Sandy Travels

Jersey Shore 2013 - a Wal-Mart in NJ to home

2015-03-05T17:25:00.000-08:00

We still didn't find an amazing bagel yet! But today, we found a bakery that had the absolute best banana chocolate chip muffins! It is called Moester's and it is right off of Route 72 on the way to Long Beach Island (Woo hoo! This will be a stop each year on our way to Chowderfest!)

We decided to spend the day at Island Beach State Park today - just chilled and beached. There were showers and a concession stand here - good since we were at a Wal-Mart last night! :) We wanted to boondock here tonight but you weren't allowed, so we ended up at a Wal-Mart again tonight (talk about a cheap road trip!)...we found a place to get hoagies nearby, so did that and then fell asleep stuffed!!

Today was our last day, so we had to find a great bagel!! We found a place called Bagel Exchange where we got a pumpernickel and a French toast bagel - very good, but even better was we sat on the boardwalk overlooking the Atlantic (in Point Pleasant) to eat them.

We then spent today driving north as far as we could go in New Jersey - through Spring Lake, Belmar, Avon-by-the-Sea, and Bradley Beach. All of these beaches seemed very nice - there was a boardwalk that runs all along the beaches. We stopped and looked at Asbury Park (isn't Bruce Springsteen from here?) We ended at Highlands, NJ, which was as far as we could go - we could see the Statue of Liberty across the water (Sandy Hook Bay). Our last stop was to get Italian ice at Strollo's (Chelsea's recommendation). It was delicious!

We headed home from here...we had a good time exploring the Jersey shore - last minute trip turned out to be lots of fun! :)

Jersey Shore 2013 - Long Beach Island to a Wal-Mart in NJ

2015-03-05T16:50:00.001-08:00

We decided to eat at one of our favorites on Long Beach Island for breakfast - Moustache Bill's in Barnegat (by the lighthouse). We frequent this diner in October when we come...first tried after seeing it on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives when Guy had the uniquely shaped pancakes. Our kids used to get them when they were younger. Doug really wanted a moustache one today, but they said they were too busy! (Probably not because he was an adult, right??) We still had a good breakfast! :)

Today was a lazy day - it was cloudy out and then started to rain. One of the best things about owning a Westy is that if you get tired, you can just put down the seats and take a nap! That's just what we did - found a little park with no one there, parked, and took a nap!

That evening, we went back to Ocean City, NJ for the Art of Surfing festival. They had surf art, jewelry, and crafts (all beachy). Then we had a great time eating on the boardwalk starting with all kinds of samples, from taffy to fudge. Then we found a place called Hula Grill where we chowed down pork bbq with a special Thai sauce and sticky rice. Then Doug had to have a dipped ice cream cone. Finally, he couldn't resist a $1 piece of pizza. Needless to say, we were stuffed!

We were tired of paying to basically just sleep at a campground, so we decided to boondock tonight! We found a Wal-Mart where overnight parking is allowed (we found that most of the supercenters allow it). Not the best night's sleep, but free!

Jersey Shore 2013 - Avalon to Long Beach Island

2015-03-05T12:52:00.000-08:00

We ended our evening last night with amazing ice cream and started the day today with out of this world cream donuts from Kohler's Bakery in Avalon! They were so fresh the cream was still a bit warm! Can you tell we like to eat??

We continued our trip on beach road traveling through Sea Isle City which is another cute, quiet town. We then stopped in Ocean City, NJ at a farmer's market (can't pass up one of these!). We got some snacks for later and continued on to Atlantic City. We thought we would spend the afternoon here, but were maybe here an hour. I didn't like it at all - very run down. We walked through the Showboat Casino and out to the boardwalk. I wanted to see the steel pier where the horses used to jump off a diving board into the water. Not much to see these days but rides and carnival games. Needless to say, all I could think about was Sandy, and where we had parked her. It just didn't seem like a very safe location, so we headed back to her. The city was just so depressing, I was so glad Sandy was still there and in the same condition we left her!!

It was still fairly early, so we drove north to Long Beach Island where we knew we'd be happy! Doug hasn't seen it in the summer for a long time - we are used to the October crowd. It was very odd to see the field where the Chowderfest tents are (in October) all empty! We decided to get some chowda in a bread bowl from Country Kettle - mmmmmm! We perused the town and even got to hear a concert in the park across from Surflight Theater.

We had gotten a campsite before going on to Long Beach Island called Baker's Acres. It was a quiet campground, but very dark and woodsy - so much that we drove Sandy to the bathrooms! Off to bed for the night!

Jersey shore 2013 - Cape May to Avalon

2015-03-05T12:27:00.000-08:00

Cape May to Avalon

One of the goals of this trip was to find the best bagel on the Jersey shore! Found a place today, but just a so-so bagel... but eating it while gazing at the Atlantic makes it taste just a little better!

Yesterday, while hitting a couple shops, we got a tip on where to find beach glass. In my book, that trumps everything, even food, so before we ate we headed to Sunset Beach in Cape May to see what treasures we could find. Turns out, a lot of people beat us there! I found a couple pieces, but I bet coming in off season would help my treasure hunt for beach glass!

