Date: Thu, 5 May 2005 09:41:57 -0700
Reply-To: Old Volks Home <oldvolkshome@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Old Volks Home <oldvolkshome@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: You're Invited! Herbie & Friends Cruise Across America (A Little
Long)
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An attempt is being made to have the largest cruise of Vintage &
Classic Volkswagens in Southern California as part of an even larger
cruise across America with it's first destination stop in Barstow, CA.
All are invited to participate. As to why, read on...
The year 2005 is a year of 50ths.
50th Anniversary of the establishment of Volkswagen Of America
50th Anniversary of the introduction of the Karmann Ghia
50th Anniversary of Disneyland's opening in Anaheim, CA
And (smile) the first "attempt" at civilizing the VW Type 2 (March
1955) (Please, no flames from the Barndoor crowd, but I just couldn't
resist)
Some of you may or may not know that almost all of the anniversary
events above are being tied together as a 2 to 4 week
cruise/celebration taking place across the U.S. beginning on the 15th
of May. What began as a enthusiastic group of Ghia owners cruising
across the U.S. to celebrate Karmann's intro of the model and
continuing on into Germany for the Karmann Factory celebration has (in
the past few months) grown to a very large event to include all
aircooled models (and yes, wasser-vanagons as well) on this cruise. I
have been asked by the originator of the cruise to extend an
invitation to all various vw-related listmembers to join in the cruise
extending from Santa Monica (CA) Volkswagen to the Bug-Out (May 29,
2005) in Manassas, VA. You can join in for a mile, five miles, ten
miles, a hundred miles or even the entire length of the cruise and any
who do will receive a Cruise Participant Plaque at any of the stops
along the way. After finishing up in Manassas, the cruise will head
south to Florida and then along I-10 west back to California to end at
the VW Classic (June 12, 2005).
The cruise will kick off at Santa Monica Volkswagen (2440 Santa Monica
Blvd, Santa Monica, CA). Arrival time is set at 7am, May 15, 2005.
Departure time is planned at 9am. The dealership is providing 250
parking spaces and there will be an additional 300 spaces available at
the Calif DMV nearby. I don't honestly know how many are showing up
that morning, but from the talk I'm hearing it sounds like a big bunch
(250+). The main route will be east on I-10 to I-15 north to the
first lunch stop (about noon) in Barstow, CA, afterwhich the cruise
will continue on I-40 East. Just after crossing the Arizona border,
the cruise will detour onto Old 66 thru Oatman, AZ for a brief stop
and then into Kingman, AZ for the first overnight stop. (Unca Jerry
Jess suggests that you have a bunch of fresh carrots on hand to feed
the wandering burros in Oatman). Unca Jerry has indicated he will be
there with his "fully accessorized" Herbie to participate in the
Arizona leg of the cruise.
For other stopping points along the cruise, please refer to the link
provided further below in this post.
The venerable "Hot Dog" Fred will be providing the "refreshments" at
the first Lunch Stop in Barstow, CA at Dana Park, located at Barstow
Road & Virginia Way (exit Barstow Rd from north I-15, then turn left,
traveling about 2 to 3 blocks on the left). Meal Tickets for this
lunch must be purchased in advance on the morning (7am May 15th) the
cruise gets together at Santa Monica Volkswagen to claim your food.
A genuine Disney, fully running Herbie Bug from the movie will be
accompanying the cruise for it's entire length. Yeah, it will be
trailered, but will be pulled out at almost every major stop to
display at participating VW Dealerships along the way. An "impromptu"
VW show will be occuring at almost each VW Dealership stop, lasting
for around 2 hours.
This cruise is sponsored in part by Volkswagen Of America, Walt Disney
Pictures' release of Herbie: Fully Loaded (June 24, 2005), Airhead
Parts (http://www.airheadparts.com), Karmann Ghia Parts & Restoration
(http://www.karmannghia.com) and the Karmann Ghia Club of North
America (http://www.karmannghia.org). In addition, giveaways at the
various stops will be provided by Nextel, Goodyear Tire, 3M Car Care
and Radio Shack.
Provided by Volkswagen Of America will be "chase" vehicles for cruise
support in the event of break downs. Current plans call for two
Touaregs, one Eurovan, a Phaeton and a Jetta.
Official Cruise Website with Itinerary:
http://www.airheadparts.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=1
NOTE: This itinerary has been changing on almost a daily basis -
check this site often. Itinerary includes motel and camping info.
Volkswagen's "Cruise Blurb" Website
http://www.vw.com/eventvw/karmann/
Disney's Herbie Website:
http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/herbie/
Yahoo Discussion Group For This Cruise:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/karmannghiatreffen/
Contact Info:
Cruise Lodging Information:
Larry Edson (A Ghia List & Vanagon List Member)
sonofed@karmannghia.org
OR
http://www.airheadparts.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=1
Note: There will be a "mini cruise" from the San Francisco Bay area
to Ventura on May 13th primarily for the Karmann Ghia Treffen #7. All
VW models wanting to participate in the main cruise are welcome to
join Larry & the Bay Area Ghias on this "mini cruise" down the coast.
If you wish to tag along, you are more than welcome to join in. The
gathering point for this cruise is 8AM, May 13th at Sunnyvale
Volkswagen, 1025 East El Camino Real, Sunnyvale, CA, departing about
8:30AM. There will be a Lunch Break around noon at Margie's Diner,
1575 Calle Juaquin, San Luis Obispo, CA (last US-101 southbound exit
in SLO). The "mini cruise" will end up at Barber Volkswagen, 3650
Main St, Ventura, CA. Most will stick around overnight for the Ghia
Treffen on Saturday May 14th at Karmann Ghia Parts & Restoration, 1604
Morse Ave, Ventura, CA (couple of blocks around the corner from Barber
VW) (Everyone's invited to attend of course) and some will head
further south to Santa Monica to await the kickoff the next morning at
Santa Monica Volkswagen (see above).
--
Jim Thompson
84 Westfalia 2.1 "Ole Putt"
oldvolkshome@gmail.com
jim@karmannghia.com
http://www.oldvolkshome.com