What a beautiful tale!I hope your new bus treats you fantastically.

I just drove through Sacramento today for the first time, lovely area.

-Craig
'85GL Turned WESTY
BOSTIG in the back (6000 miles now)

On Sun, Jul 26, 2009 at 4:36 PM, Melissa Mourkas <westywoman@mac.com> wrote:

> 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)
>