Date:         Sun, 15 Aug 1999 01:15:08 -0500
Reply-To:     Jim Fritz <jfritz@DECORAH.K12.IA.US>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jim Fritz <jfritz@DECORAH.K12.IA.US>
Subject:      Trip Report (lonnnnnng)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-Ascii"

Volks,
Just returned home tonite from our 6000 mile/22 day trip.  Happily no major mechanical problems (will post some questions about some mechanical curiosities later) and a wonderful time was had by all in what was our first major trip in our Westy.

Left home and within 15 miles my wife realizes she forgot her glasses.  I pull off onto the shoulder to turn around and my eye catches sight of the big beer bottle on the shoulder just as my brand new right front Michelin MXT crunches it.  The rear one must of rolled over it too.  I look back at a nasty jagged piece of glass lying points up on the side of the road.  My heart sinks....a quick check of the tires reveals no damage!!!  I should be in a Michelin commercial!  Love my Michelins!  They performed incredibly well.

First day was a hard burn to Murdo, SD and a visit with relatives.  Following that we struck out for the Badlands.  Camped there at the national park and got a great view of the Badlands at sunset.  Unfortunately it was 100 degrees!

Then on to Wall Drug, Rushmore, Crazy Horse and camping in Custer State Park.  Be sure to do the Needles Hiway if you stay in Custer.  Its quite the drive.

After that we headed to Devil's Tower for our only stay at a KOA.  It was still a 100 degrees in the shade, my 8 year old and my wife are screamin' for a swimming pool, the horse back riding adventures are a main component of this trip for my daughter, and they show Close Encounters of the Third Kind every night.  The campground is right at the gate of the park and as we were watching the movie it was really eery to look up and see the real Tower in the back drop!

A cross-Wyoming trip through the Bighorn Mountains took us to my wife's childhood vacation area near Lander, WY.  We stayed at the Sinks Canyon State Park right next to the river.  A nice spot!

The Tetons were home next for 3 days.  Stayed at Coulter Bay. We hiked around Jenny Lake, up to the Hidden Falls, and Inspiration point, took the boat tours, found a great ice cream place in Jackson Hole, and used it as a base camp for our Yellowstone tour.  We did the entire figure 8 of Yellowstone during a day and a half.  Saw beaucoup bison, elk, etc., and a lone Grizzly from a quarter mile (a good distance for viewing :-)  By the way, who can we complain to about the way they're taking care of these parks!?!?!  The NE corner of the loop has a horrendous road and many of the visitors centers are run down.  That plus they've closed the steps that go down next to the falls...bummer!

Glacier was next and a personal favorite of mine.  Going to the Sun Road is incredible!!!!!  Saw 11 Westys on one of our trips over the pass.  We stayed at St. Mary's the first night and did the boat tour.  Stayed at Many Glacier the next (beautiful!) and Sprague Creek the last.  Hated to leave.

We were headed to Banff but the mud slide that William Dummitt reported had occurred the previous evening and the road was closed so we long-hauled it to friends in Edmonton.  

The strangest mechanical things happened right after Edmonton (and the only post to friends I made during the trip bragging about how well the Westy was doing.....never brag until you're home!!!)  Driving the Yellowhead road west of Edmonton when out of the blue the Westy went from 3700 rpm to 0 rpm in the blink of an eye...total dead stick.  Tried to start it again in mid coast but no go.  Rolled to a stop and tried again and it started right up.  This proceeded to happen 4 times in less than 250 miles.  I vaguely remembered the list talking about strange things that happen to the ECU if things are packed in around it and I surmised by the failure/reset action that occurred that this might be an electrical/computer/relay problem so I took everything out of that compartment area.  Worked perfectly from then on.  Does this seem like it might be caused by this or is some other quirky thing need to be looked at??

Camped at Whistlers Mountain in Jasper, went to the top of the mountain on the tram and then hiked to the summit.  Perfectly clear day.  Amazing vistas!

