In the summer of 1977, I was 19 and subletting a flat in Ann Arbor with a couple of UofM female grad students. I was living the dream (even if my roomies were way out of my league). The only thing missing was some hip wheels. As my goal was to move to California, I purchased a used 1970 VW pop top camper for $700… California dreamin’. The body was extremely rusty, but it ran… ok. For those who have never driven a VW bus before let me say this, it is one of the funnest cars to drive. You sit OVER the steering wheel, not behind it, and the steering wheel is more horizontal than vertical which make steering much more fun. Because the engine is in the back of the van, the front is flat, so the driver sits right behind the very front of the van – it’s like being in the first seat of a rollercoaster. You literally see and feel the road inches in front of you. 50 mph feels like 80. The stick shift is two feet long which takes shifting gears to a new level of fun. You sit up high and, with all the windows, you have 360 visibility.
The first ‘mod’ I made was to install a Pioneer AM/FM radio – with 8track of course. I built small wooden boxes and installed 6×9 Pioneer 3-way speakers. (Thank you high school wood shop!) These speakers were connected to the radio with 15 feet of loose wire so I could move them around inside and outside the van. It now qualified as a party van. And we did.
That fall, having saved enough money, I “loaded up the truck and I moved to Beverly.” But a not-so-funny thing happened on the way to Beverly. One morning, after sleeping overnight at a rest stop on I80 in Wyoming, the van would not start. Ok, so I am in the middle of nowhere, the van is dead, and I know almost nothing about engines. But miracles happen in the strangest of places. As I stood there, at the back of my van staring into the engine compartment feeling utterly defeated and stupid, a man and his teenage son walked up and asked if I needed help. I was like, yeah, can ya fix a dead volkswagon? I said this more sarcastically than with any real expectation that they could help. The man answered, well I do VW repair, let me take a look. WHAT? So he and his son poked their heads into the engine compartment, shared a few words, made an adjustment and asked me to try again. Well that sucker started right up. To this day I can still feel the shock, relief, and thankfulness that I felt then. They would take nothing from me. But they did leave me strong words of advice: if you’re going to own a volkswagon bus you need to know how to maintain a volkswagon engine, fool. (Ok, I added that last word.)
I eventually made it to California. After a couple months exploring the redwoods of Marin, fending off Moonies in Berkeley, and driving my bus up and down the streets of San Francisco, I started making my way down the coastal highway: Half Moon Bay, Santa Cruz, Monterey, and finally Big Sur, home to the most beautiful mountainous coastline anywhere. It was here, on a large turnout overlooking the Pacific Ocean that my life changed forever when I befriended a local surfer who, coincidentally, was living in his VW camper also. He worked at a local restaurant/bar called Nepenthe doing cleanup in the early morning before the restaurant opened at 11am. AND they needed another worker. Well, my money had just about run out, so I figured I’d take the work for a few months and then continue on my adventure. I took the job. Later I became a busboy. Then a waiter. Finally, a shift supervisor. It was 8 years until I moved on, and by then I had met my beautiful future wife and mother of my 2 wonderful children. The van, however did not stay with me on that journey for more than another year. In that time I did learn how to work on VWs, even rebuilding the engine at one point. I sold the van to another boy starting his life adventure.
I still miss that bus. I have had 3 vans since which have continued to take me on many adventures around the country, I gave my last one to one of my kids who is now on their own adventure. So I find myself van-less again and it’s not a good feeling. I need to find my next adventure mobile!
Proof that “do it while you are young” are words for the ages. Great story! Great ending.