Our first VW bus was red. With two little windows on the side. They wouldn't always stay open, so we would put our feet in the window to hold them open. Sometimes my dad would work up a system to keep the windows open.
The middle seet was taken out, and a platform was built (look at the picture below to get an idea) My dad built a platform and then put a big piece of plywood over the platform. Underneath the master packer, would put all our suitcases, food box, tents (two) and last but not least our shoes. We would have foam pads on top. It was a great place to play and hang out. We had plenty of room, except when my dad was in the back. He would always sleep on the diagnal. We would only have two triangles to hang out in.
This gives an idea of the bed like situation of the van.
Now you might think the passengers seat was the best seat, but at your feet you had the coleman cooler. We used this cooler for many, many years. It worked like a charm--until the bears got it, but that is another story.
The water jug sat inbetween the drivers seat and passengers seat.
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The cooler met its demise at Forket Lake the same year Elvis died.
The first night there the cooler was placed in the rowboat we rented in the lake. Dad was afraid that the rowboat would float away with just an anchor so he tied a long rope to the boat and tied the other end to the dock.
That night Dad heard noise out by the dock. He saw a black bear pulling the rowboat in paw over paw. The bear next picked up the cooler, turned it over, then with two or three swipes of his claws was into the cooler.
We had steaks, hamburgers, sausages, butter and basically the food that needed to be in the cooler for the entire trip. The bear ate a pound of butter. The steaks were found in the lake by the shore with a couple of bear claw marks in them.
The only things lost was the cooler and the butter.
Dad said when he took the cooler to the trash dump there were several other coolers of the same model with the bottom opened up by a bear.
The rest of the stay the row boat was left in the lake with only an anchor.
Another reason the passenger seat was a bad place was because you for water and snack dispenser. Also you were chief navigator. Even with that it was one of my favorite places to sit.
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