TRAVEL MEMORIES OF THE BEST SORT

Blan and Judy wrote that they loved our VW bus stories, especially since they once had a bus..... although only for a most extraordinary trip.

While stationed in Germany back in the sixties, they had a VW beetle which they drove everywhere sightseeing and camping in their leisure time. By taking the back seat out they had room for their small son's bed, and a place for the cooler and other supplies and their tent fit tightly under the hood.

But when Judy's mother, father, sister and brother-in-law came to visit and go along to Italy with them, there was a slight transportation problem. So, they bought a used VW bus for around $600. It was a deluxe model, with lots of little windows around the top, a sun roof and leather seats, and plenty of room for the seven travelers to load up, with luggage and camping gear on the roof rack, and to head out for an European adventure.

They drove down through the Black Forest, over into France for a bit, then through Switzerland and then down the shores of Lake Como and then on to Florence and Rome. The trip back was to be up through Venice, and then across the Alps in Austria. One night the VW's clutch decided it was too hot and wouldn't let them keep going up anymore. So they started back down, leaving Judy's mother and father at a bed and breakfast on the mountain side and finally finding a room (the bridal suite) in a hotel in a small Austrian town big enough for the other five.

The next morning the clutch had cooled off, and the van took the group back up the mountains collecting "the dropoffs" on the way. Judy's father found it hard to believe that $4 (including tip) more than paid for the B&B stay. For $3.50 they had had dinner, the night's stay, and breakfast.

Incidentally, the bridal suite had been $14.00. Oh for the good old days when the dollar was strong!

The trip back included driving across the Alpine Highway, the Gross Gloeckner, to Garmisch where another day was spent before going back home to Hanau.

Naturally, there's a special ending to this story: as cleaning up the bus and getting it ready to sell got underway (newspaper advertising was to appear the next day), a man came by because he'd heard there was a bus for sale! The price agreed upon was only $25 less than Blan had paid.

SO, transporting 7 in a VW bus, driving 3,000 miles and enjoying wonderful camping and sightseeing was one of the best deals ever, and "still a wonderful memory after all these years," they wrote.

FAN MAIL :-) Mary Ann and Joe e-mailed in after reading our web pages, commenting "What interesting times you have had in your V W's... (Make a body just want to run right out and buy one). Thanks for sharing your memories." Thank you!

VAN USES/MISUSES Long before the emphasis on seat belts: An entire kindergarten class of about 18 kids climbed into our '62 VW bus for a quick trip downtown to the fire station. Some of these same kids were still being transported by us in our '73 van when they were in high school, and needed early morning rides over to the FSU campus for swimming lessons.

ANOTHER VAN MISUSE! Robert surfed in and donated a funny memory from the 70's. One time at a Van Fest in 1974, there was an organized "van stuff" where 58 people and a dog got in a Dodge "extended" van. Another club took a turn, and were able to pack 60 people in the same van. BUT, the club Robert was in at that time, "East Coast Vans" then put over 60 folks inside the van (Robert insists he was nowhere to be found for that attempt). Well, anyhow that was the end of that contest! ECV won the trophy. DON'T TRY THIS A reader writing in from FunkRadio@aol.com tells of himself and his brother who each have a baywindow bus. After a session in one of the busses, he writes, that when the side door is opened, smoke billows out. An explanatory note was included which said, "rent Fast times at Ridgemont High ." OK.

E-MAIL SHORT NOTES

John, wrote about his purchase of a 1974 VW Bus. Although he had to tow it home and then rebuild the 1800cc motor, it's now road worthy. He's planning on using a 70's van outline as wallpaper on his homepage about his van.

A note from David: "I am restoring a VW Cabriolet right now and have had several but never a van. My neighbor is a VW Van freak though, and I will enjoy showing him your page."

NEW YORKER CARTOON Hope you saw the recent New Yorker cartoon of a highway patrolman who has stopped a flower-painted VW beetle, and ticketbook in hand, and is saying,"Please step out of the '60s!" Living in a college town has given us quite a few chances to see such art through the years; we always smile, especially at the vans.

NEED ACCESSORIES OR PARTS? Tim wrote in to say how much he loves VWs and could probably help folks find what accessories or parts they might need at good prices. E-mail will contact him at sld95s@timon.acu.edu

COMING SOON: EUROPEAN ADVENTURES A promise came in the mail from Hal to send along stories about their European adventures with a 1967 VW Camper back in the late sixties, when he was an exchange teacher in Germany. He writes that now as he retires from teaching, he thinks maybe of getting another van and of some more travel fun.

OPPS-OPEL Police answering a trouble call at a Volkswagen festival in Germany should have known better than to drive up in a car made by Opel. Some of the 38,000 people attending the "International VW Blowout 1998" were offended, and the police were dodging insults and bottles. Maybe it was all in fun, as no injuries or arrests were reported.

AND FINALLY,

Y E S !. . . Reading an old magazine (Jan. 1960 RD), these lines seemed to leap off the page: A large motor company made a survey of VOLKSWAGEN owners to ascertain the reason for their ardent devotion to their cars. One owner replied, "that's easy--because it NEEDS me.". . .OF COURSE !

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