Almost Done

Winter weather without a garage means slow progress for the Bee, but it's almost done!

The interior is mostly back in, with the exception of the driver's seat. Our original "wedding bug" it came with the wood paneling...we decided to keep it, at least for now. We're looking for decently-priced seat covers...

The rear seat is in place

All that's left to do is a valve adjustment, timing adjustment, install the driver's seat, and air up the tires!! Just like with the bus, there will always be "something" to work on, but we hope to be officially on the road by this weekend!

More Progress

On the days it's warm enough, we've been putting in some extra work on the Beetle:

New tail lights are in!

We sprayed down the floor with rust treatment and spray-on truck bed liner. It looks pretty nice! It'll take a few days to dry, then we can finally get the seats back in! Eventually we'll have to replace at least one of the floor pans, but for now, this should keep the rust from getting worse.

And a brand-new Op.tima battery!

It's quite rare that we have a 'white Christmas', but this year on Christmas Eve, snow started falling! I thought the Beetle looked pretty cool with a fresh layer of snow. 

 

Back to Life

We got a new battery, a few hoses, clamps, and wires for the beetle. We still need a few more things before we are road-worthy -- the tail lights need to be hooked up, and the seats need to be put back in -- but we've made progress!

We've missed the hum of the Bee! I had to take a quick video to commemorate the occasion...

And yes, we know it needs a valve adjustment. ;)

Sugar Magnolia

My parents own a 1991 Westy and recently started their very own blog! They have some pretty cool adventures planned, so check it out!

They call her Sugar Magnolia, in honor of the Greatful Dead song.
http://travelsinsugar.blogspot.com/

I have to say, it's pretty cool to be able to share our VW obsession with my parents! 

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Stay tuned for an update on Greta and the Bee!

Puppy Love

Yesterday we welcomed a family member, Penelope (aka Nellie)!!

She is a 10 month old Labrador. We love her already! Next weekend she'll take her first road trip with Greta!

Playing at the dog park

 
 

Out for a Thursday Drive

We seem to have gotten into the habit of taking drives with Greta on Thursday evenings. 

Tonight, we drove through a section of Gold Camp Road:

Bee Love

The Bee has been a bit neglected around here. Now that the camping season is coming to an end, we've switched focus a little. We just ordered new parts for the Beetle:

• wiring loom
• electronic ignition
• wiper sprayer
• coil

We've been able to trade quite a few unneeded bus items. We ended up with a child's cot for the bus, and a deck lid for the Beetle. 

Here's a few Bee pics, since there haven't been many around here lately!

New deck lid coming soon!

 

New Neighbors

We have a new air-cooled friend across the street!

 We actually met the new neighbors a month or so ago at a local VW Club meet-up. They recognized Greta from when they had visited the house prior to purchasing....I guess seeing our VWs parked across the street was an added selling point!

Anniversary 2012

I love that we got married on Labor Day weekend. It's been great having an extra day to celebrate each year! 

This year, of course, we had to go camping with Greta. We went back to the Buena Vista area since it's a fairly short drive and we love the campsites. We left town as soon as I got home from work Friday. It was so nice to head west out of town! We were able to get our favorite spot at Brown's Creek.

On Saturday we took a 5 mile (round trip) hike to a waterfall.

 

 

We met some horses along the way

Lots of mushrooms near the water

 On the way back, we took a different trail (which in hindsight wasn't the best idea. This trail was very rocky)

A sight for sore eyes feet!

By the time we got back to camp in the afternoon, there were a lot of people around. Thankfully the crowds died down around dusk and we had another quiet evening. 


On Sunday, we broke camp and took our time getting home. We stopped for lunch in Bunea Vista at the Eddyline Brewery (great pizza and beer!)

Cheers!

Then we took the scenic route through Fairplay, South Park, and Alma before heading into Breckenridge. 

And we conquered Hoosier Pass! 11,542 feet

 
We hadn't planned on stopping in Breck, but since we were there, we decided to take the (free) gondola to the top of the mountain.  

Bye, Greta!

Can you find her?

Once at the top, there are a variety of activities - alpine slide, roller coaster, scenic chair lift, mountain biking, etc. We chose one of the cheapest activities (and least crowded) and went on the scenic chair lift. 

 

Almost to the top!

The awesome view