The next day we camped in the Columbian Ice fields.  Stood on the Athabasca Glacier, revelled in the beautiful tundra wildflowers, and enjoyed the interpretive center.  That night an ominous drip from the radiator caused my heart to sink.  Releasing the pressure at the cap stopped the flow and the overflow tank had been emptied.  I filled it and promised to keep a close eye on it.  Long story short: it never took any fluid from the overflow tank again, it only leaked on one or two occassions, and it never overheated!  Is it possible to have more potential for leaks at high altitudes?

Following the ice fields we spent a day in the Lake Louise area. My 8 year old and I went horse back riding again, I hiked to the end of the lake, and we just enjoyed the scenery of the area.

The next morning found us in rain and very low clouds so we never saw the southern half of Banff.  The forecast was the same for the following 4 days so we decided to push on and return to Banff in the future.

After having driven past Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump south of Calgary and remarking on the name during our trip to Edmonton, and then after reading Tom Neal's post about this as a not-miss, we swung back up on Hiway 2 and went to it.  Tom was right!  This is one of the most amazing interpretive centers I've ever seen.  The building and its setting is almost as amazing as the displays inside.  We were there for dances by the members of the local tribe.  It was a real highlight of our trip and one that could easily be missed....check it out!  We drove to Havre, MT and stayed in the nastiest place of our trip.  It wasn't camping, (as my wife put it) it was parking.  It was basically a parking lot with a little grass and electrical/water/sewer hook-ups (which we didn't need).  BUT it was 8 pm, we'd been driving all day, the local campsite was full because the fair was in town, it had clean showers, and we were able to swim at the Best Western as well as having the free Continental breakfast in the morning.  All for $15.  We were able to justify it....

Our next afternoon found us in the North Dakota Badlands at the Teddy Roosevelt National Park.  We toured both the north and south units (the north is prettier, less people, and more wildlife)  This park is a real sleeper and if you're ever in the area I encourage you to check it out.  Its really prettier than the South Dakota badlands because there is so much more color in the rocks.  Its a beautiful park with 2 nice campgrounds that rarely are full.  Evening guest in our campsite was a full grown male bison!

A long drive across North Dakota and we ended up at Itasca State Park near Bemidji, Minnesota.  This park is the headwaters of the Mississippi and you can step across it.  Nice park but the campground fills up early.

Finally today we ended at home after a brief visit with list member Budd Premack in Minneapolis.  Many thanks to Budd for lending us the front table for our Westy (it didn't come with one :-( and for all of his help since and before we became Westy owners.

Final thoughts:  The Westy is an awesome machine with incredible design.  It is also an underpowered vehicle (we crossed the Continental Divide 11 times - sometimes in 2nd gear!)  With lots of preventative maintenance prior to the trip we had a nearly perfect experience and our average gas mileage was over 19 mpg fully loaded.  I've got to get that damn refrigerator to work on propane before our next trip!!!!  I love driving the Westy and find I'm not nearly as tired after a day of driving as I should be!  My family and I have fallen in love with this type of camping and will be doing much more in the future!

Westy sightings:  every air-cooled Westy/bus waved at us and often flashed the peace sign :-), most vanagon owners waved at us, a few Eurovan owners waved but what's with those Rialto drivers anyway?!?!?

After almost 3 weeks of Westy sightings I FINALLY figured out how people were "blinking" at me (I feel like such a fool for having done it with the headlight switch!)  but I figured it out so late that I never saw another Westy again to blink back at :-( Best Westy Sightings:  Grand Tetons and Glacier Worst Westy State:  North Dakota...didn't see one for the the entire length of the state!  (sorry ND list members!)

Final thanks to:  Unca Joel, Budd Premack, Darrel Boehler, Mark Drillock, David Bierl, Eric (EMZ), and all of the others who have offered so much advice to a (former!) rookie!

Also many thanks to the list administrators past and present.  This is an incredilbe asset to us all and I thank you!


Jim in Iowa
91 Passat Wagon GL
89 Westy
66 Beetle