Buses By the Bridge!

Timing is everything. With my wife on maternity leave, it has opened up a new life as well as enabled us to enjoy a "normal" weekend. It is also an opportunity for us to attend our first official VW camping weekend. Our initial concerns of bringing a newborn along were somewhat eased after our practice run at home and we were able to leave on Wednesday to meet up with a group at Amboy Crater. Here are some shots of us on our first leg of the journey.

Brooke all safe and sound enjoying the views.

And my wife asleep.

Located in the Mojave desert right off the historical US Route 66, Amboy Crater is an extinct cinder cone type of volcano rising 250 feet above a 27 sq mi lava field.

Knowing that cruising to these events can be just as fun, I was thankful to come across this group I heard about on The Samba which was unofficially called Buses By the Crater.

It was a chilly 40ish degrees overnight but we had the pop-top up with the windows cracked open and our Mr Buddy heater on low which kept us nice and warm. After a quick breakfast, we were off to our next stop - Lake Havasu:

Arriving early to the event definitely had it's advantages as the good spots fill up quickly. I managed to grab a perfect spot right be the lake, on the grass with some other "Amboy Crater" friends.

We found that the Baby Bjorn put Brooke to sleep quickly so we could walk around to explore the sights.

After a tiring day it was time to sleep early so we could enjoy the first full day of Buses By the Bridge! Here is the view outside our back window right when we awoke at around 7am.

In fact, we were greeted every morning to the incredible sights of the balloon festival that was very close by.

 

I believe the final tally was over 400 registered vehicles making it the biggest event ever - here are some shots of just a few of the amazing rides we encountered.

During the day we were able to play some Frisbee while Brooke watched and cheered us on from her comfy spot in the back.

It was also a nice star filled night with a huge full moon.



This was definitely an experience we will not soon forget. It was not only incredibly fun but had some of the friendliest people anyone could meet and everyone had an interesting story to share. The passion and individuality of everyone's vehicle is what makes our vehicles so unique and is the reason we will try our best to make this an annual event.

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.......????

More LED madness

After being inspired by a fellow Vanagon e-mail list member Jarrett, I decided it was time to add some more LED lighting to the camper. I previously installed LED light strips in the upper shelf but found it to be more of a mood light rather than useful for reading.
I have had pretty good luck buying LED lighting off eBay but at $39 for the swivel base LED spotlight from IKEA I decided to give it a try

Removing the metal cover under the upper bunk provided the perfect spot to mount all four lights as well as plenty of room to hide the wires. After spray painting it metallic silver, here's the mock-up.

Drilling the holes...

Almost ready for mounting

Installed and ready to hook up the wiring

I think this will be one of the best upgrades so far, bright warm reading light with minimal power usage.

Super happy with the results and looking forward to using it on our next camping excursion. Here's a final shot of my pretty wifey reading up on her Vanagon literature

Buckhorn Campground

As we are still relatively new to the LA area we are always looking for feedback on places to visit and of course camp. After being told about the close proximity to the Angeles forest, we decided to give it a try. Part of the US Forest Service, Buckhorn Campground sits at 6300 feet with 38 sites among tall pines and cedars. With the camper packed for a day and night full of fun we were ready to go.

We left early in the morning so we could enjoy the scenic trip up the mountain. Here are some shots during our climb

We were worried about the engine overheating but the camper ran beautifully and never got over 230 degrees on the steepest parts of the climb. I believe the cooler weather and more gradual grade enabled us to climb without any issues. Shortly before arriving at the campground we hit a new altitude record in the camper of over 7,000ft!!!

 Only 1.5 hours drive from our home, we arrived at our destination and picked a nice site.

Of course my wife managed to take a shot of me taking a shot of the camper

We are still surprised at the amazing beauty and peaceful atmosphere you can visit while being so close to the second largest city in the US. I read that this is normally a very busy campground during the summer but there were only 2 other campers during our stay and at only $12 per night we were very happy. With everything set up it was time to see what the surrounding area had to offer.

 

 

Our fun filled day came to an end with the earlier sunset and it was time for a fire followed by a movie in our VW then off to sleep.

We saw ice the next morning where there was water so we knew temps dipped below freezing overnight. Although it was cold, we remained warm under lots of blankets and wearing quite a few layers. This was a short camping excursion but well worth it and we look forward to returning to the Angeles forest next year (although our next site will be at a lower elevation). With a busy day ahead of us planned back at home we packed up and got everything ready for our drive back. Exiting the campground, I decided to take a shot of some of the snow we experienced

And some more shots of our trip back down the mountain.

One of our prior camping experiences at 5,600ft left me extremely dizzy and nauseous so this was also a test whether that was a one-time event. I can now confirm that I do not handle altitude well and was glad that we only spent one day at over 6,000ft. I woke up with a fairly bad headache as well as felt somewhat dizzy so as much as I love the views, we will probably be keeping our future camping trips at lower levels.

Lake Ming

With so many camping options to explore near the LA area we have tried to pick a different location for each of our excursions. Having heard good reviews of Kern River we decided to check it out and picked a spot at the Kern county campground near Lake Ming.

We arrived on a Monday and were surprised to have the entire campground to ourselves. We didn't see any park employees or even a way to pay so picked a nice spot by the river.

Plenty of space and shade with a picnic table, fire ring, and grill.

Our site was right beside the river with serene views of a farm. We watched cows and horses grazing and there was also a rooster and donkey performing their vocals in the background.
With everything set up, it was time to check out the surrounding area and Lake Ming which was right beside the campground

A man-made recreational lake that allowed motor and sailboats as well as fishing and water-skiing. We were a bit disappointed that this was yet another lake that didn't allow swimming. Although we could swim in the river, we decided against it after watching the farm animals do their business in it. Here is a panoramic shot of the lake and surrounding hills

Another gratuitous camper shot as well as the night's entertainment

A few hours before we departed, the park Ranger finally drove by and charged us $20 for the night even though we were there for two. We also found out that they have a winter rate of $10 per night starting mid-October so we may find ourselves back to take advantage of that. Overall a fun trip with great views, well kept facilities and more good memories