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Preparing for my two day local camping trip I plug my 120v into the receptacle.
Set a coffee can full of ice cubes in the fridge, turn on fridge and my tiny
computer fan in the fridge. I round up two cans of Wolf Brand chili, two cans of
Ranch Style beans, a pound of bacon, five slices of cheese, � jar of mayo, and
two Irish potatoes. I unplug the 120v power, get in the van and note the wonderful all tin sound that the door makes as I close it briskly, noting that the window dropped a half inch when I closed the door. On the way out to the trip I crank my engine and it bursts into the great throbbing 67 hp that I�ve grown to accept. I roll down the driver�s window, noting that the window crank stillscrapes on the large speaker grill in my door. I turn on the radio noting that its moved out �� from the desired position in the dash, I give it a little push back into place and turn it on. I plug in my favorite traveling music starting with Cat Steven�s; Morning has Broken, knowing the next song will be the Who singing Going Mobile. I turn the fresh air blower on and put the tranny in reverse, I watch carefully for joggers and their dogs coming up behind me. I take a quick look at the driveway to see if I�ve developed and oil leak. I get backed out and headed to the local Albertson�s store passing a Splittie en route. Ah Yes! The blower finally started. I lean over and push the radio back in again. I overbuy on deli meats at Albertson�s as always. As part of my trip I scoot through the drive through ATM and punch the Quick Cash $100.00 button ���. Where does all that money keep coming from? I�ve been thinking about getting my own ATM card. I navigate the hard U turn to get out of the ATM lane engineered by New York Architects. I move into the traffic and reach over giving each of my VDO gauges a little thump with my spring loaded middle finger. They all remain the same (except when the faces fall off). Lets see: Cylinder head temp 300, Oil temp 60, Oil Pressure 5+ Bar, Volts 14, yes all ok. I reach the freeway ramp that leads me to an Interstate nonstop trip of 120 miles to get to Possum Kingdom Lake. I bury the accelerator pedal testing fate by pulling out in front of a Ford Ranger going warp three. I get the Westy up to near sixty before he makes his standard snap lane change to show me how important this lane has been to him. I�m now cruising at close to seventy and I�m checking out the direction the wind is blowing so I can decide if I�m going East or West and possibly changing destinations to accommodate a tail wind. No matter, Caddo lake to the East is just as good as Kingdom Possum is to the West. I watch the flags at Auto dealerships to calculate the wind direction and velocity and find that I can go on to Possum Kingdom Lake. The next two hours is just 65-75 mph Interstate driving with one or two changes of the traveling tapes, I�ve graduated on to Sarah Brightman singing that popular song from Cats. Knowing that the next song is Charlotte Church singing Amazing Grace. By this time I�ve thumped the VDO gauges a few times and I�m seeing; Cylinder Head temp 360, Oil pressure 4 bar, Oil temperature 100 (c), Volts 14. As I approach the lake I�ve several long inclines that are severe enough that they chose to provide passing lanes. I enjoy these now that I have my new engine, reminds me of my years in Colorado when I had an 560 cid Eldorado Cadillac and when I put it to the floor I expected the hood to be sucked right down the carburetor. I reach the nearest country grocery to the lake and ice down some soft drinks, the deli meats and other necessary items. I fill the fridge with frozen water bottles I�ve brought from home. I know my fridge has a good thermal boost by now. It�s just six more miles over lots of hills and through valleys before I get to the lake. I arrive at the lake and cruise about three Pay-For-A-View parks before I turn off onto a gravel road with heavy erosion ruts and severe curves on inclines surrounded by Mesquite bushes. I honk at a small herd of deer that are possessive as a BMW driver of their road. Finally reaching my destination high above the Lake I navigate the Westy to take advantage of the prevailing breezes while still getting it close to level ground as possible. I get out and find two good sized iron colored rocks to chock my wheels. After setting my bicycle out and popping the top, I brew up some hot water, using half to pour into the sink for a shave and the other half to make coffee. Its now time to organize the gear so I can swivel the front seat, set up one table and burn some breakfast. I choose to scramble a few eggs and cook a pound of bacon (I don�t like to clean up so I cook it all at once). Whenever I cook bacon I know full well that I�m going to be driving around salivating for ten days smelling the odors that permeate every crevice of the Westy. That�s it guys; the rest is bike riding, fishing, napping and once in a while, I check my oil. Stan Wilder 83 Air Cooled Westfalia |