Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Colorado

Post by **Amskeptic** » Fri Aug 20, 2010 9:22 pm

Well, I have been hair-trigger, shooting baleful looks at all of these Colorado drivers just daring them to set me off. That Interstate 25 is just too damn quick by cracky where do all these youngsters have to go in such a hurry?

So I found a campsite in Wyoming.
It had a sweeping view of the sky, lots of soothing crickets, stars, and the BobD sat quiescent in the dark allowing my rattled mind to re-orient to the present.

Thought I made a wrong turn in the night:

Drove back down towards the Colorado border along some railroad tracks on a gravel frontage road and found these creatures:

Found a nice little corn field to camp in the next night
with babbling irrigation "brook":

With a view like that in the morning light, how could you not just take off your front bumper and clean all the overspray/waxoyl from the inside of it and wax the impact box?:

. . . . and why would you then not 120-grit sand the whole outside down to the original primer/paint, then 800 grit color sand it with water from the babbling "brook", and paint it in a tree? I ask you :

Man, the cad plating on the bumper bolts was as-new:

Now the front bumper looks as new as the rest of the car . . . until next week when some 18-wheeler drives on the shoulder in front of me:

Wheels get the IAC itinerant paintbooth treatment next . . . and vwlover77 can then have the beauty rings, yay

Meanwhile, what is this life?
Colin

Sylvester · Post by **Sylvester** » Sat Aug 21, 2010 6:02 am

Colin, when you are out in the boondocks while camping, or talking to God, have you ever been "discovered" by a property owner or other individuals by surprise, and what happened?

I do remember the Philippine family waking you up years ago and laughing at you, pointing as you tried to stumble from the Road Warrior.

Post by **Amskeptic** » Sat Aug 21, 2010 8:02 am

Sylvester wrote:Colin, when you are out in the boondocks while camping, or talking to God, have you ever been "discovered" by a property owner or other individuals by surprise, and what happened?

I do remember the Philippine family waking you up years ago and laughing at you, pointing as you tried to stumble from the Road Warrior.

I have a had a few unexpected acquaintances along the way. I have had maybe two people in the past eight years tell me to leave their property with no conversation possible, one was a restauranteur who did not want me painting heater valves in his parking lot, the other was a crabby security guard at a mall parking lot.

The Philippino tourists *pulled me out * and took a group shot with me in the middle wrapped in my comforter. I speculated in my write-up that they would have a good laugh at their slide show back home, but they were very respectful and happy people at the time. Their excitability revolved around their efforts to tell me that their uncle in Manila had a VW bus.
Colin

glasseye · Post by **glasseye** » Sat Aug 21, 2010 9:07 am

Sylvester wrote:have you ever been "discovered" by a property owner or other individuals by surprise, and what happened?

I've been busted by property owners a couple of times. I usually play the safety card. "I just got soooo tired, I had to pull off and sleep."

They're usually very understanding, even interested in my adventures.

Then, again, I haven't been caught with my bumper off, cleaning it.

Sylvester · Post by **Sylvester** » Sat Aug 21, 2010 12:29 pm

I can imagine with all the people you two have come across you could write a book on just those experiences. I mean, I have pulled over a camel driver in Kuwait just to get a picture of me and a camel, but posing for pictures in a comforter outside the Road Warrior with a family is an 8x10 keeper!

glasseye · Post by **glasseye** » Sat Aug 21, 2010 1:36 pm

Sylvester wrote:I can imagine with all the people you two have come across you could write a book on just those experiences.

"You two", nuttin'. I've been beating on Colin's ass for years to write a book. No waiting for the VW book to be done, no excuses, no prevarication, abstention, procrastination or exacerbation allowed. Just do it.

As long as I get to shoot the cover shot.

Kubelwagen · Post by **Kubelwagen** » Sat Aug 21, 2010 4:11 pm

A VW book? That would be a great idea! He could put illustrations in there and technical descriptions.

Colin - you should totally do that!

Hippie · Post by **Hippie** » Sat Aug 21, 2010 4:35 pm

I would like to read a memoir book of the Itinerant adventures.

Post by **Amskeptic** » Sat Aug 21, 2010 5:05 pm

Kubelwagen wrote:A VW book? That would be a great idea! He could put illustrations in there and technical descriptions.

Colin - you should totally do that!

You know? Maybe you're right. I'll get "right on it".
Colin

airkooledchris · Post by **airkooledchris** » Sun Aug 22, 2010 12:55 pm

i think this is the first time I ever noticed those snazzy little bumper-bolt covers.

looks nice and clean. nicely matched to the freshly painted bumper.

Hippie · Post by **Hippie** » Sun Aug 22, 2010 6:48 pm

Yeah details like the bolt covers make it.

I could prolly restrain myself from painting my bumper in a tree though. Even on a really nice morning.

Sylvester · Post by **Sylvester** » Mon Aug 23, 2010 10:43 am

Amskeptic wrote:
Kubelwagen wrote:A VW book? That would be a great idea! He could put illustrations in there and technical descriptions.

Colin - you should totally do that!

You know? Maybe you're right. I'll get "right on it".
Colin

That is not what I want to see. You have more stories than Charles Kuralt, the jewel of that would be a book that would sell to people other than VW fans like us. The stories behind the years of traveling would be very popular.