Our adventure of the Jersey shore continued to the Wildwoods...wow has that place changed since I was a kid. We even drove past the hotel in North Wildwood where we used to stay with my grandparents...gone! :( We continued north through Stone Harbor, where they were doing beach replenishment, then on to Avalon. Both of the towns were quaint, little, low-key towns that would be cool to check out off season when they aren't so busy.

We beached for a couple hours in Avalon. We ended up avoiding the charge of a beach tag...just casually get in the water when you see the patrol lady coming! We got that advice from a nice boy as we were going onto the beach!

We camped at Avalon Campground - it was an ok campground. The sites are close to each other and bathrooms just so-so. We decided to go into Stone Harbor to get something to eat and then check out Springer's for ice cream (rated #3 on Trip Advisor) - we knew when we got there it had to be good by the length of the line!! Doug tried almond amaretto and I had mint chocolate chip. We decided it was worth the wait...

Jersey shore 2013 - Chambersburg to Cape May, NJ

2015-03-05T11:58:00.000-08:00

I thought I should get caught up on our blog today - it's a snow day in March 2015. I write notes in a journal when we travel which is more convenient when you're on the road and don't always have wi-fi. The problem is that sometimes I don't have time to catch up on this blog! Well today is the day to write about our spontaneous trip to the Jersey shore back in the summer of 2013!

A little background...Doug spent his summers at Long Beach Island as a kid and for the past 10 or so years we have been visiting once a year for Chowderfest in October. I spent some of my childhood summers in Wildwood with my parents and grandparents and haven't been back for a while. We would visit Stone Harbor and Cape May while in Wildwood so I have some vague memories of those towns. We decided a road trip starting at the southern most part in Jersey to the northernmost might be fun. So, we had 6 days and decided to take Sandy and go on an adventure! :)

I didn't want to travel on the turnpike, so we set off on Route 30 and went "back roads" the whole way there. It seemed like a long trip - it ended up taking us four hours and forty-five minutes. Made a couple stops along the way: Wegman's for sushi and a little roadside fruit stand. We drove to Cape May at the southern most part of Jersey. We hit a happy hour for some frozen drinks, walked around the town, checking out all the old Victorian houses, then found a seafood restaurant called H&H Seafood. The lobster was calling my name so we settled on that along with some corn on the cob. It was good, but just not as good as Maine lobster (fresh in Maine!). They had a great little outdoor seating area right on the water.

We finally ended the day in Adventure Bound Camping Resort and just hung out in Sandy.

June Road Trip 2013 - Charleston, SC to home (Chambersburg, PA)

2013-08-12T05:58:00.001-07:00

One last trip into the historic downtown Charleston. We hadn't checked out any of the shops yet! We started by walking through the Charleston City Market (we weren't that impressed). My goal was to find a donut and cupcake shop! :)

We stopped in The Peanut Shop again, just like the one in Savannah, for lots of samples! We checked out a couple other shops, then found a Farmer's Market which was pretty cool! We got a smoothie called a Painkiller (excellent!) and also picked up some boiled peanuts to take home for Chels and Adam to try. Next we headed to the donut shop (that I, of course, found on Trip Advisor) - too late! Once they run out of donuts, they close! We continued on and did find the cupcake shop - well, Katelyn saw it - I would've walked right past it! It was called Cupcake downsouth. They were pretty good - we split a key lime, chocolate salted caramel, and red velvet. Then we headed back to Sandy.

We drove around the historical section of Charleston next - we saw the cobblestone streets, Rainbow Row (little houses that were different colors), and some other old houses. Katelyn and I also checked out the Pineapple fountain.

After that we started our drive home... we couldn't do a ten hour drive, so we stayed overnight at a Hampton Inn outside of Richmond, VA. Turns out we got a free night because there were some partiers that kept us awake. I complained in the morning and they said the night was on them because of their 100% satisfaction guarantee! (That was even cheaper than camping!!)

We had a really nice trip - I will say it was extremely humid and if we hadn't purchased the fans when we got to Savannah, we would've been very uncomfortable sleeping! I also want to purchase a rain flap - that way we could camp even if there is a chance of rain (which it seems like every night there was!). I may not choose to travel south again in the summer - who knows?? Originally, I had wanted to go to Florida! Maybe we could invest in an A/C unit for Sandy! :)

June Road Trip 2013 - Charleston area - Day 3

2013-08-11T19:18:00.003-07:00

Today was another beach day! We drove to Folly Beach and drove around to check things out. We found a place to park - as long as there are no signs telling you not to park and all four tires are off the road, it's free! :)

It was another windy day on the beach! :( This time I laid on a towel, since last time Katelyn suffered! :) The sand is very thin and sticks to you - I definitely recommend chairs for all the beaches we have visited on this trip. The water temperature was nice, but there was a very strong current. Doug and Katelyn stayed in a lot longer than me!

When we got tired of the windy beach, we decided to find a place to eat. We settled on The 'Wich Doctor. Katelyn and I split a pizza with 1/2 jalapeños (Katelyn's choice!) and Doug got fish tacos - I had one. Both were very tasty. Afterwards we stopped in a couple surf shops.

We decided to try a campground tonight because it was our last chance before we started our trek back to Pennsylvania. We stayed at Oak Plantation. It was a nice open campsite - I would stay here again. We swam in the pool for a little - nice pool, but right beside the highway so a little loud. We hadn't done a campfire yet, because it had been so hot, but again, being our last night, we had to make s'mores!! They didn't have fire pits, so you rented a fire ring instead (that was new for us). We didn't last really long because the bugs started to attack - that was our cue to head into the Westy!

