CampAbout Part Two (upd pics)

Moderators: Sluggo, Amskeptic

Post Reply
User avatar
Amskeptic
IAC "Help Desk"
IAC "Help Desk"
Status: Offline

CampAbout Part Two (upd pics)

Post by Amskeptic » Thu Aug 29, 2019 1:34 am

(9/2- upd with JR's pictures - don't tell my little EZ Share)
viewtopic.php?f=78&t=13904&p=233705#p233705

My heart jumped a little when I saw these two itinerants come out of the Smiths supermarket in Grants crabbing like biddies, "close the cooler, you have to keep the cooler closed to keep the cooler cool ....." my pals from Taos now here in the parking lot. Apparently a decision has been made. We are not going back to where they camped last night. Fine:

Image


Not lost on us is the impact of TWO orange Westies upon the public. It is a startling sight:

Image


Image


I was here to follow, to learn, to eat the dust of two inveterate travelers who know how to escape the bounds of civilization for real:

Image


Image

Let's be honest, this one tore my heart out through my throat. You know why? Because after seeing so many well-produced photographs of Kit draped on a VW, it began to look like "schtick." But here I was, following JR and Kit up a dirt road, and this graceful apparition came flitting out of the passenger window, there was motion, there was dust, there was joy, and I was in that moment smoted, smited, smit, smote, smitten:

Image


After eating a lot of dust, especially that of oncoming hurrying pick-ups, we decided to cut left onto a small dirt road, which we traveled up for a while. Apparently, Kit in her Westy was as perturbed as I was in my Westy by the encroaching trees trees trees and we couldn't get half a view of the horizon or sky. A meeting, thus took place:

Image


Image


At the meeting, we decided to press onwards because Up Is Good. At a curve and a hill and a rutted passage, NaranjaWesty dropped dead dead dead. I launched into diagnosis mode as they continued on unaware. I ran the fuel pump, it sounded normal. Tried to start it. half-hearted firing, then dead. Ran the fuel pump. Sounded normal. None of the whining that it used to do when battling 2016's Fuel Tank Saga. Finally decided to check the filter anyway. I had just bought one for no good reason in Moriarity NM because I thought I did not have a spare. Checked the writing on the old filter; 88,000-10/16/18, yeah what the hell, let's change it. Stuck in the new one, 108,735-8/25/19. Kit and JR showed up at the first start. Started fine. You should have seen that big chunk of varnish that came out of the old filter inlet, sweet memories of Sacramento freeway shoulders. This Quarry Crusher Battle-Axe pump is so cynical these days, it had not changed its note in the slightest when starved, "oh, this again? whatever ... "

Upwards once more, quite beautiful, some sky, even:

Image


Image


Did I tell you that Kit was riding with me after the fuel filter delay? She took this one:

Image


And I took this one:

Image


We had decided that this was pretty much it. This was to be our camping site. It had "enough" floor space for two campers. I even experimented with a parking spot, but it was low and tree-y, too low and tree-y for my spirit:

Image


I looked up the hilly path that JR had walked up to report a nice view.
"I am taking it, I don't care. If I shred a tire, can I have your spare?"
Advanced the timing on the spot 5* and attacked the hill with about ten clutch dips to keep the revs up as I negotiated rocks and branches. JR enjoyed his torque converter and just puttered up, . . . kids these days.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is life. Plenty of dust eating, bitching, and pushing on pushing on and when you have finally had enough, advance your damn timing and push on some more that last wheelspinning doubting wth am I doing here .... this:

Image


I was ecstatic. We shoved on that last few hundred feet and changed our experience:

Image



Ever the cruel Itinerator, I parked NaranjaWesty's loyal right rear tire on a jagged stump because I liked the way it leveled the car (OKOK I stuck a rock under there and saved myself having to jack):

Image


Discovered JR's humor ... :

Image


Image


He discovered the fun of watching me freeze in a grimace, just like Gipsie is wont to do:

Image


What a glory of breezes through the firs ...
Stunning views that closed down at dusk to show us way-below I-40 with stupid electric lights! A fire! I'm sauced! A beautiful and dramatic evening ensued. I shall only lightly touch on the highlights, a lovely spicy lamb home-cooked Sunshine dinner and a massive beer can ... stars ... a slide down the hill. That's enough.

