Charleston camping brings new friends

Last weekend we were invited to a small group camp out in Charleston. The original spot they chose fell through, so another "Moonie" (a member of the Full Moon Bus Club) said "what the heck, lets do it at my house!" His beautiful home is on a few acres near the marsh; at high tide some went kayaking and canoeing. I just enjoyed the beautiful 80 degree weather, the cloudless blue sky and the company of new friends.

Bell driving Jasmin in Snoopy's Adventurewagen~ Wanderlust

For those of you readers who do not own a VW and/or have never been to such an event, you can expect it to go something like this:
You drive up, knowing one person or none, hands waving and faces smiling at you. You choose a site and park. At least one person will walk up to you saying hello my name is... and asking if you need any help setting up. Since all we have to do is pop the top, pull out the cooler and chairs to set up, it is an easy job. Most others have awnings, fold out tables, and other gear to set up before they're reading to relax and hang out. If you brought a bunch of food, you can usually forget it. Because others make so much delicious food, I usually end up with leftovers. In the morning some may come around offering you mimosas or bloody mary; or in the afternoon a beer or margarita. At the end of the day you have a whole set of new friends, which leaves you trying to remember everybody's names, plus everyone's dog's names.

Sarah Rose- "You're not a real man if you won't get your toenails painted."

A familiar sight when owning a V-dubb: The Push Start

FYI: You definitely do not need 5 men to push start a Bus! I have push started my bus with one other man's help on flat pavement. Grass does make it trickier though, and downhill is easiest.

We made some great friends and we are looking forward to the campout in Charleston next month~ "thanksgivings misgivings", where Moonies set up tables and put their favorite dishes out for people to eat, like a huge potluck! If you knew me well, you'd know that I LOVE potlucks and tried to host them regularly when I lived in the mountains. There is just something magical about getting together with great people and eating great food and having a great time.

Police Brutality Vs Peace

This is a ten minute long video taken from MSNBC on the NYPD's attack on peaceful protesters at "Occupy WallStreet" The powerful words spoken by Lawrence O'donnell bring tears to my eyes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zgr3DiqWYCI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I know this doesn't seem to have much to do with my Westy~ but it has to do with you and me every day of our lives. This also includes our vehicles and whatever life choices we make. I have been fortunate up to this point not having a run-in with the "law" but they're eyes glisten and glaze over with dreams of brutality as I peacefully putter by. This post is not to assume that all police officers are bad people, just a majority of them. Thanks for facebook my friends share, almost daily, videos of police brutality and they continue to get away with it. Here are some of my favorite quotes from O'Donnell during his clip (just in case you don't have time to watch it, but you really should because its important.)

"this weekend a few trouble makers turned a peaceful protest against wall street greed into a violence burst of chaos, the troublemakers were carrying pepper spray and guns, and wearing badges."
"Police were grabbing people for ABSOLUTELY NO REASON, crushing them on the pavement and arresting them."
"We will post this video on our blog and you won't find ANYONE doing ANYTHING that is legal grounds for arrest."
"Cops know they can always get away with it.. no mayor, no police chief will call them on what they think of as a little too tough"
"This is an AMERICAN policework that we are watching... Everyday in American police cross the line and abuse citizens, EVERDAY in America police get away with it."
"Everything the police done this weekend to these protesters they have already done to someone else with no video cameras rolling"
"They know just how much latitude their dept gives them on abusing citizens, they do it because they know they can...because they can get away with it."
"NONE of them will be charged..."
"The dept has already said the officers acted appropriately, cased closed."
"AMERICAN POLICE HAVE ONE AGAIN GOTTEN AWAY WITH ANOTHER CRIME AGAINST THE AMERICAN PEOPLE THEY ARE SWORN TO SERVE AND PROTECT"

Now let's have a BBQ!

also as a sidenote~

A Wall Street Hedge Fund Manager made $5 BILLION DOLLARS last year

That's about $480 MILLION DOLLARS per month

That's about $120 MILLION DOLLARS per week

That's about $24 MILLION DOLLARS per day

That's about $3 MILLION DOLLARS per hour

And yet his Federal Income Tax Rate is 15%

Is it any wonder there is a protest

(taken from the comments, I would like to see references on these figures...)

