Date:         Tue, 19 Aug 1997 22:00:50 -0700 (MST)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         jimellis@primenet.com (jim ellis)
Subject:      Familienfest report <long>

Familienfest in SanDiego at the Deer Creek Winery and Auto Museum.
Organized by Strictly Vintage II's. Sponsored by VW Paradise and Wolfsburg West.

As of Thurday night my wife and I had decided that we needed to stay at home
<Phoenix, AZ> and catch up on rest and chores. I woke up at my usual 5 AM to
make it to my new job by 7AM. <ugh!> By 2PM on Friday we had called each
other and decided to try to go. The message on the home answering machine
from the President of the Az Bus Club clinched it. Jon Stanton and his wife
were looking for caravan partners for the trip over to California. They were
driving the raffle bus for the ***Jerome Jamboree*** to promote the event.
We met them on the far end of Phoenix at 9pm and proceeded to drive *all*
night long. 

Hot Desert nights, wind, a climb up and over the Sierras followed by
drizzling foggy rain on the Cali side. With the exception of the INS and
Sherrifs Department Hwys 8 and 15 are nearly dead at 4am. The weary
travelers took their place in line as the show gates were opening. I had
been awake for 25.5 hours.

As usual the Deer Creek site was plush and grassy. Gray clouds failed to
damper the spirits of the attendees. Especially we Desert Rats who haven't
seen 70 degrees since early March. Paula and I proceeded to set up our bus
which includes the '67 no floor tent and some vintage camp accessories. This
time it looked more like a cluttered mess than the usually quasi~organized
and spartan show set up. We had packed in a dead run. I attempted to wipe
the bugs off of the bus and stay awake.

The show included quite a few nice vehicles including an outstanding '71
Westfalia which was restored by Budd Willis and his lovely wife Yvonne.
After kvetching about the tribulations of our restoration it was commendable
that Budd was understated about the truly near perfect job that he and his
honey did to the red bus with the NOS drive away tent.
Paul Espinosa of the Strictly Vintage had a set up that I thought was better
than ours for gung ho "Camper Display" His bus featured functional wooden
bunk beds in a non-poptop spitty. Being a carpenter by trade, he had crafted
a nice wooden interior from old plans.

The Nye family's pristine 21 <23?> window deluxe was in attendance and was
populated by their sons who were preoccupied with throwing "Beanie Babies"
through the sun roof. Gee, they were even having fun in the bus~! Way to go
guys. I thought about what memories they might have created for themselves.
The family aspect was everywhere. It was great! Many other very nice VW
vehicles of sorts were also there. The attendance was very respectible.

The awards ceremony came with surprising and somewhat embarassing results.
The best camper award went to the 67RFH. WOW! I thought that our bus was
nice but to get down to real specifics Budds bus was *perfect*
Best camper display went to... the 67RFH! Phfft! OK, Paul's wood was the
shiznit. Hey, we drove all night and worked our buns off on the bus. Cool, I
can live with it. Thanks for the compliments folks.

The Promoter's choice award surely would go to either the 58 Ghia, one of
the 55 Ovals, the Nye bus, the bitchen doublecabs...
Nope, the 67RFH! I made Paula go up for that one. I sensed a little
"dissing" after that one. <eeps>. I had been awake 35 hours by then... The
person who was responsible for picking the "Sponsor's choice" came up to me
while we were packing and explained that it was his personal choice. I
understood as I like our bus but didn't think that it was the "Best of Show."

We didn't really notice until later that the logo for the show as well as
the plaque for the display sported an image of a poptop SO-42. Hmmm...

After opting out on an invitation to participate in the next days events at
the Orange County Fairgrounds we at the "Trophy Bus" had to pack it all away
and find somewhere to camp for the night. Everything was booked as the last
minute back to school crowd had launched out for the last weekend. After
hours more of freeway fumbling and failed attempts we ended up camping on
Hwy 8 at a "lovely" road side rest stop about an hour east of San Diego. I
had been awake a solid 40+ hours by then. Crud, I felt like I was back in
grad school. The Arizona "bigshots" had peanut butter sammies and crashed
amongst the truckers for a solid ten hours.
A public thank you to Strictly Vintage II's, VW Paradise, Wolfsburg West and
the Deer Creek Winery and Auto Museum for a great show and a wonderful weekend.
Jim and Paula Ellis\