Yes well put, i have 2 girls, 4 and 5.. and REALLY watch, since we are desert people now.
lived here for 2 years now. I don't even go out at peak times, and my wifes car has AC.
but even with AC its hard on the kids with hot and cold..

Peace,

-----Original Message-----
>From: Robert Fisher <refisher@MCHSI.COM>
>Sent: Jun 27, 2006 6:47 AM
>To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>Subject: Re: Denver to San Diego and back - Lost my cool in the desert (a              trip              report)
>
>That's all well and fine for healthy adults, but it's hard as hell on kids
>and old people. A couple of years ago we made the run over to my folks'
>house on an August afternoon- 8 miles, no traffic to speak of, 12-15 minutes
>maybe, all windows open but no A/C. By the time we got there the kids (on
>the back bench) were sweating profusely and turning alarming shades of
>pink/red, and this with full 12 oz. sippy cups of ice water at the start
>(standard procedure).
>Once inside they recovered just as quickly, but it put the fear in us. The
>order came down from on high (my wife) to get the damn A/C fixed pronto.
>That was also the end of mid/late afternoon jaunts- 3-4 o'clock is the
>hottest part of the day around here.
>I think little kids just don't have the mass or the circulatory capacity to
>deal with 120 degree ambient temperatures. Now they each have their own
>little 12v fans and what not, but at high temperatures a 'breeze' feels more
>like somebody holding a hair dryer on your face and I'm of the opinion now
>that it just accelerates dehydration.
>So you live and learn.
>
>Cya,
>Robert
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Joseph Fortino" <fortino1@EARTHLINK.NET>
>To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
>Sent: Tuesday, June 27, 2006 4:33 AM
>Subject: Re: Denver to San Diego and back - Lost my cool in the desert (a
>trip report)
>
>
>> It's a hard life without AC these days, 120 in the van sometimes for me,
>> but what the heck
>> its part of the fun, i tell my wife you feel the trip.. ;) OPEN the
>> windows.. hehe
>>
>> Joe
>> L.V, NV
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>>>From: David McCallum <boris89.david@GMAIL.COM>
>>>Sent: Jun 26, 2006 3:32 PM
>>>To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>>>Subject: Denver to San Diego and back - Lost my cool in the desert (a trip
>>>report)
>>>
>>>Well, once again the bus performed admirably, given the 2000+ miles of
>>>either climbing fairly steep grades or driving through desert conditions.
>>>I
>>>only had one incident, but it caused me quite a bit of concern and even
>>>came
>>>back to scare me again.
>>>
>>>After about 600 miles of fun road trip, about 10 miles north of St.
>>>George,
>>>UT, as I'm glancing at the instrument panel I see the coolant and
>>>alternator
>>>lights go on. The VW gods were smiling on me, as I was just coming up on
>>>an
>>>exit with services. I quickly shifted into neutral, shut off the engine,
>>>and
>>>coasted around the exit ramp cloverleaf, over the bridge and had enough
>>>momentum to glide into the gas station and under the gas pump shelter.
>>>After
>>>quickly emptying the back of the bus, I removed the cover and immediately
>>>confirmed my snap diagnosis...a broken alt/water pump belt. I could hear
>>>the
>>>coolant boiling in the engine, the expansion tank was half empty, and the
>>>overflow tank was completely full and leaking precious coolant. I
>>>carefully
>>>removed the overflow tank hose and slowly opened the expansion tank
>>>pressure
>>>cap, hoping to depressurize the system to avoid damage and more boiling.
>>>
>>>I replaced the belt with the obligatory spare from under the back bench,
>>>withstanding a cardiac moment when I saw coolant pooling under the right
>>>side of the engine...turned out that the overflow tank hose had slipped
>>>from
>>>where I wedged it and was draining out! Filled the expansion tank from the
>>>overflow tank using a Nalgene to transfer, put everything back together,
>>>started the bus (so far so good), opened the radiator bleeder (wife
>>>revving
>>>the wasserboxer to 2k RPM) to make sure there wasn't an air/steam bubble
>>>up
>>>there, let it idle for about 10 minutes. No leaks from the heads and
>>>hoses,
>>>no bubbles apparent in the cooling system, we headed back out on the road.
>>>
>>>Everything remained stable for the rest of the trip, except for the
>>>squealing replacement belt. Turns out that I didn't tighten it well enough
>>>for the 1/3 wrap around the crank pulley to turn it all under full
>>>electrical load. After retensioning with the help of a Really Big
>>>Screwdriver, no problems at all. Coolant level is stable and I'm hoping
>>>that
>>>I got very lucky in not breaching the head gaskets internally or
>>>externally.
>>>I'll pressure test the cooling system at earliest opportunity. Any other
>>>testing suggestions, other than empirical observation, to confirm that I
>>>didn't harm the engine?
>>>
>>>Other than that, a great trip, although my wife declared that we will
>>>never
>>>again cross the Mojave without a functioning A/C. I guess I have a year to
>>>get that taken care of. Thanks for reading!
>>>
>>>--
>>>Cheers!
>>>
>>>David McCallum
>>>'89 Westy - "Boris"