Fire On the Mountain

Fire on the Mountain was a great time~ Not sure how many Buses showed up but I would say somewhere around 30 arrived by Saturday, with some other campers without Buses but with a love for them. I arrived Wednesday evening after getting semi-lost a few times. Rabun/Talutha falls is north-west from Aiken so we traveled up some back roads in SC over to GA, but we got turned around because Google gave me strange directions- the way back we just followed the map and took an easier route. The area of SC & GA we went through apparently does not believe in putting a NORTH, WEST, EAST, OR SOUTH direct on their state routes. It will just say 59<---> So a few times we had to turn around and ask someone "um, which way am I pointing?" Next time I will bring a compass!
I got rid of most of my Pindo Palm Jelly~ just have 4 jars left and sold all of my Yetis. I did not sell my art, as I was hardly ever at my site and I am not a good sales person. But there was a lot of interest in them and I don't know if I missed anyone coming back to get one. If anyone is interested they are for sale and I am thinking of starting an Etsy shop soon... I do like having them adorn my walls though~ as I love them! :) I am going to work on more collages this week, just need to find motivation other than VWs!

3 Buses camped in this site~ go to place for fireside guitar & drum circle at night

Waterfall we hiked to everyday~ my happy place is in the woods :)
Lookat these hippies! ;) Since Trey couldn't go, my friend Cam did

Here are photos of my friend Snoopy's Bus that just got painted, he and his adorable Springer Spaniels shared a campsite with us. Snoopy is also the owner of the orange 21 window Bus I've taken pictures of at High Country. PaintedBus is the username or handle of the artist who does these awesome murals on V-dubbs. Im not sure what his name is, just seen is album on Flickr. He was down here in SC doing Snoopy's paint job a few weeks ago on a VW bus painting trip. Imagine that! Traveling and painting VW buses and getting to meet and hang out with awesome VW owners~ a dream come true!

Wanderlust

It gives me inspiration for my next paint job!

Same artist painted this "preacher & teacher"s Pop Top canvas~ But will it Last?!

Saturday night the whole group got together and did a potluck & awards. I got a prize in a drawing for being a new Moonie but unfortunately i was unloading firewood at the event host's site for him! But I got there right at the end and got a "Sven Hole cleaner." Its an inside joke within the group and now I can keep my sven holes clean until I get to give it to someone next year!

Bumble Bee Bus

As you can see, my new camera just doesn't take the quality photos as my Canon did. I may try to get it repaired or atleast traded in for a new Canon~ NEVER take your retractable lens camera to the beach/ get it in sand!

Fire On the Mountain Preparation

This week is Fire on the Mountain~ in Lakemont, GA- the NorthEastern part. Its about 3 1/2 hours from me, on the backroads which would make for a nice drive in the Bus. I hope to leave Wednesday so I get in enough time to hike and talk with other bus peoples about my shift troubles. We crawled up under the Bus and the clutch cable is tightened, everything looks good as far as I can see, but I don't really know what I am looking at and the handbook (Bently) isn't much help. Either way it is in great running condition to scoot around, I just need to shift with care. Trey won't be joining me, as he has to work through Friday and we don't want to drive up just for a day and a half, so I am going it alone. This will be the longest I've ever driven in the Bus alone! But I'm not scared, and hopefully I can get a friend to join me. :)

I started making collages from Hancocks Of Paducah fabric catalogs they've sent me after I bought the great mushroom print fabric that adorns my Bus windows. I just love all the fabrics and I am not the greatest sewer (yet) so for now I get to play around with their patterns for free! :) Thanks Hancocks! I hope I can sell these at the festival!

Shifty Gears

Since our last mechanic visit, our gears are still giving us troubles. It is increasingly difficult to get into 2nd from 3rd or 4th. Its very easy to slide into reverse, or grind it. We think part of the problem may be the clutch wearing down. With only a few more months of camping weather left and only 2 camp outs under our belt, I am going to make it my top priority getting Lenny back into a better driving condition. I really wish I never let a stranger put their hands on my Bus, but I am learning from my mistakes.
One month from now is Fire on the Mountain~ a VW Bus camp out in North Eastern Georgia. Another 5 day event~ I plan to bring the Pindo Palm jelly I have been obsessing about this month. What's pindo palm jelly? I explain it a lot in my other blog this month. :) Check It!

