Archive for the California Category
Posted on August 22, 2009 by jason
This morning we climbed back up from the lake and headed up over the pass. We had no idea what was in store. We chose the Sonora Pass mainly because we had never been over it before, and sort of figured there would be very little traffic. What we didn’t really appreciate was the climb. It tops out at 9624 ft and is pretty darn steep by any standards. We climbed it – slowly – but we did it. Mostly 2nd gear, and occasionally 1st. Fortunately, there wasn’t anyone behind us for the entire ascent.
Uphill just required patience and liberal use of all four limbs. Downhill was the real challenge. The Eastern descent is STEEP. How steep? We boiled brake fluid. I used low gears and engine braking the entire way – staying off the brake pedal as much as possible. It didn’t matter. A few thousand feet down, the brakes went to the floor (fortunately, right around a flat spot). We were crawling downhill the entire time, so engine braking and the emergency brake helped us come to a complete stop.
I hopped out and the hubcaps were scalding, smoke pouring out of the front wheels, and a quick look at the transparent brake fluid reservoir and hose behind my seat indicated rapid boiling. I had no idea this was even a possibility. I suppose some of my chemist friends can probably tell me what the boiling point of brake fluid is, but I do know this – it’s freaking hot!
We spent some time just lounging and waiting for things to cool (Bode put together a puzzle on the table). Once it was safe to touch (about 45 minutes), it was clear that we had to bleed the brakes to get any residual bubbles out, and amazingly that was pretty much it. No permanent damage. A good warm-up for The Andes, I suppose. Onward to Bodie.
Bodie is an old ghost town located at about 8500 feet, but you first descend down to Bridgeport before climbing up into the high desert. We’d been told to visit early in the morning because of the heat, and due to the slow ascents over the mountain passes we rolled in about 2pm. Luckily, there were some clouds and rain in the distance.
I’m not sure what we were expecting, but something along the lines of “ye old ghost town” at a cheesy amusement park was in the back of Angela’s mind. Maybe somewhere you could get your photo taken in old-fashioned clothes in front of a saloon backdrop. Not quite – it’s the real deal. It was absolutely amazing.
The many houses and buildings nestled into the mountain made up just 5% of what the town once was in it’s heyday. Still, the largest ghost town anywhere, and an amazingly impressive slice of history preserved for eternity.
Of course, Bode loved it. He wanted to check out the firehouse and jail, and loved walking through the vacant lots spotting well cranks and wagon wheels. There was lot’s of clue-gathering (thanks to Scooby Doo) and he quizzed everyone on their theories about ghosts and what happened to the people that lived here (according to a Ranger that looked like an old prospector, there were just no more no jobs. The government closed the Post Office and bank and that was the end.)
Afterwords, we headed through yet another mountain pass – I think the third of the day at a mere 8400 feet – and rolled into Markleeville,CA around 7 pm. Before setting up camp we hit Grover Hot Springs for a couple hours. A great relaxing end to a long day of criss-crossing the mountains and desert. They have two spring-fed pools that get drained and re-filled everyday: one luke-warm and a hot one at 104 F degrees. Both had shallow ends of 2.5 feet deep – perfect for a 4 year old.
A great part of the day was the variety of scenery. We started the day at a lake in the forest, climbed as high as I believe I’ve ever been in any car (much less a loaded down VW), saw glaciers, desert and prairie. Each mountain pass we took had yet another amazing view completely different from the last. One had a herder and sheep, another a military training operation. All the fields of cows and horses reminded me of Texas, yet the weather was perfect. You gotta love Northern California.
One last thing – there was an article about us in many of the local Bay Area newspapers today. Many thanks for the offers to send us the article – we’ve taken a few of you up on them!
If you aren’t in the Bay Area, you can view the article here.
If you read the article and just found us – welcome to the journey!
Posted on August 21, 2009 by jason
We had been talking about this one for a while, so we couldn’t get too far out of town before stopping at the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield. Bode insisted.
The tour is pretty interesting and you need to go on a weekday when all the machinery, robots, and people are busy working away on the factory floor. The amount of sugar in this place is mind-boggling and the pure tonnage of jelly beans can’t fully be appreciated until you see it first-hand. Bode was impressed. There were only two rules on the factory tour. Always wear your hat. No photos. We wore the hats.
