Volks,

I'll be heading out of here early Wednesday morning to drop Mrs Squirrel
off at Redmond airport then heading east by northeast to Flathead Lake,
Montana. I'm going to be taking two night to get there, the better to
enjoy camping along the way, maybe a bit of kayaking if I can find a
nice tame flat lake to poot around in.

I had my local mechanic, Steve of Steve's Place in Bend, give the van a
pre-trip checkout, change the oil, tap on things. I know many of you
guys do your own servicing and would not trust a stranger to do the
work. I'm not as skilled as yinz, don't have the tools or place to do
the work, don't "feel" mechanical things very intuitively, so I rely on
others for a lot of the work.

I have a good spare tire, a printout of the relevant pages of the
Vanagon Rescue Squad, a functional triple-A "Plus" membership card, and
some beer cooling in the Vitrifrigo. The Westrailia is packed with the
kayak strapped on top. I reckon I'm about as ready as I can be.

I will be away from the Internet, mainly. The cabin has dial-up service
only. I know you'll all miss me, but buck up: I'll be back.

In the meantime, here's this:

Giraffe walks into a bar. "The highballs are on me," he says.

--
Rocky J Squirrel
84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
74 Westrailia: (Ladybug Trailer company, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.)
Bend, OR
KG6RCR