Date:         Fri, 6 Sep 1996 13:01:37 -0400
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Richard Alexand Palmer" <rapalmer@eos.ncsu.edu>
Subject:      Bus Trek Vol VIII (Home again)

Well, If you've been following the story, this is the final chapter of our trip
around the country in my '67 camper and a friend's '70 camper. Sorry I didn't
write this last week, but I was out of town on Friday...
 We left the Rainbow Gathering in Missouri, and began the final trip home. We
had been joined by my friend Ray, in his trusty '63 single cab, so we had a
nice caravan coming home. The drive went fairly smoothly, and we arrived around
dinner time in a small town in Tennessee.
 We parked the busses in a row at Ryan's as we felt we deserved a buffet. On
the way out, we were stopped by a fellow who asked if we were driving the VW's
outside. When we said yes, he mentioned that he had 2 old pickup trucks he
wanted to sell. He lived a few miles up the road, but had other plans for the
evening, so we gave him an address to send photos to.
 Out in the parking lot, we were having trouble with the idle on the '70, so we
tried for a few minutes to adjust the carb, timing, and get it back right. In a
few minutes, the fellow and his wife came back, and said that their plans had
changed, and asked if we'd like to go out and see the trucks. We agreed, and
headed out to the family farm, where back in the barn were a nicely restored
'61 single cab, and a pretty rusty '68 crew cab. It seems his father had
restored the single cab, driven the new engine about 40 miles, until it started
losing power, and then parked it in disgust, ten years ago. It's been sitting
in the barn ever since. The crew cab was kinda rough, and had been sitting for
a few years as well, after serving as a work truck.
  After much looking and discussion, we decided to hit the road, and get back
in touch with him later on. However, we later decided they were too far away to
go back and get, so if anyone is interested in them, I can probably give you
his number. the single cab is definately worth saving, and the crewcab probably
is worth it, but it's a project...
  Anyway, after our last night at a rest stop, we hit massive traffic jams
coming into NC due to heavy construction on I-40. We spent several hours
crawling along, with floks walking back and forth between the busses, and
walking to trucks to hear the latest word on the CB.
  We finally rolled into Raleigh about 3:00 am, and of course, went to IHOP for
our first home meal!
:)
Anyway, we had a wonderful time, and met and stayed with some wonderful people.
Many thanks to Uncle Joel, Jim Kirk and Kate in Indiana, and Tom Brouilette and
especially Michael in New Mexico, for all the hospitality, and help and
everything. If anyone is ever in Raleigh NC, and needs a hand or a place to
stay, just let me know. Busses are a wonderful way to meet people, and meet
great people at that... The whole Bus-owner mentality (what, mental
conditions???) is a wonderful thing.
 As for the final stats from the trip, we went almost 6000 miles even in about
6 weeks. I don't have the total amount of gas consumed, but between 2 busses,
we spent about $700 for gas, and my '67 got around 23 mpg average, although
that does include some city driving as well....
We were only mildly hassled by cops once in Boulder, despite both busses being
brightly painted and decorated, in a screaming hippie-attention-getter-fashion.
It was a lot of fun, and I hope to meet even more of you in future travels, and
as you pass through around here. The Triangle Area Busses are trying to
organize some regional events in the fall, and also something big for next
summer, so keep an eye out. As a shameless plug, I must heartily recommend that
everyone join NEATO or LiMBO, as another great way to be connected to bus
people wherever you go.
 Anyway, Watch out for my next super-bus adventure, which I am currently in the
planning stages of. I'll post details as they shape up.
 Um, thanks to the 12 people that I've already received t-shirt orders from,
and I hope to see a lot more! I'm reposting the shirt info later today. My bus
and house were mercifully spared by the Hurricane, so all's well on that front.
 Anyway, Happy Friday, all!


-- 
Poor Richard

 "I spend half my life explaining to Christians why I'm a Deadhead,
 and the other half explaining to Deadheads why I'm a Christian."
                    _______
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    `/""""/""""/|""|'|""||""|    '\    Richard Palmer rapalmer@unity.ncsu.edu
    /    /    / |__| |__||__|      |
   /----------=====================|    '67 Walkthrough Pop-top, the Wild Goose
   | \  /V\  /    _.               |    
   |()\ \W/ /()   _            _   |    
   |   \   /     / \          / \  |   _-( )
  =C========C==_| ) |--------| ) |==] _-{_}_)
    \_\_/__..  \_\_/_ \_\_/ \_\_/__.__.

http://www4.ncsu.edu/eos/users/r/rapalmer/www/
Give me the simple life.