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Greg Potts,
April 26th, Toronto Ontario Canada
All rights reserved, All images Copyright 2001.
Last updated April 26, 2001 at 8:15 PM EST.
Down on the QEW I sense the exhaust note is a bit different, and Colleen hears it too -- later inspection will indicate the left heater box is finally gone and I will have to pull the engine when I get back and swap the heater boxes and muffler on from the wrecker motor I picked up in September. Think I'll do the clutch then, too.
We made it down to Burlington and after a wee bit of circling we found the Ikea, just moments before Dave and Bob arrived. I headed over to Shell and topped up the tank, and was surprised to see it only needed about 36 Litres. By the time I got back to Ikea Dave and Bob had arrived, and we lined up the buses and took the obligatory starting point pic.
Leaving Ikea Dad took point, followed by Collie, then Me, and Dave in the
back. We stayed in this configuration past St. Catherines, until we pulled
off for a rest-stop just after the garden city skyway bridge. Back under
way, we put the pedal down and didn't stop until we got to the Duty Free
at Fort Erie. At that point we coffee-ed up at Tim Horton's, bought some
booze and smokes for those who needed them, and got back on the highway.
We stopped for fuel and bathroom breaks a short while after the border
and although the guage on the truck said I was down past 1/2 a tank, it
only took 4.359 gallons to top the tank, which is not all that bad given
we covered about 85 miles on that. ... 19.49988 MPG is pretty decent for
a fully laden Westy.
Back on the road, and we start heading uphill. As we gain altitude it
also gets colder, and then the snow hits. 
Nothing major for us frostbitten Canadian Boys, but when we realise we're
camping we're not so impressed. There's a lot of unmelted snow in the bush
at the side of the road, and some of the fresh stuff actually starts drifting.
Stopping for lunch 
I rearrange the cargo so I can safely deploy a small propane heater in
the passenger compartment, and the bus gets a lot more comfortable after
that. We ate lunch crammed into Mom & Dad's Vanagon, the sandwiches
mom
brought were excellent. Dave mentions that riding shotgun in a carabus
is a fascinating sight -- 
--
it looks like a big metal snake when we're threading through traffic.
Returning to the state highway better fed there is still more uphill
travel, we eventually crest at 2060 ft according to the Magellan 2000 GPS
on my dashboard. All this climbing eventually takes a toll, and Dave's
Bus suddenly loses power on a looooong hill and puffs blue smoke as he
decelerates in front of me. We hastily make for the shoulder and sort things
out... 
and as the bus cools down the problem seems to take care of itself. We
stop again for gas with the odometer at 87359, and a fuel cost of $13.90,
which brought my gas mileage back down to 15.4676 MPG, which shows how
the hills can really whallup your fuel economy. Dave's driving a bit more
carefully now, but we're still making 65 on the uphill runs in a kinder
gentler way.
We get to Montgomery PA around 4PM, pay $46 for a pair of campsites
with water, power and cable, and settle in for the night. 
Jockeying my bus into position on the campsite I back into a tree and put
a big dent in the back bumper, it touched the fresh paint on the rear apron
but it didn't dent it. 
I needed a new back bumper anyhow. After a beer and a look under Dave's
cylinder head cover 
we eat dinner looking over at the swollen Susquehanna River,
and we sit and chat about where and when we'll be the next day. Plans are
to try to get hold of Denmeister on the cell-phone early and then
head for Jeff's place. Round Hill VA looks to be only about 2 hours away
so it's not like we have to hurry.
Note: There's a definite gap between what you read on a campground's
web-site and the services that are available in April. I'm sure they'll
have nice showers in June, but right now they aren't hooked up, but then
even that's not a big loss since they're in the pool change-room, and it's
open to the elements. Let me just tell you that when you sit on a frozen
seat first thing in the AM you get fully awake very quickly.
Instead of going back to bed I walked back down to the river and enjoyed
the quiet, took a couple of nice digital pics 
of the river and then made my way back up to the bus to get things sorted
out for Breakfast. Dad got up and went up to the restaurant to get some
water, and when he came back we started some coffee and put some water
on to boil for instant oatmeal. The coffee was excellent, and we settled
the kids down with some TV in the Vanagon while we cleaned up our camper
and sorted the clothes and bedrolls. Five people in tight quarters means
you have a lot of re-organization to do when it's time to make the transition
from camper back to basic transportation.
