Date: Sat, 17 Nov 2007 11:48:07 -0800
Reply-To: VW Doka <vw.doka@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: VW Doka <vw.doka@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Trip report: Nevada to Cal & Back (long winded)
In-Reply-To: <67f8ac6c0711161910g1fec994epe12dfb40f3a61f36@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Gary,
Just out of curiosity... what does one do for a living in Goldfield, NV? I
mapped it and it really is out in BFE.
Cheers,
Jeff
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com]On Behalf
Of Gary Bawden
Sent: Friday, November 16, 2007 7:11 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Trip report: Nevada to Cal & Back (long winded)
Hey fellow Vanagonauts,
While not exactly a monumental trip, I just got back from So. Cal, a grand
total of 874 miles over a lot of back roads, driving Hector, my '85 GL with
a stock 1.9 Wasserboxer.
I left here (Goldfield, Nevada) Tuesday evening, down US 95 about 30 miles
(heavy traffic, must've seen 30 cars!), then turned off on Nevada SR267
towards Scotty's Castle. Joined CA 190, went through Stovepipe Wells, and up
and over Townes Pass at 4956' elevation, which is a bigger hill than you'd
think, as you start out below sea level. Spent a couple of miles in second
gear, then merrily down the hill to Panamint Valley Road, through Trona, CA.
Between the turnoff at Scotty's Junction on US95 in Nevada, and the town of
Trona, CA, there were only five cars on the road! About 1.7 cars per hour -
- the type of traffic I like! Found a nice side road outside of Ridgecrest
which quickly turned into a sandtrap, so parked it and slept till morning.
Easily backed out of potential sandtrap in morning light.
Headed down US395 to Hesperia - - did a little shopping, organized the van a
bit, then over Cajon pass into San Bernardino, where I spent a few hours
perusing some of the largish "automotive recycling centers". Caught a movie
("Bee Movie"), then "stealth camped" a few blocks from one of the many
Trader Joe's in the area.
Next morning, picked up a used 1.6 TD to go into my Rabbit pickup (the
central reason for the trip). Meandered out to the famed Apex surplus place
in or near San Fernando - - that's worth a trip all by itself, if you like
gadgety stuff by the truckload - - then out on the Antelope Valley Freeway
through Palmdale, Lancaster, and Mojave. Camped for the evening next to the
LA aquaduct near Inyokern.
Friday morning, had a nice breakfast of huevos rancheros, then stopped at a
feed store and picked up a roll of wire mesh (heavy!) for some enclosed cat
runs at home. Up US 395 to Big Pine, filled the tank again (814 miles to
this point, 37.3 gallons = 21.8 mpg). Took CA 168 up and over Westgard
Summit, down into Deep Springs Valley, up over Gilbert Summit, down to Fish
Lake Valley, over Lida Summit and out to US 95, then home. Quite a bit of
second gear hauling that roll of wire mesh, the VW diesel engine, and all my
usual camping junk and tools over all those summits, but all in all, quite a
nice trip! My newly fabricated copper coolant pipe worked great, no
overheating issues, fan kicked on and off like it's supposed to, and never
had to add any oil.
To summarize, while I'm sure if I had a Subaru conversion, I may not have
had to go so slowly up the hills, this style of driving suits me just fine -
- I like to take my time and enjoy life on the road in my Vanagon!
Gary
| 