June Road Trip 2013 - Charleston area - Day 2

2013-08-11T18:56:00.001-07:00

Today we did the educational part of our trip :) - we went to Middleton Place. It was a beautiful day here - there was a little breeze in the air so it made the humidity more bearable.

This was a plantation owned by a very wealthy family (no relation to Kate Middleton according to the tour guides) - it was known for its beautiful gardens. It was also known as a self-sufficient plantation - they had their own animals, blacksmith, carpenter/barrel maker, and potter among other things. There were, of course, hundreds of slaves working on the plantations and tending to the rice crop which was their big money maker. (There were also some really big trees!) This particular plantation was burned by the Northerners - you can still see the remains of the main house and you can just imagine the grandeur of it back in the day! We spent most of the day here walking around the grounds, taking pictures of the beautiful gardens and animals, and learning about plantations of the pre-Civil War era.

We drove down into the historic downtown area after leaving the plantation to try and find a place to eat near the water. We were unsuccessful, so we decided to eat at the Hominy Grill, which had a really good rating on Trip Advisor. We all tried some southern cooking - Katelyn - cornbread, Doug - grits and fried green tomato BLT, and I tried stewed tomatoes and okra. We all tried some boiled peanuts - you eat the whole peanut, shell and all - we didn't care much for these.

Struck out again with camping - we actually had a place picked out, but bolts of lightning caused us to stay at a Hampton Inn instead! :(

June Road Trip 2013 - Charleston area

2013-08-09T05:55:00.001-07:00

Today was supposed to be a beach day, but we didn't have lots of luck. We were checking out Isle of Palms and Sullivan's Island. After much driving around, we finally decided to beach at Isle of Palms. Beaches are different around here from what we are used to - the sand is packed down and hard, so you really have to have chairs - laying on a towel is not much fun (poor Katelyn).

We were there for an hour when we could see a storm approaching. It started to rain so we ducked under a beach umbrella that was for rent. :) The rain stopped, so we beached a little longer, but when it started again, we decided to head back to Sandy. Looked like the rain was here to stay.

After driving around a little (touring the island) we ate at Taco Mamacita in Sullivan's Island. Very good tacos and guacamole, cheese dip, and salsa!

We aren't having much luck with the weather - we had to stay at a hotel again tonight. We decided we really need to invest in a rain fly for Sandy.

June Road Trip 2013 - Savannah - Day 2

2013-08-08T05:34:00.002-07:00

We drove into Savannah for a second day to tour around the city. One of our goals was to find the waving lady. She was said to have waved each day to sailors passing for 44 years! We walked again along River Street (cobblestone streets) and found The Peanut Shop - they had the most samples of any store ever!! We had a nice snack!

Walking around the town we found some other cool shops - one was an old mansion (one of the oldest) that now had antiques on each of the four floors. We also admired the amazing old houses, pretty trees, and architecture.

Doug found a place to eat called The Pirates' House. It was a unique place in that it was an old inn and tavern for sailors and pirates passing through the area. We ate here and then got a tour of the building from a "pirate." We learned a lot about the history of the building and other interesting little tidbits.

We really enjoyed Savannah - we would come back again because there were tons of interesting restaurants and shops all over the place!

We left for Charleston later in the afternoon. Unfortunately we couldn't sleep in Sandy, we had to stay at a Hampton Inn because of the rain.

June Road Trip 2013 - Savannah

2013-08-07T18:12:00.001-07:00

Katelyn woke up this morning with an earache. We know all too well not to mess around with these with all the swimming we do over the summer! So we found the closest Urgent Care and got her some meds.

Checking out the city of Savannah was on our agenda for today! We stopped at the visitor center for a map and some info. We really enjoyed walking around this city - lots of very old, huge historical houses, beautiful trees with Spanish moss hanging from them, and shops and restaurants galore! We walked through the City Market area, River Street (riverwalk), and then W. Broughton Street.

Along our journey we found a chocolate shop we definitely wanted to come back to and also we had heard about a famous ice cream shop that had been around since 1919 that we just couldn't miss. We decided to just eat something small so we found a place called Goosefeathers - Doug and I split a chicken salad sandwich and Katelyn got a black bean burrito that was not so small :).

Back to Chocolat by Adam Turoni - I've never seen a shop like this before! There were four cases of amazing chocolates. You pick up a silver tray and then put on the chocolates you'd like to buy (using tongs of course). Then they have a bar you can sit at to indulge in some of the best tasting chocolate ever! My favorite was a dark chocolate with a honey filling (from bees right in Savannah). We struck up a conversation with Adam Turoni himself and ending up getting to try one of his new chocolates which also was a dark chocolate with honey filling, but this one had honey from bees that fed on wildflowers. So delicious!

Then next we headed to Leopold's for ice cream. We were raking in the calories today!! Very good ice cream - Katelyn had peppermint, Doug had coffee and mint chip, and I had mint chip.

We headed back to the campground pretty stuffed! We swam in the pool and ended our night with a game of Scrabble Slam.

June Road Trip 2013 - Somewhere in NC along Route 95 to Tybee Island, GA

2013-07-10T06:33:00.002-07:00

Today was mostly a driving day - we now have a third passenger with us! :)

Our thought was to drive the farthest south we wanted to go and work our way north. So, today we wanted to reach Savannah, Georgia. We had to stop at South of the Border and get some fun pictures...

