Alternative titles "Hey, my butt isn't sore after driving all day" "Wow, maybe you Vanagon folks DO have something there..." Well, good to be back, and after reading my 1000 or so list messages, I thought Ishould post a report of my Westfalia trip. For those who don't know, Tom Brouilette, of NEATO fame, owns ROAMIN' HOLIDAY, out of Albuquerque NM, which rents out Vanagon Westy's. As my father had many frequent flyer miles to use up, I convinced him that we should take the family vacation to drive through the scenic west in a Volkswagen. After a bit of persuading, I managed to bring my mother and sister around to the idea as well. Everything was arranged, and we were off. We arrived in Albuquerque on a Sunday afternoon, and picked up Casey, our '86 GL Westfalia, with only 53,000 original miles. Full of gas, water, and propane, we headed north, for our first KOA of the trip. We went to Chaco canyon, Arches park, through the Rocky mountains of Colorado, rode 2 different scenic narrow gauge steam railroads, explored old Santa Fe, and visited several other scenic Native American sites. Iwill skip the discussion of the touristy stuff here, and discuss only VW stuff, but let me say, the scenery was MAGNIFICENT! (It was everywhere you looked!) Scenery everywhere. Took many rolls of pictures, and some 3 hours of videotape. Volkswagen-wise, the Vanagon drove as well as any "real car". Shifting was super smooth, and never a problem with accelerating, going, starting, or braking. I really love the front captains chairs, particularly the armrests. Great features. We chose never to use the AC, to avoid blowing things up, but it was there. Actually, we never really needed it. We got some snow a couple times... The camper was super. The 3-way refrigerator ran constantly the whole trip, and was always cold, no matter what mode it was using for power. My comfort-oriented family was REALLY impressed with the whole trip, and seeds are growing in the ir minds to one day buy one for the family!!! One thing I did notice about continuous mountain driving, is that there seems to be a gap between 2nd and 3rd gears. Anyone else noticed this? What I mean is that you must rev 2nd really high, then shift, and then 3rd still revs kinda low. this is really irritating while climbing hille at 10,000 feet. Anyway, overall I drove a bit over 1900 miles in 2 weeks. (I hogged all the driving), and never had even the tiniest problem. Not even a drop of oil or coolant leaked, and everything was just splendid the whole trip! I was well pleased. So, if anyone has any desire to do any camping out west, or just want to try out a Vanagon to see how it is, I 100% recommend Roamin Holidays. I Can put you in touch with Tom Brouilette, or NEATO members already can get in touch with him. Another list member, Ron Lussier, has already reserved one for later this summer. It was super fun, and I had a great time. As far as older busses, I had the supreme pleasure of riding in Tom's '53 BArndoor Deluxe, which was in perfect shape! What a thrill. HE share's a building with the Bus Barn, so also on the lot was a nice '51 barndoor wagen, a single cab, and a nice highroof from Denmark. OUt back were several other splits, including a crew cab. I saw a ton of busses out there, a lot of old ones and splits, but few bugs. Most bodies were in good shape, thanks to the dry, hot desert. I found quite a surprise at the Monticello, UT. KOA; the owner's father was one of the first VW dealers in Ca. He had in a garage the first Bug that was imported there, a '54 oval Bug, with working semaphores, and only 35,000 ORIGINAL MILES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT still had tread on the original whitewall tires. MAn, that car was super perfect! Whew! Also on hand were several "junk" splits, with bodies more perfect than most I've seen driving around here! Wish I had a BIIIIIG trailer! Anyway I'm glad to be back, and if anyone wants more details, just drop me a line. Richard, Just another deadhead "destroying" his bus by enjoying it... (sorry I missed that thread)
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