This past weekend Jacqui and I loaded up the van and drove nearly 500 miles to outside of Bend, Oregon. The event was Descend-on-Bend, a Westfalia get-together that we so rebelliously Ascended upon.

It was a fantastic opportunity to test our Westy on a hard drive, dry run the new accessories, check out what everyone else is doing with their vans, and make some new friends. Then, of course, there's the beautiful scenery.

We camped around a giant explosion crater in rural Oregon that boasted star filled nights, campfires, sunny days and a plethora of popped camper tops. We were surrounded by an eclectic group of van owners from 3 states as well as plenty of dogs and kids. The conversation pieces are what you'd expect among fellow VW owners: break down stories, van upgrades and trips completed as well as planned for the future. Almost every Vanagon variation was on display except the elusive diesel. Perhaps the famously slow diesel is still en route.

In what seemed like a blink of an eye we were hugging everyone goodbye, exchanging contact info and hitting the road all over again. On the way out of Oregon we hadn't yet had our fill of giant holes in the ground, so we stopped by Crater Lake. Here the Westy blew a crankshaft oil seal at altitude, and I was dumbfounded by the bluest water I've ever seen.

Another 500 miles and 5 quarts of oil later, our leaking Westy got us back to Treasure Island. Somewhere among the hours of driving our little Westy even got a name...Penny.

Apparently when I take the camera from Jacqui we get blurry photos. But regardless, my best attempt at representing each crew with their rig.