by Guest Wed Sep 12, 2012 10:11 amCamping in my old van. Where do I start? I cannot count the number of times I camped in my '64 Handi-Van in the 13 years I had it. Fighting the head winds over Tehachapi Pass....... The wind can be your worst enemy. I remember one night in Utah when the Chinook hit. It was so hot, I had to sleep with the windows open and the van was rocking so bad, I was sure I was a gonner. With Red Rock Canyon(CA) full, we camped on a road nearby, with huge power lines above us. The winds were scary and the sound coming from the wires was incredible!
Heat! I put a Mexican blanket over the engine cover. My wife(god bless her tolerance)used to turn beet red, I thought she was going to pass out. We went through Barstow one time when it was 115 on the way back from L.A. Every window down ,it was like a blast furnace. A glutton for heat, we went through Death Valley in the summer one year. We hit Stove pipe wells and the temp was 120! My van never overheated but my wife did!
Getting stuck in the mud, running off a snow bank, hotrodding down an arroyo in the sand, knowing if I stopped we were done for. Flat tires in the middle of nowhere, running out of gas, broken windshields, losing my brakes, getting stopped by cops for no apparent reason.
But, there are the good times lol!
It was a shell when I got it. Used in the 60's by an appliance company, I acquired it in '81. After years of camping in it, with condensation dripping on our noses, I finally gave it an interior. My wife and I traveled all over the west. By 1994, we were ready for something with more luxury, so we bought a '75 Ford pop top. I could never go to the places my '64 could and I missed that.
I bought it for $1200 and sold it to a hippy for $800. Haven't seen it since.
Heat! I put a Mexican blanket over the engine cover. My wife(god bless her tolerance)used to turn beet red, I thought she was going to pass out. We went through Barstow one time when it was 115 on the way back from L.A. Every window down ,it was like a blast furnace. A glutton for heat, we went through Death Valley in the summer one year. We hit Stove pipe wells and the temp was 120! My van never overheated but my wife did!
Getting stuck in the mud, running off a snow bank, hotrodding down an arroyo in the sand, knowing if I stopped we were done for. Flat tires in the middle of nowhere, running out of gas, broken windshields, losing my brakes, getting stopped by cops for no apparent reason.
But, there are the good times lol!
It was a shell when I got it. Used in the 60's by an appliance company, I acquired it in '81. After years of camping in it, with condensation dripping on our noses, I finally gave it an interior. My wife and I traveled all over the west. By 1994, we were ready for something with more luxury, so we bought a '75 Ford pop top. I could never go to the places my '64 could and I missed that.
I bought it for $1200 and sold it to a hippy for $800. Haven't seen it since.
