La Senorita

Van life 101 is really not about the van, it’s about the lifestyle. It’s about road tripping and camping along the way. It’s about waking up wherever you want (or when you have to pee, climbing out of that nice warm down bag and hustling down to the toilet). It’s about doing whatever you want each day and moving on when the road beckons. It’s about living surrounded by nature and realizing how little you need to be happy. The less is more kind of living. This is my first post in the series of Van Life 101.

Hitting the road out of Tucson:
Oh No – my abs light just came on in la Señorita, my 1997 VW Eurovan, and I am only in Phoenix! Abs – now what does that mean – air bag system? Not a big deal. I pull over at the next off ramp and check the owner’s manual for abs – anti lock brake system – great, what does that mean? I hope I have breaks! I called my mechanic in Tucson and he said not to worry as it would only effect operation of the vehicle if I slammed on my breaks. I stopped in Flagstaff at the VW dealer and the mechanic cleaned the wire and casing to the left front wheel, where the code indicated a problem, reset the abs light and showed me a large pack rack nest deep in my engine compartment. Wonderful! After a brisk hike through the volcanic rock fields at Sunset Crater National Monument I cleaned out the nest at my campsite and all appears AOK. Headed on tomorrow.

Lava field , Sunset Crater

Sunset Crater camp