Mechanics, Motors, Micro-Brews,
and (Finally) Making Headway!

*Or, How I Came to Love A Grandpa Who was Not My Own*

I‘ve been blessed with an incredible set of Grandfather’s…
On my Mom’s side, “Pappa” was a fighter pilot in WWII, a flight
instructor, a chef, an aircraft salesman, and a serial entrepreneur.

His soups made it to the moon on Apollo 15-16, his restaurant has
been awarded the Golden Spoon award for decades… Oh, and he
holds at least one Guinness World Record that I know of… Not Bad!

As for my Dad’s side, “Pop-Pop” is a hero, a soldier, family man…
And the greatest fisherman my Dad’s ever known (and THAT is saying
something, ’cause I’ll tell you what… My Dad can catch some serious fish!)

It shouldn’t be taken lightly then, the whole “loving another grandfather”
thing. But you see… I’ve gotten ahead of myself a bit.

__________________________________________________________

Monday morning I woke up with a start.
It was late! I hurriedly got ready for the day, scarfed down some DIVINE
Apple Cake, and rushed to borrow my friend’s home phone (haven’t
I mentioned that they’re seriously stuck in a hollow? No high speed
internet, no cell service, NOTHING! haha).

I knew who I needed to call… They’d been closed all weekend and
nearly all of the dead ends I’d phoned before had recommended I call
them… Needless to say, I was excited when they answered the phone
on the first ring.

My hopes were dashed though “We don’t work on old Bugs any more”.

Blast!

They gave me a name and number though… For THE guy they recommended
“If any one can fix it, he can… Heck, he can listen to your motor and tell you
exactly what’s wrong with it”.

Suddenly, I felt better

After a quick conversation, and one more desperate attempt to fix the car
myself, I set out… Clattering, banging, popping, and smelling like poor Bugsie
was about to catch on fire… Insane!

We made it though… And as I pulled into the shop “Grandpa” looked at me
like I was CRAZY. “This thing’s about to blow!”

After I told him what had happened, his concerns for my sanity were confirmed
“You SANK your Bug??” he asked. “Yup” I replied… “Oh”.

After that, he was stuck with this look on his face for much of the day:

Oh, did I mention that my new hero was wearing a “This is What the World’s
Greatest Grandpa Looks Like” sweatshirt? He was workin’ it too! haha.

It took us several hours, tinkering about, before he finally decided to take
a lunch break, and I walked over to a local brewery (great beer and food!)
I was STOKED to discover that they had WiFi also, as it’d been 5 days since
my last “proper” internet connection and I was downright jonesin’!

In fact, that’s where I finally posted Day One of this adventure… I was a little
behind, lol.. Hadn’t expected to be THAT out of touch!

As time passed, I caught up on my hundreds of emails, 200+ Facebook
notifications, and a few checkups with my team leaders (it still amazes
me how much they can get done even when I’m literally “off the grid”).

Then my battery died.
SO, I made my way back over to the shop.. Just in time to hear my baby
start… Stutter, cough, then run better then she had in days!

Things still weren’t right of course, so after a few more hours of tinkering,
we started tearing parts off his little roadster project “sacrificed” in the name
of Bugsie’s needs.

“Sacrificial Lamb”

“Tools For Transplants”

“Trained Hands”

Speaking of hands; one of the very first thing “Grampa” taught me that day
was all about gout, and how it’d been rotting away his finger… DISGUSTING!!!

But let me jump ahead a bit… Because after we transplanted a carburetor
(apparently, even though I’d spent the day before, rebuilding mine, there was
still something wrong in it), the distributor, the spark plugs, and more…

Tested the compression, torqued the heads, changed the oil, reset the timing,
and God knows what else, we finally set to fire her up again… Only to realize
that her fuel tank was DEAD dry!

So, after draining a bit of fuel from one of his SWEET sand rails:

She RAN!!!!!
And boy did she ever… After over 200 miles of the most painful driving I’ve
ever experienced in a car… Sputtering, complaining, backfiring, and overall;
HATING me… She was like an all new creature!!

