Itinerant Air-Cooled

Y'all, I have had an itinerary. Took in as many calls as I could fit in. Dizzily. With the fall chill descending upon the northeast, with the monoxidish heater once again presenting me with a true ColinConundrum
(do we brave the 55* cold and enjoy oxygen,
or
do we stay nice and warm while my brain cells die?)
(and that is a conundrum for someone like me).

Here is one sentence, try to keep up . . .
Over three days, I had to buy a computer, transfer data through a little usb cable, fix the d@$*& passenger door lock again, re-Diet Coke the heat exchanger-to-muffler connections, remove the right side brake drum and fashion a spacer to keep the poor damaged drum from rubbing against the backing plate (I dremelled a cooling fan shim behind the ShopRite, works great!) and I had to go find Highlandmurf in the Palisade Parkway area of New York, then I had to stop traffic on Rt 17 south to let this bear and her cubs get across the roadway, then visit Skip in Englewood NJ near where VWoA set up shop in 1959 or whatever, then drove right through the heart of New York City to Brooklyn, loaded up all of my art supplies, let my sister drive Chloe around the block, drove back to Englewood just before the TOLLS threatened to bankrupt me to meet one of my favorite quirky souls who I last saw in 1986 for pizza (that'd be you, Nick! hey Jack!) then drove to the middle of New Jersey for my appointment with retro1302.
Here is the pile of photographs.

Bear and three cubs


Hudson River Valley near West Point


Taken in northbound rush hour traffic along West Side Highway to the George Washington Bridge:


















Just for fun, imagine that this is a shuttle shot looking down at the planet:


Even with the scrambling and the schedule and the urban behive of teeming cars which drives me crazy, I am enthralled with the beauty of all that surrounds us.
I enjoyed meeting Skip (Harper Goldwire) and retro1302 and feel ever more acutely how much I want to find every air-cooled VW owner one at a time so we can chart the course of how to keep these vehicles alive into the future.
Colin

Glad you made it safely through your 2012 itinerary!

And thank you from all us who were fortunate enough to have you
for a visit. Always enjoyable!

Now get that book done! You have lots of buses out there that need your
presence felt in 2013!

.....and we very much enjoyed (and greatly appreciated) you visiting us in New Jersey. Maybe next year we can figure a way to vector you around all those darn tolls.

Stan

Yeah man!
Where are you wintering this year? Can you believe it's already the next season? Too quick...and the chilly mornings are physically depressing, how can that be after 43 years? Body, get used to it. Your ancestors left Africa some time ago, suck in that gut.
Life on Earth.

Amskeptic wrote:I want to find every air-cooled VW owner one at a time so we can chart the course of how to keep these vehicles alive into the future.
Colin

Do you ever consider people coming to you in the off months? Would be a good excuse for a road trip for some I would think.

And... x2... book, book, book!

BumbleBus wrote: Do you ever consider people coming to you in the off months?

Winters I like to seriously change gears and go barefoot in the warm house from drawing board to coffee pot. VW undercar repairs in January? Oh no no noooo.
"Colin, check this oil leak or something, it's near the starter?"
"No."
"Excuse me?"
"I'm not checking."
"Wh-why not?
"It's too cold under there."
Colin

Now what? Winter over in GA maybe?

Pain builds character. What a world.

Hippie wrote:Now what? Winter over in GA maybe?

Nah, Miami!

of course I have the same problem and flee to Suriname where its 93F now instead of freezing in Seattle. Just got here and damn, its really freaking hot even at night. The aircooled are all put away to sleep until I go back.

Everybody is talkin' at Colin, like Harry Neilsson singing " Going where the weather suits my clothes"

Love the song and the mans music (lots on youtube).

Have a great time down in the sun Colin, Im considering moving to Baja myself.

Barb

Elwood wrote:Everybody is talkin' at Colin, like Harry Neilsson singing " Going where the weather suits my clothes"

Love the song and the mans music (lots on youtube).

Have a great time down in the sun Colin, Im considering moving to Baja myself.

Barb

I'll visit you?!
ColinInSouthCarolina

You know, there are air-cooled cars in the southern hemisphere as well....

Kubelwagen wrote:You know, there are air-cooled cars in the southern hemisphere as well....

Indeed, even Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid went south for better pickings.

Colin of course you'd need a navigator for that Southern Run. Oh I get realllllllllllllly chatty too.
As follows:
(6am)"hi! what you doin! Hi! Great morning! hi! Want some coffee?", on and on.

That would be a hell of an adventure. Oh I'd love to once the kid is up and out. "life begins when you're 3,628"
Well we'll see if either one of us is still senile in a couple years, it could very well be a moot point.

Can you charge money for services in other countries? Chickens?
Oh to go on a Muir road trip in 1966.

hambone wrote:Colin of course you'd need a navigator for that Southern Run. Oh I get realllllllllllllly chatty too.
As follows:
(6am)"hi! what you doin! Hi! Great morning! hi! Want some coffee?", on and on.

That would be a hell of an adventure. Oh I'd love to once the kid is up and out. "life begins when you're 3,628"
Well we'll see if either one of us is still senile in a couple years, it could very well be a moot point.

Can you charge money for services in other countries? Chickens?
Oh to go on a Muir road trip in 1966.

My guess is that the southern hemisphere folks could teach me a thing or two.
"Hola, nice bus, hey, que es the motor en el?"
The Mexican water-cooled buses have their own history and parts supply. The 1600 air-cooled buses in the southern hemisphere likewise have electronic ignition and fuel injection (did I see a throttlebody injection system on one?) that they are familiar with. I would be standing around,
"yo got a Solex 30 Pict3, necesita ayuda, si? no? Okay, sorry."