This photo was taken in the back yard of our house in Edmonton in December, 2007. This is a 1984 Westfalia, it has 200 000+ kms and it is the chariot of choice for the voyage to Central America. We planned a few reparations to prepare the vehicle for the journey and the vehicle is presently at Westside Auto.
Right after I took this photo, I began the process of trying to start the engine. You might be surprised to learn that it started on the first turn of the key. (By first turn of the key I mean tenth with a battery booster and a horseshoe in the tailpipe).
For those of you who haven't been inside a 1984 Westfalia, please lend me your imagination for a moment. The van's sliding door opens into the kitchen. The kitchen has two gas burners, a sink, a fridge and an espresso machine. The fridge and burners and powered by propane. The sink faucet pump is attached to a 50 liter water tank that drains conveniently out of the van and into nature. All of the cupboards and drawers lock when closed and allow plenty of room for the pots and pans. The driver's seat and the passenger's seat turn towards each other and a table can be swung into place. Another table is placed in front of the bench seat in the rear of the van. The nice part about the kitchen is that when the top of the van is popped up, there is plenty of standing room for cooking, laughing and eating. When diner is finished, the tables swing out of the way and the rear bench lies flat to create a double bed. The second double bed is comfortably under the recently popped van top and there are drapes for all of the windows for privacy and a good nights sleep.
I would like to end this blog with a small request from my readers. This van does not have a name or even a gender. At the moment, Emilie believes the van is a girl while Maia is quite sure that it is a boy. Please send us your preference and help us decide. (My personal choice is Optimus).
4 comments:
What about Vans, like the sneakers? It may get confusing, but I think it's worth the extra work.
Or you may want to go with a South American motif. If that's the case then you can't go wrong with Pele, classic and it will ensure you make friends. He's like the Michael Jordan of the southern hemisphere
As to the sex of the craft you may want to consider the tradition of naming vessels "she" before you set sail
http://www.boatsafe.com/kids/kidsquesshe.htm
I like Optimus - in which case it is definitely omnipotent: neither male nor female.
i like optimus. i like
Ademana. i like dream catcher. dream maker. love la ma/grandma la
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