Hello all:

Saturday morning, I caught an early flight from Sacramento to Orange
County. I was picked up at the airport by a lovely young couple in a
creme-colored 1984 Vanagon Westfalia camper. By 11:00 a.m. I was
merging onto the jammed I-5 freeway in my newly purchased 1984 Westy.
Getting through LA traffic gave me plenty of time to get used to a
new clutch & tranny. On and off, on and off. Stop and go. Ugh.

I cleared the LA slog and headed for the Grapevine, to make a frontal
assault on the 4000' Tejon Pass at a blistering 100-degrees at 2:00
pm! What was I thinking? Oh, wait, this is a water-cooled engine - no
problem. Up and up we went and the temp gauge barely moved. Shrugged
it off. I only had to gear down into 3rd a few times. Remarkable!

I drove on by the Los Padres National Forest campsites and continued
down to the great Central Valley. I decided to avoid the twisty
mountain roads because my brakes were feeling a little squishy, so I
thought I'd stay on flat land where I could coast to stop if necessary.

The Valley greeted me with a blast of dry heat. I would have been
happier if the a/c worked but I knew it was not blowing cold when I
bought it. But the compressor and fan both come on, so hopefully it's
just in need of a recharge. I sweated my way up to Visalia, where I
decided to quit driving for the day. The store at the KOA campground
had wine, a corkscrew and a paper coffee cup, so I was in business. I
pulled out of my suitcase some sheets and a small pillow. Having no
other camping supplies and it being so bloody hot, I just hung out
and read a magazine until the sun went down, had a shower and crashed
in my new bunk.

By 5:40 a.m. Sunday, I was on the road again and pulled into my
driveway in Sacramento at 9:30 am, just as happy as a pig in mud!
Other than the squishy brakes, I had just driven 410 trouble-free
miles in my new VW camper!  And cruised along at 65-70 mph!  The bus
doesn't have a name yet, though I am sure one will come to me as our
adventures continue. I hope to keep this one for many years.

Melissa (grinning!)
1984 Westy

(sold my '81 eight weeks ago)