Ahhhh it was love

Oh, and Gramps was nice to me on the cost too… Even though he had to
put off all his other projects for the day, and focused solely on my little girl…
Tore all sorts of parts off HIS car, and more… What a tremendous blessing!!
(I love my Bug, I love my life!).

God is good.

And so, as the sun was setting, I set out.
The plan for the evening? Head North… And boy did I ever!

On the drive up, I passed the light house Ethan and I slept “in” on our ride down
from Alaska, and many other landmarks that I’d have loved to have spent some
time around… But now, I was THREE days behind and I had to make serious time
to even get close to Seattle before Thanksgiving.

Of course, that didn’t stop me from taking a half hour at the Golden Gate Bridge.
I think it paid off, don’t you??

Landmark…

Landscape…

You simply MUST see this larger… I’m certain you’ll agree:
Click Here!!

From there, I’d planned to find a place to sleep, somewhere North of Marin
County… But I just kept going… And going… And going. about 4 hours later,
I finally made camp the FIRST TIME… But my, this story is getting long, you’ll
have to wait ’till the next episode before I tell you of deer, cops, more deer,
more cops, MORE cops… Oh, and more…

SUCH an eventful day is to come…

P.S. Tell me, which was your favorite photo in this set?
The ones from Day Six are going to absolutely blow your hair back!!

Lots and LOTS of working on”Bugsie”…
Oh, and FINALLY surfing!

“Let’s wake up fairly early”
I’d said the night before… 9 hours later, I rolled over and stretched
my weary bones.

So began a frenzied day, calling shops, parts stores, and more.
Desperately  working on my car, roaming all over town in search of
parts and completely tearing apart nearly every part that connected to
my engine.

There was more than one moment that day where I thanked God for my years
of working on Buses with my Dad, and airplanes on my own… I learned SO much
in those days… SO many things that allowed me the ability to know exactly how
things work… And how to put them back together so they’d work even better.

(without any leftover parts!)

After a (very) exhausting day of nasty grease and silt covering work, I was easily
convinced to go surfing by the Santa Cruz gang… I’ll admit though, this was the first
time I was wearing 4 layers (including my scarf!) before getting into water… It was
going to be CHILLY!

(Photos by Barbara)

Cold Water Eric Action Figure!

And boy, oh boy was it ever cold… 49 degrees!!
My two wetsuits, booties, and borrowed hood blocked out the cold at first… But then
I gave the hood back, as it was far too small… And experienced an INCREDIBLE
sensation after my very next wave.

You know that feeling you get when you’re sucking down the largest ICEE or slushie,
known to man? The feeling you experience when someone stuffs a giant snow ball down
your back… Or your pants?

Well, apparently, when you dive head first into 49 degree waves…
You get all those same excitingly mind numbing tingles! It literally shocked me at
first… It took me ’til the 3rd wave I dove through to put 2+2 together and realize that
what I was feeling was actually brain freeze!

This Florida boy has always avoided water that bloody cold in the past, haha.

Finally, a picture of me surfing!

Yup, I still look pretty darn goofy
There was so much kelp in this area that I was soon forced to try my hand at
surfing without using a leash (the cord that connects you to your board). At first,
I’d tried to surf without ditching the leash, but on my second good wave, I’d just
built up some speed and was starting to cut down the face of the wave, when
a bunch of kelp reached up from the depths and grabbed my leash.

Next thing I knew, my board had STOPPED… But I had not.
Head over heels, I flew forward… And that’s about the time I discovered that whole
“brain freeze” thing I mentioned

So, I took off the leash… And on my NEXT wave; the board, no longer being bound
to me, decided it wanted to head into shore! I’m not sure if you’ve ever tried it, but
you should know… Swimming in two wetsuits and a pair of booties; through massive
clumps of kelp certainly isn’t easy!

