VW CAMPING IN ENGLAND Brendon Johnson wrote in with compliments for our web site, and to say that he had been involved with VW campers since his father bought one new in 1972. Brendon now has 3 Campers and last year set up a business hiring them out to people for their holidays. He lives in Northamptonshire, England and hopes to visit the US soon. His brother , who has spent a couple of enjoyable holidays here , has convinced Brendon it would be a nice place to visit.

Brendon and his wife spent their honeymoon travelling to Greece in their 79 camper, and reported that they had a great time driving down through France,Austria, Italy and then sailing over to Athens from Brindisi in the south of Italy. He reiterated that it does not matter where you are, people still wave when you pass them in a VW! Anyone traveling in England and needing a Camper, ought to check with Brendon Johnson. E-mail him at (catherine.johnson5@virgin.net)

CHEVY VAN LOVER ALSO A VW FAN OKAY!! Robert wrote this about our VW van page! He said if he had a VW, it would have to be an old one. He remembered from his teenage years the day, years ago, when two "hippies" tipped one over near his high school bus stop. Robert loves vans, but says, "Sorry, but I'm a Chevy boy. But hey, vans are vans, and so are those type of people who like 'em!?"

Visit their van page at (http://members.tripod.com/~LAVC/index-2.html), or contact him at (watson@erols.com), especially if you're interested in van get-togethers.

GROWING UP IN VW VAN I am sitting here with my Mom - the expert of VW packing...or for packing for that matter. I think that she is really Noah in disguise - and the VW is just the practice vehicle! My memories are extremely cool. Our VW van had a straight bench front seat. It was the most empowering thing to be 2 1/2 years old, standing up holding onto the back rail with my "ba ba" and watching my Mom navigate the streets and back roads of North Florida. I never realized how lucky we were in our van, until after college, reminiscing with new friends about childhoods, revealed that they had never slept in a van at a Blue Grass Festival, nor gone swimming in the Suwannee River after eating pop tarts for breakfast....hey - I didn't know that my childhood had the integrity for a Conroy novel....good old Southerness.....It wasn't until I hit 30 I realized that my Van parents were really hippies....not the 60's kind...which was not really what it seemed...they are the real thing! Now at 66 and 73 years old...they are still traveling about in a Volkswagen van. I miss those times, and am out of the van-life, driving a BMW (it's a D.C. thing). BUT, I think I am growing up and out of "rebelling and keeping up"....our next car will most likely be a van!

NEAT WEB SITE Visit this site for VW Afghans. http://www.ocsonline.com/swisher/

FIXING A RIPPED TOP Glynda came across our webpage while looking for help in repairing her bus, She recently purchased an '85 Vanagon (paid a whopping $2,000 for it) and loves it! She finds it perfect for camping and roaming the country. Her reason for writing is that she is looking for suggestions on how best to repair some rips in the camper top without investing in a new top. Thanks to getting caught in the recent Texas storms, 2 or 3 small rips are now a LONG RIP below the front window. She was driving into the wind (it was really strong) and it blew the camper top up. That was fun! By the way, her other car is a Miata. One extreme to the other, she wrote, but, both fun. She also mentioned she enjoyed reading about our travels. :-) Send repair ideas to gmoldham@compuserve.com

KIN FOLKS WRITIN' IN Hi, Aunt Nancye-- Great webpage! I remember that dryer exhaust hose cooling us off in your '73 VW Van on our return trip to Atlanta after Charlie and I stayed with y'all when I had my broken arm. I loved reading all of your stories and the others that folks have sent in. I still have my beetle. After 18 years it's a part of me--even though we need a new car (our other one is a Honda Civic--be nice to have something bigger), I can't bring myself to part with the bug. I had no idea what I was getting into at the tender age of 15! :) Congrats on a beautiful and fun to read webpage-- Love, Linda
VW Love Affair: Hi, Mrs. Clark-- I read your web pages with a great deal of interest and surprise. My dad had a VW bug at one point and I hated the thing, We always had to get out and push that stupid car to get it running, he ended up giving it to my brother and his wife sometime in the 80's, thank goodness! I was glad to see that thing go. On the other hand, I had no idea that the VW VANS, were so much fun. By the way, my brother is your son-in-law, and I love your web page. :-) from Kathleen

A YOUNG VW ADMIRER A visitor to our webpage writes: "your vw page was about the coolest thing I have seen in a long time, other than the vw van parked down the street. I don't own one, I can't even drive yet. Next year! Anyway, my dream is to go on a year-long coast to coast road trip, starting in California and going all the way to Portland, Maine, while traveling/living in a baby blue vw van with a pale violet velvet interior. My favorite is the 1961 Dormobile...where is one? I'd like to receive some VW van pictures." Ideas for pictures for Holly can be sent to this site's email.

EXCITING OWNERSHIP Caroline wrote in that she'd just found a VW van on the net...after looking for awhile for one in good shape to buy, she finally found a van in her vicinity. She mentioned that she loved the picture of the painted van on our memoirs page (our sentiments exactly). She'd like to paint her van Indigo with light colored flowers all over it...mostly light purple and yellow. Anyone with cool van decorating ideas and suggestions to share with Caroline, and the rest of us, can email them to this site. Thanks!