Collie woke up around the crack of ten 
and we got the buses rolling out of the park about 11. Back onto 15 south,
and we stayed there the whole day, following the Susquehanna for a few
hours and then heading uphill and over the Potomac sometime around 5. Dennis
called me on my cell-phone around 11AM to tell us he was close to Greensboro
already and would be meeting us at the camp rather than linking up with
the carabus.
The Carabus stopped at an Arby's for a picnic lunch in Harrisburg
PA.
We set up Collie's folding picnic table and set out a big spread of deli
meat, pickels and buns, only to cringe in horror at the approach of the
Arbie's Manager coming across the parking lot. 
She didn't have a problem with us being there, though-- she just wanted
to check up on what we were up to. We were relieved at this and agreed
that this one act did more for Arbie's reputation in our minds than any
of their advertising could. After I made a terrible pun about needing the
Address 
for Gettysburg, we headed into Gettysburg to get some cheap gas ($1.50/Gallon) 
and directions to the Civil War Memorial Center. After visiting the info
center and the cemetery we got back on the road looking for a picnic area
to have dinner at, and when we pulled into Round Hill, Va we were still
looking, all the way into Jeff Stewart's backyard.
Jeff Stewart is a great guy. A great TALL guy, at that. While we started
to set up camp in his yard 
and get into making our dinner, Jeff informed us he had six pounds of hamburger
and proceded to start the barbecue. A short while after that a bright green
flowered bus rolled into the driveway with the River's Family: Jamie, Chris
and Vickie!!! We quickly rewarded Jamie with a beer for making such a grand
appearance. 
Then another for us to reward our generosity. And so on, and so on.
Dave, Collie and Dad plugged their buses into Jeff's house for power, but
we decided to brave the elements as the cord I brought wouldn't reach that
far. It was nippy but not too cold during the night. Day Three, Friday,
Round Hill VA to Greensboro NC In the morning I got up first at 7:00, and
quickly scurried into their bathroom for a shower. I must have woken some
of the other campers as I was getting out of the truck because by the time
I finished my shower there was a line behind me. The Stewarts had provided
an excellent selection of Krispy Kreme's finest, along with fresh perc'ed
coffee and pulp-free OJ. Yum! Thanks again Jeff for the Hospitality. If
you're ever coming up to The Great White North, be sure to let us know.
We had everything packed down and a new tail-light bulb installed in
my van by 9:30. By 9:45 we had found out that Jamie Auch was running behind
but would be with us in about half an hour. We settled back, finished
off the last of the donuts and got ready to roll as soon as Jamie showed
up. Jamie had a really clean 71 westy, towing a cute little white fibreglass
trailer with a 1600cc upright. 
He topped up his fuel and we all headed out for Opal where we met up with
Steve Dolan, Sean Bartnik and a couple others, bringing the total number
of buses in the Carabus up to 11. 
The trip was uneventful after that for the first couple hours, but around
3PM things started to unravel a bit. First we pulled over just S. of Lynchburg
because Jeff Stewart's bus wasn't making near enough power on the Hills.
Steve Dolan broke out his trusty dwell-meter 
and re-adjusted the points to reduce the dwell. After that Jeff's bus was
running well, at least for a while. As we were coming through Lynchburg,
Jamie Auch's bus ran out of fuel, only a little ways short of the planned
fuel stop. Perhaps we should have allowed a bit more consumption for his
bus given the trailer he was hauling.
Tom, the driver of the Black and Red 71 Day Camper stayed with him for moral support, and the rest of us pulled up at a trusty Walmart parking lot (well, most of us did, but for a few at the lead of the pack who pulled in at the parking lot just after the Walmart). Sean Bartnik went back to help, and discovered the nearest gas station didn't sell gas cans, so it was back to Walmart to buy a fuel can, then back to the gas station to fill it, then back to refuel Jamie's bus. Meanwhile, Steve Dolan had another try at adjusting the dwell on the points in the Walmart Parking Lot.
