Date: Sun, 3 Jun 2012 11:06:01 -0700
Reply-To: Stephen Grisanti <bike2vcu@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Stephen Grisanti <bike2vcu@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: =?utf-8?B?SnVzdCBsaWtlIERhbuKAmWwgQm9vbmUsIGV4Y2VwdCBpbiBhIFdlc3R5?=
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We took off last Sunday for our first Westy outing of the year again without benefit of a shakedown trip and managed to survive without too much difficulty. The hectic week leading up to the departure meant that packing and prep had to be done on Saturday for the Sunday launch, so no Bug Out in Manassas for us this year.
The destination was the Cumberland Gap and points west in Kentucky and Tennessee, but we never actually made it far into TN. This was the new Anniedog’s first trip and we were apprehensive but she loved it, claiming the rear seat for herself in order to look out the window while riding and even maintaining ownership when it was folded out into a bed. That required a little adjustment on everyone’s part. Quote of the week, overheard on the Pinnacle Trail to the Gap overlook in the park was by a 10 year-old girl: “Mommy, hold my iPad!” Whatever happened to “Are we there yet?”
Cumberland Falls in KY has a phenomenon called a moonbow, generated by full and near-full moonlight on the mist from the falls. It’s one of only a couple of places on the planet to do this, but we were a few days too early to see it.
The weather generally cooperated with hot days and (eventually) cool nights. Monday was the toughest day tempwise with one bank thermometer showing 103F, but the air conditioning worked well to keep us comfy. We stayed in several state parks and one national at Mammoth Cave. Conditions were not too crowded the week following the holiday, but there’s always someone parked too near in established places. Most were well-behaved and we tried to do the same.
Saw not a single Vanagon in the first 1000 miles of driving until we reached Berea KY, a town hip and artsy enough to have at least one Vanagon, three bays and a Eurovan that we could see. There might even be more. Spotted a chocolate-and-tan Wolfsburg Westy heading north on I-75 just south of town on our way out.
Gas mileage for the 1600+ miles varied from 17 to 20 MPG, and prices ranged from 3.15 in the Roanoke Valley to 3.77 in western West-by-god-Virginia, with prices mostly around 3.40. In addition to the vans mentioned we also saw a couple of Rialtas, one Routan and a homebrewed Sprinter conversion that got us to thinking again about more space and diesel power. There was also one young fellow in an eastern KY campground traveling with his dog to NC in an ancient diesel Rabbit pickup on their third cross country trip from CA. Tough guys.
Swung by Natural Bus on the way home yesterday to buy the winning Rafflebus ticket (Why haven’t they notified us yet?) and get a Vanagon fix since we’d bypassed the famous Vanagon collection in Pulaski in our hurry to make time heading out. A good trip but a lot of driving. Next trip we’ll go someplace a park for a few days, maybe the C&O Canal again.
Stephen
