Date: Sun, 29 Jun 1997 23:14:01 -0400
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: Jon Hathaway <jonr@empire.net>
Subject: Kampers at Keyser Pond...(kinda long)
Man, Am I BEAT!!!
I view this past weekend as a relative success...
Friday had me running around like a madman... A Bus Camping trip and NO
BUS... major ignition problems that cropped up in the last week and
couldn't be solved by thursday evening... ( HUGE backfire and column of
Blue flame up thru the open engine hatch convinced me to take another
vehicle) Grabbed Dads' Ranger Pickup, hooked up trailer lights and
hooked up the tiny pop-up trailer I swapped for last summer and made to
leave first thing in the morning... first thing turned into 1:30pm after
many false starts...
Arrived at Campground to find My wife and Daughter already
there...(They'ld come straight over from a two day college orientation
for my daughter)... During the afternoon about 12-13 various V-dubs made
their appearance, several Listees among them... after a quiet dinner and
congenial conversation around the campfire we adjourned for the evening
only to be kept awake till early morning by the same gang of
inconsiderate folks from NJ that had apparently done the same thing at
Westies in the Woods a few weeks ago and Last weekend at the Looking
Glass Hill in Litchfield CT...
Saturday saw an early morning stroll with my very vocal Beagle outside
their busses to greet the Day!!<<G>>
In the Afternoon we had The first Annual LiMBO Mini-golf tournament
with a dozen or so Adults and 3 great kids...
Prizes for the Tourney were generously Donated by Frank Konisky and R.
Bentley Publications...
The Adult winner Patrick Connolly is now a Wannabusser ( He won a 5
piece Brekkina Commemorative set of Baywindow Busses)
The Kids were:
Mike Scott
Danny Kline
Derek Kline
One Exceptional moment for me was when Listee Ron Van Ness showed up
with his lovely Wife and the "Good Condition" <<G>> Westfalia Tent I was
looking to buy... we had barely started setting it (which we did
backwards the first time...<<G>>) when I leaned over to my wife and told
her "quick... give them the Money!!!" This tent is a Beauty! it is "THE
ONE" I have been looking for for a good many years.. Inspection from
Bill Kline of Bus Heaven revealed that it is a 1973 vintage (same year
as my Bus) with all stakes, poles, and bags except the big one for the
canvas... one or two minor "pulls" in front door screen (down low) were
only blemishes in the entire tent!! And of Course I had to Christen it
that night... I'm wicked Pysched now... now if I can just get the Darn
Westy sorted out!!
Early evening we started cooking and with LiMBO sponsorship fed about
40-50 people... Were now up to about 25-30 V-dubs most of which were Bus
Campers of one form or another... Another quiet evening around the
Campfire and this time no late night serenades...
Sunday it was up at 5AM, pack the truck, hitch the trailer to Caravan
over to the NHVW Show... one small problem... I'ld left the Keys in the
ignition and the dog in the truck with windows rolled up to within an
inch of the top... went to get into the truck and door was locked...
"What the Hell"???? yup, you guessed it!!! dog had hit Locks on BOTH
sides took us 1/2 hour to find something long and thin enough to reach
across truck to open pop-out windows and reach in and open locks...
meanwhile "Murphy" thinks we're playing and keeps trying to "catch the
stick" or play tug-of-war (stupid dog<<G>>)
Show was Hot,but good... We had 200+ cars in the show area and 40+
vendors in the swap area... Henry De Kuyper was there for the Great
Photo Ops and we hope they don't wait till Dec issue to put us in...
I spent the better part of 3 1/2 hours eating dust directing traffic in
spectator parking and placing show cars around the field...
Met Listee Kenyon Fairey with Her Gorgeous New(to her) '91 Westy, saw
Ron V (spending all my hard-earned money<<G>>) and DJ Jimmy D several
times thruout the Day... Lots of Nice Busses, other equally nice Bugs,
KGs and Dune Buggies... What caught us Totally off-guard was the Large
(30+ cars) Water-cooled contingent that showed up...
I hope everyone had a good time ( I know I did). For those who weren't
there, well... Mark your Calenders for Next Year when LiMBO presents
"Kampers at Keyser Pond II"
I'm going to bed!!!
JonR