We regrouped at an Amoco station down the road a ways, and as we were leaving wefound out Tom's red & black bus had broke its steering and had to be towed. Bummer. The other problem was that Jeff's bus still wasn't right, so we pulled off again at Lynchburg Municipal Airport to check the wires and do some further testing. Since we couldn't nail it down as an electrical problem, we thought it more likely a fuel system issue, esp. as this bus sat for two years before Jeff bought it. We dropped the fuel filter, but it wasn't clogged, then tried another rotor without any improvement.
About then the owner of the Self-Service Storage Facility showed up in a big shiny GM sedan, and voiced his disapproval of our presence there. Collie assured him we were just as anxious as he was for us to be on our way, and we would be getting out of their ASAP. We then swapped the AFM on Jeff's bus and headed out, but unfortunately the AFM didn't help either. Back on the highway regardless, and by 7:15 we got moving once more. Jamie Auch pulled off the road about an hour away from Greensboro with a problem with the accellerator pedal hinge, but since he knew it was an easy fit he told us all to keep rolling and he'd catch up. Steve Dolan stayed behind with him and they weren't too far behind us when we reached the park.
Colleen drove the final leg of the day's tour, 
and at 9:30 PM we finally pulled into EB2001. There was lots of people
standing around watching the buses roll in and it was great to hear the
shouts and cheers for the Canadian Contingent's arrival. We were amazed
at how warm it was after dark in Greensboro, we didn't even need to put
our jackets back on.
First order of business was to get the bus out of transport mode and back into camping mode. Stuff the suitcases amidships onto the front seats, put the coolers out on the ground, set up the folding table and install the child cot; then get franny's bedroll set up and tuck her in for the night.
Crack a cold brewski. Chat with some new friends about the drive, get
lots of nice comments about the paint and the westfakia conversion. Set
up the rear bed and pop-top bunk, put the other two kids down for the night.
Crack another brewski, talk to more folks, repeat. Finally run out of steam
just before 1 AM and slide into bed happy to be among so many new friends.
Woke up at 8AM, looked outside and all I could see was buses. Splitties,
Vanagons, Baywindows, Singlecabs, Crewcabs, and lots of Westies. Started
coffee and greeted the other Canadians that had managed to waken. Not many
of those, at least not yet. I scrambled on top of Mom & Dad's Vanagon
and took a great panoramic shot of the campground, it would have been even
better if I'd remembered to bring a tripod.
Breakfast was eggs and sausage, then we headed off to see Poor Richard
about our T-shirts. Dave Ireland and the Potts' shirts were the last 5
EB2001 shirts left, 
Steve Dolan also stopped by to pick up a netvernugen shirt. 
We all commented on how cool the paint looked 
on Poor Richard's Splittie, Matthew had already photographed it earlier
in the morning. I changed into my shirt ASAP, and then Colleen and I set
out on a lap of the grounds to have a look at all the buses.
I'd never seen so many buses in one place before -- the almost unbelievable final count was 120!!!! There were a few standouts in my mind: the Vanagon Synchro camper, the Psychadelic Rainbow bus, Snoopy's Partridge Family Bus, and the Capt USA Baywindow, just to name a few.
Meanwhile our kids were having the time of their lives -- Frances met
a "Pal-for-Life" in Jamie Auch's daughter Casey. 
Lisa and Matthew also had lots of friends to play with and somehow we almost
never felt worried about where they were at Everybus.
After a few hours of this things settled down and we relaxed... Collie
and Dave and I parked our butts in lawn chairs in the "Canadian Pavilion"
and tried to re-assure ourselves that after three days of driving we were
here, and had no-where to go that day. Crack a brewski, relax, chat, repeat.
The weather was perfect, sort a like a fine August day in S. Ontario. After a while I remembered we had to make some salad for the pot luck dinner so I started boiling some noodles for a Tuna Casserole. Meanwhile Colleen and Jamie Auch had headed into town in his wife's Toyota to get water and some other supplies... They got lost on the way back but did get back eventually. Colleen finished making the Tuna-Macaroni Salad and we put it into the cooler to chill.
Then it was time for some voting in the people's choice awards: The
best Campsite (Canadians were too self-conscious to vote for their own,
but we won anyway!), the Bus we'd most like to drive home, and the bus
we wouldn't drive around the block, never mind to EB2001. We had our own
opinions of the best bus, but we all agreed that Tom's bus is the least
dependable.
