Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2001 21:47:04 -0700
Reply-To: Mike Williams <westyvanagon@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Mike Williams <westyvanagon@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: A Boy and his Van...(A Boston Yankee in the Valley of the Sun)
[Episode 1: a X-Country tale]
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Well...I swear there was a river here last year...oh
well...not important...
So...I've gotten a few requests from list members to
post my adventures in life in my Vanagon. For those
of you who want to hear the stories of my travels, I
will attempt to post every Monday so the weekend
happenings are still nice and fresh in my mind.
First off...for those of you who don't know me...I'm
Mike [new list member]...and my vanagon is "Bad Larry"
[Bad Larry is a name my friend Ben came up with
unintentionally] p.s. Larry is an 84 Vanagon AguaAli
Westfalia [tan w/brown interior]. I'm 19 years old
and I live in my Vanagon in the Phoenix area of
Arizona. I decided to live in my Van for reasons that
i'm sure a few of you at least can relate to...peace
and quiet (when I want it)...simplicity...the ability
to go wherever, whenever, and do whatever [ya
know?]...and it's just plain ol' fun to tell you the
truth.
So...here is the first episode of many
(hopefully)...it is more of an introduction than
anything...I hope you enjoy! Feel free to send me any
of your stories also...I've started writing a book
already about my travels...so pretty much everything
you read is going toward that...and you got to read it
first...LUCKY YOU!
I'm originally from Boston, Taxachusetts...and I moved
out here about a year ago. I went back to Mass this
summer because I heard one of my good friends was
selling his Vanagon. So...I hitched a ride to
Mass...picked up the Van...made a few adjustments and
was ready to be on my way back to saguaro cacti,
tumbleweeds, mormons (no offense to anyone...unless of
course, you wish to be offended) and temperatures
exceeding the 115 degree mark...yeah...it's a lot of
fun allright.
About 7am...I woke up in my van in my friends driveway
in the small town of Spencer, Massachusetts to the
sound of a rumbling Harley Davidson taking off down
the street [my friend Bens step dad Otis has a sweet
shovelhead...but anyway]... condensation covering the
windows...the crisp feeling of a summer morning in the
air...a good day for fishing. So I put some boxers
on...and got the stove ready to make me some coffee
and I opened the sliding door, still pie eyed...and
yelled out "good morning vietnam" to Bens mom in her
kitchen window. I finished preparing my cup of
coffee...got dressed...said my goodbyes...and I was on
my way. I drove through the center of that small New
England town I never quite understood until I was no
longer there. I stop by to see my mom one last
time...gave her a kiss on the cheek and waved goodbye.
I first drove down rt 9 in Spencer...and then I took
rt. 49 to Sturbridge, Mass where I could pick up I-84
to Hartford. It was an amazing morning to drive...I
threw in some Allman Brothers Band ["southbound" for
the occasion] and sipped my coffee randomly, thinking
about what this x-country trip had in store for me.
(By the way...I had done a x-country trip a year
before in my 86 Ford Ranger...so I wasn't totally new
to the whole "breakdown lane" mechanic philosophy. I
should probably also mention that I had to do this
particular trip in 4 days...my classes started on
Monday at school...and as I mentioned it was now
Thursday). So...I picked up I-84...and drove down
through Hartford...into New York City, not knowing the
skyline would never be the same again :( No problems
so far at all...smooth sailing. Down through
Pennsylvania... going good...time for a fillup!
So...I pull off the highway and what do I see...that's
right...an 85 Vanagon Westfalia...JUST LIKE MINE at
the gas station I was about to pull into. So...being
weird (aren't all of us vananuts a little twisted)...I
pull Bad Larry up right behind the other westy and
gave a big smile to the old guy (no offense to old
people either...hehe) filling up the tank...and I got
out (forgetting my key of course)...and started
shootin the BS about vans for a few. Turns out he's
from FL...list member maybe? Beats me...but...I did
get a picture of our vans side by side at the gas
pumps...I'll share it when I get it developed. So...I
finished up there...grabbed some ice for my ice
box/non-operational refridgerator (I couldn't figure
out how to work the damn thing yet)...and hit the road
once again.
Now the going got tough! No one told me the state
moddo for West Virginia is "the mountain
state"...well...I guess you could imagine that I found
out pretty quickly on my own. Up...and Down...and
Up...and Down...damn Vanagon must be bomb-proof
too...all these mountains and still no
problems...sweet! Down I-81 with no problems at all.
Oh...Tenessee...why must thou always giveth me
problems! Ok...so just as I'm about in Nashville...I
hear a scraping noise...getting louder by the second.
I pull over quickly and see my exaust has a gargantuan
hole in it, and is hanging by a thread. So...quick
fix...gotta keep movin...I climb into the van and grab
a coat hanger...bend it up with my trusty leatherman
tool...and hang the muffler from the frame. By the
way...while I was wrenching on the van...a VW Thing
drove by and beep beeped...she felt my pain i'm sure.
So...I keep driving...and about twenty miles more...it
is now dark...and i just hear my engine get really
loud all of a sudden...and i look back just in time to
see my catylatic converter along with my muffler
getting crushed by a semi...&$%*$&$!!!!!!!!
So...stressed out...I just keep driving. At this
point I hadn't much of a clue about how an engine
worked and I had no idea I could have burnt my exaust
valves.
So the next morning I'm in arkansas...and I pull into
a NAPA and ask if there is anything i can do to stop
that damn racket...no such luck. when we looked over
the exaust, I realized the header off cylinder #3 blew
completely off (North Eastern Rust luckily only
touched the exaust and few other small places).
So...as the NAPA employee assured me that I would
never get pulled over in Arkansas for not having a
muffler...I kept driving...losing my hearing slightly
with every mile driven. I still can't believe I drove
like this for so long. All the way through Oklahoma,
Texas, New Mexico, and into Arizona.
The rest of my trip was pretty uneventful...and I'll
tell you all the truth that I don't remember much of
it due to the insane amount of coffee I drank to get
to AZ in time on Sunday for my classes to start.
However, I did see the western hemispheres biggest
cross (near Amarillo, TX)...and I stood on a corner in
Winslow, Arizona...such a fine sight to see. It's a
Winslow police officer telling me that I better get
lost before he takes me to jail...people just don't
trust kids in VW Vans I guess...I don't see why though
;)
So...that was my trip...and now I'm here...wonderful
Mesa Arizona...city of the second largest mormon
population in the world...not a good place to live in
a van...many more stories to come.
Ok...my school library is closing...so I must be on my
way...I hope you enjoyed your flight...be sure to tip
your waitress...I'll be here a lot longer than you
want me to be I'm sure...Later Volks!
Mike
Mesa, AZ / Worcester, MA
84 Westy "Bad Larry"
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