Ludwig reunites with the Gypsie Wagon

We met the Gypsie Wagon and family at the Deschutes River RendezVW just a few weeks ago. When they mentioned they were going to be vacationing in the Missoula area for the 4th of July, Mitch let them know we'd love to meet up with them while they were in town. And what's better than just meeting up with like-minded ACVW freaks? Camping with like-minded ACVW freaks! We headed out for a one-night trip Quartz Flat, just a jaunt up the road from Missoula.

Even though the Gypsie Wagon looks modern and newfangled compared to Ludwig, it's really only 6 years younger. And it's still air-cooled. (It's a 1980, and Vanagons were air-cooled until 1983 1/2. Mitch commonly says, "It's the biggest mid-year change in automotive history.")

One of my absolute favorite things is seeing how other VW folks camp. I LOVED the awning the Gypsies set up. They have a tarp clipped to the pop-top roof, and then the awning is supported by extending paint poles. Brilliant. The best part is they said it only cost about $12 (since they already had the poles). It's much better than our $10 setup at Maupin, although we'll try to set up ours more like this next time.

It was a pleasure to camp with such nice folks, who even shared some of their delicious fruit salad and fancy micro-brew beer with us. At night, when the daughters were both asleep in their respective vee-dubs, Gypsie played some tunes on his mandolin and we chatted around the campfire in to the wee hours of the morning. It was good times.

Very nice people, these Gypsie Wagon owners.

A surprising discovery on our way home was that the campground was on both sides of the interstate, connected under I-90 via this one lane tunnel.

Note to Gypsie daughter: Scruffy is on her way.