The next day, I decided that Best Decompression was to do a witless project. That is my joy. Took all day to remove the sink pump. Proud of it.

Image

JR made a new brush for the horn ring under the steering wheel:

Image


... and they discovered that Sunshine's sliding door can actually latch after a little bending of the lower roller bracket, and the famous Itinerant Air-Cooled Bic Pen Spring Modification™:

Image


My first selfie with another human, so it is not really a "selfie" but hey, my path back to humanity has its joyful moments:

Image


Image


We had a second-day fire up at the viewpoint spot, and I don't think we ever got to the Perfect Silence Staring At Stars because we have active and slightly "off" minds that play like puppies, but we still managed to calm down around 2:00AM and take in the huge firmament above our roost above the I-40 civilization slice, and it was divinely restorative.

Image



Day Three, the kids are mine! mine! mine! Sunshine is disabled! This ain't no Idle Theorizing, kids! It is about survival! How treacherous and devious my machinations! Yeah, so we decided to take apart the rear brakes up in the middle of nowhere, a great idea on any camping trip, to free up some frozen adjusters. JR was fresh and rarin' to go as we quickly got bogged down in a stubborn drum that refused to leave until PB Blaster AND milking the loosened ebrake cable to help get the grooved drum over the shoes. Fine! We did it:

Image


But on the right side, I spied a split CV boot (after 30 miles of dirt road? Oh no NO) and said, "I refuse to leave until we get this resolved." I had felt startling resistance in the right wheel after we had backed off the shoes with a punch and a hammer (good workout, let me tell ya, with your arms and elbows all locked up under shock bolts and diagonal arms):

Image


I thought that we needed to remove the drive axle up in the middle of nowhere just to see if the right wheel turned more easily. So we did. Kit here reminds me of five year-old Iris of just seven weeks ago, bolting up the brake lines for whc03grady:

Image


Couple of stripped bolt heads, big deal, but JR looks fabulous modeling a floral print mechanic's hat:

Image


I stressed and I do stress that hygiene is very important when dealing with CVs:

Image


We take such things very seriously:

Image


Image


We had to taptaptap each and every little star wheel round and round and round to free the drums of the shoe grooves:

Image


Kit annotates a book (for mememee):

Image


Then I leave ... for Arkansas of course.

Image


Image


This is the road we took in, but I am no longer eating their dust, so the pictures are clearer:

Image


Back to civilization, yes, but something let go in me up that hill:

Image


Image
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

User avatar
vwlover77
IAC Addict!
Location: North Canton, Ohio
Status: Offline

Re: CampAbout Part Two

Post by vwlover77 » Thu Aug 29, 2019 4:51 am

Reading this while sitting in my "collaborative workspace" (low-walled cubicle) in this corporate place of "standards" and "processes" routinely circumvented to feign progress (wink, wink), preparing for another day of spirit-crushing meetings in ugly, gray, fluorescently-lit conference rooms, under the constant pressure of misaligned priorities and insufficient resources, I can't help but think I've just done it all wrong. If nothing else, it's good to see that there are other ways of living.
Don

---------------------------
78 Westy
71 Super Beetle Convertible Autostick

"When we let our compassion go, we let go of whatever claim we have to the divine." - Bruce Springsteen

Jivermo
IAC Addict!
Status: Offline

Re: CampAbout Part Two

Post by Jivermo » Thu Aug 29, 2019 5:48 am

A terrific write up! You guys look like you found the perfect spot to camp, decompress, and then, get some work done. What fun! Further lessons on fixing bus problems in the midst of the forest; perhaps a topic for next summer’s Taos gathering? Still...I am left wondering whether K.C. has found happiness yet.

