Date:         Tue, 20 Aug 96 16:40:42 EDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         snuggles@VNET.IBM.COM
Subject:      Mountain Trek Trip Report

.gf trip note

hey now,

well, me and Rumba went last week to visit my fiancee in the beautiful NC
mountains. i was really kinda worried about this trip...with a newly rebuilt
engine with about 600 miles on the rebuild. but i did the valves before the
trip and the heads didn't even need torqueing. she was running fine but i
kept on getting that vw paranoia...is that a new noise? where's it coming
from? is it a noise? etc. my main worry was a leaky oil temp sending unit
that i thought i had fixed the night before my trip. got to work saturday
morning to find that it wasn't fixed. :-( anyone got some ideas on this?
the oil temp sending unit is fixed into a hole drilled into the sump plate.
i've tried the copper gasket both outside and inside the sump but to no avail.
maybe try a new gasket? one on both the inside and outside? your help would
be greatly appreciated.

anyways, i worked 12pm to 6pm on saturday and snuck out a little early so i
could hit the road. checked the oil, yes it's leaking, puddle about the size
of both my palms held together. checked the oil, still same place it was this
morning. i cruise outta research triangle park and head west on i-40 feeling
a little nervous...i knew the mountains well and knew it'd be rough.

drove on up to the rest aread right after burlington, checked oil. still fine.
no problem. kept up a steady 65mph and everyone still passed me. some waved.
no vw vans. plenty american minivans. yuck. drank some snapple...watched what
would prove to be a  beautiful sunset starting.

i made good time...stopping once in statesville to top off the tank because
nothing on 64 going to lake lure would be open at this time of the night.
ammocco is my flavor of preference. filled up the tank. i had been driving
3 hours at about 65-70mph. engine was cool enough that i could put my hand on
the case and leave it there a long time. dipstick was cool also, oil was fine.
it had cooled off by this time going for a humid sticky 89 degrees F to around
70 with some fog. figured out my gas milage...20.9 mpg. not bad on an engine
that was just rebuilt. put on a long sleeve shirt because i was actually
chilly. bought some kewl raised stickers in the store...smileys, peace symbols,
etc. amanda would love these!

hit the road...drove another 1/2 hour, picked up 64 going towards rutherdferton
and kept going about 60 mph. 64 is a delightful drive after i-40. it's a two
lane road that goes through the foothills and then up up up into the mountains.
took 74 at rutherdferton towards lake lure. if your are heading towards
asheville on i-40 and have some spare time, not afraid of mountains, and
want a scenic route, take 64 west to 74 west and then on into asheville.
there's some traffic and it will take longer, but it's oh so much better then
i-40.

i put on some herbie hancock and was jamming while going down 64. had my
brights on because there was no traffic at 9:45pm out there. the road was mine.
at least i thought it was until a large, cat like animal...ran like a cat but
was about the size of a medium sized dog ran out in front of me. not real close
but i'd never seen a bobcat before...it was on the other side of the road and
into the woods before i passed. wow...neat. then later on i saw a fox. foxes
look like dogs but run like cats. wow. weird. anyways, i continue on towards
lake lure.

the first turn of the first mountain kinda caught me by suprise and i
overreacted a bit, but i caught myself and sailed into, easing into third and
then giving it gas as i came outta the curve. those curves up there are great!
you can definitely tell the locals and the tourists up there. the tourists
don't know how to drive in the mountains. unfortunately, i got stuck behind
a retired couple from florida in their little chevy? van. too much breaking.
too slow. but i managed and got over the first mountain with no problem and
mostly in third..with power to spare. sometimes in second because of grandma
and grandpa.

made it down the second mountain no problem and into the town of lake lure.
if you ever go down this mountain, you'd better be going 35mph when you hit
the town limits or mr. johnny law will gladly write you a speeding ticket. they
don't have much else to do but catch drunk tourists and give speeding tickets.
it was kinda late now, about 10:30pm and nodbody was out but the biker bar
was hopping and i got a few yeeeehhhhhawwwwws when i drove past. i didn't see
many buses on the trip up but i did see maybe 30 harleys in all. this is biking
territory. gripped the steering wheel as i passed my favorite tattoo parlor and
muttered several times: "i will not get another tattoo, i will not get another
tattoo."

pulled into the little cajun restaurant where my girlfriend/fiancee lives...
felt the engine again...still cool. yay! she was finishing up so i looked at
her bosses '72 westy which he bought and drove once or twice. it's immaculate.
he bought it from some old man for $2000. reverse gave out and it's been parked
there ever since....i'm not a fan of '72 westys because of the cot instead of
a real bed on the pop top but i did mention to him if he wanted to sell, that
he should talk to me. i figure the steering linkage is gone...or maybe the
transmission. we sat around drinking a beer and bs'ing about busses. i showed
off my beautiful pancake engine...then amanda and i got into Rumba and drove
back up the mountain to her grandma's house and some food and good lovin'.

next time in part two: the SPLITTIE: jonathan is in love, another mountain,
the trip to asheville, and the blue ridge parkway at midnight.


jonathan'74 Retrowestie (Ru/\/\ba)