Haha, ahh well… At least it gives me a great opportunity to show ya’ a bit more of
how insanely cold it was, and just how much seaweed there was in the water

Our surf session was cut short just before nightfall and we all set off back toward
my dear friend’s home (who’d graciously allowed me to extend my planned visit
from lunch, to what looked to be DAYS!). The night was filled with great food,
friends, music, and believe it or not, blogging about the first day of this adventure.

Here are a couple of the images Nancy snapped that evening


My Mondo Sized Feet…

The Musical Gang!

So, that was my Sunday… And a cheery day at that, even considering the incredible
amount of stress I was under trying to get the car running so I could be on my way.
I was already 2 days behind!

Monday was an incredible day… From oversleeping, to painstaking… AND painful
motor work… To a Grandpa (not mine) who became my hero… From tears, to joy.
(Oh, and some KILLER photos of the Golden Gate Bridge

But you’ll have to wait for tomorrow… Can ya?!

P.S. I think this is the first time I’ve EVER blogged using just one single image
I’ve taken… That give you any idea of just how busy I’d been?! Insane!

Haha… I promise tomorrow’s post will feature none BUT my photos, and there
are a couple I’m especially excited to share with you

Stars, Engines, Lighthouses,
Beauty, Monks… And More!

Last I left you, I’d just got my car running… Barely.
It coughed, sputtered, and complained it’s way to Cambria, CA
where I finally found a safe place to sleep.

And boy, oh boy was it lovely!

There’s nothing like listening to the rushing roar of the Ocean, smoking
a fabulous cigar and feeling the chill of the night wind; all as you capture
bits of the beauty God’s put before you.

The stars that night were absolutely INCREDIBLE… The only light came from
the dim row of bed and breakfast’s that flanked the cliff and they left plenty
of room for the Milky Way’s glory to shine through.

Oh, the surf was definitely “up” as well… 6′-10′ high and positively CRASHING
onto the rocks just below where I shot that image.

After an hour or so of positively freezing my fingers off attempting to capture
some crazy long exposures (I really need to buy a cable release) I called it
a night and curled up in my sleeping bag beside the bug.

Morning…

You can’t quite see where I slept, on the other side of that log barrier
but I must admit… It was one of the loveliest rests I had!! The only problem?
DEW… Everything was SO wet!

MY sleeping bag was soaked, pillow was drenched, and my car had an 1/8th
of an inch of STANDING water all over it! Soooo wet.

Oh, did I mention that it was bloody cold too? I was frigid from the moment
I summoned up enough courage to get out of my sleeping bag.

Regardless, I quickly warmed after my drive back into town was greeted by a
delicious cup of espresso, a mango juice and an incredibly good fresh donut

After wandering around Historic Cambria a bit in my ailing, backfiring Bug,
I headed North again on Hwy 1… About to cover some of the most beautiful
country of my entire trip.

I remembered this countryside well, it was where Ethan and I finally began
to cross back into civilization again after our Alaska trip, where we paid 3x
more than we should have for fuel, and where we both admitted that though
the countryside was beautiful, we were simply too jaded by Canada and
Alaska’s ruggedly Utopian atmosphere to even notice.

This time though, things were very different…

(Not sure which one I like better… What’s your opinion?)

Everywhere, the beauty surrounded me… To my left, the mighty Pacific
who only yesterday reminded me of it’s great power by attempting to sink
my car… To my right, the hills and mountains rose above me and before me.

ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE!
I was constantly blown away by what an incredible State I live in.
These are some of the very reasons I chose to move to California in the
first place… SO glad I did

Admittedly, I didn’t stop as much on this drive as I might’ve… My poor little
Bug was running like absolute trash, backfiring, squealing, shaking, and
just generally reminding me how angry she was that I’d allowed her to be
drenched by the Pacific the day before.

That didn’t stop me however, from flipping a quick u-turn (have to love the
turning radius on that lil’ VW!) and heading back toward a sign I’d seen
by a narrow little lane that heralded a Hermitage somewhere up on the hillside.