CHECK THIS OUT Maybe this site has some decorating ideas http://www.yahoo.com/Arts/Visual_Arts/Car_Art/

DEAD CYLINDER Elvan wrote about their '78 VW van, remarking that it had been more than faithful, but now it has a dead cylinder! This van has a Porche automatic engine, with a good body, and he wonders what it might be worth, and whether he should fix or sell it. Contact him at elvanpat@aol.com

KIND WORDS Interesting page, great stories! So wrote Daniel about our VW web site. We especially appreciated the following quotation he sent along: "The Master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and play... He simply pursues his vision of excellence in whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he is always doing both." --Zen Buddhist text

LOOKING FOR VW STUFF Tom wrote to inquire about different models and so forth of VW Vans, explaining that he is a young lover of them, doesn't know much about them at all, and any information would be appreciated. We can use this material on our pages, or e-mail him: TWhitt8855@aol.com

NEWSPRINT Recent newspapers stories about the new Beetle included a contribution from a man who sold hundreds of these cars through the years. Hidden among all his recollections was the line, "all Volkswagen owners love to exaggerate..." Well, we knew that! That's one of the best things about owning a VW!

AN ADVENTUROUS LIFE Recent Click & Clack column by Tom and Ray Magliozzi had a wonderful headline in our newspaper: "Life will certainly be an adventure if you trade.....for a VW Van!" Not wanting to hurt feelings, we left out the name of the original auto. In looking at their website, Car Talk, we discovered several interesting questions and answers pertaining to Volkswagens.

HAPPY VAN MEMORIES My parents bought our first VW van when I was very small. We took a trip from Florida to North Carolina to see the mountains. Later, we became experts at van traveling through Florida. This was back when not everyone had air conditioning and radios in their cars. I can still remember the small transistor radio swinging from its perch on the dashboard as we bounced along.

Another memorable night I remember spending in the van was a quick camping trip to the coast near our hometown. My parents had made a bed in the van. I remember waking up at the crack of dawn, the sun just peaking over the horizon of the Gulf of Mexico. My baby sister had climbed on top of my mother's stomach and was telling us all to wake up and see the beautiful sunrise.

My mother took out the middle seat in order to be able to put "even more" stuff in the van when we traveled. We were able to travel with everything one could want: all our clothes and belongings, our toys, our food, gifts we might be taking, sometimes even furniture we were delivering from one relative to another.

When we were small and subject to "crossing the imaginary line" between ourselves in the very back of the van, my mother solved our behavior problems by demonstrating to us how without even turning around or slowing down, she could wield her old buggy whip to the most distant corner. Needless to say, we quickly decided to behave while she was driving, and to keep our skirmishes to ourselves.

We always traveled with our beloved pets, and we had it down to an art. Once we made a camping trip to Georgia with our dog and our mother cat who had just given birth to a litter of five kittens. Another time, we traveled to spend the Christmas holidays with our grandparents, complete with several cats, the dog, and two old turtles splashing along in dishpans.

My favorite van trip was when we went to New Orleans one Christmas and took our grandmother to see the King Tut exhibition. We all had such fun. My mother had hung pretty tapestry Christmas ornaments in the car with bells inside. With every bump they jingled and jangled throughout the journey. That sound always makes me think of how much fun we had. To this day, more than twenty years and several vans later, those little jingle bell ornaments still tinkle merrily in my parents' van.

HELP NEEDED! Robert surfed in to suggest that we install a toggle switch for the following problem: It's so hot down here in Florida that the cooling fan for our VW Camper's refrigerator kept running, even when not in use. This is automatic, and runs the van's battery down when we're not traveling. Robert's idea worked !!

FIRST VAN No strangers to Volkswagens (they had a Beetle), Bill and his wife had their first VAN EXPERIENCE while visiting friends in Baltimore back in 1966. The wife considered the van her car, using it for all the usual car-pool/shopping activities. Everyone agreed the van was more useful than the small VW.

Less than a year later, Bill writes, they had their first van, and found it wonderful for traveling with a family just getting started. The center seat removed created a play area, and made travel with a little one so much more pleasant. Later, with two children, they found it ideal. This was before the days of emphasis on seat belts, and one child could use the play area in the center, and one would sleep in the area behind the back seat.......a diplomatic solution to fussing.

The children also adapted to the Beetle in the family, choosing the area behind its back seat as a perfect spot to nap, letting the sound of the engine sing them to sleep. All in all, this family has owned 3 Beetles and 2 VW Vans....and enjoyed all of them.

LOOKING FOR A PROJECT? Kristine sent an e-mail message about a 1975 VW Van-Camper Pop Up looking for a home. With only 20,000 mileage on its rebuilt motor, $750 includes the "as is" component. The rig is located in Bangor, Maine, and plans to use it only progressed as far as driving it home and parking it. Somehow, there was never enough time to bring it up to mint. The 20k is on the motor not the frame, and so, this is one VW Van which needs a new home and some TCL. The phone is (207) 945-6094 or contact by e-mail: crc3@telplus.net