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Camping in Anza Borrego

Day 1: Getting there

Sophia picked me up in Indy at work on Friday for a weekend adventure in Anza Borrego. We headed up I-15 to Scripps Poway Parkway and its steep hills up and over to S-67. I was expecting traffic on the first portion. But not into Ramona. Yikes. After waiting in traffic from Woodson Mountain, we finally connected with S-78 in Ramona.

After a quick stop to pick up forgotten groceries, we headed up more hills and twisty roads into Santa Ysabel. We didn't stop for Dudley's bread but turned north onto S-79 to avoid the hill up into Julian. At the junction for S-2 we pulled over to put on jackets and switch drivers. And wouldn't you know it, Debbie and Wendy pull in right behind us. Almost as if we'd caravanned (no offense to vans.)

After a short jog on the S-2 to the S-22 in a parade of campers and pickups towing off-road vehicles later we were finally on our last leg into Borrego Springs. But first the truck in front of us lost its trailer going over the cow grates and sent a shower of sparks flying. We had to go down the Montezuma grade after dark. The brakes held out great and in fact we nearly caught up to the speedy SUVs that passed us near the top by the time we got to the bottom.

The Borrego Palm Canyon Campground is just at the bottom of the mountains, under Indian Head at the foot of the Palm Canyon. We drove around for a bit looking for the ideal site and ended up choosing #70. The evening weather was spectacular and we had a bonus shooting star display while we ate dinner around a campfire.

Day 2: Camping

We woke up early (7am) to see the sun rising over Fonts Point. After breakfast, everyone got a tour of the bus as noone had seen the inside of one before. It is kind of difficult to explain how the bed folds down and how one gets upstairs.

The rest of the day was a typical day hanging out at a desert campground. Well, except that Debbie potentially broke her wrist when she fell on the hike up the canyon to see the palms. She wasn't in much pain and so hopefully it is just a sprain. The medical facilities in Borrego Springs didn't have an x-ray machine.

Don and Lorrie made it around sunset. They only stayed until dessert though before driving back. They got lucky too and saw some of the shooting stars.

More perfect weather if not a little too warm. I wish we had an extra tarp that we could have hung up over the covered picnic table for shade. Our stand alone shelter worked though even if we had to play chase to stay in the cool.

Day 3: Getting home the long way

Another sunrise. This time at 6am though because the time changed at midnight.

I wanted Sophia to see the Salton Sea. Rebecca was going to try to go mountain biking. And Debbie (along with Wendy) were off back to the city to check out her wrist. So we all left the campground and went our own direction.

We kept heading East on S-22 past the badlands into Imperial County towards the Salton Sea. Going this way added another county to our map (California:Imperial). The aggriculture area makes it feel like a different country. But the oddest bit are all the off-road vehicles. We saw lots of campers pulling trailers of ATVs and motocycles. And a few trails of dust.

The badlands just before the county border really do intrigue me. I ought to plan a trip with someone in a jeep to explore them. Or perhaps I need to get my mountain bike in riding shape (and moreso myself) and go exploring.

We didn't actually go to the shoreline, nor even get out of the bus at the sea. Instead we just headed south on the divided S-86 to Westmorland, Brawley, and El Centro. We came down the 86 into El Centro. We should have gone to US-111 for the divided highway.

We picked up a fresh tank of gas ($2.85/gal) and hoped to get real Mexican food without much luck. Looking at the map now, perhaps we should have gone into Mexico. We could have picked up perhaps two Mexican states (Sonora and Baja California Norte) if we'd planned a little better. Or at least proper food in Mexicali or Tecate.

Instead, we took the blue road (S-80) from the 3 building town of Seeley through Plaster City (a factory and off-roader camp) to Coyote and Ocotillo, looking for the place the locals would eat. We eventually had a picnic in Ocotillo because we just couldn't find Mexican food.

