The old 1972 Westvalia interior has a large bench seat in the back that folds flat to make a bed. Next to the bed on the passenger side is a cabinet that blocks the rear passenger window, but it fits lots of stuff. It even has a closet that fits hanging things - like you'd really bring a suit out camping. Under the bench is a pretty large cabinet as well. Behind the front passenger seat is a sink/icebox unit and behind the driver seat is a rear-facing seat. All told, you can fit 5 passengers. We were traveling with 4 including the driver, so the rear-facing seat held camping supplies.
One of the most frequently asked questions I get is "what equipment do you need to bring when you camp?" Honestly, I bring the same stuff I used to camp with before I had the bus. I'll post another time with a more exhaustive answer, but, generally, if you've ever car-camped before, bring the same things you did before - even the tent.
We arrived before some of our friends did, so we popped the top, and pulled the ice chests out. My sons started asking very wise questions about where we would be sleeping, and we realized that we had the cot up top (1) and the bed down below (2), but we had 4 people. We resolved to have the youngest wedged between the parents on this trip, but we'd have to figure out a solution for other trips. After this trip, we purchased a child's cot at BusDepot for the younger son to sleep in. It also provided a place to put stuff when we weren't using it, which is very handy in any tiny cabin.
Timothy Lake was beautiful, though the water was cold, and we really enjoyed the cool Summer nights around the campfire swapping stories. We spent the day chasing frogs, and riding bikes around the campground. At night, we enjoyed not sleeping on rocks, though any time anyone
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The kids loved camping and didn't want to leave. They took to the cold early mornings, and pit toilets like they weren't anything out of the ordinary. We all knew that camping and Hapy were going to be a part of our lives for a long time after this trip concluded. At least so far, we were right--
1 comment:
"I had my first experience with a stranger walking up to my bus wanting to know things about it. I realize now how little I knew then, but I gave the basic information. The funny thing is that over the years, the questions from people are pretty much the same, and regardless of age there's a little gleam of wonder in their eyes. The gentleman who I spoke to was driving a 30 foot RV"
Stumbled on your blog and had to comment on this ... how true it is! An old VW camper (my first was a '71) seems to do that to people. I once had a couple visit my shop, back when it was still in my basement. They were in the 70's and pulled up in a '70 camper, which they now lived in. After retirement, they had bought a huge motor home, behind which they towed a small car. Then they bought their '70 bus, figuring that if they took a day trip in it they could at least stay for the night if the mood struck them. After a few months they decided the motorhome was superfluous. Everything they really needed was in the VW camper they were towing behind them, except for a bathroom, and they were plentiful at campgrounds and places between. So they sold the RV.
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