Well the girls are back and I haven't spent much time working on Tasi's bus.  I did take the time to make a new cupholder for it.  These sell for nearly thirty bucks but only cost about $7 to build yourself.  Velma thinks it's ridiculous to spend all day building a cupholder.  She's probably right.

Come home!

My wife and girls are in Guam visiting her family.  They've been gone too long though.  It's time to come home!  

Northern CA camping!

So we're back from a great weekend of camping and traveling around in the bus.  Jeff and Tom proved willing participants in this journey and made excellent camping buddies.  The first night was spent at Anthony Chabot Park outside of Castro Valley, CA.  All went well in except for a stuck throttle cable in the bus on the way there.  By "stuck" I actually mean "stuck wide open"! It was a bit scary, but in typical VW fashion, the problem was easily diagnosed and repaired on the side of road.  Here's a shot of the first night's campsite.

For the next night, we travelled north alongside the coast for a couple of hours.  Tom had an "alternate route" that was a bit unnerving but worth EVERY bit as we were treated to views that only the adventurous will ever see. 

Our campsite at Sonoma County State Beach was great as well.  Perhaps a bit tired from the journey, we set up camp quickly and made a meal of a dozen fresh oysters we bought at the general store. NICE!  The beach was great and the surf was amazing. We wore ourselves out with some beach frizbee before settling down for another night's rest. 

After a quick serenade....

It was a great weekend to remember.  The next day, we slowly winded our way up Hwy 1 instead of taking the freeway.  We stopped often to check out towns like Stinson and Bolinas and had the world's greatest fish 'n chips at the Sand Dollar. 

It's weekends like this that turn ordinary working folk into wandering globetrotters.  I can't wait to share times like these with my girls. 

Pops in the house!

It's been an eventful few days since my step dad, Jeff, and his brother, Tom, have been in town. Despite his busy schedule with the Apple developer's conference, we've managed to take in a few sights.  We also took some time to go get Velma a suitable ride. She's wanted one of these for a while, and I must admit that, while not a Bus, it's pretty damn pimp inside! She's gonna love it! Hopefully she'll forgive me for letting her cat, Jack, run away.

We ate at our favorite spot on the wharf, Scoma's. Try the lobster ravioli. It's amazing. 

We're headed out for an adventure in the bus for the next couple of days. First stop, Anthony Chabot campground in the hills of Castro Valley. After that, we'll travel up the coast for a stay at Sonoma Coast State Beach. Should be nice.

Best news of all...........Velma and my girls come back from Guam in two weeks!

Who am I?

No one, really.  Just a guy who sees the future of the world in the eyes of his children.  A guy who still gets all flustered at the sight of his wife's backside.  A guy who finds more joy in a pile of greasy old German machinery than he really should.  A really lucky guy with a wonderful family and a pretty good job.

I'm a guy who loves the feeling of helping my fellow humans reach their potential.  Just a guy, really. 

Oh, I'm also a guy with a bus.  Slower, less reliable, and without the amenities and conveniences that we've come to believe that we're entitled to.  Nearly perfect in all of its faults, the bus is simple and utilitarian.  Whether you like it or not, your life will slow down while your in the bus.  In a world full of frenzy and competition, you can't help but see yourself outside of the struggle when you drive the bus.  

This blog will be about my never ending quest to get my wife to understand why this thing is important to me and how I think it can better our family.  That is, of course, if I can just finish working on it long enough for us to enjoy it.  

Come along and watch the sitcom that our lives can be.  All the more interesting, at least in the minds of me and my 3 year old...because of "her" bus.