And then we got onto Interstate 8 to head up above 4000ft again into San Diego county and the 87 miles to Ocean Beach. One very interesting new bit along this stretch was the wind generator farm near Live Oak Springs and the Campo Indian Reservation.

We changed drivers in Lakeside and headed into the city. We would have been heading directly home except we needed a detour up I-15 to my office to pick up my car. We were home and unpacked and the dog bathed by 4pm.

Distances:

To work: 17 miles
To Santa Ysabel: 40 miles
To Borrego Springs: 36 miles
To Salton Sea: 27 miles
To El Centro: 52 miles
To Ocotillo: 27 miles
To home: 90 miles
Total: 289 miles

Overland in a VW Camper (Westfalia) through Mexico, Central America, South America, and Africa

VW Vagabonds went 3 years, 60,000 miles, 24 countries, 4 continents, and 3200 gallons of gas in a VW bus. Amazing.

They are speaking in a variety of places in Southern California. Here's the schedule. Or find them at the Ocean Beach Farmer's Market on Wednesday evenings.

wipers

Sophia picked up windshield wipers the other day. The clerk suggested 369 mm ones. Too short. We need 394 mm (16 inches). The actual part number is N-16R. Now if it rains, we'll have streak free visibility.

No rain until November please!

VintageBus.Com - 1949 to 1967 VW Buses

VintageBus.com looks like a gold mine for how to information. The site is specific for the earlier split window bus (1949-1967) but still has information that applies.

In particular -- I found the elusive wiring diagram here. So when it comes to completely rewiring Indy, I'll get a giant plotter printout of the 1MB file and lots of spare time.

A Northwest Trip

On the Road to Inuvik probably deserves a permanent link.

"On July 22nd, 1996, a dozen Volkswagen busses left Vancouver on a journey northwards to Inuvik, in Canada's Northwest Territories. In 23 days the drivers covered 8,424 kilometers, 2,703 on unpaved roads. The busses include everything from a 1965 split-window bus to Volkswagen's newest EuroVan camper."

Seatbelts

The replacement seatbelts arrived today. I don't remember where we found them on the web. I haven't put them in yet -- and can't this weekend since I'm going out of town. But I'm really happy they arrived before our Big Sur trip.

More repairs

If you haven't already figured it out, constant repairs are necessary for a 30 year old vehicle. And these things are most noticable after a trip and the motivation to fix them highest upon the return too.

Things improved:
sliding door was sticking -- WD40 to the rescue
driving door lock mechanism -- took it off, WD40, replaced, works now
door flying open while driving -- likely fixed by above
ordered new seatbelts

Open items:
oil change
find and stop battery drain
new windshield wipers
attach cooler/table more firmly to side
speakers
back running light (intermittent)
replace seatbelts
another pass at removing stickers
door panel trim and lots of latches
missing screws throughout

But don't get me wrong, she's running really nicely and looks like she'll be up for our drive up the California coast to Big Sur and another desert trip.

Beep beep!

Headlight Trim

Replaced! Repairs that involve one screw are really nice.

Adventure Sports Magazine and Ocean Beach

"Each beach has its own personality. If you want to hang out with the hippie set and see one of the world's largest concentrations of VW vans, head to Ocean Beach. Pacific and Mission Beaches host a younger crowd, with lively nightlife scenes. La Jolla is the spot for wine and cheese and mingling with the millionaires."

Adventure Sports Magazine | Feature Articles


Guess where we live?

New curtains

Today Indy got new curtains. Sophia ordered a curtain pattern on e-bay. After a quick trip the fabric store to get matieral and thread, it was time to get down to work. Indy now has new back and side curtains. They are a blue and off-white stripe/check pattern ... with little curtain ties to match.

We also did some touch up painting on the wood surfaces below the seats. Bob gave Indy a good cleaning with the Dyson and a damp cloth. We hit the built-in cooler box with some Lysol wipes. So, lots of sprucing for Indy today. She looks a little bit more sparkly.

