Itinerant Air-Cooled SoCal Upd

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled SoCal Upd

Post by Amskeptic » Sun Aug 09, 2015 11:41 pm

I still love Southern California. It is an amazing metropolitan sprawl that somehow actually works. Its highway engineering is exceptionally intelligent, its drivers I trust more than any other state in the country, the scenery is dramatic, and I have never had issues strafing the freeways with my mighty 44 net horsepower Chloe, who climbed the Cajon Summit with nary a complaint. The head temps peaked at 403* on a hill climb somewhere outside of Victorville at an afternoon high of 112*.

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Watch downhill speed, you might hit 15 mph:

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This crow entertained the trapped traffic with a talented display of updraft surfing, just hovering at the edge of the hillside:

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Got startled by a bulldozer leaping up out of nowhere:

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Looks like they have downsized the runaway truck ramps:

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When happening upon this view, I vowed to get lost:

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Here you can see the interminable I-15 traffic looping from right to left to right from my new vantage point on CA 138 heading up the hill toward Wrightwood:

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Given time, Chloe climbs hills. This vista is from Route 2, the Los Angeles Crest Highway, overlooking Lake Los Angeles, Edwards Air Force Base, Palmdale, Lancaster, gorgeous and a lot cooler than Victorville. I used to stretch out my Posche 911 on this Los Angeles Crest Highway back when it was a remote rural roadway, but today's Los Angeles Crest Highway is like a sidewalk intersection in downtown Calcutta plopped on a mountain range, we have Japanese racing motorcycles, we have yuppie BMWs and Acuras and Audis, and even a Ferrari, we have late afternoon commuters, we have grandma and grandpa rental RVS, we have insane bicyclists demanding full road privileges as they coast down the hairpins at 40 mph, we have a lost Fed-Ex driver with a tandem trailer, and we have ubiquitous Subaru Outbacks with bicycles strapped the roofs:

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As a growing desperation seized me, all of this noisy human activity up here, I spied an overgrown paved driveway just past a hairpin corkscrew turn and sawed onto it at speed and coasted on up to a burned out rest area:

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It proved to be a very nice campsite, and the motorcycle racing thankfully diminished after midnight:

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Did a morning hike up the forest access road, then descended into the frantic scrum of Glendale CA. Along the way, I passed the backside of Mount Wilson that overlooks the largest metropolitan sprawl in the country:

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That is the road I took down to Glendale after this shot. Chloe's wheels were blackened at the cooling slots and very warm to the touch as I pulled into the Shell station:

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Here is asiab3's beautiful 1600 engine:

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It changes you, to rebuild your own engine.
I think Robbie will prove to be a resource for the community as his knowledge grows by leaps and bounds:

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At the gas station, after we drove each other's cars down Railroad Avenue:

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After our appointment, I had to traverse the greater metro-LA scrum to Banning. I camped near the Starbucks at some railroad access lot, this was the view I woke up to:

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Whimsical interior decoration and fresh headliner dots, don't leave home without them:

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It is a rapid ascent out of Banning, 2,000 feet, 3,000 feet, 4,000 feet, 5,000 feet, 6,000 feet . . . not that I was traveling "rapidly", you understand:

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You can see almost all the way to Lake Elsinore, I think that is Diamond Valley Lake just behind the tree:

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Paid a call to visit Elwood and Barb:

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We went out for a pizza and a pitcher of beer and caught up on each other's news. Shot a "selfie" outside the reflectorized glass at the pizza joint:

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Was damn good and overheated when I drove right past Interstate Parts and poor Chloe climbed yet another hill outside of Lake Elsinore on my way to the lanval call:

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After thirteen years of this Itineratin Thing, every view has memories now:

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I decided to do all of my travels in the evening and at night this year to help reduce wear and tear on my clutch and transaxle, and it really helped me to enjoy this beautiful southland. Here is lanval's commute view:

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Had a good half day with lanval and family and peppered him with historical quizzical philosophical questions while we ministered to the rat Vanagon, then had dinner off the non-exploding grill.
Next post: the crazy day.
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled SoCal Upd

Post by Jivermo » Mon Aug 10, 2015 5:42 am

Did excess coffee at Starbucks promote the rudeness to Lanval? Diet coke caffeine?

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled SoCal Upd

Post by zabo » Mon Aug 10, 2015 7:15 am

amazingly clean
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60 beetle
78 bus

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Amskeptic
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled SoCal Upd

Post by Amskeptic » Mon Aug 10, 2015 10:35 am

Jivermo wrote:Did excess coffee at Starbucks promote the rudeness to Lanval? Diet coke caffeine?
Naaah, not really, more about an impending emergency engine drop:

viewtopic.php?f=65&t=10169#p181571
Lanval wrote: I left Colin in a Starbucks
Indeed you did, with Mr. Cranktankerous here telling you, "don't pull up a chair".
How rude.
I was crazed with:
A) QUESTIONS about what was wrong with the engine
B) DOUBTS about my ability to continue this line of work
C) REMORSE about the continuing course of abuse against my credit card


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BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled SoCal Upd

Post by Lanval » Mon Aug 10, 2015 11:46 am

Jivermo wrote:Did excess coffee at Starbucks promote the rudeness to Lanval? Diet coke caffeine?
He overstates the circumstances; he was busy, and I'm talkative. In some cases, direct is more effective than polite. I got some coffee and headed home none-the-worse for the terse exchange ~ it was clear Colin was working. Besides, my mother always used to say "we hurt the ones we love the most"; we are most free to be our less-than-stellar selves with people we know and trust. I took it as a compliment.

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled SoCal Upd

Post by Jivermo » Mon Aug 10, 2015 1:16 pm

You, sir, comport yourself as gentleman. Another credit to our air cooled collective vibe.

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled SoCal Upd

Post by hambone » Mon Aug 10, 2015 3:58 pm

How is Barb? It's been a while.
Robbie that is a lovely engine. It would look like hell after a summer of camping!
http://greencascadia.blogspot.com
http://pdxvolksfolks.blogspot.com
it balances on your head just like a mattress balances on a bottle of wine
your brand new leopard skin pillbox hat

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Amskeptic
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled SoCal Upd

Post by Amskeptic » Mon Aug 10, 2015 11:48 pm

hambone wrote:How is Barb? It's been a while.
Robbie that is a lovely engine. It would look like hell after a summer of camping!
I was glad to see Barb trucking right along. She is one of the last original SoCal VW folks.
Colin
(man, you're right about the summer of camping and traveling making an engine look like hell, hell, mine has a drip under the oil pump and three! rock chips on the mustache bar and I over-washed a fresh air hose so the paper is looking linty, just a mess in there . . . how's Ma's pumpkin orange engine doing?)
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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