User avatar
Bleyseng
IAC Addict!
Location: Seattle again
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: CampAbout Part Two

Post by Bleyseng » Thu Aug 29, 2019 6:25 am

Did you have a spare CV boot and grease or use the plastic wrap repair method?
Geoff
77 Sage Green Westy- CS 2.0L-160,000 miles
70 Ghia vert, black, stock 1600SP,- 139,000 miles,
76 914 2.1L-Nepal Orange- 160,000+ miles
http://bleysengaway.blogspot.com/

User avatar
Amskeptic
IAC "Help Desk"
IAC "Help Desk"
Status: Offline

Re: CampAbout Part Two

Post by Amskeptic » Thu Aug 29, 2019 8:44 am

Bleyseng wrote:
Thu Aug 29, 2019 6:25 am
Did you have a spare CV boot and grease or use the plastic wrap repair method?

I had a Lobro boot and Valvoline Semi-Synthetic Molybdenum Disulphide Fortified grease applied (with cleaned hands!) to an excruciatingly immaculate CV joint up there in that dusty breezy hostile gorgeous environment, ask 'em, I was tidy tidy OCD maniacally fussy. We repacked both joints inside of Sunshine on paper towels with GumOut rinse/wipess before each part was installed, then the Great Installation Process where we treated that reconditioned driveshaft like a religious object of great delicacy "if we touch any part of the underside of this vehicle, we are doing the whole damn thing over again!"
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

User avatar
Amskeptic
IAC "Help Desk"
IAC "Help Desk"
Status: Offline

Re: CampAbout Part Two

Post by Amskeptic » Thu Aug 29, 2019 8:53 am

Jivermo wrote:
Thu Aug 29, 2019 5:48 am
A terrific write up! You guys look like you found the perfect spot to camp, decompress, and then, get some work done. What fun! Further lessons on fixing bus problems in the midst of the forest; perhaps a topic for next summer’s Taos gathering? Still...I am left wondering whether K.C. has found happiness yet.

Kit and I mused on happiness K.C.'s and everyones', as we lay in the fire pit getting sooted up like Dickens' ragamuffins piteously seeking heat from the dying embers under the cold stars. You know I touched upon the current political situation, why wouldn't I? It was when I was holding their driveshaft in my hand! Hey kids, vote! That's what I said.

I shall not entertain any notion of teaching how to fix bus problems in a forest at a gathering. It did not work with pancakes and strawberries and butter and alcohol and dancing and music and Chevy Express vans and Dodge hightops and Toyota 4-Runners. It is not possible to teach such things Out Of Environment. There is no joy when it is not absolutely critical and immediate. I see where I have to and want to stay in my narrow lane.

The bluffs visible to the south still excite my mind's eye. It was so damn beautiful up there.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

User avatar
Amskeptic
IAC "Help Desk"
IAC "Help Desk"
Status: Offline

Re: CampAbout Part Two

Post by Amskeptic » Thu Aug 29, 2019 9:11 am

vwlover77 wrote:
Thu Aug 29, 2019 4:51 am
Reading this while sitting in my "collaborative workspace" (low-walled cubicle) in this corporate place of "standards" and "processes" routinely circumvented to feign progress (wink, wink), preparing for another day of spirit-crushing meetings in ugly, gray, fluorescently-lit conference rooms, under the constant pressure of misaligned priorities and insufficient resources, I can't help but think I've just done it all wrong. If nothing else, it's good to see that there are other ways of living.

Don, you have a Westy and you have time. You are welcome.
Colin :cyclopsani:
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

User avatar
BusBassist
Getting Hooked!
Location: Rochester, NY
Status: Offline

Re: CampAbout Part Two

Post by BusBassist » Thu Aug 29, 2019 2:39 pm

A truly invigorating write up Colin. Takes me back to the days when my parents would load up our 1970 green bus with my four brothers and me and our camping gear. We would escape to the mountains of Utah for refuge from our daily routine.

My dad wore this funky old cowboy hat that my mom hated. And every time we camped, she would try to discretely ‘dispose’ of it somewhere along a trail or creek or even in a national forest garbage can. No matter how hard she would try to orchestrate its disappearance, that hat always came back.

We never did any bus repair along the way so I appreciate the CV boot replacement in the dusty mountains. Especially having just completed this job recently (with Robbie) in the non dusty/non windy environs of my driveway.

Thanks again for a vicarious mountain escape.
Late 73 Bay w/a transplanted 914 Engine.

Post Reply