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Some pictures from a four-day camping trip at Wyalusing State Park, Wisconsin. Pelicans flying over a Mississippi River side channel. Fog over the Wisconsin River Valley at sunrise. Looking west over the foggy Mississippi River Valley toward the Iowa bluffs in the distance.

The Black Hills, South Dakota. Camped here for two nights on my trip out to visit a friend in Oregon. Stayed one night on the way out and one on the way back. Managed to get in a little hike on the return trip. I've wanted to go to the Black Hills for a while now. It was beautiful and I...

I've put 105,000 miles on my VW since I rebuilt it, which is getting up there for a car from the 1960's. It still runs strong and shows little sign of wearing out. I have no doubt it'll still take me wherever I plan on going in it. I do hope that when the VW finally gives up though, it is...

My '66 VW at Coronado Heights in Kansas a couple of weeks ago. It made the 2000-mile round trip from Wisconsin to Kansas and back without issue. The VW in central Kansas.

Hickory and basswood trees on an island at Horicon Marsh, WI. Looking up through the hickory trees on the island.

Fort Robinson, Nebraska.

Overlooking the Wisconsin River from Ferry Bluff State Natural Area, WI.

Not much of a rig but I finally built a sleeping platform for my 2012 Toyota Sienna I picked up a few months ago. This van will be replacing the '66 VW Beetle for my cross-country travels. The VW is getting a little small and uncomfortable for sleeping in these days and I'm planning several...

Today I rolled 100,000 miles on my '66 VW since I rebuilt it. I was driving through Sauk City, Wisconsin on my way to Spring Green Preserve and Ferry Bluff for some hiking. I wanted to take a picture right where the car hit 100k, but I was on a main road with no shoulder, so I pulled into the...

Spring Green Preserve, Wisconsin. Known informally as the Wisconsin Desert. The open land with well drained sandy soil allows for prickly pear cacti to grow here in abundance, well out of their normal range. Having grown up in Texas I've seen lots of cacti but never expected to see them in...

A few pictures from a day trip last Sunday to Pleasant Valley Conservancy near Black Earth, WI. This plant was the neatest part of the trip. It's Fire Pink, which is endangered in Wisconsin. This is the first time I've ever seen it.

The prairie is in bloom at Lapham Peak State Park, Wisconsin.

This happened a week or so ago now, but I got the VW engine back together and in the car. It runs great. Better than it has in quite a few years actually. It deteriorates so slow you don't notice, but when you fix it, wow what a difference. Hills that used to take full throttle can now be...

Yep, oil cooler impedes the airflow to #3 so it suffers more than the others. Later on (1971 i think) VW moved the oil cooler forward and out of #3's airflow which was a big improvement. That setup can be retrofitted to the older engines, but mine is just stock.

Pulled the heads off the VW engine and as suspected the #3 exhaust seat is hammered. There is also a crack starting its way from the spark plug hole to the exhaust valve seat. This thing definitely made it home on borrowed time. The head had already been welded sometime in the past. It's had...

I enjoy the simplicity of the old VW. Yeah, it requires a bit more maintenance than a newer vehicle, but I don't mind the routine valve adjustments etc. that it takes to keep the car in good tune. After doing it for so long, I've become pretty efficient with the maintenance tasks. As for the...

Evening on Chicken Ridge in northeast Iowa.

Pulled the engine in the VW today. All the full throttle driving into the strong headwinds on my trip to Kansas did it in. The cylinder 3 exhaust valve is stretching, hammering the valve seat or ??? but it won't hold an adjustment anymore. On an early aircooled VW engine. Cooling air to...

Windy evening at Blackhawk Lake State Park, Iowa.

Bluebells in the woods by the Shell Rock River in Iowa. DSC_0009 (2) by louiethespelunker, on Flickr