Wanderlust - my camping fantasies
I seem to be having a streak of wanderlust - a serious one. I like my home - but things like VW campers - teardrops and airstreams have been capturing my imagination.
Perhaps it is because when I was 7 I toured Europe in a VW campervan for 4 months with my brother and father. It’s in my blood and history. I’ve been enjoying these blogs and websites: Viva Westfalia and VWvagabonds and have only begun looking for blogs from travellers doing interesting things.
It’s an obsession Marc doesn’t quite understand as he would fancy one of those big buses that seem so unfeasible. He wants to be able to stand in an RV. He has a touch of claustrophobia - or so I discovered in our recent camping trip to Santa Cruz. We did the KOA thing and the kids loved it. We stayed in a site not much bigger than a horse stall - but as we went midweek there were very few other campers so it was fun.
KOA is great for young kids. Most campgrounds have swimming pools and playgrounds. The one in Santa Cruz even had some extra features like a big bouncing pillow and little train. I have a supersized queen air matress that I swear by
Me and the girls have slept on this several times now. Marc slept on a firmer matress on the floor the first night and then in the back of our van the 2nd - and as he wasn’t too comfortable either night - camping may be something the girls and I do while he goes on his business trips
BUT - KOA also has these cute little cottages that I plan on trying out later this month and maybe Marc would be ok in these. I figure my tent is only good for the summer. I want to check out Eureka which is quite foggy and cool and so want to be in a cottage with heat. They can rent for as little as $50 a night during the lower seasons - which begin now.
And we enjoyed a stint in Capitola and the LIghthouse Beach - watching the surfers. Maybe I’ll try body surfing sometime. I certainly want to do some more kayaking and I did spot good boat rental place on my last day.
But let me not forget to mention it got really cold every night and morning with the fog and one night we foolishly left out food so we had a bunch of racoons decend on us. I couldn;t believe how they were able to get into everything and select the desired items. Raman noodles were very popular. I knew it would be cold and so came prepared.
The other great Santa Cruz thing we did was the boardwalk - which on Wednesday before labor day was not at all crowded. We had no lines for all the rides - it was a blast and a perfect size for us. Can’t wait to go again. There were plenty of rides for both girls - even a few went on with Petra - who came with us.
Meanwhile - I have checked out these books from the library - but before I appear too obsessed - let me say that travel essays is a genre I have enjoyed for some time now. I prefer to read about many more adventures that I will ever do - I am quite happy to keave the kayaking across the pacific or bicycling around the world to someone else:
Steinbeck - travels with Charley
Charles Kuralt - American Moments
Charles Kuralt’s America
California Walking Atlas by Gary Yanker and Carol Tarlow
Now we are back in Walnut Creek where we will enjoy avoiding the crowds and doing lots of nothing - happy labor day everyone!
September 5th, 2006 at 5:06 am
[…] It’s always great to find another dedicated business in support of the Volkswagen van, which to me means either a splitty or a bay window. In fact I’ve noticed while driving my ‘74 Westfalia lately that Vanagon drivers don’t wave back. I’ll still wave as the later models are fine vehicles too. However, I grew up like many people with a bay window in our family’s driveway. Calypso Campers is a family business located in Salisbury, Wiltshire in the UK. They have a standard interior with kitchen and all “Fully fitted for £1950 inc vat” or about $3,700 US. I plan to put up about $5,000 to have mine redone, but that will include a total strip down, paint inside and out, a new windshield, window rubber and a top of the line pop-up canvas. Admittedly Calypso are truly interior specialists just look at their site. This photo shows an interior they did for a splitty, amazing! Great motivation for anyone thinking of redoing a VW camper, unfortunately they only do the vans themselves and don’t sell DIY kits. I’m not in the UK, otherwise I might have ordered a kit. I’d also like to thank Lisa for mentioning my site in her blog “Lisa’s Room.” She writes, “I’ve been enjoying these blogs and websites: Viva Westfalia and VWvagabonds” It’s nice when someone appeciates what you’re try to do. In my case, compiling useful and sometimes hard to find info in support of aircooled VW campers. Explore posts in the same categories: Interiors […]
September 5th, 2006 at 5:24 pm
[…] Meanwhile my wife is lusting over all sorts of…… […]