Date: Mon, 03 Jul 1995 22:07:23 -0400 (EDT)
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: RGOLEN@umassd.edu
Subject: Record EuroVan Gathering....
Yep...3 out of the 13 EVs on the vanagon list showed up in
one place this past Saturday at UNO'S Pizza in Langhorne
PA...come to think of it is probably the first time in US
VW history that more than one EuroVan has been in the same place
at the same time...other than in a dealer's lot!
Interestingly enough none of the participants were from Langhorne...
even stranger was the fact that Cetin lives a street away from
my wife's cousin's house in Bethlehem,PA where we stayed
Saturday and Sunday nite!
It was a great gathering...Pete Sellers was there in his
EV Weekender, Cetin, his wife & kids in their EV CL,
and my wife and kids and I in our EV MV...
oh yes, there was a MINOR ;-) Vanagon contingent in the form
of Dave Mancuso and Kevin and John Sharpe and his wife and
their Vanagon Westies...
As Cetin said, we did not explode any tuna cans, although
if we had some magnesium we could have put it in Pete's
microwave (yep an EV with a microwave...) (Pete...ever
turn it on while going by a radar trap??) to see what
happened...and yes I EVEN behaved myself...another
first!
The EV performed as great as ever...20+mpg at 75mph with
the front and rear AC units on...ran well up and down
the hills on the PA turn pike..and route 78...all this
with 2 adults, 3 kids, the lower storage compartment
filled with a tool box and 5 suit cases, a stroller,
a box of food, a canvas beach bag and our 36 quart
electro cooler! And we still were able to accelerate
up hill with the AC on....so all you naysayers who
say the EV has no power or torque....TORQUE DIS!! ;-)
We made the trip from Bethlehem to home...a distance
of 325 miles on 3/4 of a tank...and in 5 hours...thanks
to a 25 minute delay on the GWB in NYC...
Oh yeah....we ran the NJ Turnpike for free today! It seems
that the toll takers went on strike....part of their gripes
with the state is that the state says it can't afford to
pay these toll takers $30/hr overtime....
Can you believe it $30/hr overtime!!!!! That's what...$20/hr
straight time...for sitting in a booth handing out tickets
or giving out tickets and making change...$30 friggen dollars
an hour overtime!! Let's see the toll is $1.25...and you
gave me a $5.00 bill...gee this math is rough that's
$3.75 in change...
I think I got in the wrong business...imagine $20 an hour
for sitting on your ass and making change!! Where do
I sign up!!!!
Well, I'm a bit fried and frazzled after the long drive...
more later!
Ric
PS - Thanks to all who made this Philly Gathering a success...
it was great meeting you all....hope we can do it again soon!
