We have been getting a lot of attention from folks,interested in our Westfalia, they usually ask for a peak inside, thank goodness its pretty tidy most of the time, and the first thing they see is the chest of drawers, and the next question is always if it was specially fitted into the van. yup!!!! by Walmart!!! its perfect for us, i dont like plastics very much but this is cheap, easy to clean ,and holds all our undies, t-shirts,socks, and even some tools, shoes go in the bottom. We have it tied to the front chair so it cant go travelling on its own.
Even in such a small space as the Westfalia,i still cannot find stuff, there are a lot of little cubby holes!
So, i told you about the noise in the back, Bert thought tranny, but it indeed ended up being the exhaust system,which we had fixed in Phoenix AZ.for a lot of money, only to start leaking again two days later, Bert ended up fixing it himself, bought the right gaskets and new bolts and it has been great ever since.
talking about noise…… the third day travelling , the belt started making this horrible squealing sound,and i mean horrible,people walking by her stopped and stared,i slowly sunk down into my chair…… Now , the belt had not been looked at, other then it looked ok, so Bert bought belt dressing, even studied the problem online, that didnt do the trick, the squealing became even louder, and Bert, in his frustration, stomped on the gas ,revved the engine ,and the belt just screamed!!!!!
Eventually, he bought a new belt, the right size one too, as the one on the Westy was just a tad too long.
All was quiet, and away we went again.

The debate over the size of the engine continues,we thought it had a 2.1 litre engine, but now it might only be a 1.9. We are not sure……some of the components are for a 2.1,others for a 1.9.
But heh!!! she runs like a charm, more then enough power, goes up and down mountains, yes, slow, but she gets there!!!

And so we started out, on November 19,fully packed, everything we thought we might need and then some. We took the ferry in Victoria to Port Angeles, didnt need a reservation, the ferry had just a few cars and trucks on it. There is a wonderful natural food store downtown, Country Aire natural food market, i always head there first, have lunch there, the soup is just great, and buy my greens, as i cannot take any with us over the border. We were headed for our friends home, Rex and Heidi,who live near the ocean, near Ocean Park ,in Washington,near the mouth of the Columbia river. But,before we went there we decided that it would be smart to try out our Westy, see if everything was ok, the beds, cooking, comfort….. So, we stopped at Olympic State park, and had to pay all of 7 dollars for our stay, because we are a couple of “oldies”,hah!!!!! I decided to sleep in the top bunk, as Bert’s head sticks out and over the top, he doesnt fit well, in the lower bed he sticks his feet out the end, but that doesnt bother him…he says….. The next morning we noticed already, that the Westy was making quite the racket once started, my first thought was the exhaust system, but Bert figured it was the tranny, lovely!!!! A tranny job would cost us well over 3000!! We rumbled down the road towards Rex and Heidi, and the more i heard the noise, the more i said,(quietly to myself), its the exhaust! More about this later. We had a great time with Rex and Heidi, i love their little dog Haida ,and Big Dutchess is such a sweet dog, then there is little Schatsy, i hope i spell that ok, wonderful to have some furry critters around me, the cats came and sat on my lap even!!!
We went into Oysterville the next day for some shopping and coffee and goodies. Thank you friends, hope to see you again soon!!!