september 3 2007 : st. paul, minnesota, usa
Work continues around the garage as the bus is finally nearing the point where we can move in. The work has been fairly unexciting, although I did manage to shoot myself in the hand with a staple gun. Funny thing is that it wasn’t even a power stapler, it was just one of those heavy duty hand stapler. Idiot proof right? I picked it up and it turns out I was actually holding it backwards when I shot the 3/4 inch staple right into the muscle at the base of my pinky. I yelled and jumped around a bit until Ali and her sister came out to have a look at it. They were both pretty well disgusted by it and weren’t a whole lot of help. I tried pulling on it a little bit but it didn’t seem to want to move at all.

Eventually Ali made the decision that we were going to the hospital and went inside to get the keys. I didn’t like that idea at all, figuring the doctor would probably just end up grabbing a pliers and yanking it out himself and charge me a couple of hundred bucks for the privilege. So with the girls back inside I finally gathered up my courage and gave it a big pull. The girls say I screamed like a little baby, though I don’t recall the incident quite the same way. Anyway, the staple came out and in some strange twisted way I feel like I saved two hundred bucks.

This weekend was also Minnesota State Fair time. There is no fair like it anywhere. We spent the day eating pronto pups, pretzels, cotton candy, cheese curds, and playing carnie games along the midway. Those games are possibly the most annoying things in the world. To watch kids become obsessed with winning a ridiculous stuffed animal is actually sad. So for just five of these 75 cent tickets I can have one attempt at knocking over a bottle with a wiffle ball. And all it has to do is fall completely off of that giant wooden stand it’s sitting on. And for that I will win a small prize. And after I’ve won six small prizes I can get a medium which I can trade for a large once I’ve got three more. Awesome. I of course got the honor of letting the kids down by not completely shooting the star out of the piece of paper with the piece of junk bb gun.

The real fun for the day was with the haunted house. Ali and I, being the responsible adults that we are, agreed to bring our six and ten year olds into the house of horrors. When Ali was 20 she ripped my shirt off my back in one of these things, so it should be no problem for a six-year-old. Well, we scarred the kids for life. Curt held on to my hands the whole way through and only opened his eyes once. He came out of it relatively unscathed. Lea however just had Ali to defend her, so by the time she exited the depths of hell she was bawling uncontrollably. Again, being the responsible adults, we gathered the kids up, ran across the street and dropped them in their mothers lap, and made a beeline for the beer garden. Crisis averted.

september 6 2007 : st. paul
Well we’ve got grand plans to hit the road in about ten days, however we seem about a million miles away from getting there. Somehow preparing to go sail around the world seemed like an easier task. It’s now been nearly three weeks since we arrived home and found out that we couldn’t get a title. Three weeks of daily voice mails and promises. But so far we still have yet to receive a single piece of paper. The builders won’t even give us a bill of sale. It’s our fault I suppose, to have just taken off without first checking to see that the paperwork was correct. So here we sit, with our bus that can’t be driven. A good looking vintage couch is what it reminds me of these days when I look out in the garage.

If we do ever get on the road the rough plan is to head north straight out of Minnesota and in to Canada. Then wind our way westward towards Vancouver before veering south to Portland and on to Baja in search of warmer climes. If you’re near this route give us a shout. That’s an unintentional, yet catchy, rhyme.

september 7 2007 : st. paul
I think the UPS guy thought I was a little strange today when I ran out to meet him before he could even bring his truck to a stop. The paperwork we needed to get our title had finally arrived. Ali and I quickly made our way to the DMV where I found my heart was beating a little faster. Truthfully I still wasn’t feeling too confident. The paperwork requirements in Canada are really sort of pathetic. The title is actually issued by an insurance company that acts as a sort of quasi government agency. So the vehicle registration looks exactly like an insurance policy. Here in Minnesota they look at this piece of paper like they want to take it to the bathroom with them.

I envy those Canadians though, because this means they don’t have to deal with DMV employees. We immediately knew we were going to have problems when we walked in. We explained that the van had been purchased by the guys in Seattle and then rebuilt and sold to us. We had bills of sale from all the interested parties and had the paperwork showing that it had been legally brought over the border as a parts vehicle. We also explained that it didn’t even have an engine in it when it came over. So we found the next question to be a little ridiculous. “Where is the emissions inspection report? You need to have it in order to bring a vehicle in to the United States.” When the bus entered the States I can assure you it was producing zero emissions. These workers seem to have a really hard time in the common sense department, but are very good at following the guidelines.

