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Date:         Thu, 29 Jun 1995 21:55:57 -0700 (PDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         David Schwarze <des@teleport.com>
Subject:      GNATT report, part two

Monday, May 22nd.

Awoke in Red Rock State Park, on the Western edge of New Mexico. The night before, they had floodlights pointed at the sheer red cliffs next to our campsite - breathtaking! Only drawback was that it lit up the inside of the camper a little, even with the curtains drawn, but fortunately, it didn't bother shelley or I. Had some fruit for breakfast and hit the road. The weather was clear and sunny (one of the few nice days on the whole trip, it turned out). Got gas in Gallup - on the expensive side at $1.29 but it was regular, and DaBoat hadn't tasted that in a long time.

We cruised on into Albuquerque to look for Tom Bruilette's place, "Roamin Holiday", which was a business that rents out late model Westfalia campers. It wasn't too hard to find, it was in a small town and on the main drag. When we saw 4 Vanagon Westfalias in a parking lot we knew we were at the right place. Tom wasn't there, but a guy named Mark was. Mark, as it turned out, was the true Type II nut, and his shop on the premises proved it. A large barn, with a '60 Splittie inside that he was prepping for a trip to the East coast. Out in front, neear the Vanagons, he had a tall-roof ambulance bus, completely unrestored. Never seen one of those before! Out back, a half dozen splitties were rusting away in the yard. The guy had his own personal junkyard behind his shop! Paradise, I tell ya! He gave us directions to Tom's place, and after a brief chat we headed over there to see his 53 barndoor bus. Tom greeted us warmly and told us the story of his immaculate '53, and all the places it had been. It was beautiful - kind of a peach color, two tone with white. I had never seen a barn door bus either. Took some pictures and we were on our way.

At this point, we were well ahead of schedule - not having to be in St. Louis until Friday, and we were close to half way there. We decided to drive up to Santa Fe and attempt to sample some of their famous chilis. Santa Fe had a quaint little "old town" area similar to the one in San Diego, with lots of little shops. We walked around a while, and then decided to eat lunch at a place called Little Anita's. I think I had an Enchilada - it wasn't extraordinary. Shelley was feeling a little under the weather in the afternoon (nothing to do with the food) so we decided to treat ourselves to a night in a motel in Santa Fe. We looked around town for the afternoon and then watched the season finale of Melrose Place, which was just what we expected, only sleazier!! =) There were lots of nice old busses in Santa Fe, for some reason. We saw at least 3 nicely restored splits in town, including one single cab that was too immaculate for words. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of this bright yellow beauty.

Tuesday, May 23

We slept in nice and late - about 9, I think. Ahhh... gotta love vacations! On the way out of Santa Fe, we see a blue and white splittie parked at a gas station with a couple of guys hunched ouver the engine compartment. We pull over. The bus is a high roof - a really old one. Turned out to be a '65. The high roof was only in the middle of the van, and just for standing room, I guess. An ex roomate of mine had had one identical to it, but besides that I had never seen one like it. Looked like the bus had a giant wart on top of it. There were 3 guys by the engine, and they were gapping the spark plugs. I ask them what's wrong, and they say the van is losing power. They say they can only do 25 up the hills. Inside the bus, there are the remains of some cabinets, but the bus is basically empty, with a huge pile of clothes and bedding filling it up. Oh wait, there are body parts protruding from the pile - an arm here, a leg there. Turns out there are three girls inside, asleep in the pile of bedding. I wonder how a 65 bus with a stock 1500 engine can push 6 people up to 7,000 feet, even when it's running right. I'm suprised they could even get it up to 25! I offer to loan them my compression tester just in case. Sure enough, their compression is fine. They offer me some beads in return and we bid them goodbye. We were kind of glad to get away, as it was obvious they hadn't had showers in a long time. They were from South Dakota, heading who knows where. After seeing their bus, Shelley and I felt like we were driving away in a brand new 30 foot Winnebago!

Driving out of Santa Fe, we take a small road as a shortcut, but I had neglected to fill up with gas in Santa Fe, and there were only a couple of really small towns before the interstate. I had 3 gallons of gas under the seat, and decided to just press on, and use the reserve if we ran out. The first town we drove through (pop. about 100) we spotted a lone gas pump just off the road. Pulling in, it is regular gas, and priced at a very reasonable $1.22/gal. That was cheaper than anything in Santa Fe. Gleefully, I pull up, get out, set my just-opened Dr. Pepper on the pump (which was padlocked) and went inside the little store. Nobody there. I ring the bell and wait, and after a while a really, really old man came around the front. He spies my can of soda on the pump and tosses it in the trash before I can get outside. Despite this, he was very friendly and unlocked the pump for us. Put 15.34 gallons in the 14.8 gallon tank (plus the filler neck). We would have surely run out in the next few miles. We thank him and move on. That little town was Galisteo, NM if anyone is interested.

We drive on through the rest of New Mexico, and into the Texas panhandle. Get gas again at Armadillah (trucker talk for Amarillo). Decide to head for a campground called "Double D" just inside Oklahoma, which scored high marks with the Trailer Life campground book. It was only $8, but it was a friggin parking lot next to the interstate! They must have paid Trailer Life a good little bribe to get those ratings! This was at exit "1" inside Oklahoma. Mileage 92871. I noticed they had taken down the signs that a few years ago had displayed the outrageous fines that wouldbe assessed if you were caught speeding in their fine state. It used to be something like $100 for going 60 in a 55 zone. Ugh. Glad to see Oklahoma finally woke up and joined the rest of the world in the 90s (1990s that is!) =)

to be continued...


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