I turned onto the road blindly and began a trek that I wasn’t quite certain
my car would survive… But boy did it pay off.

http://www.bigsurhermitage.com/

The monks had a lovely bookshop where I met a fellow photographer who
was there to spend a couple of weeks in solace and offered me a hose to
help wash some of the leftover salt off my car.

After stopping by their incredible chapel for a few quiet prayers I washed
my car, took some pictures of the view (to follow) and headed back North

The View From The Top…

Large Version HERE

If you’re a photographer, you know that image breaks a plethora of “rules”
but you can probably also figure out why I adore it so much

The land behind my car, off in the distance had almost all been burned
in the fires from earlier this year, in fact they burnt right up to within about
10′ of where the little Bug is parked… Wild.

Funny Face…

I’ve always thought my little Bug had some delightfully silly angles…
I’m sure you can agree!

After snapping the above photos, I took off back down the mountainside,
headed North once again, toward Big Sur, and onward to Santa Cruz
where I knew I could have a roof over my head, and possibly even a mechanic
to work on my car further.

Coast Highway…

Shockingly enough, I didn’t even stop to take a single photo when I was
actually IN the Big Sur… I was too busy trying to get my poor car to run properly
enough to take me all the way up to Santa Cruz.

I did however meet some interesting characters along the way.. The Scotsman in
his Miata (complete with a set of snow ski’s poking out from his passenger seat);
the German who was in search of the Hermitage I’d just visited, but had no clue
what the proper word was; and of course the hitchhiking family who nearly got
me run off the road by a motorcyclist.

Oh, and I bumped into a guy who yelled at me from across the gas station:
“Yo! Drowned Bug guy!” Apparently, he’d been at Pismo the day before and
had seen my Bug in the water… Even taken pictures! He promised to email
them to me and I’ve been waiting for them excitedly, ever since!

All good peoples…

The best was yet to come though, as would soon be stopping in with some
of my favorite people; “mommyfish” and her family. Ethan and I had actually
stopped by there on our trip down from Alaska also, and though it was a brief
visit, it left all of us with memories of great times.

This visit certainly didn’t disappoint…
The first item on the agenda when I arrived?

APPLE SAUCE!

(Photo By Barbara)

SO much fun
Then their family each had a turn first:

Tommy…

Barbara…

Then, Mommyfish (Nancy) herself:

Finally, it was the Patriarch’s turn (George):

And time for a quick family portrait…

…Before I’d shower up and head off to downtown Santa Cruz for some
killer hot chocolate and shopping with Barbara. A tremendous way to
unwind after some of the most incredibly stressful days EVER!

I planned to stay the night, and work on the car hard and heavy the next day…
Little did I know what would happen next, and just how insane it’d become
to work on my little 38 year old runt of a car.

Whew.
But that’s a story for another day!
For now, it’s 2:10AM and I’m desperately low on rest… Bedtime!

P.S. If you’re enjoying my adventure so far… Just you wait, it gets even better!
Also, don’t hesitate to leave a comment, digg, or recommend this post to your
friends… I figure that’s the least you can do for the crazy guy who’s busy sinking
his vehicles for your entertainment

Plus, as soon as I make it (fully intact, Lord willing) and get settled into my
destination in Seattle, I’ll be releasing some killer marketing techniques that
your friends may enjoy as well.. Again, just you wait!

Talk soon….

Proof Positive:
38 Year Old Volkswagen’s DON’T Float!!

So… When they were new, Bug’s could float… For a little while.
But after 38+ years of driving, rusting, and just generally becoming OLD,
I have PROOF that they simply don’t float at ALL any more.

(Which might be a good thing, or I’d probably have lost her forever!)

Wait a second, I’m getting ahead of myself again

______________________________________________________

Day Two: Breakfast, Murals, Freakouts,
and a Small Touch of Insanity
______________________________________________________

I woke up at a “Reasonable Hour” the sun beating down on me as I lay
outside by the Bug, near the entrance to a State Park (remind me to tell
you all the stories of the places I TRIED to sleep sometime).

