1974 Westy - reborn in Portland and alive in Chicago

[hambone]

Well, my friend Eric made it back to Chicago. I bought a '74 Westfalia for him about 2 years ago. It sat in my driveway because he lacked funds, but then a month ago he flew out, got it running right, and drove it home. Here's some info in his words:

"I just got back yesterday (saturday) evening. 2
nights in WW. Stresssful to be back in Chicago.
People were so much more courteous in the country.
Anyway, the trip was spectacular. I got some rain and
thunder and lightning in the Ochocos too! It was
dramatic. Too bad so many pictures were lost with the
click of one button. Doesn't seem to make sense.
McCubbin's Gulch, The John Day desert. Great shots of
the Ochocos -- you could see for miles, a rainbow,
heavy clouds mixed with sun, a vast expanse of Ochoco
landscape pefrectly exposed. You could see the
Cascades.
Did a lot of hiking along the way. Didn't get to hike
in the Frank Church Wildernesss because the
trailhead(s) were closed due to way too many fires.
Didn't try the Absoroka Beartooth Wilderness in
Montana becuae I was a little out of it and I wasn't
up to the extreme challenge without a map. But
anyway, I got some pics of Betsy on top of the world
at 11,000 feet . Some of the cool places I did check
out were Teton Wilderness, The Idaho Desert on the
Snake River Plain, The eastern Snake River Valley
(beautiful country -- camped in a huge wheatfield at
the edge of mountains and canyons --very rutted out
dusty road to get there -horses and 4wd. Was scary to
drive it. Also Saw a rodeo in Eastern Montana, The
Black Elk Wilderness in the Black Hills of SD, The
Sandhills of Nebraska -- wow ! They go for ever. Some
interesting spots Iowa -- old growth! The Loess Hills
of western Iowa - glacial deposits-, water, wind,
more water, and european settlement really changed
that area -still beautiful country though, now it's
more forested. Used to be grasslands. Backbone State
Park, Iowa's first, in eastern Central Iowa -- maybe
65 miles from Galena. That's where I saw the old
growth. Cool rock formations, clean water. Odd that
it's in farm country, but it's there. Galena was
beautiful as always. Noisy as ever. Owls were
causing a ruckus my first night -- at least three were
all going off at once. Bugs all night and day, frogs
too. And the coyotes chimed in briefly both nights.
--Oh, I think I determined what the weird, lovely,
flute-like sounds I heard in Yellowstone might be --
this was at the campground (crowded as probably
always). I had forgot to ask anyone what tyhat was.
It was repeated several times that night. I was
thinking maybe elk bugling. It was very emblematic of
the wilderness. Sounded Native American if you will.
I also considered that it might be humans, even a
warning fabricated by the park service to keep
wildlife away from the campgrounds. ANYWAY, I heard
it again in Galena!!! So, I think maybe it was
Coyotes or jut my imagination. They had lots of rain
recently and the mushroom harvest was spectacular but
I left it there because I don't know enough yet. Got
some pics though. Over 2000 pics. I'll make a cd of
over half that and sendf to you...."

[Sean Gallagher]

[Elwood]

Sure see why he is your friend Hambone and glad you kept that bus for the "Likes" of such a sensitive man that appreciates nature like you do. Makes me happy to hear about such things. Thanks for sharing

[hambone]

Yeah, it sure was difficult seeing him go. My 2 year old Eva simply adores him. We also have Great Adventures together out in the boonies. Hopefully he'll wind up out West someday after he gets things in order. I'm just glad that bus worked out for him. You never know after sitting so long. We took it on a couple mountain trips here in Oregon, and it ran well then too, so I figured he'd be safe.
And thanks again to Tristessa for his invaluable advice!!!!! He would have never made it home otherwise.

[Mr Blotto]

Thanks for the story - nice read.....must have been hard for him to come back to the city after being in such nice country.

It amazes me how many Chicago buses are on this forum - I think there are 5-6 of us. =D>

[Birdibus]

Cool, Hambone. I remember when you asked what you should do with the 74 bus that was seemingly abandoned. I'm glad to hear he reclaimed it and took it on a ROAD TRIP! Did I miss a story along the way about getting it running? Yippie! another saved bay!

[hambone]

You didn't miss much...Eric really wanted to come out here sooner, but I think he had some issues to wrestle with first. Sometimes it's hard to pull up roots. The past couple times he's come out here, we've had a pretty bad time. Even a spring camp trip that turned sour. But somehow he got things together. It was really nice being able to put the crap behind us. It was a really nice August because of this. Man! Negativity is a real spirit-drain. It's so much easier having good vibes than to carry all that dark weight. I really did almost sell it.
He replaced the alternator and battery, and it fired right up! Amazing..and hed did a lot of other work - fixing rust spots, applying seals, cleaning, replacing missing tin. It was really gratifying seeing this moldy heap turn into a living Westfalia. We took 2 camp trips with both our buses, to Olallie Lake and Hambone Butte, both pretty rough trips, and good indicators of it's health. Our last trip, I headed west back to Portland, and he turned east...
I'll post some pics when that functionality is restored.

[hambone]

Check it out, he made it onto someone's weblog:
http://pixel.csueastbay.edu/jgreen/blog/?cat=11

[chitwnvw]

Thanks for the story - nice read.....must have been hard for him to come back to the city after being in such nice country.

It amazes me how many Chicago buses are on this forum - I think there are 5-6 of us. =D>

Maybe we should start a club, do some camping.

[spiffy]

You didn't miss much...Eric really wanted to come out here sooner, but I think he had some issues to wrestle with first. Sometimes it's hard to pull up roots. The past couple times he's come out here, we've had a pretty bad time. Even a spring camp trip that turned sour. But somehow he got things together. It was really nice being able to put the crap behind us. It was a really nice August because of this. Man! Negativity is a real spirit-drain. It's so much easier having good vibes than to carry all that dark weight. I really did almost sell it.
He replaced the alternator and battery, and it fired right up! Amazing..and hed did a lot of other work - fixing rust spots, applying seals, cleaning, replacing missing tin. It was really gratifying seeing this moldy heap turn into a living Westfalia. We took 2 camp trips with both our buses, to Olallie Lake and Hambone Butte, both pretty rough trips, and good indicators of it's health. Our last trip, I headed west back to Portland, and he turned east...
I'll post some pics when that functionality is restored.

Sounds like a trusty bus!!

I agree, negativety is a heavy burden to carry.

[tristessa]

And thanks again to Tristessa for his invaluable advice!!!!! He would have never made it home otherwise.

Heh. It's amazing how much quieter the engine is when the valves are adjusted right, eh?

[hambone]

I'm an idiot! I thought you knew????
Seriously thanks again. I owe ya a couple.

[tristessa]

eh, no big. That Rotor-Notch-In-The-Wrong-Place issue with an 009 on teh T4 engine is easy to miss if you don't know to look for it.

Been there done that. Once. And I still remember after all these years. :D