Date:         Tue, 28 Feb 2006 21:03:23 -0500
Reply-To:     Milo's Kitchen <sagmoore@ZOOMINTERNET.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Milo's Kitchen <sagmoore@ZOOMINTERNET.NET>
Subject:      Simple Joys of a Syncro (something good for a change)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1250"

Here in western PA, we have not had a really bad winter. December was snowy,
but January and February were rather bland and mostly warmer with much less
snow and ice than usual, lulling most drivers into a false sense of
security.

Then came a little weather clipper yesterday (Monday) afternoon, with snow
squalls and sharply dropping temperatures, from the 40's to the low 20's
within a matter of 2 hours. The roads quickly became snow covered with a
slick icy coating.  Accumulation was only an inch, but treacherous, and a
lot of people had forgotten what an icy road is like. My wife and daughter
left the house at about 6:;30 pm to take skating lessons at the local rink,
about 11 miles away, in our 1991 Carat. Not 5 minutes after she left, my
wife was pulling back into the driveway. Having owned Vanagons for years,
I'm thinking "what's wrong now"?

She just said "No, no problems, I'm just taking the Syncro, it is slick as
snot out there". My 6 yo daughter said "The van slid, and Mommy made it do
it!", a bit upset with my wife. (My wife did it on purpose, checking the
lack of tire adhesion by goosing it onto a side street). They loaded into
the 7 passenger 1987 Syncro and were gone. (Yes, my wife does know how to
drive a 2wd drive van in the snow, but why take chances when you have a
choice?)

My wife later said that people were sliding everywhere, and watched one
person slide through a stop light at the intersection of Rt 19 and Rt 528,
fortunately not hitting anyone in the intersection. My wife reported that
she had no problems with the roads, and that now she might be keeping an eye
out for a Syncro Westy Weekender, when and if we could afford one.

It is nice to know that a 19 year old Syncro plain Jane van can still just
get the job done when it needs to be. Not showboating or extreme offroading
or doing an extended camping or cross-country trip, just giving a driver a
quiet sense of confidence and security when called for. And accomplishing it
without binding in turns, vibrating at various speeds, or suffering from
various engine maladies.

A bit anticlimactic, perhaps, but this is what endears these vehicles to our
family.

Dave

--
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.375 / Virus Database: 268.1.1/271 - Release Date: 2/28/2006