Buses By the Bridge 2017

This will mark our 4th Buses By the Bridge and we couldn't be happier to have had the opportunity to attend. I started out this year trying to get as many Vanagon "Vangelenos" to join by arranging a group CaraVANAGON. After many pestering e-mails, pictures and messages - 7 adventurous Vangelenos ended up making the journey. Although I heard many people camp out at the event early to get a good spot, we decided to enjoy the drive and stay at the Amboy Crater the night before. After our initial rainy meet-up of 4 Vanagons, we were off.

Once we cleared the mountains we had some beautiful weather and made it to Amboy Crater with no issues and plenty of time to enjoy the sites.

Amboy Crater is and extinct Volcano that is approximately 80,000 years old and definitely a site to behold.

 

It's amazing how some 30+ year old vans bring people together for some good times.

 

 

We wanted to get to the main event early so everyone was up by 4am and on our way with, amazingly, no break downs. Here is one of my favourite shots of the weekend and not one you'll likely see too often.

Finally arriving to find about 200 other vans/buses waiting/camping in line.



After entering the gates we found a pretty nice spot where we could all camp together - nothing beats a good pop-top party.

 

This trip also gave us an opportunity to try out the new walls for our Bus Depot awning. Overall it made a great little room but we neglected to tie it down sufficiently and a windy Saturday forced us to take it down.

Along with being a great VW gathering, Buses By the Bridge is at a stunningly beautiful venue as well.

 

The balloons did eventually make an appearance too.



The weather wasn't cooperating very much this year and rained for some of the event but that didn't put a damper on our weekend - it just meant we had to enjoy some indoor van time which was fine with us.

Last year we did the bicycle tour of the city and were able to ride along again this year.

Our adventure wasn't over after the event as we headed to Joshua Tree for even more stunning scenery.

Every year we have arrived at Joshua Tree, it says all the campgrounds are full but we managed to get a pretty sweet spot at Jumbo Rocks again.

After these shots our daughter became sick so we didn't end up spending the night and decided to drive back home but it was still a great weekend to remember. As I have said before Volkswagens are not only methods of transportation, but a vehicle to meet new people and create lasting memories. Thank you too all the Vangelenos that made it out and to Eric that made this beautiful sign.











San Elijo

San Elijo State Beach campground has almost all their sites booked months in advance which is why we feel lucky to have snagged a spot for our latest camping adventure. Situated close to San Diego, this campground offers some beautiful and warm camping even in January.

We originally wanted this outing to be a test for some new camping equipment we purchased for an upcoming trip. This is a quick video of us installing the new walls to our BusDepot awning, so far we're very impressed by the quality and functionality.

It's a good thing we did this test run as we discovered we were sent the wrong larger front wall but our 2 side walls still worked great at providing a little private extra room for us.

We now know why this is one of the most popular campgrounds as the ocean, surfing, and beach was extraordinary.

Still beautiful even though it was fairly cloudy.

I should advise that this isn't a relaxing private campground as the spots are small with limited privacy and there is a train running very close by but you can't deny that we were pretty comfy in our camper.

A quick movie and then it was bedtime.

Although this was a short one day trip, we still managed to get in a lot of activity before packing everything up and heading home.

Not to mention the excellent Hawaiian food pit-stop along the way.

 

Lake Piru x3

The term "supermoon" is used to describe a full moon at its perigee — the point in the moon's orbit when it is closest to Earth, causing it to appear up to 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter in the sky. November's full moon is also called the Beaver Moon because it arrives at the time of year (in the Northern Hemisphere) when hunters would set traps before the waters froze over, to ensure they had enough warm furs for the winter. November 14th marks the closest and largest the moon has been in over 68 years and that meant we had to witness it in person with some camping.

Although I brought my camera, I forgot to charge the batteries and unfortunately had to rely on the iPhone which didn't do it proper justice.

Our previous visits to Lake Piru have been brimming with wildlife and this trip was no exception. After a cool night's sleep while listening to coyote packs howling, we awoke to witness several deer.



We were told they enjoyed the olives that had fallen from the surrounding trees. My wife found out that raw olives are extremely bitter.

One of the many benefits of owning our VW is that it is small enough to share a campsite and were fortunate that our friends were able to join us. This white Westfalia is one of the cleanest examples I have ever seen and looks like it just rolled off the showroom floor. Of course Brooke was super happy and wanted to help with the set-up when her new friends arrived.

This camping excursion was a pleasantly mellow experience with good snacks, food, and conversation.

Our evening consisted of burgers, bean salad, homebrew, and marshmallows toasted over the campfire followed by a little movie time. The pristine white paint made for an excellent screen.

With three of us in our camper, I generally sleep in the upper bunk and admittedly usually enjoy about thirty of my forty winks. I must have arranged the pillows properly this night as I ended up sleeping quite well. The howling coyotes didn't seem to bother me too much during the night and we again woke to yet more foraging deer.

As with anything new Brooke was fascinated with our neighbour's super clean van and it was a challenge to limit her exploration of every nook and cranny.

Before packing up for home we had to do the obligatory "pictures with our vans".

Last but certainly not least, there is a beautiful lake to enjoy at this campground.

With reasonable off-season rates, bountiful wildlife, and beautiful scenery, I'm sure we will be visiting Lake Piru again in the future.