The next group event was the Chili cook-off. Campers started bringing
their chili's up to the judging area around 5PM, and at about 6 PM the
pot-luck dinner began. 
Everybody was amazed at how good the variety of food was. Veggie Chilies,
Meat Chilies, Sourdough breads, burritos and lots of different salads.
I'm not usually a big chili eater most of the time but these recipes may
have changed that.... they were awesome. 
After a third pass at the serving tables for some dessert I topped up
my EveryBeer and grabbed a lawn chair to take in the award Ceremony. The
Canadian Pavillion picked up first prize for best campsite, and we were
presented with a carton-load of hats, drink-holders and a WD-40 equivalent
in large spray bottles. We missed the longest-distance award by a hair...
our 860 mile trek had been bested by a bus from Texas. He took home a really
nice Coleman Cooler. As expected, Tom got the RustyBus award. 
As a door prize I wound up with a nice bottle of "Scorned Woman" Salsa,
which I used to make a really nice plate of Huevos Rancheros for Monday's
breakfast. Dave Ireland got a new set of Mirrors, Jamie got some bright
red new plug wires, Collie got something too but I can't remember what.
The kids weren't left out: Lisa and Matthew got Hot Wheels cars, and Frances
got a very nice beetle-shaped pillow that said "PEACE" on the side.
After Dinner we had a short driver's meeting about the trip to the Farmington show and then headed off to visit some more with our new friends and got to bed around 11 as there was plenty to be done the next morning. I remember seeing the light in the trees from the engine case fire but I never had the energy to get up and have a look at it.
Some cool pics I will share without comments:
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We started packing everybody down and looking after a few lingering maintenance chores on the buses... Our bus needed a boost as someone had left the interior lights drain the battery. I'll be putting a dual-battery relay onto the to-do list soon, you betcha.
Casey Auch and Frances Potts bid each other a very tearful farewell... Casey had a hard time understanding that we were from a whole other country. We will work hard to keep them connected by snail-mail and email so they don't lose touch, they played so well together that weekend.
We carabus-ed out of the Park in a line with 8 buses... 
Jamie, Dave, Dad, Me, Collie, Tom, Denmeister and another EB2001 Bus that
I didn't get the driver's name. We stopped at the gates to shoot another
group picture, and then headed off to Farmington for the Drag race and
swap meet.
At the swap meet we had a look at the toys and stuff for sale, watched
the drag races for a while 
and then checked out the custom cars... lots of cool bugs 
and ghias 
,
no buses on display. Dave bought a Pertronix electronic ignition for his
bus for $54 US$ that would have cost $90 Cdn$ at home.
One of the folks from the show with a limping bus asked us our opinion of a turn-key motor that was for sale... he was afraid his bus wasn't going to be able to handle the long hill on the way home. Jamie, Collie and Dennis gave him their advice, and then we had another driver's meeting about the route home. Collie was heading off east for another week's vacation, Tom was going to follow Collie as far as Lynchburg.
Dave and Jamie wanted to get back a bit ahead of the pack and back to work Tuesday. Dennis, Dad and I were wanting to take it a bit easier and smell the flowers on the way home. We bid adieu to Collie and Tom right after the meeting, and the rest of the group decided to drive north for a few hours before camping so as to get a jump on the drive Monday. We headed up I-77 to I-81, and camped for the night in an expensive but equally plush KOA in Staunton.
On the way up I-77 I switched on the GPS to get an altitude reading, it pegged us at just below 600 ft. Not long after that we started up The Hill Without End. By the time we crested it the GPS was indicating 2800 ft, and the views across the valleys were spectacular. I was quite proud that the bus did the whole hill in 4th gear, and when we stopped for gas a few miles later Jamie checked the heads with his temp. sensor and they were only at 240° F, which was pretty much the midpoint for the group.
On for another hour or so and we were checking into the Staunton KOA
at about 8PM. This is a great KOA, they have a hot-tub, pool, well cared
for grounds and tame rabbits and Blue Jays have the run of the campsites. 
