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Date:         Tue, 13 Sep 94 10:03:08 PDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Jon Ulrig <a-jonu@microsoft.com>
Subject:      Trip Report(Summer Trip)

Howdy,

At the end of May I found myself in the precarious situation of being unemployed, with summer on the way. After much pondering on the status of my ever rising debt, it hit me!

ROAD TRIP!!!! I had purchased my '70 bus 3 months earlier(It's as old as me =) ) from Beetles Unlimited(If you are ever in the Seattle area and see a sign for Beetles Unlimited, run, do not walk in the other direction, these guys are the biggest crooks on the face of the planet), and found myself 2500 miles later with a blown engine. So, I ordered a new longblock from GEX in CA, and proceeded to installing the hummer(Note, I had never worked on a car before, mechanically speaking). A week later, and $200 poorer(GEX sent me the wrong throw-out bearing for the clutch I had. So had to have someone who had actually done it before take the engine out, put the right one on, and put it back in), I left my city for the first time.

Now it just so happened that the Dead had played Seattle the weekend before, and were playing Eugene the next, so I had plenty of people bummin rides on the way down I-5. I stayed the night outside of Eugene, woke up the next morning at like 5 to do the first valve adjustment(had never done this before either =) ). 3-4 hours later, was on my way again. I'll stop the longhand/longwinded stuff and just go states/places travelled through, and stop on breakdowns.

San Fancisco- Picked up my friend Sequoia National Park(CA)- Steeeeep hills. second gear most of the way Joshua Tree National Monument(CA)- very hot, very cool(scenery) Colorado River(Arizona Cali border)(AZ)- coldest river I'd ever swam in Grand Canyon(AZ) Navajo Indian reservation(AZ) Hopi Indian reservation(AZ) Lake Powell(Glens Canyon)(AZ, UT)- Go there, go there, go there Zion National Park(UT)- go there go there go there Back to San Francisco for laundry Down to Santa Cruz to pick up two people who we dropped off 100 miles later Death Valley(CA)- hot, very hot(keep in mind, this is an air cooled vehicle) Yosemite National Park(CA)- High point of the trip 9914 ft. Very steep. many stops second gear the whole way. Highway 50 through Nevada(the loneliest road in the US =) ) Lake Powell(again) go there go there go there Santa Fe, New Mexico- very cool very cool Ruins outside of Santa Fe- cave dwellings, etc. Tugs on the insides, if you know what I mean. Taos New Mexico- very tourist oriented, but cool. Colorado- BREAKDOWN, between Col Springs and Denver. Fan catches on fan housing, flips generator completely over, wires melt, engine heats, smell burning wire, stop. Much cussing, burned fingers, try and locate parts. Luckily, a kind sole in a mini truck who just happens to run a non-listed VW shop, just happens to have a '71 bus he's not using, and is willing to trade 50 bucks for a working generator and voltage regulator(the old one fried). 4 hours later, we're on our way.

Denver- Pick up SO(significant other) at airport BREAKDOWN- Coming down a large pass in CO., the accelerator is sticking, so I'm fighting the engine the whole way, the brakes are so hot you can smell them. I stop to take care of the problem. Maybe if I give the cable a twist or two it will tighten it up so it won't stick. Twist, Twist, SNAP! I now have a cable that broke in to two equal halves. LUCKILY! I read in Muirs book that you should bring bailing wire with you. an hour or so later, I've replace the cable with bailing wire. (In fact, it's still in there now =) )

Dinosaur National Monument(CO)- big dino bones, very cool. Up through Wyoming to Jackson Hole/ Tetons/Yellowstone National Park 2 days in Yellowstone. Up into Montana Missoula Montana- I really like Montana, very beautiful place. Richland, WA- stop to see relative Seattle, WA- home for a week, then take off for San Fran again. Portland, OR - stop off to visit a friend Oregon and California Coast all the way down to San Francisco, drop off friend, turn around and drive back up the Coast , cut over to I-5, and back to Seattle. I went from Seattle to San Fran to Seattle in 5 days. Left Monday, got back Friday.

7-8 weeks 14,000 miles. Stopped to change oil, adjust valves, change/check plugs do timing, etc. Very few problems, and I now know a hell of a lot more about air cooled engines then I ever dreamed I would =)

I saw some of the most beautiful country, really cool places, and generally had a fantastic time. Unfortunately my friend doesn't drive, so I spent the whole time behind the wheel, but it wasn't that bad ;)

There, now that I've gotten that off my mind, I feel much better =)

Jon -------------------------- I used to own an '87 16V Scirocco, now I own a '70 bus(with a camper interior), you could say it was like coming out of light speed! I'm now the king of the right lane.


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