Penrose Pt. Campout 2004 Trip Report

I had to work late Friday, and by the time I got home I was too tired
to think about driving out to Penrose. Anyway, I still had poptop
issues to sort out from the previous weekend run to Cathrine Creek.

Saturday morning I started working on the top - first order of
business was to reattach the canvas in the front where it had blown
out. Anyone who has ever replaced a canvas knows what a lesson in
frustration it is. An hour (and a lot of swearing) later the canvas
was fixed. I then inspected the front hinges, and finding nothing
wrong declared the job done.

Most of my gear was still in the bus from the last campout, so I just
made a quick stop by the store to replenish my food. I decided to
head out on the Interstate to make good time, but soon was wishing I
had taken highway 99. The traffic on I-5 was miserable! It might
have had something to do with the torrential rain. I don't have a
radio in my bus, so I was singing to myself as I crept along in 1st
gear.

The traffic finally broke a bit south of Seattle, and I cranked it up
to see how the poptop would do. No problems - it was rock solid.
Note to '68-'73 poptop owners: do not try to drive your bus if the
front of your canvas is not attached. Air will get under the seal and
pressurize the cabin, which in my case caused the poptop to billow and
vibrate badly.

Pleased with my successful poptop repair, I proceeded onto highway 16.
The rain stopped and the sun poked out from behind a cloud, providing
an excellent view as I drove over the Tacoma Narrows bridge. When I
drive over that bridge I can't help but think of the old video clip of
the first Tacoma Narrows bridge, galloping Gertie, bucking wildly in
the wind. What a scary ride that would have been!

Soon I left highway 16 for 302. In Purdy, I took a left and started
heading south again - this is my favorite part of the drive. You
drive over a bridge, and all of a sudden are surrounded by the water,
sand, and piles of oyster shells. The rest of the drive down the Key
Peninsula was pleasant.

Once I arrived at the park, I had no trouble finding a spot in the
group area. Most of the gang was already there, and I found out they
had done the potluck for lunch as some folks were thinking about
leaving due to bad weather. Luckily, I brought plenty of good weather
with me and it didn't rain at all the rest of the day. We did end up
having a potluck around 6pm, and the food was delicious (as usual).
We had a good campfire session that lasted late into the night.

Sunday morning set in and I fired up the old Coleman stove. We cooked
up a ton of bacon, hash browns, and SPAM! My friend Paul is from
Hawaii, and Spam is quite popular over there. He brought along Spam
and I cooked it up, and we all ate it! We spent the rest of the
morning talking with everyone, and finally headed out around 11:30.

-Josh
'69 & '77 Campmobile