Date: Sun, 29 Nov 2009 17:27:54 -0500
Reply-To: craig cowan <phishman068@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: craig cowan <phishman068@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: vanagon Digest - 28 Nov 2009 to 29 Nov 2009 - Special issue
(#2009-1032)
In-Reply-To: <41FA4B80E7B74079BCA409079FC5DE66@pat43d5bf70c66>
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Does it make me a bad student to mention that I am becoming a
Geologist/Environmental Scientist?
Even with several years of intense Geology/Geography courses under my belt,
Nebraska (viewed from the road) bored me.
Though I do agree that once you become excited by rocks, you are easily
surrounded by happyness. It's also a wildly cheap thrill.
-Craig Cowan
'85GL Turned WESTY
BOSTIG in the back
Current 'Junior' of Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania
Student Of Geography,Geology, and The Environment, minoring in Jewelry.
On Sun, Nov 29, 2009 at 4:34 PM, Pat Sloan <pmsloan@shaw.ca> wrote:
> Re: Nebraska (and all the beautiful Canadian prairies and US Midwest) or
> How to Have Amazing Road Trips in your Vanagon
>
>
>
> Become a Geographer/Geologist. You will never be bored no matter how
> apparently 'dull' the landscape looks to the uninitiated. There is nothing
> better than prairie skies, and the little coulees and sloughs you find when
> you doddle along on the secondary roads. Did you know that Nebraska is
> covered with meteorites and some spectacular meteor craters? Almost any
> small rock you pick up off the land is likely to be an alien from outer
> space!
>
>
>
> My sources of inspiration for Great Vanagon Trips:
>
> Read Edmund Way Teale - any of his books, but especially "Wandering Through
> Winter", "North With The Spring", "Journey Into Summer" and "Autumn Across
> America".
>
> Read "Annals of the Former World" (a New York Times Notable Book of the
> Year) by science writer John McPhee, who traveled Route 80 from Brooklyn to
> San Francisco, accompanied by various geologists who were expert in each
> area he crossed. Fascinating and not full of geology jargon.
>
> Read "Road Trip USA" by Jamie Jensen - Just received this from a friend as
> a
> welcome present to the Otter who is now fixed up and ready to go. 5
> East-West trips and 6 North-South trips along 2-lane highways.
>
>
>
> I'm sure there are many more. I've driven to Dawson City in the Yukon. Next
> is the Dempster Highway which follows an old 700 mile sled dog trail from
> Dawson to Inuvik on the Arctic Coast, past the Tombstone Mountains. What
> are
> your favourite ideas for great Vanagon trips?
>
>
>
> Pat in Vancouver
>
> 1982 Vanetta "Otter"
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Date: Sun, 29 Nov 2009 10:04:09 -0500
>
> From: Greg Potts <greg@POTTSFAMILY.CA>
>
> Subject: Re: vanagon speed (was Re: Heart vs. Head
>
>
>
> Hi Craig,
>
>
>
> I guess this has a lot to do with WHY you are driving the van. If you
>
> are destination-oriented, the stuff in between is just getting in the
>
> way. I think Tom Buese made a really good comparison about sailing; once
>
> you are out on the boat away from shore the water looks pretty much the
>
> same no matter where you go, more or less. Perhaps your frustration with
>
> Nebraska had more to do with you having already been "at sea" for a
>
> couple days by the time you got there?
>
>
>
> It might be a zen thing, but with practice it is possible to find a
>
> sweet spot between the two viewpoints. Give me a comfy seat and a good
>
> playlist on the audio system and I can point my baywindow or vanagon
>
> down the road just about anywhere my wallet can take me. 55-65 MPH in
>
> either van is quite sustainable, with reductions on long grades to be
>
> expected. Your Zetec probably negates a lot of that.
>
>
>
> But as they say: Your milage may vary.
>
>
>
>
>
> Happy Trails,
>
>
>
> Greg Potts
>
> 1973/74/79 Westfakia "Bob the Tomato"
>
> 1987 Wolfsburg Weekender Hardtop
>
> www.busesofthecorn.com
>
> www.pottsfamily.ca
>
>
>
>
>
> craig cowan wrote:
>
> > While I tend to agree and love slowing down and enjoying the view,
> Nebraska
>
> > has (in my mind) nothing to offer the slower you go. The faster you go,
>
> > still nothing to offer, but you get out of there much more quickly.
>
> > There are some great towns, it's just the vast distances between them
> filled
>
> > with nothing but nothing that calls for speeding.