We set up camp and had a quick dinner in the dark, and got to bed about
10:30 after another great day on the road. The only glitch of the day was
when Dennis couldn't restart the Sondancer until the starter motor had
a chance to cool down.
Back at camp we got breakfast underway and started planning our day... Dave and Jamie were going to make a run for the border, whereas Dennis had mentioned a really neat antique mart in Staunton right across the street from the Vintage Auto Restoration Centre.
Jamie and Dave got rolling at 9:30 AM... well, they would have except
that Dave's bus wouldn't start. At first we thought it was just flooded
but putting a boost to it didn't help get it running. Dave mentioned the
gap on the points slipping during the winter and decided to pull the points
and install the Pertronix ignition unit he 
had bought the day before.
The Pertronix installation was quick and easy and the bus started up
*instantly* as soon as he had it installed. Gonna have to get me one of
those. With that done Jamie and Dave were back on the road, 
bringing our Carabus down to three.
I took the kids down to see the waterfall Denmeister had mentioned and
took some pictures 
of it and the kids while Colleen went up to the shower. We got on the road
by about 11 AM, and headed into Staunton to check out the antiques.
It was another scorcher of a day in Staunton, and when we came out of the store we all tried to stay in the shade of the buses while we had lunch. After lunch we headed North on I-81 to Hagerstown and then followed I-70 West. The woman at the info center at the Pennsylvania border told us the camp at Breezewood was closed but suggested that Bedford had a campground we would like. Back on the road for about another hour and we pulled into the campground just after 6.
Good thing we had called ahead... the camp office was being kept open
just for us. We got a nice pull-through site and made dinner, and while
Colleen was on the pay-phone I discovered a HUGE snapping turtle 
had come up from the pond near the washrooms. It was at least 50 pounds,
and had a shell about two feet long. It was only 20 feet from Colleen when
I spotted it, I think she was lucky I had come along. Along with the turtle,
the camp also had ducks 
and
fish in the pond which the kids had fun feeding after breakfast the next
morning.
After dinner I set up the laptop and unloaded the digital camera 
to update the trip report . When dark came I lit the campfire Matt had
laid in the fire pit. The kids roasted marshmallows 
while we listened to Neil Young Unplugged and The Eagles Greatest Hits
on the CD-player in Den's bus. I brought out my guitar to work at playing
along, and discovered Denmeister used to play guitar in a band back in
the 60's, and he even suggested that if there were other BugPack members
we could have our own Canadian band at EB2002. There is plenty of Canadian
Content we could work with... Neil Young, Guess Who, Tragically Hip, and
Rush just to name a few. I'm sure if we could find a few more players
we could have a great show. Don't ask Dave
about my singing though.
Off to bed for a warm night, we cranked the jalousie windows open and
although I tried to find the bug screen for the rear hatch, I soon gave
up looking for it and went to sleep.
We headed back onto the Penna Turnpike and settled in for a day of steady grinding on the Interstates. Soon after we got rolling the rain started coming down, and the driver's side wiper got loose, drooped below the windshield rim and refused to come back up. We stopped and shimmed it tighter just after passing through the Allegheny Mountain tunnel, and got back onto the turnpike. It worked great after that. By then it was getting obvious the temperature had nosedived and wasn't coming back anytime soon.
We hustled along the Interstate north to Erie where the Grandma's on
the trip stocked up on Souvenirs at Walmart. Colleen managed to find two
Veggie Tales videos that weren't available at stores in Toronto, I'm sure
our kids'll be thrilled. Back onto the Interstate we hit Buffalo a little
after 6PM. We went into the duty free 
on the way over the border, but they had no Debit card system and we were
out of cash so we decided to just make do with the Bailey's we had bought
on the way down.
We turned the propane heat on again when we got back in the bus and
headed into Canada. 
No problem at the border, as Colleen somehow had relocated her Canadian
Accent and did a good job to convince the border guard we were mostly harmless.
Our first stop inside Canada was to get dinnner at Tim Horton's,
while Den & Ev made tracks after getting a refill on their coffee mugs.
Back on the Queen Elizabeth Way just after 8PM the two remaining
buses ttravelled together until highway 403 where we parted company, and
we each finished the trip solo for the last 40 miles or so.
