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Date:         Mon, 5 Jun 2006 11:16:32 -0700
Reply-To:     Jake de Villiers <crescentbeachguitar@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jake de Villiers <crescentbeachguitar@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: DETLEF Does Detroit - Trip Report -semi long?
Comments: To: bueses <bueses@earthlink.net>
In-Reply-To:  <C0A9B982.18BB2%bueses@earthlink.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Great story Tom, but I've already read it!

And for your and all other Americans benefit, you DO NOT need a passport at land crossings between our countries until January 2007. Tourism Canada is trying to get that date moved back. From what I understand, you DO need a passport for air or water crossings of The Longest Undefended Border in the World.

Jake

On 6/5/06, bueses <bueses@earthlink.net> wrote: > > I sent this last Friday, but did not see it posted, & when I resent it > this > am it came back as an identical post from before so it was rejected! I'll > see if this works. > > Dear fellow vanagonoholics, > > As I promised or threatened depending on how you view these things, here > is > the trip report for recently completed 6400+ mile round trip between Salt > Lake City, Utah, & Farmington, Maine. > > As you may remember, when we last visited, I was pondering shipping > DETLEF, > the 84 Westy to Boston, & flying in to pick up said vehicle, driving to > Maine for our daughter's wedding & then taking several weeks to drive home > to SLC. > > First to alleviate any anxieties that said trip was unsuccessful, the 6400 > miles driven went by w/o any mechanical problems whatsoever-didn't even > have > to add oil. The vanagon never got over 1/2 way on the coolant > heating-o-meter, & best of all no vanagon syndrome even tho we fought huge > headwinds coming back thru beautiful Kansas & Colorado. In the past, that > was when I had the problems, but thanks to Zoltan's sale to moi of a used > VW > anti-vanagon syndrome-o-adaptor, DETLEF purred along the entire way.(OG > 1.9 > gas engine w/ 92,000 +- miles @ start of trip) > > Now back to our story-my first wife(we live in Utah, remember) decided to > drive DETLEF by herself to Maine for fun & profit(not spending $1200+ to > ship it). She took the direct route along I-80 to Illinois, then I-90 to > Boston, then up the coast to Maine in 5 days of about 500 miles a day. She > camped in KOA's along the way, where she was well protected by the KOA > staff, & unfortunately has decided that we should have our own KOA > somewhere > cuz it is so much phun & the places were so clean. But I digress, SO > claims > that the solo trip was the most relaxing time she has had in 20 > years(thank > goodness we have been married 28 years). I think the relaxing part was > moi > not being there to worry about her giving moi bad directions, etc. & the > fact that she had no problems w/ the Westy. As you may recall, my ace VW > mechanic had checked the westy out before hand & pronounced all was well > for > the intended 6000 mile trip. He did replace the fan belt before hand tho! > > I flew into Manchester, NH where they picked moi up & the family fun > began. > Wedding came off w/o a hitch, except to my pocket book, & a couple of days > later we set off to drop more family off at the airport in NH & head > towards > flooding Boston area. Drove around the flooding & down to Woods Hole, MA, > to take the ferry to Martha's Vineyard where we stayed for 4 days slumming > it at a friend's summer place, then head off to Newport, RI, where we saw > the only other Vanagon on the entire trip east of the Mississippi. It was > an identical yellow Westy at a state park at the Land's End south of > Newport. Didn't see an owner, but it had a primo camping?/parking spot > over > looking the rugged shore line & Atlantic Ocean. > > Drove up to MA & across very picturesque upstate NY to Niagara Falls, > where > expecting a very tourista scene, I only planned to do a drive by of the > Falls & head into Canada. Tourista as it is, Niagara Falls is spectacular > & > we spent over a day there. Upon reading more detailed info on > entering/exiting Canada(we had not been there since 9/11) we discovered > that > we might not be able to get back in the USA w/o a passport or other proof > of > US citizenship. Oooops! None of those items in hand, we decided to stay in > the USA, & were also influenced by the 30-50 degree weather up north, > which > we were tired of already. So headed to some friends house above Detroit, > MI, & then down to Ann Arbor, & over to Chicago. Stayed near down town > Chicago, but took a hotel room 1 nite, as the spouse refused to try & > stealth camp w/in the loop, & we could find no legitimate camp sites in > the > windy city. Toured the city & had a great time, need to go back for a > week > to see much more of architectural interest there. I recommend the newish > Millenium Park, w/ some very cutting edge architecture, sculpture, etc. if > you are into those things. > > Headed to flat central Illinois to see where the wife lived when she was 4 > years old, then to St. Louis, Kansas City, Denver, & back to SLC. Very > hot > in Missouri & Kansas on I-70 (95-100 degrees) & no AC-gotta solve that w/ > the new Behr AC unit I just got from a listee-now gotta decide how to > install & whether I can live w/o fresh air inlets. > > We did see a couple of Westies outside Steamboat Springs, CO, but other > than > that, we had the VW roads to our selves. > > The only thing we did buy for Detlef on the trip was to continue to > purchase > souvenir magnets for each state or significant place we visited. They are > placed in chronological order on the metal shelf that runs along the > kitchen > side of the westy. My favorite so far is the Kansas enameled metal > medallion of Dorothy on The Yellow Brick Road. These serve as > transferable > substitute tacky stickers volks used to put on their windows years ago, & > also as interesting objets de arte for our westy living room to stimulate > cocktail & dinner hour conversations. > > I wonder what other collectibles volks have in their westies? > > Since today is Fryeday, I will mention that we coincidently drove by the > stadia or arenas of the following teams: River Cats, Patriots, Bills, Red > Wings, Tigers, Lions, Pistons, Wolverines, White Sox, Cubs, Bulls, Bears, > Rams, Blues, Cardinals, Chiefs, Royals, Broncos, Rockies, Avalanche, > Nuggets, etc. However, we did not go by any of the Banana Slugs > facilities > on this trip. > > Regular gas was generally between &2.60 & $3.10 a gallon, with highest > being > $3.50 on Martha's, & lowest somewhere in the Midwest at $2.55. Didn't keep > track of gas mileage, but it seemed like the typical 19-20 highway > mpg.(YMMV) Bilstein shocks worked well in the crosswinds considering my > "C" > rated Michelin LTX M & S tires are under weight rated, Optima aux. Battery > had no problems, & my SA grille/driving lights never were used. I think > that covers all the typical Vanagon thread issues. However, I need to > upgrade the reading lights in the westy-what does everyone recommend? > > All in all, a great trip, but I think 3 months to see the same areas > instead > of 3 weeks would be better. We did have westy living down to a comfy > science other than no AC, & I wouldn't hesitate to do it again, if I could > just get the NY Times delivered to DETLEF on the road. > > Pax, > > Tom Buese-no Toto, we aren't in Kansas anymore >

-- Jake 1984 Vanagon GL 1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie" www.crescentbeachguitar.com


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