It took us some time, but we did eventually get the approval we needed. Then the girl did a few calculations and told us what the tax due was. I glanced at the paper and immediately saw that she had miscalculated by around $300. At this point, if it had been any other vehicle or any other time, I would have written the check to her for the amount she asked and walked right out the door. But all I could think about was receiving a letter six weeks from now saying our application was on hold because we didn’t pay enough. So in the end I pointed out her error and ponied up the extra money.

When we were just about done she told us that we might receive a letter in a few weeks requesting that we come down to the vehicle inspection bureau to prove to them that we have a VIN# in the vehicle. She said this with a straight face two minutes after our long conversation about us leaving in two weeks to drive out of the country. So we then ran home, took pictures of the VIN#, printed them out, drove back to the DMV, and entered those in with our title application. Now we just have to wait 4-6 weeks to find out if indeed we do own a VW bus free and clear.

It’s a big relief for us to finally have that taken care of and know that we may soon be on the road. Heck, it was such a good day I even convinced our insurance carrier that our VIN# does indeed belong to a 1958 VW bus. We should have taken a celebratory drive, but we didn’t. We’re sick of driving. Think we’ll just stay home.

september 10 2007 : st. paul
One week until we hit the road, and we are working full time to get things ready. Ali has had people coming by the house almost daily to buy our stuff. We are almost to the point that everything we own, would fit in the bus.

Made some good progress on the bus today too. The wood floor is in and looking sweet, and we also got our back window tinted for a little more privacy. I’ve still got all of the electrical to take care of in the next couple of days. We’ll see if my boat wiring experience pays off for me or not.

september 13 2007 : st. paul
Amazingly I hooked up the house battery, all the wiring, lights, etc., and when I flicked the switch it worked. Ali didn’t seem surprised. Somehow I’ve fooled her into believing I know what I’m doing.

A couple of days ago we drove to a tire shop to have the alignment done. I had called all over town trying to find a place that could do it and finally found this one. After waiting over an hour our bus came back out front and we were told they couldn’t do it. They didn’t have the specs they needed after all. So back at home I got on the phone and finally tracked down a shop that could handle it. When we got there today we gave them the ignition key and sat down to wait. Ten minutes later they came in to ask us if we had another key. Apparently this time they tried to unlock our already unlocked door using the wrong key, breaking it in half in the handle. We didn’t have another key with us, and in fact, that was the only ignition key we had at all. So for the next two hours we read magazines in the waiting room while they drove around town trying to find a shop with the right key. In the end, this tire alignment took us three days and about seven hours to complete. Not bad.

It’s been a summer full of strange injuries. After years on the boat with hardly a stubbed toe we’ve had a rash of mishaps lately. A few weeks back Ali fractured a toe when she accidentally kicked our nephew’s bike. Then I stapled my finger. And today at Home Depot I somehow managed to slice my finger wide open on a sheet of aluminum. Blood poured down in the aisles yet not one of those orange clad go getters noticed. Clearly we need to start traveling again, it’s too dangerous here in the States.

september 18 2007 : st. paul
After a lot of work on the bus we moved up to the cabin for the weekend where we spent our time working on winterizing that place instead. When we got back to the bus we made our final push. After a long summer Ali somehow managed to pare down all our worldly belongings to the point that they fit in one small closet. We’re not sure if that’s the smartest thing we’ve ever done or the stupidest.

Either way, as of tonight the bus is ready to move into. I put the final touch in it today when I installed a bracket to hold the surfboard against the roof on the inside. During the fabrication of the bracket I managed to have the jigsaw jam in the metal and buck out directly onto my foot that was holding the piece in place. The whole time I was doing it I was thinking that I should really be using a clamp instead, but decided to continue pushing my luck. With the way things have been going the last couple of weeks that probably wasn’t the best decision. Ali was thrilled that she got to bandage me up yet again, and I was thrilled to still have 90% of my big toe.

It’s exciting to be packing up and setting off again. This bus is just crying out to be driven tens of thousands of miles.

september 19 2007 : st. paul
This morning I tackled pretty much the last job on my list of things to do before we leave. Adjusting the valves and changing the oil have been staring back at me on the to do list since we got to Minnesota, but because we haven’t driven much I was able to put it off. After all of the work on the boat engines, none of which was ever simple solely because of the poor positioning of everything on them, I wasn’t really looking forward to crawling under the bus. But once I got under there I actually had fun with it.

First off, the bus actually sits high enough for me to crawl underneath and work comfortably. Secondly, changing the oil consists of nothing more than unscrewing a bolt. No messy pumps or hoses anywhere. Sheer bliss. Adjusting the valves was pretty simple too. Just follow the directions in the book and I’m there. So now I’ve got a new 3,000 mile routine to follow.

