2013 National Park Tour

All About How You Home Away From Home.

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sped372
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Re: 2013 National Park Tour

Post by sped372 » Tue Jun 11, 2013 11:35 am

Keep the updates coming! You definitely learn to guide the bus instead of fighting it, it has it's own tendencies and it's best to go along with them. Good luck and be safe.
1971 Karmann Ghia - 1600 DP
1984 Westfalia - 1.9 WBX

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poptop tom
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Re: 2013 National Park Tour

Post by poptop tom » Wed Jun 12, 2013 5:19 am

Looks like a great time so far!

Enjoy!
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drober23
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Re: 2013 National Park Tour

Post by drober23 » Sat Jun 15, 2013 8:15 pm

Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) update.

RMNP is beautiful! High in the mountains (duh...) it actually straddles the Continental Divide. We approached from Fort Collins, Co, and it was 100 degrees out as we climbed and climbed the hill to get to the park. My cylinder temps were high, but manageable, but my oil temperature was higher than I would like. We made a stop halfway up (some tourist trap store) and made the rest uneventfully. The road from Loveland, CO to the park follows the Big Thompson River, and is quite scenic (as is the whole park).

We stayed at the Moraine Park Campground, and had a nice site.

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Not too many air cooled VWs there, but we did see several Eurovan Westfalias. Then we ran across a couple in a nice Vanogan, and took bus pictures!

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We stayed a couple days, and on the third day we took the Trail Ridge Road over the Continental Divide and out of the park.

Trail Ridge Road climbs to over 12,000 feet! The bus handles it well, and we enjoyed the alpine environment above the tree line.

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If you have not been to RMNP, I highly recommend it! We walked the "park" which is the broad wetland plain with the meandering river and streamlets winding through it. We got maybe a little too close to some elk! We did several mountain trails, including viewing a glacier. Then the Trail Ridge Road out of the park is outstanding!

Next stop Arches National Park!
DJ

'75 Westfalia, '79 Deluxe
(plus more busses than sense)

In a time of chimpanzees I was a monkey

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jonyem
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Re: 2013 National Park Tour

Post by jonyem » Sun Jun 16, 2013 11:55 am

Sounds like a great time.
Love that first photo of your bus in the campground, made me go declare to my wife that I'd like to go camping for my 40th birthday weekend.

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drober23
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Re: 2013 National Park Tour

Post by drober23 » Fri Jun 21, 2013 8:16 pm

Arches National Park Update!

We left Rocky Mountain National Park and headed into Wyoming, then south into Colorado. I still was not used to how strong the winds get out there with nothing to stop them! Wyoming was windy, and Colorado got really windy.

We got to I-70, then to Silverthorne Colorado without too much trouble. Then the winds picked up (High Wind Advisory!) and the hill into Vail is really steep and long. It was everything the bus could do to hold 40 mph without the cylinder head temps shooting into the 420s! It went up, and up, and up, then up! When we go to Vail, it went down, then down, then down, and then down some more.

The downhill eventually stopped, but the winds didn't. We fought high winds through the rest of Colorado and into Utah. I started to wonder if the bus was actually being damaged. But once we got off the highway and out of the wind it was back the being my bus again, and we had a pleasant drive until the police officer pulled me over to tell me about my defective license plate light.

After the discussion with the nice officer, we found a campground, popped the top, and went to sleep. This was on Utah 128, which folks here told me I must drive down to get to Moab. By the time we got there, it was dark. I told my wife "I bet the view here is awesome. Wish we could see it!" We woke in the morning to this sight:

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Arches is a beautiful place. Much of it can be seen right from the road, like Balanced Rock:

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Some of it requires a bit of a hike, like Delicate Arch (please pardon the non-bus pictures)

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We stayed in Arches for 2 days. We did not go to Canyonlands, nor the state park nearby. My wife was not happy about the heat, and we moved on for Grand Teton a bit early. Still, the pictures do not do Arches justice. If you have not been, and you like this type of scenery, I highly recommend it!
DJ

'75 Westfalia, '79 Deluxe
(plus more busses than sense)

In a time of chimpanzees I was a monkey

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sped372
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Re: 2013 National Park Tour

Post by sped372 » Sat Jun 22, 2013 10:34 am

Good stuff! The heat there was really something to experience; I was amazed how big of a difference there was between sun and shade in the low humidity.
1971 Karmann Ghia - 1600 DP
1984 Westfalia - 1.9 WBX

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drober23
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Re: 2013 National Park Tour

Post by drober23 » Tue Jun 25, 2013 6:12 am

Grand Teton / Yellowstone National Parks Update

We left Arches, driving north through Utah. As we dropped altitude, my CHTs started to climb. I richened up the AFM a couple cogs and moved along. We stopped in Salt Lake City because Gabriel wanted to see the Great Salt Lake. Visited Antelope Island State Park, which is a good sized island complete with about 700 head of bison that have the run of the place. We floated in the Great Salt Lake and drove back to Wyoming headed for Grand Teton National Park.