Next weekend we will head to the Laguna Mountains for two nights of camping, and next month it's the big trip up the coast to Big Sur! Yep, the VW adventures are begining.

More drivers are not necessary

Sophia drove Indy tonight. Long story short -- she drained her battery all the way to empty since the last post. I recharged it today and got her behind the wheel.

The turn signal works great. And you can use the high beams again without fear that you won't be able to turn them off.

The new door handle is a little sticky. WD40 to the rescue?

So many little things to do in order to prepare for the upcoming camping trip and the winter desert season. And Indy's going to get to drive up the California Coast!

Too bad though, all the driving positions have been accounted for already. I wonder if this will be like "our" laptop -- I get 10% of the time behind the wheel.

Headlight Trim Ring

We noticed the right headlight trim was cracked the other day. This morning, I noticed something odd about the front of the bus. It look me a minute to notice that the headlight trim was missing. She looks so naked.

$20 replacement. This should at least be an easy part to install.

Discover the Combi Nation

Trying to spruce up the blog image abit today -- hunting down other VW bus blogs -- I stumbled upon a great site. Go surf: Magic Surf Bus. And I don't even surf.

A highlight for you: Discovering the Combi Nation first published in Motorhome Monthly (Sept 1998). This is a fantastic introduction to the mystical qualities of a VW bus. If you see me on the road, wave! I'll wave to you even if you aren't in a bus.

Cost per mile

Before the latest visit to the shop, I told myself that it was OK to spend more on Indy. She's been a fun learning experience already and the worst case scenario would be we'd sell her for a loss and recoup half our costs -- making the cost per mile around $6. I've made costlier mistakes. And best case, she's ours for another 100K miles and provides us with lots of adventure.

Surprisingly, the visit to the shop didn't feel expensive -- I'd prepared myself for worse. And so I ready to run the cost per mile numbers again.

Major expenses since the last report:
Replacement parts
New Battery
New (used) fuel pump
Gas (and that is no longer incidental at $2.5/gallon)
Hand soap
Throw pillows

A back of the napkin estimate says we've driven about 600 miles now. And without bringing up the spreadsheet of expenses (eyeballing the events since the Jan 5th estimate) it appears we may gone beneath the $10/mile milestone.

What about the theoretical minimum... say just gas. At 15 mpg and $2.5/gallon, that's about $0.2/mile. Of course, insurance and registration really ought to be considered part of the theoretical minimum at ~$400/year (?) and our insurance limit of 5000 mpyear means another $0.1/mile. Total: ~$0.3/mile. That's under the government reinbursement amount. Not sure the same can be said for the Hummer (we don't own one -- and won't until one can legally mount a submachine gun in the turret and stilll drive it on the California roads.)

Regrettably, we can't reasonably add in the cost of campgrounds and beach parking and camping gear and road trip snacks to the per mile costs. But given we'll soon have a working laptop (cheaper than the bus) Indy may be getting more short trips to Sunset Cliffs or the OB Pier for "work".

Out of Gas

I drove Indy into work today.

She had a bit of an issue going up the hill out of Mission Valley -- a little bit like sputtering and flooring didn't seem to help. I thought nothing of it while at the same time considered getting gas. But I was a running late and so figured I'd do that on the way home.

I went to Tai Chi after work. And didn't get gas before heading home. Indy didn't want to drive. Down shifting didn't help. Flooring the gas pedal didn't seem to help. But then she'd regain power. I made it onto the freeway but then she really started floundering. I think I made it off the exit ramp at 20mph and a few mad drivers behind me.

"Well," said Bob, "I think I'll pull into the gas station and hope something magic happens." I fill her up just because that's a good thing to do while waiting for the engine to cool. Not knowing what else to do, I try starting her. She powers out of the station without any fluttering. She makes it down the first block, then the second, without wheezing and asking for a break or slowing down without asking permission.

Best guess: out of gas and running on fumes.