>
> >
>
> > Just my 2cents.
>
> >
>
> > Vanagons are NOT the slowest things on the road, they have character.
>
> >
>
> > -Craig
>
> > '85GL turned WESTY
>
> > BOSTIG in the back
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > On Sat, Nov 28, 2009 at 2:56 PM, John Rodgers <inua@charter.net> wrote:
>
> >
>
> >> As a pilot - I have flown the big boys at 30,000 feet doing 60o mph, and
>
> >> I have flown the little guys like J-3 Piper Cubs at 300 feet. You don't
>
> >> see much at Flight Level 300 going 600 mph.
>
> >>
>
> >> There was in my younger flying days a saying amongst pilots:
>
> >>
>
> >> "Fly lo' and slo' an' enjoy it mo'!" :-)
>
> >>
>
> >> The Vanagons of all stripes are those J-3 Cubs - and even today - those
>
> >> powered hang gliders - the ultralights.
>
> >>
>
> >> Get off the interstates, drive 55 - and less - and enjoy the drive an
>
> >> the scenery.
>
> >>
>
> >> Even the long drives over the vast distances of the Great Plains offer a
>
> >> lot to see at that slower speed. How about watching the hawks ride the
>
> >> pressure wave at the edge of the highway shoulder where it rises up out
>
> >> of the plains to elevate that great ribbon of asphalt that makes
>
> >> interstate 70 connecting Denver to Kansas City. When you drive slower
>
> >> you can watch the birds sail along the highway shoulder on that pressure
>
> >> wave caused by the wind as it rises up over the highway shoulder
>
> >> obstruction. The hawks ride it like a surfer on a big wave at Waikiki.
>
> >> Or how about counting and watching the play of the pronghorn antelope
>
> >> one encounters out west along the highways. And then there is the rare
>
> >> beauty of the deer herd having a drink out in the shallows of a river
>
> >> in Wyoming where the water runs under a bridge - a sight not seen by
>
> >> those fly by at high speeds - they don't have time to look. Or how about
>
> >> having time to slow down sufficiently to watch a Sage Grouse hen cross
>
> >> the road with her brood of 12 chicks.
>
> >>
>
> >> Yup - I'm old now, but I still "Fly slo and enjoy it mo'!" :-)
>
> >>
>
> >> Vanagons Forever!!!
>
> >>
>
> >> John Rodgers
>
> >> 88 GL Driver
>
> >> Chelsea, AL
>
> >>
>
> >>
>
> >>
>
> >>
>
> >>
>
> >> Joy Hecht wrote:
>
> >>
>
> >>> Well of course vanagons are slow! They have low-power engines and they
>
> >>> are
>
> >>> heavy. They are slow on flat ground - of course they are even slower
>
> >>> going
>
> >>> up long grades. On long gradual grades, the kind you don't see with
> the
>
> >>> eye, I find myself not going above the 50s, if that - the lack of power
> is
>
> >>> how I realize I'm on a grade. Steep hills I do at 20-25 mph.
> Definitely
>
> >>> you're going to climb to the continental divide in the right lane with
> the
>
> >>> 18-wheelers while cars and SUVs rush past in the left lane.
>
> >>>
>
> >>> If you wanted a vehicle that would make good time on long drives, why
>
> >>> would
>
> >>> you have a vanagon?
>
> >>>
>
> >>>
>
> >>>
>
> >>> Joy
>
> >>>
>
> >>>
>
> >>>
>
> >>>
>
> >>> On Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 4:01 PM, Mark Hineline <
> hineline@helix.ucsd.edu
>
> >>>> wrote:
>
> >>>>> Okay, a couple of points to consider.
>
> >>>>>
>
> >>>>> First, I had a '76 bus named Peregrine. Greg mentioned my trials and
>
> >>>>> tribulations with Peregrine.
>
> >>>>>
>
> >>>>> Second, and this is really the kicker, my number one destination is
>
> >>>>> the Colorado Plateau -- Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, Cedar Mesa. From San
>
> >>>>> Diego thats' 500 to 600 miles and an 8000 foot gain in elevation. In
>
> >>>>> my GTI I can do it in 7 hours. I'm guessing that in a watercooled
>
> >>>>> Vanagon I'm looking at 10 to 12 hours for the same trip.
>
> >>>>>
>
> >>>>> Sound right? Are Vanagons slow pulling long grades?
>
> >>>>>
>
> >>>>> Mark
>
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