After packing things up as well as I could, I swiftly set off to the North,
seeking coffee and breakfast. 40 miles later, I encountered the lovely
little town of Lompoc and my nifty Google Phone told me that there
was a coffee shop just South of my location.

“Southside Coffee”

After eating a ridiculously tasty bagel sandwich and beginning my mondo
size (quad) cappuccino I set out for a bit of a walk about to see what the town
had to offer… And did it ever offer!

They’re KNOWN for their murals there, DOZENS of them… Here are just a
few images, I haven’t taken the time to stitch any thus far, so you’re getting
them just about as raw as can be, I just want to share a bit of the feel Lompoc
has

Tributes to Troops…

Mural-In-A-Day!

(Apparently they have an annual contest for best mural in a day… Pretty Rad!)

A Bit of Lompoc History
(This was part of a laaaaaarge piece illustrating the story)

Such a beautiful street…

A Castle Inspired Church Is Always Nice…

*Time Warp*

Let me jump back about an hour… As I made my way toward Lompoc,
I encountered some BEAUTIFUL countryside… So, I took pictures of course

*Back To The Future*

After leaving Lompoc, I continued making my way up Hwy 101 past Vandeberg
Airforce Base, and onward to Hwy 1 and the Coast.

“Oil Is My Blood”

I popped into a little gas station for fuel, and to top off my ever needy oil tank
(these silly Volkswagen’s LOVE their oil, haha). While there, I met a young guy
driving an old Mustang who offered some funny comments, compliments, and
advice on where I should head to surf in the area.

That’s where things started to go wrong….

As I descended down the toward the ocean, I ecstatically spotted some
GORGEOUS dunes in the distance… I looked down at my phone and noticed
that they were in an area called “Pismo Beach State Park”.
Sweeet (Or Not)

See, I invested in an annual State Park pass earlier this year so I didn’t have
any excuses not to surf my favorite locations… This makes for a great thing
when you’re traveling and want to check out what the State deems beautiful
enough to be cared for, and a terrible thing when those locations deem it
necessary to do their best to destroy your trip.

This might well be my longest post ever.
There’s so much left to tell!

Above is one of my famous, expert graphs to show what the situation was.
Remember the one from my telephone pole motorcycle accident?
(It’s a bit of a prettier one, isn’t it?)

“The Shot”

…And this is where it gets interesting.

See that picture up there? That’s where it began.
I’m standing there, taking that picture… My car is parked a whopping
300′+ from the water and the largest wave that reached us is this one:

See that?
It’s a monster isn’t it? One entire half inch…
And if you know me at all, you know a bit of how my mind works.
The moment I saw that itty bitty little wave, I quickly calculated
the figures that mattered.

My car could easily withstand 12-15 of those itty waves before there
would even have a WORRY about getting stuck.

See, when a wave comes up, it washes away a little bit of the dirt
beneath the tires… So if my estimations were correct (and I have no
reason to doubt them, I had NOTHING to worry about at all.

Ya’ Right.

Moments after those photos were taken, I went to change my aperture
from F1.4 to F11 or so to capture the image in just a bit of a different manner.

The next thing I knew, I heard a crash… I jumped and looked up just as
a 3 FOOT TALL WAVE *SMASHED* into my Bug!

In case you haven’t noticed, my car is barely more than the size of a child’s
toy, so 3′ of water means that water was POURING into my passenger side
window (which is of course, where my laptop and camera gear were hanging out).

I sprinted… Or more accurately SLOGGED my way to the car; carefully
holding my camera above my head as I charged through the surf, desperate
to save my car, my lenses, and my laptop.

It seemed like it took me eternity to reach my car, I was soaked more than halfway
up my legs and that water was COLD!

When I finally got to the car I grabbed the door and pulled… Somehow knowing
that was a mistake. As I opened the door, water poured in… But there was already
6″ or so inside… I guess I forgot the holes in the floor board.

There was NO WAY that baby was going to float!