For some reason I waited until the last day to fill the water tank and test out that system. Turns out the manual pump for the sink doesn’t work. It’s from about 1950 and the gasket is obviously worn out. There is no pressure. I tried to track down a new gasket, but nobody has seen anything like it. Eventually I ordered a new pump, but it looks like our first couple of weeks in the bus will be spent without running water.

Ali then got to do some fun work, putting together the new house. Before long it looked like we were moving into a studio apartment. The big challenge obviously is finding the space to store everything. So far we’re looking pretty good though. We don’t even have anything to store on the roof rack yet.

september 20 2007 : st. paul
Last day of running around to hardware stores and shopping malls before we drive away. You’d almost think we were crossing the border to some third world country in the morning instead of driving leisurely away to Canada. Last I checked the Canadians have all the same things we do.

september 21 2007 : mcgregor, minnesota (1 night in the bus : 168 miles)
Day one of our drive around the world. We pulled out of the garage and pointed the bus due north. We are determined not to drive on a four lane highway ever again so we took a scenic road out of town running north along the St. Croix river. It wasn’t long before we were winding gently along curving wooded roads enjoying the slow drive. Of course it also wasn’t long before we had a semi tailgating us. Seriously, can work really be that important. Driving around in a ’58 bus you hope for just a little respect and understanding from other drivers, but generally don’t get it. We eventually shook our tail and were left alone to enjoy our drive again.

After a couple of hours we found ourselves outside the cities and well into “Northern” Minnesota. It’s an imaginary line drawn somewhere around 100 miles north of St. Paul and once you cross it you are basically in another world, where camouflage clothing is worn to work and you are not a real man unless you are driving a full size pickup truck. We didn’t have a big truck but decided to stop in at the Crow’s Nest for a mid-afternoon refreshment anyway. Pickled eggs were pickling away on the counter alongside the beer choices. You could chose from Miller Lite, Bud Light, or Mich Golden Light. Apparently being a real man up here doesn’t include drinking like one. The bartender did make up for the sad beer display however, by wearing a Kenny Rogers t-shirt. In my book that’s all it takes to be completely forgiven.

A bit farther up the road we came to our destination in McGregor. Our old hunting land and also where my great uncle’s dirt floor house still stands. It always amazes me to imagine that just two generations back this is how a lot of people lived. Life could not have been easy out there. Ali and I found a semi-level place to park the bus for the night and went for a walk around the woods.

It was freezing out though so we shut ourselves up inside early and listened to the wind. Eventually the wind did die down and we got a nice clear quiet night to spend our first night in the bus. It truly was freezing, with temps in the 30’s. We were a little cold, but it really wasn’t too bad. Not too good, but not too bad either. It did however remind us that we no longer tolerate cold weather very well and need to get south of the border sooner rather than later.

september 22 2007 : dryden, ontario, canada
The drive the rest of the way to Canada was pretty uninteresting. Flat landscapes and straight as an arrow roads. I should mention that the bus is really running awesome. It seems most comfortable under 55, but will do 70 if there were ever any reason to do so. One of the things I worried about when finishing the interior was noise. Just about the entire thing got at least three layers of soundproofing/insulation. It really paid off too, because it is nearly as quiet as a new car. There isn’t even so much as a squeaky wall panel or cabinet. So far so good on the bus.

Making the border crossing into Canada from International Falls was pretty standard. The officer ran through a list of questions about where we were going, how long we’d be there, and whether we had guns or not. But then right at the end he asked us if this was what we were driving to South America. We were already driving away when it dawned on us that he had been scanning our website the whole time he was asking us questions. He must have gotten the address off of our little license plate frame. Those guys are good.

Once in Canada we made an immediate wrong turn and drove east for about twenty miles before realizing it. The upside of that was that we found a little used side road to take us back in the right direction. We drove for nearly a hundred miles before a car finally passed us. The road was beautiful with the fall colors, the boulder filled landscape, and the sparkling lakes around every corner. There were beware of moose signs all over the place so we had our eyes peeled the whole way. Suddenly, fifty yards in front of us on the side of the road, not a moose but a bear, stood up on his hind legs looking right at us before dropping back down and quickly disappearing into the woods. It was the first time either of us had ever seen a bear in the wild and it was pretty cool.

