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A Night in the Woods

I think this is actually the first time we’ve posted a story along with photographs, hopefully it goes well. Anyways, in case you missed out, the one and only Sea and the Stone co-founder Danny got married so in classic S&S style we cruised our two VW Buses into the Mountains, for a night in the woods. We left home around 8 P.M. after I had just gotten off the road coming down from Sacramento. I get a call from Spencer, he asks me if I’m ready to go, “sure,” I reply, not actually sure if I am or not. Within a few minutes, he pulls up to my driveway in his Vanagon, packed full of food and supplies, and his cousin Brett. I throw my pack onto the floor of the bus and pull myself up into the back seat. “Alright let’s go,” says Spencer. We take off to meet up with Danny at In and Out before we set off. We pull up next to the big blue in the parking lot of In and Out. We laid out the plan, we were to park the buses at a secret climbing crag deep into the woods were we would camp for two nights. During the two days, we would have a series of challenges that would be rewarded by a point system. The better you do in the challenges the more point s you would gain and the man with the least amount of points on the last night sleeps outside naked. We all agree to the stakes, finish our burgers and continue on our way. We start our drive up the highway. We make our first pit stop at a corner store gas station on the way up so Spencer could fill up. After topping off his tank he goes to start the bus, and nothing. He can’t get it to start. We call Danny and big blue back to help us look at what going on. After a few more tries, the engine finally turns over and we continue our way, only for a few minutes that is. The engine begins to die again. We pulled over a mile or so up the road, alongside a motorcycle shop. Danny turns around to meet us. The engine keeps overheating and we don’t know why. Standing in the dark we hear a voice, “you kids need some help?” a large scruffy looking man emerged from the garage, “yeah, my engine is overheating for some reason, could you take a look?” the man slowly walks over to the bus and piers into the engine compartment and starts fiddling with a few things. He then begins to explain to us in a language that seems to be gibberish to my ears what is wrong. He tells us he couldn’t figure out exactly what was wrong without taking it apart to see. We thank him for his help as he rides into the night on his motorcycle. “Okay, so what should we do?” Spencer asks Danny. Danny turns to Spencer, “let’s keep going,” he replies, “we’re closer to the spot than we are home, we’ll just keep watching to make sure you don’t overheat.” Hesitantly we move on, for a few more minutes or so. Spencer pulls over, “we aren’t going to make it, let’s ditch the bus here for the night then get a tow in the morning.” “We’re only a few miles from a camp spot down the road, we might as well tow your bus there now so we can at least sleep in there,” Danny tells him. “I have tow straps in the back of my bus, I can tow you there.” “Your bus barley made it up the mountain Dan, let alone could tow my bus up it!” Spencer shoots back. “It will never be able to pull my bus.” “Might as well try,” Danny replies as he pulls the straps out of the trunk of big blue. He loops the straps through his engine compartment then clips the hook onto Spencer’s bumper. “Alright, let’s go!” Danny yells as he jumps into the driver’s seat of big blue. Spencer and I sit back in his bus attempting to steer as Danny begins to drive. After a few violent jerks throwing our backs against the seat, the bus begins to coast up the hill. Faster and faster, we start moving, cars flying past us on the opposite side of the street, most likely looking on with amazement as the 1974 Volkswagen bus pulls a 1986 Vanagon up the mountain. Mile after mile, our speed increasing rapidly as Danny hits the gas, Spencer and I are on edge as the Vanagon slowly sways back and forth, our front bumper only a few feet from the rear bumper of big blue. We start counting the miles as we see the signs for the campground turnoff. 10 miles, 5 miles, 1 mile. We finally make a right turn onto the road into the camp spot only to see a large loosely paved hill right in before our eyes. Danny hits the gas as big blue’s engine screams up the hill, with the weight of the vanagon fighting back. Foot by foot we move up the hill, inching our way to the top. It’s around midnight when we pull into camp. There are a few trailers and motor homes already deep in sleep. We quietly make our camp and climbing into the buses and fall in exhaustion. It’s funny how the adventure always begins when something goes completely and beautifully wrong.