It took us about 5 hours to get to Georgia. We stopped at a Target to pick up some fans. The forecast was not looking good - chance of rain or thunderstorms every day! Ugh!! We decided if we had to zip everything up, we may want to have some fans to keep us somewhat cool. I found a campground called River's End in Tybee Island, Georgia, that was really close to the beach. So that's where we camped first.

We set up camp and then walked to a restaurant that was on the beach (well that's how it was advertised, but there was a parking lot and a dune separating the restaurant from the ocean). On our way there was a lighthouse. We ate at North Beach Grill and had a nice meal there - Doug decided to try crayfish bites. We checked out the beach - the water looked pretty dirty - not sure at that point if we would beach there the next day or not. After dinner we returned to the campsite where Doug and Katelyn swam in the pool - I just needed a shower! Then we played some games (Uno and Story Cubes) before calling it a night!

June Road Trip 2013 - Surf City, NC to Wilmington, NC

2013-07-10T06:13:00.000-07:00

I was anxious to get everything cleaned up and get on the road. I wanted to quickly forget about all that rain and my restless night sleeping - Doug said I must have stepped on his head about a dozen times as I was getting up to check for leaks! :)

We read about a bakery and coffee shop that I just had to check out in Surf City, so of course we hit them both. First the Corner Sweet Bakeshop and Treats where we got some cookies for later. The owner there loved Sandy - a possible trade?? I could manage living at the beach owning a bakery! Next we went to the Hunga Bunga Java coffee shop. We had a delicious smoothie, coffee, and muffin there. It had a very "chill" tiki vibe so we enjoyed our food and drinks there.

We left there and headed south to Wilmington, NC. What a great little town! We parked near a farmer's market that was going on (it was Saturday) in the historic downtown section. They have a quaint riverwalk section that has restaurants and shops all along it. They also have side streets that have the same thing. We really enjoyed walking around the town, going into the cool shops, listening to some live music along the river, and deciding on a place to eat. We settled on The George on the Riverwalk because I love being able to eat and look at water at the same time! The ocean is my favorite, but I'll take a river :) We had calamari (it's been a long time!) and fish tacos. Both were very tasty! We would definitely visit Wilmington again - there were lots of interesting restaurants and I'm sure we didn't see all the shops!

We drove to a hotel tonight. Tomorrow Katelyn joins us! :)

June Road Trip 2013 - Ocracoke, NC to Surf City, NC

2013-07-07T17:23:00.002-07:00

After leaving the Ocracoke Campground, we decided to stop at the Ocracoke Coffee Co., which is a great little coffee shop in town. We were heading to the ferry to take us to Cedar Island, NC, at 10:00. We shared an amazing smoothie called Jah Makin' Me Crazy and also a piece of lemon poppy seed blueberry coffee cake. That also was incredible. I would have liked to try many things on that menu - we'll have to visit again!

The line for the ferry was a lot shorter (we had to make reservations for this one). It was a nice ferry - the upper section was an air-conditioned seating area. We decided to eat our other apple ugly from yesterday on the ride over. It takes 2 hours and 15 minutes. You disembark in Cedar Island, NC, and we drove to Beaufort, NC, from there. We walked around Market Street and checked out some shops, but weren't really hungry enough to eat anywhere yet (go figure...lots of pastries already today!).

Not knowing where we were going to stay that night yet, we continued our drive along the coast. First we drove along route 58 and checked out Atlantic Beach and Emerald Isle. Then we had to head inland, and finally headed south along the coast again along route 210 to look at North Topsail and Surf City. Of all the beaches we saw today, the ones here (Surf City) reminded us most of the Outer Banks.

We ended up finding a campground just over the bridge from Surf City called Lanier's Campground. We checked in there and then went to get something to eat. This was not a fun camping night - it rained - hard... and for a long time. I woke up at 1AM and by that time the pop-top was already very wet. So, we really couldn't put it down. Doug said it would be fine as long as I didn't touch it. I was up on and off all night afraid the rain would leak in. It did, but just a little bit. We will be getting a rain fly from Go Westy before our next big trip in Sandy! The funny thing is, we didn't really think to check the weather forecast because we haven't really had this problem before! We will be checking that from now on!

June Road Trip 2013 - Ocracoke, NC

2013-07-07T16:05:00.002-07:00

We've been to Ocracoke several times as a day trip, but decided this time to camp out overnight. We left from Kill Devil Hills and made two stops - one for apple uglies at Orange Blossom Bakery in Buxton and the second to get some pictures of Sandy with the Hatteras Lighthouse (I feel like I have Flat Stanley!). It was a busy day to get the ferry to Ocracoke - it took a total of two hours from the time we got to the ferry until we landed in Ocracoke (and it's only a 40 minute ride)!

We decided when we got there to find the campground where we would spend the night. We checked out the Ocracoke Campground (which is run by the park service) and Teeter's Campground (which is in town). Teeter's was very crowded with lots of RVs, so we decided to go with Ocracoke Campgournd. This one was just over the dune from the beach, so we picked a site and then went to spend some time on the beach. It was an extremely windy day - Doug actually found a good place to sit to avoid all the wind!