She made it home running like a brand new bus.

Home repairs

AutoZone has a really nice "loaner" program. You can "borrow" a tool -- such as a steering wheel puller -- and return it when you are done for a full refund. That's the good news. The bad news is the puller didn't really fit Indy. Luckily the steering wheel basically flew off anyway.

The steering wheel was step #1 of replacing the turn signal switch. The repair manual made it seem simple. However, in the process of tearing the steering wheel apart I decided I wasn't ready for a 5 hour task and the very likely chance it wouldn't work and so I reassembled the existing bit. A picture here would be great but doesn't exist. The steering wheel went back together and still turns the wheels.

The previous owner had done a ducttape repair job on the turn signal switch. Instead of buying a new part, he put his own mechanical switch on the end and messed with the wiring to get it to work. Lots of electrical tape. After my first attempt today, I think 4+ hours and I could have undone his work and installed the new one. But I needed a simpler task.

Like... replacing the glove box. We had one of those horrible cardboard ones. I had a plastic replacement waiting for 6 months. I put in the new one. The only problem was a stripped screw holding the dash in place and I needed another 1/2 inch in order to fasten the glove box into place. I went to a longer screw. it should hold. And I need to remember to connect a few loose wires.

End result -- 3 hours in the sun, clean carpets, new glove box, and confidence that I can get the steering wheel off again someday. Now, do I return the SWP now or soon. But first, how about a trip to the dog park!

One step forward

After 4+ months of inactivity and a bus that wouldn't start, Indy lives . I finally realized I wouldn't be able to jump start her or wish her back into health so she went down to Rich's Auto Repair. She needed a fuel pump replacement.

Now she just needs a bath.

Trip Report: Vallecito Campground

This weekend we took Indy and Tender for their maiden camping trips.

We drove out I-8 to Ocotillo in Imperial County. The freeway goes up to an elevation of over 4000 feet. Indy was passed by at least on other large vehicle and countless other SUVs and cars. She did fine. The only scary part was the wind near Jacumba that blew us around a bit.

We headed up S2 past Canyon Si Nombre and the badlands to Vallecito Campground.
This country park is very rarely crowded and except for the wind is always a great spot for car camping. This time we were in spot #18 and pretty much had the choice of spots when we arrived around noon. The air in the desert was pretty hazy.

We decided to sleep in the upper bunk of the VW Camper. Plenty of space. The moon was almost full (awfully bright) and the coyotes yelped and hollered. We watched the sun come up in the morning and saw one of the coyotes wander past our site. Tender did great, sleeping on the bench in the camper.

On the return trip we went through Blair Valley to Scissors Crossing and up and over Julian. We refueled in Ramona -- down to EMPTY. Looks like we made about 15 mpg and likely could have made it home if we'd started with a full tank.

The important point of the trip was to see if the bus and the dog would like to camp. Both performed better than we could have hoped. The best news was everyone had a good time and we were home in time for the book club meeting.

Most important thing we forgot: matches.
Total mileage: 200.

Repairs: Brake & running lights

The right lights in the back weren't working. I was always worried about getting a ticket. And so today we did the first of our own repairs on the bus. It ends up just moving the bulbs from one side to the other fixed the issue. I doubt every repair will be that easy.

I've also ordered some parts for the next set of repairs...
replace the glove box
replace the turn signal switch
replace a couple of broken reflectors

None of these should be too hard either.

Commuting and cost per mile

I drove the bus to work. There wasn't much traffic in the morning today and so the drive was pleasant. I felt a connection to the school buses on the road; and at least one person smiled at me. Just the fact that I'm trying to look at other drivers makes the ride fun.

This puts us up to about 200 miles and reduces the cost per mile to around $25/mile.
/cheer. Next milestone -- $10/mile.

For comparison sake, I think my 1996 VW Cabrio is just below $0.6/mile adding up everything (cost, repairs/maintenance, insurance, registration, gas.)