Below are the never before seen top-secret inner-workings of the Jelly Belly candy company. Shhh…
After the tour we headed due east out towards our final destination: Bodie, CA. We took it slow and made frequent stops for Icees and the like. Every time we made a stop, someone wanted to come over and talk about the bus. My favorite introduction was…
I don’t care where you’re going. I want to come!
-unknown couple in parking lot
After chatting a bit, it turns out they’ve made dozens of kayaking trips down the Baja peninsula. If you’re reading this, send us some tips!
Anyway, back to not being in a hurry – it’s no surprise we didn’t even make it over the Sierras. We were headed out towards the Sonora Pass (arbitrary choice) in nearly 100F heat and the bus performed admirably, other than donating a hub cap to the mountains. If you live just south of Angels Camp and find a VW hub cap in your front yard… sorry. We got out and looked for it, really we did. Once it got later in the afternoon, we pulled over to a campsite for the evening and called it a day. Beardsly Lake looked good on the map, and kind of an appropriate choice (only realizing this now in hindsight) for Red Beard’s first night camping. Little did we know we would have to descend 2000 ft to the lake, but the price was right – free. The lake was nice enough, quiet, and the long descent put us in some pretty mild weather for the evening. Tonight’s dinner was PB&J, followed by roast marshmallows. Both Angela and I have lost almost 10 pounds over the past few weeks during the trip preparations, so we don’t feel to bad about caving in so early 
Posted on August 20, 2009 by jason
The other day we went for a short cruise up into the Marin Headlands. The idea was to give the bus a road-test with some more aggressive climbing and twisting descents. Little did we know that the real eye-opener would be crossing the bridge in some nasty weather with heavy winds.
The bus is a sail. Bridle the thing properly and you could fly it like a kite. Complicating things even more was having a major amount of slop in the steering box. This one moved up to the top of the list and was easy enough to fix. Grab a 19mm socket and flat headed screwdriver, crawl under the front wheel, adjust the set screw on the box – done. Now when i turn the steering wheel something happens! 
We pulled over in front of the Golden Gate to take some beauty shots (in typical S.F. summer weather) and that’s when I noticed the drips coming from one of the valve covers. Oops. I just adjusted those suckers the previous night and didn’t quite get the gasket lined up right. Another easy one to fix. It also gave us a reason to coast down the hill to Sausalito to fill up and grab some oil. Us and a thousand freezing tourists walking around in shorts and recently-acquired “S.F.” sweatshirts – shivering. If you’re visiting from Nebraska (and please do), bring a jacket… even in the summer.
Anyway, the only major issue still on the list after this drive is the frequent stalling whenever we come to a stop or when i put it in neutral. It doesn’t always happen, but when it does its a real pain. The front disc brakes have a booster that is tied into the engine vacuum line. When the engine cuts out, quite a bit of braking power disappears. It can be a good work-out for the right leg. Not exactly a barrel of monkeys descending some of the steeps around here.
In addition to bus projects, we’re already getting behind on the blog posts. Who knew this was so much work? Now i know why people Tweet. Anyway, we’ll get caught up soon…
Posted on August 19, 2009 by angela
We’ve been getting lots of new readers to this site, so I thought I’d recap our story.
It started when my husband, a lifelong vintage VW enthusiast, bought a camper van when I was on a girls’ weekend in Napa. In addition, he was doing some soul searching and realized he really wanted to spend more time with his family.
Together, we decided it was time for a new challenge – something different. By different, I mean totally different. Jason would like to drive around the world in the old Volkswagen bus – and I think he’s crazy. We’ve compromised on an open-ended journey to South America. Really – I’m cool with it – and I’m the voice of reason in this relationship.
We decided to chronicle our adventure, which includes 2 naive adults and a rambunctious 4-year-old boy named Bode. Life in the confines of a ’71 VW camper van. This is it.
We’ve sold most of our possessions, stored a few things, leased our house and we are on way, but haven’t gotten too far. The road is already rough and there is still work to be done on the old bus. Besides the horn, there is a growing list of “old bus problems” we are just discovering. All part of the adventure.
Anyway, please check out our route here and send us recommendations on places to go, pop the top (with the occasional splurge hotel), and eat (especially those sensitive to a kid’s food allergies) and any other tips in general.
Thanks for paying attention. Check back often – we’ll try to keep it interesting.
Posted on August 18, 2009 by jason
The bird. Getting flipped off. The middle salute.