We beached until the wind got the best of us, then headed back to the campsite to get showers. Loved the campsite, but the showers... not so much! They did not have hot water. Thank goodness it was a hot day, but taking a cold shower is not very fun. We got ready and headed into town to eat dinner at Dajia. I had shrimp tacos and Doug had shrimp and grits. Both meals were very good!

Nice night for our first camp night - it was pretty neat staying right over the dune from the Atlantic Ocean! :)

June Road Trip 2013 - OBX

2013-06-22T18:50:00.000-07:00

Bringing Sandy to the OBX is something we knew we'd do at least once. Well, this was the time. It fit perfectly in our road trip itinerary. Doug was dreading the drive down - he always makes it in 6 hours (if no traffic) with his record time being 5 hours 45 minutes. We already knew driving Sandy would be one of the longest trips. So, we get on Route 17 in Wincester, VA, and decide to take it as far as we can. It actually wasn't bad... back roads, but not much traffic at all! :) But, it still took us 2 hours longer. We did make extra stops so it wasn't too bad. Needless to say, we were glad to get on the island! Sandy did a good job - she has a little hesitation when we sit idle. Not sure exactly what that is yet.

We got here just in time to make it to Black Pelican's happy hour! 4:58 was when we were seated (happy hour 3-5). The waitress allowed us to partake in the happy hour specials - $4.99 for 1/2 lb. of shrimp and $2 off their pizzas. Thank goodness we got these discounts!! :) (Those who know us well are smiling right now!) We got some shrimp and our favorite, white seafood pizza! :) Then came their amazing Bailey's fudge torte - that is to die for!

We spent our days in the OBX on the beach (as usual) and our evenings having dinner at one of our favorite places, then hanging out with Doug's mom at her house. Sandy was just parked in the driveway for this leg of the roadtrip. But we had fun taking pictures of her down here!

Make sure if you're down here, you make a trek down to the Outer Banks Fishing Pier. I had some tasty fresh tuna salad and a fantastic piece of key lime pie.

Another favorite we hit at least once a summer is High Cotton for BBQ/ribs. We like it so much, we ordered it last year for Chelsea and Adam's wedding!

On our last night there we tried Chilli Peppers - we had a table full of shrimp, wings, guac, salsa, and chips! They had some delicious smoked wings. And of course we had to hit up Surfin' Spoon for some froyo! :)

We decided to postpone our the next phase of our roadtrip because of the weather. We are so glad we did! Our nephews, Brady and Morgan, were participating in the NCBBA Youth Fishing Tournament. We enjoyed hanging out with them on Avalon Pier!

Farm Aid in Hershey! (September 2012)

2013-06-16T19:23:00.001-07:00

I'm a little behind at posting, but that's mostly because we haven't taken any trips in Sandy! We were very busy taking other trips last summer and unfortunately ran out of summer before we got a Westy trip in! :( But, we decided to take Sandy to Hershey for Farm Aid in September and do some tailgating before the concert. Sandy is great to travel in, but also a great tailgating vehicle! (We used her on the 4th of the July a couple years too!) So, we got some cool snacks together and went early to Hersheypark Stadium. Doug, Adam, and I hung out - Chels joined us later (I think she had a bridal shower or something). It was a fun time. Favorite snack = sushi!!

Notice the other Vanagon right beside us!!

The tailgating was fun, but the Farm Aid lineup was awesome! My favorite was Dave and Tim (Matthews and Reynolds), followed by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, and Jack Johnson. Other classics were there like John Mellencamp, Neil Young, and Willy Nelson. The place was packed, so you really didn't want to get up to do anything, but the music was great! It's such a great cause. I just found out this year's concert is in Saratoga Springs, NY - six and a half hours away - roadtrip anyone??

Putting on the new pop-top - helpful hints

2011-07-20T19:01:00.000-07:00

Replacing a pop-top on a 1988 Vanagon

Replacing a canopy top came with a fee of $500, so it made sense to do it ourselves. We were hoping that the time it took us to do it wouldn’t equal to 500 big ones. I hoped someone else besides us had done this already and paid society by putting it on the internet, and someone did! We combined their instructions (helpful) with the ones that came with the canopy (not as helpful) and started the mentally and physically challenging journey of putting on the new canopy. (This part was written by our wonderfully talented daughter, Katelyn!)

1988 Vanagon – (The directions that come with the canopy are for the baywindow - wooden tack strips)
Necessary tools (at least the ones we felt were necessary!): small hand held electric screwdriver, regular screwdrivers, tape measure, duct tape, small containers/ziplock bags to put screws in, metric wrenches, small tack hammer, pliers, permanent marker, at least 4 people to lift top off and put it back on.

1. We started by taking lots of pictures of how the original canopy was installed. I would definitely suggest this – they come in handy as you put the new canopy on. You can refer back to your pictures when you forget how something fit (I used it a lot!)

2. We unscrewed the bottom strips – we started at the front and then did the sides. To do the back I had to lay up on the bed. (That was fun on a hot day!). You can just unscrew all screws (place in a container or ziploc) and remove all metal strips (you can mark them on the back if you want to help when reinstalling them).

3. I took the 4 nuts off the bolts on the back, but left the bolts in to hold the top in place. ( 2 of the nuts are really hard to get to, so I needed to use the metric wrench)

4. I put the top down and unscrewed the top spring loaded rails on the front of the canopy. You need to secure the spring so that it doesn’t fly up – I used tie down straps to do this. After doing that, you can undo the nuts in the front.