Desperate, I tried to start her.
No dice.

In my flying days I used to ferry light aircraft all over the country, and I’d alway
keep a can of ether / starting fluid “just in case” so I did the same thing on this
trip… Again, NO DICE.

I quickly rolled up the windows, grabbed my camera bag and computer, then made
a mad dash up toward the dry sand mark (and just a bit beyond it, for safety’s sake).

Then, I took off… 1/4 mile flat out.
Running like the friggin’ wind, through deep, silty sand
and in soaked jeans… I must have looked like an idiot, but at
that point my adreneline level was so high I could do nothing but
try my best not to fall and continue rushing on.

My goal? To reach the entrance to the State Park where I’d had a great conversation
with the ranger, just minutes before… He’d loved my car and thought I was crazy
for attempting such a long trip.

Now though, he was a JERK.
“I need a rope, a chain, SOMETHING to tow my car!” I said… He replied
deftly “I can’t help with that” ………… I stood there a bit shocked and asked again.
After another brief eternity, he gave me the card for a tow truck driving based about
15 minutes away.

I nearly slapped him in the face.
Surrounding us, EVERYWHERE were people driving big trucks.
I mean this is friggin’ Pismo Beach! ALL I needed was a rope or a chain, lol.

I took off again, running over to an ATV rental spot that ALSO looked at
me like I was crazy… Stalled, and then after about 90 seconds of watching
me squirm admitted to having a tow strap they could sell me.

2 minutes later and thanks to a very kind soul with a sweet Avalanche, I was
outta there… The car had filled with water up to the tops of the seat cushions
but somehow, nearly all my gear was safe and dry.

My Next 6 Hours…

Were spent right there on that street…
Covered in grease and desperately trying to make her run.
Others joined in, and after trying every possible way of wiring,
testing out spark plugs, and making sure water hadn’t made it’s way
into the block we finally got her running again.

VERY POORLY.

But then, with an engine bay that looked like this one, what can you expect?

This story continues on… Back firing and lurching to Napa Auto Parts, then on
to a mechanic who helped set the timing… Then further lurching and back firing
to where I finally slept (VERY WELL) on a cliff, overlooking the Ocean.

But this post has gone on long enough… And the adventure is outside my motel
door, desperately urging me to get on the road and head North!

And so I’ll leave you… With a poorly running Bug, barely saved from the Ocean
and somewhere North of Pismo Beach, CA with a very, VERY tired Eric at the
wheel… There is so much more to share… But that will come in the next post

Surf Trip Time!!

It’s been a looong time since my last epic adventure…
(riding my motorcycle to Alaska) And I’ve been thinking that it’s high time
I get out and experience the world in my own crazy style once again

I’ve been trying to make time to take a surf trip up the coast ever since I
bought my latest transportation device… A 1970 Volkswagen Bug.


My Favorite!

I never pictured myself in a Bug, but when I needed 4 wheels to get
around and I grew tired of paying for my rental car (I had it for 9 months, lol)
I decided to search out old Mini Coopers… And found this instead.

It’s funny really, but I’ve absolutely fallen in love… It’s a BLAST to drive
and I’ve literally met NO one who hasn’t cracked a grin riding in it, or even
watching as I drive by… So much fun!

After years of throwing WAY too much money at high end vehicles this
little Bug has stolen my heart in a whole new way.

It’s in the paint shop now…
Getting “pretty” before our trip North on Thursday.

Back to the trip…

I leave Thursday… I’m going to Seattle… It will take a week or longer…
And yes, I’ll be blogging.

The pictures I captured last time I took these roads were incredible… The people
I met were amazing, and the time spent on the go was inspirational to say the least.

If you’re along my path, drop me a comment… I love good food.
If you’re not, feel free to follow along with me on this journey.
I can’t wait to share it with you!

And with that, I’m going to get back to my preparations… Lots to do!

P.S. I mentioned my teeny little Bug is in the paint shop… Any guesses on the color
she’ll end up?! Prize for the winner