Enter Vintage Surfari Wagons (http://www.vwsurfari.com/theskinny.html), a business located in Costa Mesa, CA that rents VW buses and vans by the day, week or month. I contacted Bill and made a reservation.
Here is Bill with one of his rental campers.
My week with Ala Lani (that is the name of the bus and it means “Heavenly Path” in Hawaiian) started on Dec 19 and went to Dec 26. This was ideal time for camping along the S. California coast, and for driving along the famous Pacific Coast Highway. I drove the PCH from Carlsbad to Monterey, camping at places where you wouldn’t stand a ghost of a chance of finding a spot during the summer. Temps were near 70 during the day, and about 40 at night. Traffic was minimal. The perfect trip.
My Daughter and I keeping warm by the fire at S. Carlsbad State Beach.
Lights on the bus for Christmas Eve at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park
Ala Lani is a 79 automatic. The auto transmission took a little getting used to, but was nice to have in some stop and go traffic in Los Angeles and in Ventura. We cruised at 65mph when the road conditions allowed and climbed some pretty steep hills in Monterey without the engine getting the least bit hot. Bill installs an automatic top end oiling system in his air cooled vehicles (ask me if you want to know more about it) that may help in this regard; it has certainly cut his head/valve failure rate down considerably. The engine also had no thermostat or flaps (boo), which is probably one less thing to adjust, replace or worry about during the summer season when these vehicles see most of their use. At any rate, except for a clunking CV joint on hard right turns, the bus performed flawlessly.
I know most of you already have a bus and knowing there is a guy in Costa Mesa that rents buses will mean little to you. But what if you have friends or relatives who don’t own a bus with whom you want to take an epic bus trip? Or maybe you live in Georgia and always wanted to drive your bus to Big Sur, but the trip across the country to make it a reality was just too far to give it serious thought? Or perhaps you have a bus that is out of commission and you really want to camp in Death Valley or Joshua Tree or Yosemite this Spring or Summer? Vintage Surfari Wagons might fill a need. It did for me.
Tim
Ala Lani behind a moving mirror along I-5 near Bakersfield, CA
Can't beat that. It's gorgeous. I am out on my bike and into the San Gabriel Mtns as much as I can handle.