5. This is when the four strong people come into play. You need to have an area prepared to put the top when you take it off. I used sawhorses with blankets placed on top. We carefully lifted it off and flipped it upside down on the sawhorses.

6. Then I did the same thing as in step 2, but this time it was a little easier. I unscrewed the screws off the strips. I also noticed there were little wood blocks where the canopy was attached with a small staple. I carefully took these out and saved them – they come in handy a little later. We kept the top in place, so that we could match up the new top – it gets a little confusing when it is upside down and this is a step you don’t want to mess up! Lay the new top over the old top so you can see how it should fit. Check windows (so you know the outside is the outside).

7. After we had the new top matched up and triple checked that it was correct, we slid out the old top.

8. We measured the top/front from seam to seam and made a little mark where the middle was. I used the staples (from step 6) to tack the canopy in place on the front (with the little wooden blocks). I then put these staples in the whole way around – I had to adjust a little and take some measurements as I did this.

9. Then I put the metal strips on with the screws. Make sure when you put the strips down that none of the canopy is stuck underneath the strip or you could puncture your new canopy. If you use your screw/drill take your time and pull on the top to make sure it doesn't bunch under the metal strip.

10. I carefully rolled up the canopy and duct taped it in place so I didn’t have to worry about the canopy catching on something.

11. This time I had 4 people help to put the top back on my Westy. Actually 5 can be real helpful if you can get them. 4 take the top over and move along the side of the westy and 1 stays in the middle just to guide and watch that the top doesn't catch on anything.

12. Put all the bolts back in place so that the top is attached. If you slide bolts in the back you then can let "the help" go. Attach the spring arms and attach back bolts so that the top is now reattached.

13. Take the duct tape off the canopy so it drops down.

14. I found a piece of wood to prop in front of the canopy (see illustration) so that I could drop the canopy down – I had to make sure it was secure so the top didn’t fall on my head! It helps when you attach the metal strips to have just a little slack - not too much but not the whole way up tight.

15. I found this next part to be the most challenging. We measured the front again (just like in step 8) so we could find the middle. If you don’t tighten the strips down the whole way, it will help in case you have to adjust anything and make sure it’s not bunched up. Put in the rails and secure the screws. I would periodically pop up the top to make sure the sides are nice and smooth and nothing is pulling.

16. When you get to the corners, you’ll need to notch (sort of a v shape) – just a little at first (more if needed) to make the corners work. I used snips to do this. The corners sort of bunch a little and you want to make sure that the strip holds it down good - take you time at this part. Cut just a little at a time - you can always cut more but you can't go back. The back is the hardest – very time consuming because you are working in a very small area and those little screws will make you say some words.

**We put this canopy on over a period of 2 days – I would say a minimum of 8-10 hours. It’s very tedious work and you definitely want to take your time so you don’t jack your new $400 canopy.

**I would not do this on a hot day, unless you have an air conditioned area to install it in.

Disclaimer – This was us installing the top using the directions from the company and ones we found on the internet. The following directions worked for us, but we take no responsibility for any mistakes you may make in the installation. Feel free to email us with any questions – we’ll try to help!

Niagara Falls/Lake Erie - Day 5 - June 15, 2011

2011-07-02T11:59:00.000-07:00

We awoke this morning to the sound of birds – lots of birds. This was probably one of my favorite campsites to date – you can’t beat camping right on the sand! :) We went across the street to the PIG (Presque Isle Gallery) coffee shop for breakfast. Doug had the PIG mocha, Katelyn had s’mores hot chocolate, and I had a blueberry acai smoothie. We ate some pastries too – all were very good! The coffee shop was cool – it had lots of local crafts – we got some ideas for some future projects!

Next we drove into Presque Isle National Park (I study this with my kids in fourth grade when we talk about the regions of PA in social studies). It was a very clean park – lots of small beaches with lifeguards and concession stands. There were also a couple playgrounds and fishing areas. We just chilled on the beach – this was the hottest day on our whole trip – I think it was about 80 degrees. We were so glad for the sun! :) Katelyn played in Lake Erie – met some girls to skip rocks with. It was relaxing but I think we were all missing the Atlantic Ocean. About mid afternoon we made the decision to drive home after we left here.

I found a place to eat on the way home in Slippery Rock called North Country Brewing. (I checked with Adam to make sure it was good). We did have good meals there – totally stuffed ourselves! Doug had the wing special (6 whole wings), I had a zucchini parmesan sandwich, and Katelyn had their homemade root beer and a soft pretzel (she wasn’t very hungry). From there we went home – long ride from Slippery Rock! Doug was not thrilled to be driving those roads at night – we saw a lot of signs for deer. We finally made it home around 11:00. It was a very long ride and not a fun one at all! There really wasn’t much to look at along the PA turnpike.

Overall this trip was a lot of driving and not a lot to see, although we had a very good day at Niagara Falls. Katelyn’s reaction to the Falls, as well as her numerous pictures and video clips will not be forgotten. Also camping right on the beach on Lake Erie in PA will be a lasting memory…I just can’t wait to be forever waking up to the sounds of water!

