Date:         Fri, 15 Oct 2010 08:51:15 -0700
Reply-To:     Stephen Grisanti <bike2vcu@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Stephen Grisanti <bike2vcu@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      west-FAHL-ia
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One of the nicest discoveries we made during our Gaspe trip a couple of months ago is the widespread recognition among the Gaspesians of the type of vehicle we drove.  When camping in the U.S. and checking into a campground it's always a struggle trying to get the attendant to realize that it is a Volkswagen camper.  They must have seen thousands of these things, but don't know how to categorize them.  "Is it an RV? No, too little to be a real RV. Is it a van? Naw, it's more than a van.  Class B?"  Etc.
 
But the first time we rolled into one of the Gaspe's many municipal campgrounds and expecting the same drill I was delighted when the young lady said, "Oh, a Westfahlia," with that charming pronunciation.  She (and nearly everyone else we ran into) knew EXACTLY what it was and she nodded in approval at our compact conveyance with its small footprint and she seemed genuinely happy that we'd driven it all that way just to see her, which I guess we really had.  Made the whole trip even better.
 
Stephen