buses for some time, so I joined the=20
vanagon list, bought a St. Muir book, and we started looking=20
for a westy to welcome into our family. Christa cashed some=20
of her savings and we bought a slightly neglected, but=20
basically sound mango-coloured 1976 westy for $3,000. We=20
set our departure date for January 1. Christa arranged a 3=20
month leave of absence from her work, while I waited until 6=20
weeks before we left, then walked into my boss's office and=20
gave my notice. I worked until 3 days before our departure,=20
then... free!
PREPARATION
I won't go into mechanical details here, except to say I=20
sent most of my spare time the last two months before we=20
left going over the vehicle. Major items include:
1) Installation of an Eberspacher BN-4 auxilary gas heater. =20
I pulled one out of a junk yard in Chilliwack for $50.00. =20
I installed it with an electrical on/off switch wired to=20
the dashboard. It has no thermostat control.
2) I bondo'd up holes behind the front wheel wells which=20
were allowing water to soak the interior when driving on=20
wet roads.
3) Christa and I roamed junk yards and got stuff to repair=20
all the broken interior fittings. I replaced the sink=20
water pump and faucet. We bought a porta-potti, and I=20
built a box to contain it. I built another box that fit=20
between the two front seats, to hold stuff we might want=20
to access while driving. =20
4) We bought 6 gallon jerry cans for gasoline and water=20
(separate cans!), and a small (one gallon?) solar shower. =20
5) Christa and I replaced the padding in the front seats,=20
which were pretty trashed when we bought the van. We=20
spent a couple of nice evenings together removing the old=20
padding, taping the new foam into place, and putting the=20
upholstery back on. Very, very comfy seats when we were=20
through!=20
6) Of course, I did a tune-up and replacement of plugs,=20
points, distributor cap, rotor, all filters, and bled the=20
brakes. I also had new front shocks put on, replaced a=20
couple of CVs and CV joint boots, and replaced a=20
rusty/sticking throttle cable. =20
7) We needed new rear tires, but decided to let them ride=20
until California, where we figured they'd be cheaper. It=20
was only 1,000 miles to California, after all, and the=20
tires weren't all that bad.
TIP: You can fit three manuals (Idiot Guide, Bentley,=20
Haynes) plus other stuff beside the normal under-the-seat=20
storage area. There is a 5 or 6 inch gap between the body=20
of the car and the wooden side of the under-seat storage bin=20
(on the right side). Slip your manuals, etc into this gap=20
and they won't get torn/soiled/bent. =20
For creature comforts, we brought lots of cooking stuff=20
(Christa's a professionally trained cook) and stuff to eat=20
with. We bought a pair of those "itty-bitty book light"=20
things so we could read in bed, and so Christa could read=20
while I drove at night. We bought a couple of those re-
usable sodium acetate heating pads for cold nights or for=20
injuries. For serious heating in cold climates, we brought=20
a small electric ceramic heater (110V) for plugging in at=20
camp sites with hook-ups. This heater could bring the=20
interior of the camper up to normal room temperature even=20
when it was 10 or 15 degrees below freezing.
We also brought a very nice Grundig Yacht Boy 400 Shortwave=20
receiver so we could stay in touch with what was going on=20
back home through Radio Canada International. We brought a=20
program guide for RCI as well. The radio was about the size=20
of a medium-sized hard-back book, so we were able to hide it=20
nearly anywhere it the camper.
Christa brought maybe 2 dozen books to read, so I built the=20
porta-potti box with enough shelf space to handle most of=20
these plus the reference books we took with us. I recommend=20
the following books to anyone travelling to Mexico:
- The people's guide to Mexico, by Carl Franz, John Muir=20
Publications (JMP). This is not a "what to see/do guide",=20
but a "how to live" book. Absolutely indispensible.
- The people's guide to RV camping in Mexico, by Carl Franz,=20
JMP. Very good, with specific recommendations for where to=20
stay from town to town, and with general how-to-survive=20
information as well. Has very little (no?) information on=20
the Gulf Coast north of Veracruz, but otherwise is=20
absolutely terrific.=20
- Mexico: The real guide, by John Fisher, pub. by Prentice=20
Hall. I don't normally like "guide" books, but this one is=20
for people who don't like "tourist" spots. I found I often=20
agreed with his assessments of many places, and he pointed=20
out things worth seeing, and things to stay away from even=20
though other people will encourage you to go. Good maps of=20
many towns as well. =20
- Where there is no doctor: a village health care handbook,=20
by David Werner, published by the Hesperian Foundation POB=20
1692 Palo Alto, CA 94302, ISBN 0-942364-01-3. (In Spanish,=20
Donde No Hay Doctor). Written very clearly at a low reading=20
level for people with no medical background. Deals with=20
tropical diseases/hazards as well, which is something most=20
first world medical handbooks don't address.=20
OK, enough on preparation. I'll cut to the trip, which I'll=20
send in separate messages over the next few weeks. I'll=20
send the first part today, though.
Tobin
---------------------------------------------------------------------------=
---
Tobin T. Copley Currently =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =20
(604) 689-2660 Occupationally /_| |__||__| :| putt=
a
tobin@freenet.vancouver.bc.ca Challenged! O| | putt=
a
'-()-------()-'=20
Circum-continental USA, Mexico, Canada 15,000 miles... '76 VW Camper! (Mang=
o)
