It was owned by Pam ,who did a lot of traveling in it for many many years,it was equipped with every thing you could imagine.There was a small kitchen,two beds,toilet,table,cupboards,lights and pretty curtains that matched the seat covers and cushions.
Her Grandsons used it when they came here on holiday ,one of their stories about the van was sleeping in it on a beach,they forgot about the tide coming in and had to get a tractor to winch it out of the sea.It was also used to entertain their girlfriends and what ever else young people get up to,that they do not want their parents to know about.!!!
It then passed to my youngest son,who also got great use out of it until he wrote it off by nearly colliding with a herd of run-a-way cows.To avoid the stampede he swerved into a ditch and rolled the van thankfully he was unhurt but the poor old van was damaged beyond repair,so was his beloved guitar.
Pam did not want to get rid of the van so for my sons punishment,he had to build a shelter for it,so that the younger children could play in it,my daughter who was a young teenager at the time painted it with the snail-or is it a snake.?? On the other side there are flowers and other hippie symbols.
No one ever used it and it was forgotten until I came across it recently,the shelter has fallen down and the van is completely overgrown, and rusted,I had to remove ivy and briars from it to take the photo.
There is nothing that can be done to it,so the undergrowth will take over it again and eventually it will rust away until nothing is left along with all the memories.
So to the Hippie van,passion wagon ,teenagers party venue,Pam's faithful travel bus, play bus,MAY YOU RUST IN PEACE.!!!!
Thank you to every one for your kind words and wishes,whilst I was unwell.I am over the worst of it now and feeling much better,receiving get well messages from all over the world,is so heart warming and I appreciate each and every one. xxxx
Awww, a lovely old van nevertheless.
ReplyDeleteThose were the days, the vans and volkswagen beetles, covered in peace signs and flower power everywhere.
The vans are making a comeback, all decked out, with sleeping quarters and kitchen facilities, but surely they can't be as much fun as the old hippy ones. What stories they could tell, if they could only remember ;)
What a lovely story, nostalgia is good for the soul. I'll second your wishes.....May it rust in peace.
ReplyDeleteHi Carolyn, I am so happy to hear you are feeling much better.
ReplyDeleteOh, if that van could talk...the stories it could tell. I remember well the hippie days...tho I really never could relate to the flower power stuff!
Have a good weekend!
Cheryl
A Brit in Tennessee
ReplyDeleteThe only vans I see now are huge great camper-vans,nothing like the small vans of my day.They are more comfortable,but as you pointed out,are they as much fun.!!!
ADRIAN
You have a camper van,tell me if you dare,do you have has much fun with yours as our old rust bucket has had in it's time.?? !!!!
Cheryl
I dare not tell all the secrets of the van!!
Some things are best left unpublished,but Oboy it does have one heck of a history.
Thank you for the comment.
This post reminds me of a television show we watch here, "Clatterford". A daughter on the show tours around in a bus and lives a rather bohemian lifestyle. Would be such fun, huh?
ReplyDelete