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...