Last week, on our way home from lovely
Chincoteague, our Ol' Girl had a big day.
Westy -- our 1987 Volkswagen Vanagon, conversion to camper thanks to Westfalia (
and truly, thank you very much, Westfalia) -- known to one and all as Westy -- hit a milestone.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIKgihAotnyYlNjWLEbLDhNF4y2sHCMENckwBnhNyLEz26PaCY9KB9PEK4dJMMp5NNp4oZxhHOiv1ftmIBk_NTogK9r3NrHtj79ulj4RruyHOcKDuftJ-z7wfkKmni4vx_Se7vhbpJjcQo/s400/DSC_0017.JPG) |
199,993 . . . |
199,993 miles! Whoo hoo!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYIZqbOg-ciPZkxm_sEf4jcvqZup2XirK7JqSvb8bDTCTGLRszeaLCaVs_Jb5iKdMbi_XhmgiDsBKGMAlH-DRR5LeRCXGaARSb8vwD07G5oHzk6j2FyXSraNAUPm3GeYryy0SWHwa3F12N/s400/DSC_0020.JPG) |
199,997 . . . |
We bought Westy in 2000, when she was a young girl of 13 and had -- get this -- 49,000 miles on her. She was, in those heady, glorious days, a Creampuff.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8YEdUqRcBY041S1Q3K0tTujz4K8ANMENcrWWem5viIN8XZK0oZlI98PtniabjRFFXZfbisO6bG2SNJdOWBnYI68lgOZVXSrS-lpGvez2diw7wpa5UjeLiRmISem2UxaLj68jTXb_fGwgS/s400/DSC_0022.JPG) |
199,999 . . . 0 |
So we proceeded to live in her and drive her around the country eight times in the ensuing eight years, stopping for months at a time in some of the
very coolest places the
U.
S. of
A.
has to
offer.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGqUh8UH4jn5p6qOTn5BNsmG0RxEMERni6Ac1MbAHhGKyGsH38KRTIDR1piLidPfHxuZyHQnkaIZ4xufDBGRgRUg9bTTzIQ6Mt9VyxwKZ8sobG5NG58dg9gfEm6hL4AkpD0eIYehxkk5Te/s400/DSC_0023.JPG) |
199,999 . . . 1 |
Those were
fabulous times. There were a couple
not so fabulous times, too, but through no fault of Westy's.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJiIFUefDjBbzaq_84iGYDzQ5VRqWzF_YkjcIxyBFMzvAyfDbl0XLPv-roVkUzLpGhFOacBni0kac-BS_A-4eyK7Tesdmf0gH8jUnlG8cDTFclFpeRCb7dElWRlnlxosEIqgeM-pv0oCIB/s400/DSC_0025.JPG) |
199,999 . . . 7 |
She just kept chugging and chugging along, happily and serenely. Call us anthropomorphizers, but our Ol' Girl loved those years.
And then, all of a sudden . . .
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlWz3pAe-rWY38-IoVkbMsv5XkmHCn73Le3glp4o5GfdZWYC5MfDUzt6khml3wERF5CCnjiPsYFfIumqUNpyZgOnjdES2zlcZzfEtFjapRT-zvScIyIrsDB5ZYeRgL0KKL0BnZ7y5_8W2j/s400/DSC_0026.JPG) |
200,000! |
The Big 200,000 . . .
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv7YWvG2lyQk9o1N1X01pOsXpfNNwwiE49MaSU83WSQ2GVJLn0rPgW17qbQFaFCR6RSjlLSGNTVHvuvKRXPvibIAMZQID3VmdgqtZJzvDyU6saGx_jf9Bh8a5ckpWs25-VZwY-STlF-Qbv/s400/DSC_0028.JPG) |
200,000 miles, baby. |
. . . just like that.
The thing about hitting a milestone like this one is you can't necessarily predict or decide exactly where you'll be when the odometer busts her move.
We were driving by a CVS in Bethany Beach, Delaware.
And so we did the only thing that one
can do, when one's beloved rig hits 200,000 well-earned miles driving along the Atlantic Coast.
We pulled right over and had ourselves a party.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYP_ow0EnTFEcr_VqR5OS3Jq2Zl386475m36JO2I7jnXqNSxNFmsflkVwtCdw6oVxy9NuFSfNcsNhFJsV5JSXNG-EIA14RFiG4j_T3FVQgyDCpjc3xddgH33cA37-BbT2S4GiW47p6Rn64/s400/DSC_0031.JPG) |
Yay, Westy! |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTnsrb5d93uQwvidM7b1NuksvSQy-ICOQarmg-cP55nr62VLLIdjSb-hEc9uB5obLa2cwNUFyKLschOFSG4YHs72yMhkN0e5P8FJyi_HZqXiP1SX5qlxgMg8bS4lLa32Hw16qW93bzUGSe/s400/DSC_0032.JPG) |
Whoo Hoot! |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpLeOVxCWDMdASKQthqeOIWj0SDAJ_rcibdxI-ozhTDKnx1uEnCjBtOODstiUhGR0WoeeLbLQ0yHLSsZxgqcY1SRT7kbTuyesGB7pS9tqSClTGSfnln2uf8MiBLAZMBJXbjGkgx12V_C87/s400/DSC_0035.JPG) |
Nicely done, Ol' Girl! |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb7Wr1ApYmeX1cPxPW0COcFTJ2c0bGnGuKtzNvFxIZNxP-gc9fJU2gA2neYNJLUNwuOVpc_xy0Fd-775RuNm1ASeOMH_1YP-u7hAP5RXwsYevDlPva_e1NYOyqnom9pXYlF_bHsCeWYY_C/s400/DSC_0040.JPG) |
(Maniacal Happy Westy Face) |
We shared a Yuengling in Westy's honor -- we still had about 400 miles left to drive home, afterall -- and went along our merry way.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9rj7_0OrTwh3cK3v4a6E8ntBYPVVhyJaBjS7XQtqrdY1hR52QzT12oVWs7mu1lwFOFiHHWbjsoa1mYsqj01gWmv2Fhc8nJ7SHQeYjpg9DfafNRC_hSWE1gv_QNljYrkkwvgjJLPGq_xvs/s400/DSC_0046.JPG) |
200,001 . . . |
The thing about Westy? 200,000 is just another day for her. A
fantastic day, a
memorable day, a day for the
ages, but she's a Yeoman, and she
still has to drive us home.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwpWzRDCf7VTIrMNVkR65Hcm_kEvYqPCfH4ohJdT7IlvPADDMADZWk826s27lGTm0saXMLek5h4qJRecU5wWI0Z16iE04rGGtMtUWcbydSaIk6X0rxF047LVqdT_Ww9JzuW0bJjuUEG7Us/s400/DSC_0047.JPG) |
200,002 . . . |
Which is exactly what she did. We headed north, and took that 200,000 miles and added another 400.
And onward we go . . .