We haven’t made it too far down the road, but today we got our first one. Angela and I just looked at each other and grinned… it won’t be the last. C’est la vie.
Bode didn’t notice a thing. One day he will and we’ll have to explain the concept to him.
Our top speed is around 65 mph and we’re generally cruising a little south of there. This particular fellow in a Honda was clearly in a rush and the multiple lanes around us were simply not enough room for him to maneuver. He wasn’t just hanging a wing out, but forcing the full bird up in the air and waving it around vigorously. Naturally, the encore was to cut in front of us and speed away at 80 mph. I was recently one of those people speeding 80 mph to and from the office each day. All I could do was laugh. Having this vehicle has liberated me from the possibility of being in a hurry. I love it.
Over weekend, I saw a bumper sticker that said “Why are you still behind me <—- go around!” If anyone knows where I can get one, I think we need it.
Posted on August 17, 2009 by angela
This blog has proven to be an amazing networking vehicle. In the last 5 days we’ve sold a car, received suggestions on where to camp, offers for places to stay along our route, and yesterday – information on a VW BusFest in a town about 3 miles from where we are staying.
It has been 14 years since I have been to a VW event with Jason. Back then he had a Karmann Ghia or 3, and was looking for a glass back window for a convertible. The event was in San Antonio, TX in the middle of summer, and we spent hours waiting around in the hot sun on an asphalt parking lot for a raffle which featured a new engine that he also needed and couldn’t afford. He didn’t win.
Time heals all wounds, I suppose, and I had a better feeling about this event and wanted to go – even though Jason offered to go by himself. I guess I was a little apprehensive because I thought I didn’t know enough about them. Like I said in an earlier post, I hadn’t ridden in ours until we left town on Friday. I’m no VW expert.
I’m so glad we went! It was great meeting these folks so passionate about their buses and so eager to see others.
Not only did we meet lots of people who wanted to do exactly what we are doing now, but we met people who have been doing it for quite a while. One guy, from Switzerland, started in Argentina and pretty much drove the reverse route we are planning. In a few weeks his two-year trip will be coming to an end and he will store the car in Oregon until he returns in 14 months (he did the math) when he has enough money to keep going. We’ll be keeping in touch.
We took some random pictures, and we apologize in advance for the obscene VW content.
Posted on August 15, 2009 by angela
Your know your car has character when it plays practical jokes on you. Today was the day we finally moved out of our house and literally the first time I have ever ridden in this bus. We made it about, oh, 20 miles or so before the horn came on… and stayed on. We had to pull over and disconnect the wire to the horn. Classy.
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
-Red Beard
We’re not really the honking type, so we probably don’t need it anyway. One interesting observation: At first, the people around us turned to look at us in disgust… assuming we were an impatient jackass blaring their horn at a little old lady. Once they realized it was coming from the old red bus, they all just shrugged it off – like it was either expected or excused coming from an old VW. When I was in high school I inherited my grandfather’s old truck. It would honk whenever I turned left… that’s character.
Anyway, getting that far down the road was a feat in itself.
Now would be the time when we thank our new tenants. We appreciate their patience while attempting to move their beloved possessions into their new home, but waiting for their new idiot landlords to get their heap packed and out of the driveway. Did I mention Jason has a PhD in something really impressive? You would never guess if you were to judge by today’s display. Think Beverly Hillbillies.
Aside from the frantic last-minute packing and shoving-off, we will be floating around the Bay Area for a few more days until we sell one last car. It’s a bit of an anticlimactic start, but we see it as a blessing. We’re now relaxing at the home of a generous friend and hope to take a few days to ease into our new life, run some more errands, re-pack under less stress, and maybe do some local sightseeing before heading out.
Speaking of generous friends… thanks to all the people who have helped us get it all together in the past few weeks. There are old friends like Doug who helped play Tetris with our furniture in our storage room, Breean who not only helped clean up the house but also dyed my hair in the front yard (the house was already cleaned out!), and Sarah, Jennifer and Julie for feeding Bode sorbet and keeping him entertained while we packed everything up. There are also new friends like VW guru Kris who has come over at least 4 times to help tweak up the bus, donate parts and bent over backwards to help ensure we could leave successfully (note: inspect the horn next time!)
We were most surprised by new friends and some complete strangers who were interested enough to come find us and share their well-wishes and experiences. These are the types of people we hope to continue to meet along the way…
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