High Country Bus Festival: Take 2

This was our second year at High Country Bus Festival, with last year being the first week we had our bus on the road. This year we were a lot more prepared, and the one of the quickest to pack up and go, now that we have so much experience! I recently purchased a waterproof camera for $100 and I definitely got use out of it, tubing on the New River every day. It doesn't take quite as good photos as my other camera, but I am still learning its features.

I am not sure how many Buses attended but on Friday someone I asked was Bus # 134.

We camped in the primitives, and "went to the city" or "to town" to see friends and tube back home to the boonies. Luckily there were golf carts going back and forth so we hitch hiked, and there we shuttles to bring tubers to different drop off points on the river.

First Spot we had until we found one with more shade

Yes, a tubing dog! & "The City" of Buses

Yetis lookin' for a home

The weather was beautiful Wednesday through Saturday evening, when the skies opened up on us. Around 5pm Trey and I began to tube and a rain storm broke, so we waited at the "River Bar". The sun broke through the clouds for about 45 minutes, so we tubed back to the primitives where we camped, and waited out the storm; which lasted until midnight pretty much... But we all made the most of it and hung out under awnings and tents and in buses.

River bar pre-rain storm

Rain, rain go away save it for another day

Most people were happy to be getting back to their homes and daily lives, but Trey and I were sad because in the woods we feel at home, and we miss the mountains. Hopefully we can return soon :)

Bad Mechanics!

So... we brought Lenny to the mechanics who helped us out when we blew the points trying to leave Aiken in November. He sat for a week and a day while they told us every day they were about to take him on a test drive before they work on him. And he sat... in reverse, just like we parked him.
Then we took him to Imports Plus, because we saw an 80s Vanagon and a 90s Eurovan in the yard/bay. They fixed his calipers in just a day and told us about the steering arm needing replacement, so we left him in the shop until Friday to get that taken care of, as well as the leaking oil plug.
Normally when driving our Bus you push down and slide the shifter into reverse, the push down is no more. Now you have to push down when you shift into 3rd and 4th. That is not right, and not good. You can easily miss 2nd and grind into reverse (because reverse is over to the left of 2nd gear.) Also his oil plug is still leaking just as much as before.
Here's how my convo went with the mechanic this morning: "So, you're mechanic told my boyfriend he tightened something on the gear box."
Mechanic: "We only did the breaks and worked on the front end."
"But now we are having troubles shifting, when we drove it in there were no such problems."(explained what is happening now)
"But we only worked on the front end, not the transmission."
"Ok I am bring my Bus over this evening and you are going to fix it."
"We will try."
"No, you are."

Well.... Maybe the man was having a hard time understanding what I described was happening? I am not sure; but what I am sure of is this is really hindering my excitement for High Country next week, if this isn't an quick and easy repair we may not get to go.
This is the LAST time I am ever bringing a car to a mechanic. I am so done with them! When I had my Oldsmobile 88 some mechanics tried to rip me off royally, but I learned if you do the work myself, and I was rest assured it was done right and I saved a lot of money. It may be harder and take longer to learn how to do a repair, but afterwards you know how to do it forever.
Mechanics at shops may be pressed for time, just throwing parts on and not taking care. When you first do a repair you are very careful because you are new at the task at hand and there's more attention being paid. This may not be true for every task, skill, repair, etc. Something may be best left to the pros, but normal repairs like this should be done on my own.
My reason for not doing it myself this time is that I live in 100degree heat, in apartments. There are no garages or shaded, grassy areas. Just hot blacktop to cook myself on.
So everyone, maybe you have a trusted mechanic~ or a family member who works on cars. I have no such luck, I have to "trust" strangers to work on my vehicles and rip me off at the same time.
So, Thank you're trusted mechanic next time, you may not know what a great thing you really have.