Niagara Falls/Lake Erie - Day 4 - June 14, 2011

2011-07-02T11:46:00.000-07:00

We woke up and quickly got ready. We wanted to try Tim Horton’s – a donut shop we thought was Canada’s version of Dunkin Donuts (although we did see a couple after we were back in the U.S. in NY). Today we were determined to find some area along Lake Erie that was interesting. We crossed the border back to the United States and headed toward the town of Erie, PA. We drove along the coast of Lake Erie, again hoping to find some quaint little towns or picturesque place along the water for lunch, but again no luck. At least I knew when we got to Erie, I had two campgrounds to check out that were supposed to be on the water.

Well, we finally lucked out!! We found Sara’s Campground, which at first we didn’t think had the water view we had hoped for, but then found out they had another part across the street that was lakefront sites. It was mostly an RV park, but there was a section right along the beach where you could camp. Sandy fit in perfectly! We found a nice spot to pull her right up on the beach. We took a quick trip to a sub shop in downtown Erie and then came back to the site to chill out! As you can see we had lakefront dining… finally! :) Katelyn enjoyed climbing out on the rocks, while Doug and I sat and enjoyed not driving!

After chilling for a while, we started a fire and for the first time on this trip, had s’mores! I must say having s’mores with the gigantic marshmallows are very messy, but oh, so delicious! We enjoyed the fire, then turned in for the night, with the sounds of the small waves on Lake Erie lulling us to sleep.

Niagara Falls/Lake Erie - Day 3 - June 13, 2011

2011-07-02T11:30:00.000-07:00

We decided to head north to the town of Niagara-on-the Lake today – heard it was a cool town with shops. It turned out to be a bit of a "la-te-da" town. We looked around at some of the shops (mostly bakeries!). The highlight of our time there was the shop called Cows. It was an ice cream shop with all kinds of cow merchandise – funny cow merchandise like Justin Beefer, iCowly, Mootube, Hannah Moontana t-shirts. (If you click the link, you can see the funny t-shirts!) We had some pretty tasty homemade ice cream there!

From there we headed west along Lake Ontario. We were very unimpressed. If you like wine, you would like it – there are wineries and grapes growing all along the way. We finally ended up at a visitor center when we stopped for gas. One of the girls there told us about a cool campground that she used to go to when she was a kid. She said there were all kinds of things for kids to do there. So we headed south to Lake Erie with a map of some different waterfront campgrounds to check. We drove to the first one (a little out of the way, but looked like it was directly on the water), but first we stopped at a little drive up place to eat. Afterwards we headed to the campground called Knight’s Beach fully intending on staying there, but when we didn’t really even see much of a beach, we decided to head east towards the U.S. We drove and drove trying to find the other campgrounds on the map (that we got at the visitor’s center), but they were not there! We did check out one State Park, but just weren’t impressed.

We finally ended up at Sherkston Shores, the campground the girl told us about. Well… it was pretty much deserted ($25 a night to camp). We realized it wasn’t the “in season” yet. One of the cashiers at Niagara Falls told Katelyn the kids around there weren’t finished school until the end of June. By the time we were settled and took a little walk to Lake Erie, it was time for bed. This was a pretty uneventful day – a lot of driving and not much to see or do. At this point Doug wished Katelyn had chosen Cape Cod!

Niagara Falls/Lake Erie - Day 2 - June 12, 2011

2011-06-21T14:10:00.000-07:00

We woke up this morning and had some breakfast in Sandy. The advantage of having a Westy is sleeping in it, and not needing a hotel room. This also becomes a disadvantage at times like this – we were pretty sure we were coming back to the same campground again that night, but we had to take apart beds and put all our luggage and chairs in the back so that we could drive Sandy down to the Falls. Then when we got back in the evening we had to set everything up again. It is a bit of a hassle, but we love sleeping in Sandy and pretty much know where everything fits the best.

So we drove down to the Falls area and parked at the Comfort Inn parking lot – you could park all day for $10 (not bad), and we could leave and come back in the evening for fireworks and to see the Falls lit up. We took Katelyn down to the Canadian side of the Falls. She loved it – we had to stop about every 30 seconds as we got closer to the falls so that she could take a picture. It was cute – her reaction, “They’re beautiful!” We walked the whole way to the Falls and then back. By that time, we were ready to get something to eat so we got some burgers and fries and sat at a table where we could see the Falls. Then it was back to Sandy to take a rest. :)

After lunch we walked across the Rainbow Bridge to the American side of the Falls. You had to take your passport along, but it wasn’t a big deal – they just asked what you were doing - again no stamp :(. We went to the Maid of the Mist first. That was pretty cool – you get super close to the Falls. Katelyn really enjoyed it – she was taking pictures and I think some video too with her waterproof Kodak Playsport video camera.(I had to include a picture from 2002 with our family at the Falls - this time we didn't take the big kids.)

Next we went to the Cave of the Winds. That was insane. You are almost standing under the Falls! There is a hurricane deck where you get pelted with wind and water. Doug and Katelyn had a great time with this! I didn’t get too close, but I had a great time watching them! :) Katelyn thought it was cool that you got to keep the sandals. Even though we wore ponchos, we still got wet – Doug and I even kept on our Maid of the Mist ponchos on which were a little longer.

