Our camping style has changed dramatically over the years. When we were first camping together we tossed a small tent in the car along with our sleeping bags and mats, a few clothes, some food, a stove and an axe. We travelled all over the Yukon using that method and made some great memories in the process.
When we began canoeing our friends travelled in Volkswagen Westfaiia vans and we thought those were the height of luxury. We found a green one in The Auto Trader newspaper and bought it. We didn’t have to set up a tent and the bed was quite soft and comfy compared to a camping mat. ‘Kermie’ took us on some great trips and served as our second vehicle. There was a problem with that: Kermie had a gas heater which stank and seemed to use more gas than driving did. Because the engine was in the back the cab was pretty chilly and the steering tended to stiffen up in really cold temperatures. When Richard drove to work he dressed up as if he was going to race the Iditarod. Eventually that kind of discomfort and inconvenience takes it’s toll and we sold Kermie to one of my colleagues who planned to put in a new engine and give him a new lease on life.
We didn’t want to go back to tenting, so when we had the chance, we bought Richard’s parents’ camper van. This was another step up. It had a propane furnace and a propane stove. Even though Richard still likes to do most of the cooking outside, we certainly appreciated the furnace particularly on trips in late September and October. This van we called ‘Flopsy’ because the steering was, to put it politely, a little mushy. I didn’t like driving it at all. It had a big V8 engine and we joked that it could pass anything on the road except a gas station. Over the years we had her, Flopsy took us to more places than any of our other vehicles, from Tofino on the west side of Vancouver Island, to Inuvik NWT, to Gros Morne Park NL.
It was on our cross Canada trip in 2014 things started to go sideways with Flopsy. We needed a new battery in Regina; one of the side mirrors flew off in a rainstorm somewhere in northern Ontario; and on our way home, the water pump packed it in in a Tlmmy’s parking lot in Arnprior Ontario . Luckily, there was a Dodge dealership right next to the Timmy’s. We got enough fluid to limp the van next door. They ordered a water pump from Toronto, and we spent two nights in a hotel while Flopsy got fixed.
The mechanic suspected that he didn’t get to the bottom of the problem and loaded us up with diluted coolant and instructions to keep the speeds down, check the coolant frequently, and top it up when needed. We decided at that point to boot it for home and sell the van as soon as we could. It didn’t take long before a buyer, who had wanted a camper van ever since he was a kid, came along. He was impressed with what good shape the body was in and he brought a friend who was something of a weekend mechanic to look at the van. We disclosed the fixes we had made to the van and the fact that it was still leaking a little bit and we weren’t sure why. With that we said goodbye to Flopsy.
By this time we had been looking at vans for a while and had our eyes out for a RoadTrek. We talked to a few RoadTrek owners in campgrounds on our way across the country and one man who had owned three of them told us exactly what he thought we should be looking for and approximately how much it should cost. I started scouring ads on Kiji in western Canada. About two weeks after we parted with Flopsy, one came up in Salmon Arm. We phoned the owners and made arrangements to go and have a look at it. It was a 2002 Dodge 190 and it ticked all the boxes. We wanted not only a heater but also a toilet and the RoadTrek had both. That is how we came to own ‘Vinnie’ aka Vincent van Go. (Maybe not original, but the name amuses us.)
Vinnie has been to Victoria and Kenora with many stops in between. We've camped with him in 5 of the provinces. Vinnie is now getting to the place where he needs quite a bit of work. If we were fifteen years younger, we would consider having a custom camper van built. None of the vans we have owned have had the layout we want and none of the new prebuilt ones do either. There are a lot of whistles and bells that we don't need on the new ones and, with the exception of Kermie, the space hasn't been used as efficiently as it could be. Our thinking is that we can spend quite a bit of money on Vinnie for the cost of a new van, even a used one and, as they say, ‘a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.’ As many of you know we tend to change our minds often, so I won't say we will never be looking for a new van.
Today Vinnie sports a new set of tires, a new awning, and some new interior lighting. He needs a paint job because some of the undercoat is showing through and there is a bit of rust. He is way easier to drive than Flopsy and there are some modifications we can make to the interior space to make it less awkward. All in all, Vinnie makes a pretty good living space for the two of us and we want to spend more time with him either in campgrounds or on the road.
No comments:
Post a Comment