Date:         Tue, 10 Jun 1997 12:08:48 -0700 (MST)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         vanbondo@primenet.com (jim ellis)
Subject:      Vanbondo kicks boo-tay at Classic

Paula and I had a great weekend.

BOX ON WHEELS-(friday):
The club held their second annual get together at "The Shop." We were unable
to attend but heard that it was a good event. I think the authorities called
it "Enthusiastic" at about 11PM. The Rollins Band/Foo Fighters <wannabees>
had to pull the plug so the folks in the rest of the Western United States
could sleep. Nice one guys!  ;-)
SOTO:
Saturday's SOTO was nicely overcast and cool. Attendance of buses has
steadily dropped when compared to the 1994 event at the Escondido Deer Creek
Winery. The number of *nice* buses is way down. There were a good number of
buses at the event but our observation is that it used to be huge. Maybe we
have become tainted. The 1994 was our first time so maybe we were simply in awe.
TOY SHOW:
Had to go by the Toy and Lit Show to pick up the tickets to the Classic that
*I didnt order in time* Periscope and I crossed paths as we left screaming
early Friday AM. Mail comes during the day...
The scene at the toy show is a parking lot full of everyone's cars poised
for the Classic on Sunday. Informal and fun. There is an element of folks
hooking up with freinds that they see seldomly through out the year.
The Toy Show in specific was nice but I can't give gory details because I
prefer my toys on a 1:1 scale and in small numbers.
BOX ON WHEELS Camp-out:
Very well attended and up from last year. Great get together and family
oriented BBQ action with 99% of the folks crashing at the appropriate time.
The other 1% held their own second annual "Ruin it for everyone else all
night-athon." I recall mentioning the first annual "Night-athon" to the list
last year. When I woke up at about 3 or 4 AM all I could hear was the
distant booming of those highly desireable subwoofers and non-stop "Hey,
Holmes!,W'sup Holmes?, Aint that right Homie?! <insert incesant language
that the near by Brownie troops shouldnt learn too soon-if ever> Boom boom
boom like an old oil rig next to your tent.
Otherwise Dan and the guys did a great job. Had EXCELLENT T-shirts for sale,
coordinated several clubs together for a great time. If you have ever
coordinated an event of any kind then you know how much effort is involved.
THE CLASSIC:
*Took Second!*
Set up early and ended up with several Dormobiles and other nice campers
surrounding us. We had alot of fun meeting several co-email folks in person.
Some for the first time. Had one wise guy come up and ask me if it was easy
to do a "resto." I have learned not to go for the bait and to lay back but
the timing was right and Matt Hendricks caught me off gaurd. I didnt
recognize him prior to giving him that nano-second knee jerk look of "You
gotta be kidding me-and I could tell you some stories!" We both got a good
laugh over it.
We had two Japanese magazines shoot film at the bus. It was interesting to
have the team consist of the photog, the "interviewer/writer" and the
interpreter.
We indicated that we were honored with the exposure, wished to have copies
of the mag when printed for the archives and ~NO, it's not for sale.

I counted five mega buses sold over the weekend. That is the number that I
was aware of...

We ended up with second place behind Blue Nelson's wonderful Dormobile which
pulls all of us like the siren call. We considered that a victory. We will
have to nab a funky little trailer and mess 'em up next time! ;-)
Paula and I are basically "over" the show scene and will probably jump back
and continue to promote the SWUN mantra of "Find it, Fix it and Drive it
everyday." We never intended to build a garage princess. Next show that we
will really look forward to will be at the end of a fly rod in freezing cold
water buried deep in the woods somewhere. I will be the guy in the
beat-to-heck JB Stetson straw Cowboy hat, B.O., chewing a nasty Swisher
Sweet, Clydesdale brew, and smiling. Of course Sweet Paula Purebred will be
there asleep in the hammock, smiling.
Peace,
VanBondo\