This last weekend, Aug. 1-3rd, we went to the Humbugs VW BBQ and Car Show. Bob drove the 64 bus, I drove my bus and Cody was my co-pilot. Our friend Dewey drove his 71 bus with his granddaughter as copilot. We left Friday around 9am. Here is my bus all ready to go.
Following Bob!
A cool self portrait of the bus. :D
Stopped for lunch. No, not at the Motel 6. LOL
Had to stop at the shoe tree to show Dewey and his granddaughter.
Had to stop here to see about a phone booth we had seen on the last years trip. Found it but in the end had to leave it there. The guy wanted to much I guess. Never did find out the actual price, he wouldn't tell us. Oh well. :D
Made it to our camping spot. Widow White Creek RV Park. Great place to stay!
The Humbugs Show!
Lots of Vanagons this year.
My favorite Type 3
We did really well in the raffle. I won Best Family Dub and Bob's bus won Crusty Love.
On the way up to the show Bob's generator started to fall apart. The RV Park Manager let him pull it up to the barn so he could work on it. Thanks to a couple of Humbugs members, we got a new generator and a 36mm socket. Bill got the generator and Chuck the 36mm socket. Thanks guys! Also have to thank all the other VW people and friends that got us in touch with Bill and Chuck. Thanks everyone for all the help!!
We spent the night at the same RV park that evening after the show, so after the bus was fixed we went down to the beach.
Family portrait.
Bob driving us around.
Camp that evening.
On the road again the next morning.
We stopped to look at something that Bob saw while driving, and didn't see the goats tied to the side of the mountain. They found us though. LOL
We went to the Avenue of the Giants
Then had to go to the Drive Thru Tree. Dewey was the only one that could actually drive through it though. Bob's bus and my bus had racks. A visiting family from NY took this pic for us!
Bob knew I wanted a pic of my bus too, so he backed it up to the front of the tree. :D
We were going through Layetenville on the way home and some fellow VW'ers flagged us down.
After looking at their bus and not able to fix it. We set off to get the truck and trailer. 180 miles to go from this town to the house.
We made it home at 2am and hooked the trailer to Dewey's truck and Bob and I set off to go get the broke down bus and the owners. Theo and Kirsten.
After driving all night, we made it back to them at 6am. Loaded the bus and set of to their house in Woodland.
We offered the 64 bus to them so they could go on the Treffen but they decided to just tow their trailer with their Nissan.
So on Tuesday, Theo, Kirsten, Cody and I set off to Fort Bragg to join up with the Treffeners. That is a border to border VW trip. They go from the Canada border down Hwy 1, to the Mexican border. Cody and I only did from Fort Bragg to Santa Cruz.
Theo and a campsite in Fort Bragg and let us join them.
While waiting for the other Treffeners to get to Fort Bragg, we went do Glass Beach.
Then back at camp, Cody started us a good fire.
Some of the other Treffeners showed up later. Looking at Thomas's bug.
Ahh, time for roasted marshmallows and Smores!!
Joined the Treffeners the next morning. Getting ready to head for Santa Cruz.
Little foggy this morning. Played havoc with the Go Pro. ( will add video later)
Photo op!
Stopped at In and Out for lunch.
On the road again.
Another gas stop.
Cruising along the ocean.
Made it to Santa Cruz Beach Board Walk.
Our friend Mike and his son Timothy!
Dinner with good friends!
Our last camping spot before Cody and I head back home. New Brighton Beach Campground.
We stopped at a Starbucks and the bus wouldn't start back up. I climbed under it and wiggled the starter wires, but still nothing. We ended up having to push start it. Cody took this pic of me driving home with grease on my favorite shirt. LOL It came out though. :D
Made it home safe and sound. Backed the bus up to the garage so we could pull the motor and look at the shift shaft. Bob and noticed something wasn't right when he looked at it before we left, but figured we would be ok.
Cleaning out the bus, Slinky got in and didn't want to get out. He didn't want to be left behind again. LOL
That evening Bob and Dewey pulled the motor and this is what they found. I drove all that way with a broken throwout bearing. The clips had broke off and it was just hanging on the shaft.
Funny thing is, this was not the thing that broke us down, a failing starter almost got us. LOL
We also found out that the hills did my brakes in.
Also had a bad front wheel bearing. So all in all, when I got back, we replaced the throwout bearing, clutch and pressure plate, shaft, rear axle boots, front wheel bearings, rear brakes, and the fuel line coming down from the tank. I also installed another power source. It is wired directly to the battery with a in line fuse. This will help us charge our iPhones and iPads along with being able to still run gps and other things on the other power source, with out having to strain one or the other.
All in all it was a great trip. I loved camping and traveling down Hwy 1. I look forward to our next camping trip, which is Bugorama at the end of the month. LOL :D
