Malibu, CA. - August 2000

I've been working really hard lately, and it was definitely time for a little R&R. I really wanted to go to this campground I had heard about just north of Santa Barbara, but they were book solid through the end of 2000. I did some poking around on the Internet, and found Malibu Beach RV Park. It looked like a nice place to stay. The rates seemed reasonable, and best of all, they had an opening for the dates I wanted. I asked work for the Friday off, and they gave it to me. Everything was set!

Friday morning finally arrived. I hadn't really prepared for this trip, but I'm never completely prepared anyway. The first thing to do was to get the bus ready. I figured I start by checking the tires. Yikes, all of them were at about 70 psi, so I drug out my 50' air hose and inflator chuck. I connected the hose to the quick disconnect that I recently installed in my air system. It worked out pretty good, but it's kind of slow. Next on the list was a trip to the wash rack. Then a trip to the gas station. Diesel was $1.79 a gallon. What happened? last week it was $1.59. Oh well. I put $50.00 in the diesel tank, and $0.62 in the gas (generator) tank. Just wanted to be sure that one was full. Finally, it was back to the house to load the bus.

My bus is still pretty rough, so I had to load quite a bit of stuff. Some of the comfort items included 1.7 cf fridge, microwave, boombox (and Christian CDs), 5' folding table, food, utensils, bedding and clothes. One final stop at the grocery store to pick up ice, and I'm on my way.

I got on the 405 freeway, heading north. My recently rebuilt motor was purring and all the gauges were right where they ought to be. Life is good. I had promised a couple friends I'd meet them at there work for lunch. I was wearing a big grin and having a great time. Things change when I got near LAX airport. Traffic backed up to stand still. Shoot, it was only 11:30 AM. As it got closer to 12:00 noon, I called my friends and told them that it was going to take me quite a bit longer to get out to their work. They said they couldn't wait, so we decided to cancel. That actually worked out, because I was going to drive out of my way, but we canceled before the turn-off for the most direct route.

Once I was on the interchange for the I-10, it was smooth sailing. A few miles later, the I-10 ended at the beach. The drive up Pacific Coast Highway was very pleasant. The skys were clear an blue. I had left the directions at home, but figured I'd find it one way or another. I stopped for a quick bite to eat, and then headed for my final destination. Not too far up the coast, I happened upon a large white sign with big blue letter that said "Malibu Beach RV Park, Turn right 500'".

At the top of a short but steep hill, I found the office. I checked in and got my space assignment. Driving up to my space, I saw some awesome spots. I'm going to have to book earlier next year. Most of the spots were still empty, but it wasn't difficult to tell that I had gotten one of the bigger spots. Being that it was pretty much a ghost town, I was able to slip my bus right into my assigned spot.

Getting settled in for the weekend, started with getting the A/C running and putting the appliances on the folding table. It didn't take very long. It took quite a while to get the 1.7 cf fridge to cool down. I was a little concerned, because I hadn't used it in years. I checked in the next morning, and I actually had to turn it down a little.

The weekend was very relaxing. Just what the doctor ordered. I took a swim in the ocean, naps in the afternoon, and BBQed every night. Acutally using the bus, gave me time to think about and plan my conversion.

Sunday morning came way too early. I got up around 7:30 and made myself breakfast. I packed things away,I was cleaning up. After I had finished stowing everything for the ride home, I took a shower. Refreshed and ready to go, I checked my watch and discovered that it was only 9:30 AM. I decided that I might just as well take off and head home. It was a tight squeeze, but I was able to slip my bus out and turn it round. I stopped at the bottom of the hill and added some oil to the motor.

The ride home was uneventful. Being that it was 10:00 AM on a Sunday morning, the traffic was fairly light. I took my time driving back down the coast. Doing my best to enjoy the morning. Once home, I moved some stuff back into my house and then parked it in my storage spot. I locked the door, and looked back over my shoulder as I walked away. Smiling to myself, I thought "This is exactly why I wanted to by it in the first place.".