Grizzly bears, snowstorms and tail winds... Oh my!

Suzanne headed up to the Waterfowl Lake campground for a couple of nights camping. Lena and Lemmy met up with Lena's parents. 

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/banff/activ/camping/waterfowl.aspx

On the way up we saw a grizzly on the side of the road. The pictures weren't great because Lemmy had to bark at the bear and we had to get moving. 

The next day it rained! 

We went for a hike up to Helen Lake (12 km return) and it snowed!

I think a furnace has moved up the to-do list!  

The drive home the next day was quite chilly with no heat. A tail wind got Suzanne passing vehicles while going uphill. That's was quite exciting. They we got some crosswinds that were a whole other kind of exciting. Maybe so beefier sway bars are in the future for Suzanne. 

Still, better than working!

A little shifty!

We finally got our beer tap installed as a shifter. We really enjoyed this beer when we were in Hawaii a few years ago. Takes us back...

Camperjam Canada! July 17-19, 2014

When we stopped in at the Close to Home VW show after the Three Hills Car show, we got invited to Camperjam Canada.

http://www.camperjam.ca/CallingAllVWBuses/Home.html

So, after replacing some leaking push rod tubes and upgrading to viton seals, we were off.

It was held just out of Drumheller AB at Graham Ranch.  Forest Fires caused a change of venue from Kootenay Plains (by Jasper AB).

Lots of cool VWs and great people!

And the inevitable....

I flew out to Vancouver for a week and when Jason came to pick me up, Suzanne broke down (at midnight).  Thank goodness for recently renewed AMA!

A charging issue was finally resolved after replacing the dash waning light.

We had previously had issues with over charging and replaced the battery and voltage regulator.  Then undercharging and replaced the alternator.  Sigh...

Seems to be good now.  One thing about VW's, you are always learning!

Camping in Marble Canyon, Kootenay National Park July 4-6, 2014

For this trip, we headed out to Jason's childhood summer stomping ground.

Marble Canyon Campground

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/bc/kootenay/visit/places.aspx#marble

We had good weather and saw some wildlife (rabbits, squirrels, a humming bird, a moose and a bear!)  Suzanne performed very well.  The pass up the highway 93 required the shoulder and the hazard lights but I suppose that's to be expected :-)

More rainbows on the way home (and hail).  All was well though.

Back...to the....Future!

The conditions were perfect (hill, tailwind) and Suzanne proved she that she is worthy of a flux-capacitor!

Day trip to Canmore/Spray Lakes

We thought we better test out Suzanne's hill climbing abilities (!) and I wanted lunch at the Grizzly Paw Brewery so we headed out to Spray Lakes AB via Canmore.

She made it to the top and back down and lunch was delish.  We got treated to a rainbow on the way home but sadly, no Unicorns.

Three Hills Car Show - June 3-4 2014

Well, I better get Suzanne's loyal follower (s??) up-to-date on her recent adventures -now that the engine is actually running!

We trucked off to the Three Hills car show in early June.

http://www.threehillscruise.ca/

She didn't win any awards and Jason was reluctant to enter her in the bracket racing but, she sure did attract a crowd.  It's really cool how many people share fond memories of when "they had a bus" or when young kids tell their parents "that's what I want!"

We had a great time, saw lots of awesome vehicles and enjoyed the belated summer weather.

Beauty VW'S!

Cool Corvair engine conversion!