I knew the U.S. dollar was in the tank versus the rest of the world, but as of today the exchange rate against the Canadian dollar was just one thousandth of a percentage point shy of even. That’s just plain embarrassing. Our entire lives we’ve been able to point to our northerly neighbors and laugh at their sad little currency. And now look what’s happened. Another year and Americans probably won’t be able to afford to vacation in Canada either.

september 24 2007 : yorkton, saskatchewan, canada
We had a nice leisurely drive yesterday as we made our way from Ontario over to Winnipeg, Manitoba. When we first started off we had no choice but to drive along Highway 1, the main thoroughfare across Canada, despite being a two lane road. We quickly realized that we’d have truckers on our butt all day long if we didn’t find an alternate route, so as soon as we could we turned off and wound along a much more deserted road heading west. The road went through a national park where we saw a bunch of deer along the roadside and also stopped off at a goose reserve, where, wouldn’t you know it, the place was covered in Canadian Geese. Of all things.

As we continued on we counted down the mileage to Winnipeg, where for some odd reason I expected a big city. Yet two miles out there was still no indication we were even approaching a small town. As we entered the city limits we still couldn’t make out any signs of a city, but we were definitely in the hub of farm country. There was really nothing except trains, trucks, and grain companies in every direction.

After a few miles of this we thought we must be lost so we stopped and asked a guy where downtown was. He told us we were on the right track and Main Street was just a little farther down the road. Well eventually a city did rise up out of the commercial district and we made our way to some Bum friends’ home where we had a home cooked meal and some good conversation before hitting the road again. We wanted to spend the night in the bus, but get out of the city, so we drove a few miles north to a small farm town where we parked at the hockey rink and called it a day. With temps way up in the 50’s overnight we had a much more pleasant night of sleep.

This morning we woke to rain and plunging temperatures and that’s what we got all day long as we continued west across the prairies. This was the first real rain we’ve had since getting the bus and we found out quickly that our front safari windows aren’t waterproof. These things are notorious for leaking, but I sort of figured that meant a drip here and there, not a full on stream running out of each corner and even, miraculously, the top which is protected from the overhanging roof. Not quite sure how to address that problem yet, but it’s definitely on the list of things to do.

By afternoon the temp had dropped into the 30’s and there was talk of freezing overnight, so we decided to pull off in Yorkton, Saskatchewan to get a room for the night. We were hoping for a bit more mild fall temps but it look like we aren’t going to be getting them anytime soon.

september 25 2007 : humboldt, saskatchewan, canada
First thing we do every morning is hit the gas station to fill up. This morning the tank took exactly 15 gallons. From what I understand our tank only holds 15 gallons. So it looks like we really just limped in to town last night. I guess the strong headwind all day long really did a number on our gas mileage.

We had beautiful blue skies for our drive today. We really sort of lollygagged our way along though, cruising off the road to drive through each town and see what was happening. In total we only made 170 miles on the day, but we did see some amazing sights. Saskatchewan isn’t really just flat wheat fields, canadian geese, and farm equipment. No sir, each town has something incredible on offer.  For instance, today we visited Canora, home of the best municipal water in Canada. Really, it’s true. We also stopped in Watson, home of the original Santa Claus Day. It’s held the first Saturday in December, so we may have to swing back for the festivities some other year. I love those signs as you come into towns, each one trying to grasp at something to make itself unique and make the townsfolk proud. I have to admit, my suburban hometown didn’t have one thing to call itself the home of, which is kind of sad.

For the night we stopped in Humboldt, The Heart of the Sure Crop District, Mustard Capital of the World, A Little Bit of Germany in the Heart of the Prairies, and home of the Humboldt Broncos Junior A Hockey Team, and decided to try out one of these campgrounds that you see everywhere you go. It’s right on the edge of town, and being that it’s nearly October, is nearly deserted. So for thirteen bucks we can sleep tonight without worrying about a cop tapping on our window at three a.m. to move us along. Should be nice.

The bus is tip top. Not even burning any oil. Fixed a loose mirror today, which, if that’s the biggest issue I run into, makes me very happy. Ali is in charge of organizing the bus and its storage. We’re quickly realizing what works and what doesn’t. So there is constant discussion going on about how to improve access to things that we need. Shouldn’t be long until we’ve got this bus living down pat.

september 27 2007 : fort saskatchewan, alberta, canada
Alright, it’s true, Canada really is a frozen wasteland. Well maybe it’s not a wasteland, but it really is frozen. It is only September still, but we’ve reached freezing already. In fact there is snow forecast for our area in the next couple of days. Ali and I woke up a couple of days ago shivering, with our bodies wrapped in little balls trying to conserve heat. By noon we had hit the Wal-Mart and loaded up on long underwear and another blanket. We were ready for the next night. So this morning, despite an outside temp of 33 degrees, we were actually feeling sort of comfy. Problem is that at some point we have to get out from under the sheets. It was 41 degrees inside the bus. That’s way too cold. I tried to convince Ali that the best thing would be to stay under the covers and create body heat, but she just kept pushing me away. She must not have believed me.

