Date:         Wed, 8 Nov 1995 09:11:54 -0500
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         feets1st@ocala.com (Kevin Murray)
Subject:      quest 1 (longish)

  I collect small piles of paper scraps. These are the kind of scraps that
you pull from your pocket -after- your pants come out of the dryer,the kind
that find their way into your ashtray or wallet. They appear under my wiper
blades when I'm out running errands, stuck to the windshields of various
projects in my back yard, and even have a few that were snail mailed to me!

  I thumbtack these gems on the wall behind my monitor where I gaze at them
occasionally when the weather is bad, or when Netscape is trying to resolve an
address. A few have footnotes written on them by me "Junk", or "watch out for
pig!" or "tell Andy about S.B. (superbeetle) hood" or in rare cases "GET!"

Most contain scribbled maps, some with penciled directions in the form of;

"N (north) (till you see) 3 legged cow, R (right) at stump past chicken coop."

Scraps -AKA- VW treasure maps, precious little scraps of hope given us by good
meaning folk who for one reason or another feel obligated to enrich our lives
by supplying us with directions to our Holy Grail!  Now more often than not
these whisps of dreams turn out to be wild goose chases, but then for those
of
us who can spare a few hours, it can turn out to be an alternative form of
entertainment, plus, there is always the hint at the possibility of finding
a nice <insert your favorite VW here> stored in some dry hideyhole, yours
for the asking....

More often than not I get these maps from people I meet driving around in one
of my buses. Course, living in a very rural area has it's advantages too.
While I am getting concerned about the quantity of VW's filling up our back
yard, our back 40 seems to have become somewhat of a local landmark.  One fella
left me a scrap of paper on my split-window.  He drew me a pretty good map
on how to get back to my place!

Often these "scraps" are scrawled by me, usually in haste & exasperation
as I try to distill directions from the barrage of Southern euphemisms
and cryptic hand gesturings. Don't get me wrong.  I'm a Southerner by birth and
kin sling slang wif the best.  Picture me trying to understand what Ma & Pa
Kettle are saying to me in chorus while we're all standing out in the
parking lot of our local Piggly-Wiggly. I'm holding three paper bags of
groceries in one hand and trying to write directions with a leaky
Bic...well..you get the idea!


Most of my "treasure maps" have turned out to be nice drives in the country
and little more. Some have yielded interesting anecdotes and perhaps additional
leads to sites yet undiscovered. All have been enjoyable as I've met some real
interesting folk who have each added a bit to my collective experience. I
will certainly continue in my quest for the perfect Bus as my wall of
scraps remind
me that behind every barn there is a potential BarnDoor.

Kevin

             Kevin Murray (cinematographer) -FeetsFirst Films

#----------------****** Sparks through the Rubble ******----------------#
| 66 21 window deluxe   "Claire"          66 Beetle sedan  "Black Adder"|
| 67 Panel Van          "Mojo"            72 NaugaCamper   "Buster"     |
| 67 Westie Pop-Top     " ? "             73 Westfallapart "FUBAR"      |
|                                         74 412 Wagon     "Waggin"     |
| 80 Rabbit Sunroof     "Bunny"           82 Rabbit Convertible "?"     |
#-----------------------------------------------------------------------#