6. A Visit With The Folks At GTRV

Day 15 - Thursday, August 3, 2000

Spent a comfortable night at the Richmond, BC campground. Got up early and drove to the GTRV plant. Johnny, the very competent crew leader, was expecting me and they went to work on the van immediately. This was my "to do" list::

1. Replace the two bug screens of the pop-up roof. This involved removing the pop-up roof, removing the canvas tent, installing a new tent, and putting the roof back on.

2. Adjust the door of the closet under the sink for a better fit

3. Get the refrigerator to work flawlessly. This involved rewiring the connection so that power would be drawn directly from the coach batteries rather than the converter outlets.

4. Repair the valve that automatically closes off the city water connection when not connected to shore water. There is a little "O" ring in the valve that had become dislocated - letting water from the tank drip out of the city water connector when the water pump was turned on.

5. Reinforce upholstery seams at several places.

6. Install a 110VAC 6,000 BTU Panasonic air conditioning unit in the left rear door.  Although the van was already wired for a 110VAC unit, considerable work still had to go into cutting a hole in the rear door, relocating wires, and framing.

Roy Wiesendahl, co-owner and production boss was determined to get all this work done in one day, and a crew of some 20 people trooped in and out of the van to get the job done. They succeeded and further strengthened my confidence in the product.

Also used the time to look at the way the newer version of the Westy is being modified. There are some real improvements in wiring, plumbing, appliances, and fittings. The quality of the workmanship and the attention paid to details is very impressive.

While I was having fun watching the GTRV crew work over my van, Antje visited the city of Vancouver. Here is her report:

I started by taking a sightseeing trip in a Doubledecker to get an overview of this lovely city. Got off at Granville, an area resembling NYC's South Street Sea Port, very charming and worth a visit. Feasted on Sushi and a Chocolate Mousse Cake, what a treat after the limited camping diet! My next stop were the Classical Chinese Gardens of Dr. Sun Yat Sen, the first of its kind outside of China. Then walked up to Gastown and down Water Street, a very pretty cobble stone street, the historic part of town. Then continued down Robson Street, which the guide had compared to NYC's 5th Avenue and L.A.'s Rodeo Drive - an insult to both. I loved the Stanley Park with its old growth of red cedars and douglas firs and its seawall promenade all around the peninsula. Made it back to the campground a happy camper, having found the only store in Vancouver that carries Soy Yoghurt (Capers on Robson St.) and surprising Carl with fresh raspberries and a piece of Gran Manier Mousse Cake from Granville Public Market.

Sure enough, all the work got done by 4:30 PM and I went back to the campground. By the way, all the work (except installing the optional air conditioner) was covered by the fabulous GTRV 5 year warranty.

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