We continued our small town trip across the prairies with stops in such hotbeds of activity as Biggar. New York is big, but they are Biggar. Ali thought that was hilarious which might have meant that we were going a little nutty. We also stopped off to view the world’s largest mallard duck, which quite honestly wasn’t very big at all. Another exciting stop was made in St. Paul. I made a 50 mile detour for no reason other than the city’s name. When we got there we found out that St. Paul was in fact the home of the world’s first U.F.O. landing pad. We had to ask a rather embarrassed local girl where we could find it, but sure enough it was standing proud at the end of town. Up to this point it appears that it hasn’t been used for any landings by any flying objects, but it’s nice to know it’s there if needed.

There was more of course. Some of the sights we visited could even be considered cultural. But these were really the highlights.

september 28 2007 : jasper, alberta, canada
The weather has continued its downward spiral. This morning we hit the road with gray skies that seemed to touch the road. We trudged onwards as the rain came and we sped, as much as a ’58 VW can speed, west towards the mountains. About the time we hit the foothills the rain made the switch from wet to frozen. Yes indeed, snow in September. And we weren’t even at a high elevation. Ali and I seriously misjudged the Canadian fall season. Anybody looking through our windshield would have laughed at us. We only have one functioning windshield wiper, which is on the drivers side fortunately, and behind the snow caked windshield Ali and I sat shivering and passing a towel back and forth to wipe up the water pouring in through the safaris.

The drive to Jasper would have been beautiful if we could have seen anything, but the clouds were still hovering about ten feet off the ground. By the time we arrived in Jasper there was no doubt that we would not be spending the night in the bus, so we drove along the road right behind Main and quickly found plenty of private homes advertising rooms for rent. That turned out to be the best deal in town. We got a room in a nice house for less than half of what the hotels in town wanted. The town of Jasper has sort of that ski resort town feel to it and is only about three blocks long. We wandered through a few of the shops and visited the local brew pub before calling it a night with the bus parked right outside of our window.

september 29 2007 : banff, alberta, canada
We’d been looking forward to this stretch of road for days, and it didn’t disappoint. When we woke up this morning we found a nice layer of ice covering the entire bus. Since we had no scraper we had to use the old credit card trick to clear the ice instead. We almost didn’t care that the temperature was below freezing, we were just so happy to find clear skies. Turns out we were surrounded by white capped mountains the day before without even knowing it.

Two minutes out of town we found a couple of elk wandering along the road. They were completely uninterested in us as we stopped to watch them. Two minutes farther along we stopped at the park entrance to pay another eighteen dollars for our second day there. These are not cheap roads to travel. The nice thing about paying that kind of money is that you get to share the road with very few cars, and no trucks.

It’s about a two hundred mile drive from Jasper to Banff along the Icefields Parkway and the entire way you are surrounded by the high peaks of the Rocky Mountains. We knew it had been cold but had no idea that for the past week or so there had actually been quite a bit of snow falling in the mountains. It wasn’t too long before we found ourselves sliding around on the icy roads. I grew up driving in the snow but the bus was still a bit of a challenge. We took things nice and slow however and kept the bus on the road. The scenery was absolutely amazing around every turn. For a while we found ourselves pulling over every few hundred yards.

The bus ran great despite the altitude and the temperature. The only problem we had today was with the clutch pedal. It was clanking when I pressed it in and then wasn’t releasing the entire way. The best thing about chosing a bus for this trip though, is that it is so simple to work on. Figuring out the clutch problem required nothing more than lying on the ground and looking up. Turned out that a bolt on the arm was catching on the bumper support. I checked to make sure that no bolts had worked loose but found everything tight. Eventually I just grabbed a screwdriver and bent the arm the sixteenth of an inch that it needed to clear smoothly. Not sure how it moved in the first place, but was happy to make an easy fix.

The big stop of the day was at Lake Louise. This is the lake that you see in every picture of Banff advertising there is. The lake is surrounded by high peaks and glaciers with a decadent hotel at the head of it all. It’s a beautiful spot, even if it’s a bit overrun by tourists.

Banff is down the road another hour and is where we decided to spend the night. It’s a ski resort town and is packed full of everything a ski resort town needs including about four hundred hotels, which is where we are right now.