We walked back across the bridge – it was a little chilly. We had to get the picture of us standing in two countries at one time! I'm sure when I was a kid there were actually lines painted on the ground - now it's just that plaque.
We stopped at a souvenir shop and got a couple things. Then back to Sandy and the campground. We were tired, so we just picked up a Hot-n-Ready (yes, Little Caesar’s) and took it back to the campground. We ate our pizza and then decided that the pool and hot tub sounded good. After that we got showers.

Around 9:15, we headed back to the Falls area. We ended up in the perfect spot for the fireworks. The Falls looked very pretty all lit up – they changed the colors – the American Falls were red, white, and blue for a time. When the fireworks started, they lit up the sky… huge and beautiful! They only lasted about 10 minutes, but extremely impressive! We really liked it – definitely worth it to go back at night.
After that we returned to the campground, got our beds ready, and went to sleep!

Niagara Falls/Lake Erie - Day 1 - June 11, 2011

2011-06-20T17:52:00.000-07:00

We said we’d do it and we did! We wanted to leave right after school ended for a trip in Sandy! We gave Katelyn 2 choices – Cape Cod or Niagara Falls. She chose Niagara Falls – she was there when she was 2 years old to visit Uncle Randy, who was doing border patrol at the time. That time (with Randy’s connection), we got to ride in a helicopter over the falls. She fell asleep! :) She was ready to see the Falls again – this time as a bigger kid with a video camera!

So we got up on Saturday, June 11, and drove to Niagara Falls, Ontario. That was quite a drive. We stopped at a Sheetz for gas and food along the way. We got our food and ate in Sandy. We enjoy that. Katelyn brought 10 books along, so you can guess what she did the whole way up to Canada! Crossing the border was no problem. We had our passports ready and were a little bummed that they didn’t stamp them… I wonder why they don’t?
It was about a 7 hour drive – we went right to our campground – Niagara Falls KOA.

It was a very nice and clean campground. They had a huge inflatable pillow that Katelyn had fun jumping around on. Then we went to the indoor pool – Doug and Katelyn swam while I read The City of Ember (a book of Katelyn’s that I started to read one day and now I can’t put down!). They had fun swimming, then back to the campsite for a campfire. We roasted hot dogs and those new HUGE marshmallows!! They were pretty fun – roast the outside layer then eat that and roast the next one and so on! Takes a while to eat just one!

We have our new top on Sandy – did it ourselves – that’s a story for another entry – I think I’ll let Doug tell that one since he did most of the work! Anyway, it got very chilly as night hit, so we didn’t even need our extra two windows! Needless to say, we used sheets and blankets this night! Katelyn loves sleeping up top.

Sandy doesn't like winter

2011-04-24T17:10:00.000-07:00

Hopefully things will start to appear again on this blog now that the weather is getting warmer. I thought I’d give a little update on how Sandy did this winter. In a couple words… Sandy does not like cold weather!!

The first indication we had of this was when Katelyn and I were on our way to her bus stop one cold, winter morning and the sliding door slid open while we were driving! Katelyn freaked out (as I too would have if I was sitting in the back seat!)! My school bag flew out onto the side of the road, which is what Katelyn was most worried about. Turns out all was fine, we collected all the items – only a few were in the street, mostly just some broken pens.

I’m not sure why the door was opening! It only happened 2 more times over the course of the winter. There was no rhyme nor reason that we could figure out as to why it happened except that Sandy does not like winter (just like her owners!!). We even locked the door and it still came open. Needless to say, we were very careful as to what we put on the floor – mostly everything was up on the seat!

About a month after my oil change, I noticed spots in the garage that looked like oil. Sandy was also hesitating sometimes when I gave her gas. So, I took her in to get checked and found out she had quite the problems. I had to get the thermostat replaced which cured the hesitation problem and also gave me more heat! She actually got nice and warm in the cold weather. The transmission problem had to do with some seal. Of course that seal cost me about $900 to fix!!

Our final mishap of the winter time was again on the way to the bus stop with Katelyn! I was getting ready to make a turn and BAM! – a girl turned right into my front and side bumper! She claimed the sun was in her eyes! Great. Sandy was still drivable and is actually getting fixed this week. Her insurance is covering it all.

We decided that while she is at the body shop, we’d also get the sliding door touched up and painted. She should look good when all is said and done.

2010-09-26T09:37:00.001-07:00

September 5, 2010

We left the campground and found a place to wash Sandy. She looked really nice and was ready for the show! It was a beautiful sunny day! We drove to Bug Out in Manassas – I’ve never seen so many Volkswagens!! We pulled into our spot, then had to unload the tires and wheels we were trying to sell. Katelyn went right to work washing the windows and sweeping the rug to make Sandy look awesome!

It was a fun event – we got see all kinds of VW merchandise, eat some good food, and just hang out. They also had a racetrack and they were racing VWs. That was fun to watch…it was surprising how fast those little bugs can go! Katelyn liked seeing all the different colors of cars – her favorite was the “lifesaver” Rabbit VW – it was painted in stripes the colors of lifesavers. We talked to some people that have Westies – got some good advice on different things – especially about Westy events (Full Moon Bus Club) and how to approach putting on a new canvas top (maybe our winter project?).

We did enter Sandy, but she didn’t’ win this time. Although the judges had some nice comments for us, so we were happy. A Syncro that was next to us won – it was pretty cool. We pretty much stayed the whole day… then home to start our second week of school (and plan our next trip!)