Getting ready for Buses By the Bridge 2014

Lake Havasu Arizona has been the place where VW enthusiasts have been gathering for what is now one of the largest VW camping events. With my wife on maternity leave, she has finally been able to enjoy some weekend VW events and we are very hopeful that we can attend Buses By the Bridge XVIII next week. The main factor in determining our participation depends on our newborn daughter but things are looking better with each passing day.
In preparation for this event we have purchased a few items. After checking Lake Havasu's weather forecast, it looks as though we will have nightly lows reaching into the 40's which would be fine for us but not for a newborn. This location will not have any electrical hook-up so I did lots of research on portable heaters and luckily came across an almost new Mr. Buddy portable propane heater for $30.

I chose the Mr. Buddy for it's size, price and ability to easily keep our Vanagon warm.
Another item we had to purchase was a place to sleep for our newborn and discovered the Summer Infant Sleeper that fits perfectly on the swing out table beside our lower bunk.

The sleeper also folds up very nicely when not in use so we can still use our table for eating. One of my main concerns with the portable propane heater was CO poisoning so you can see the carbon monoxide detector right beside the bed.
Before embarking on a potential 4 day journey we wanted to try out the heater while still close to home. To do this we "camped" overnight on the roof of our parking garage during a night in Woodland Hills when the temperature went down to 45 degrees. For most of the night I only had the pilot light on the heater which warmed things a little. Occasionally I turned it on low with the window cracked a bit which heat up the camper nicely within a few minutes. The bad news is that I didn't sleep at all as I was worried about being lulled to sleep permanently by the heater. The good news is the heater worked perfectly without setting off the detector and our newborn slept well throughout the night (not including normal feedings of course).
I also did some other preparations to the Vanagon for our trip like a new fuel filter and oil change along with a good wash and wax. Here is a shot of me, Brooke and our camper still hopeful we can make it next week.

Another big blog entry shortly.......????