The mountains were fun to drive in. The hills were just as big as the ones in Colorado that vexed me, but there was not as much wind. Also, I left the AFM richened a little, so my cylinder head temps stayed pretty cool, even as the engine was working hard. The oil temps got warm, but the CHT stayed in pretty safe range.

The Grand Teton Mountains are beautiful!

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My wife really enjoyed the mountain trails, especially the hike up past Dream Lake in search of a glacier sighting past Lake Niahya. It is easy to underestimate the sheer size of Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks! At Yellowstone, it seems like you have to drive at least 20 miles to get ANYWHERE from anywhere else. It is over 100 miles from North to South, and about that East to West.

I saw a very nice pair of Syncros in Yellowstone. Not air-cooled, but still pretty cool.
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Yellowstone has an amazing variety of things to see. Wildlife, geysers, thermal pools, waterfalls, mountains... Not a bus pic, but sights like this are what it's about to me!

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This is when I realized that I was still almost 1700 miles from home. It had been a great time, but it was time to start the long trek back to Michigan.
DJ

'75 Westfalia, '79 Deluxe
(plus more busses than sense)

In a time of chimpanzees I was a monkey

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Amskeptic
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Re: 2013 National Park Tour

Post by Amskeptic » Tue Jun 25, 2013 8:32 am

drober23 wrote: Update
still almost 1700 miles from home.
I envy those blue skies and barely warm enough 100* temperatures.

Your CHTs sounded fine for the circumstances.
Do you have numbers on oil temps?
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drober23
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Re: 2013 National Park Tour

Post by drober23 » Tue Jun 25, 2013 10:28 am

You're still in the rain? Wow, it is definitely stalking you.

Oil temps commonly in the 225 - 235 range. Occasionally topped out over 240 on a sustained hill or hard driving in the desert heat. Highest was 243 for a couple minutes.

If I had been driving blind (without gauges), I imagine the CHTs would have gotten much higher on occasion. About halfway through the trip I had settled on a routine. I would let the CHT go up to 409 on level ground, and up to 415 on a hill. If it increased beyond this, I would slow down.

I think I am still a bit lean after re-tuning the AFM when leaving the mountains. Going to change the oil, adjust the valves, confirm timing and dwell. Once I am done with that I will do some air-fuel reading analysis and adjust the AFM if needed.

Good luck on finding some sun!
DJ

'75 Westfalia, '79 Deluxe
(plus more busses than sense)

In a time of chimpanzees I was a monkey

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drober23
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Re: 2013 National Park Tour

Post by drober23 » Wed Jun 26, 2013 12:10 pm

The trip home, and final statistics...

We left Yellowstone, and started driving. Had a nice drive down the mountain and into North-central Wyoming. Somehow we got between mountain ranges, because once we passed Tensleep, WY we started to go up, up, up, and up again! Got to over 9700 ft before another long descent into Buffalo, WY (I think).

The trip home was relatively uneventful. South Dakota is still over 400 miles across, and is still pretty windy. The two passes through South Dakota resulted in bad mileage due to fighting the wind. The bus rolled on as we reflected on what a nice time we had. We were exhausted and ready to get home though.

Final Statistics:

5113 miles
320 gallons of gas
16 mpg average fuel economy

I burned/leaked 1.75 quarts of oil. I know I have seen evidence of seepage around my cylinder valve covers, and I sense a sheen of oil on the bottom of the oil filter now. Things to look after when I do my post-trip tune up!

Only one "side of the road" moment. This was when I replaced the gas cap, and the vacuum caused by the new (unvented) cap put me into vapor lock. Was only on the side of the road for a couple minutes, but the mystery as to why this happened is yet to be fully revealed. I started to get some squeaking from the front brakes as I got into Grand Teton, and it got a little worse as I drove home. The pads are not thin, but I need to disassemble and get a good look at what is going on there.

The camping battery, and charging relay were installed the night before we left. I blew the 30 Amp fuse supplying the camping battery once. This was when i started the bus while my wife was using the hair dryer (big power inverter :rabbit: ). I replaced the fuse later, and it did not pop again when I restarted the bus, even though the battery had been pulled down to 10.8 V by the dryer, and not being charged for a bit.

As I mentioned in another thread, the Engle refrigerator performed flawlessly, and the Zodi Extreme portable shower worked well. It was a good trip! Now I must sleeeeepppp! (wait! I'm at work. Maybe no one will notice!)
DJ

'75 Westfalia, '79 Deluxe
(plus more busses than sense)

In a time of chimpanzees I was a monkey

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