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Sun Oct 08, 2023 12:04 pm

This story starts with Sanchius: The Syncro Years (2008-2017), continues with Sanchius and Tuna ride again (2017-2023), and picks up below.

Although Tunes is gone, she is not gone, as we are often reminded of her.

We are finding the shoulder seasons in Indiana delightful.
Last weekend, Mrs S. had an antique to pick up south of Indianapolis, so we headed down there on the back roads and loaded it in the van.
On the way back, after driving through endless miles of late season corn and soybeans, we came around a bend, and to our surprise, saw rows of grape vines.
Naturally, we immediately pulled in to the Mallow Run Vineyard to check it out.

In the tasting room, the servers were friendly, and the tastings free.
Mrs S sampled a flight and found a couple bottles to serve at Thanksgiving.

Further up the road was the Avon haunted bridge.
We stopped and listened for a bit, but didn't detect any of the screams from the doomed mother and child that local legend says one can sometimes hear.

Sun Oct 08, 2023 12:12 pm

great to be traveling with you again.

Sun Oct 08, 2023 4:54 pm

sanchius wrote: Although Tunes is gone, she is not gone, as we are often reminded of her.

you, (and every subsequent owner of your van) will continue to be reminded of her by perhaps just a single hair but those individual hairs will never be exhausted! i'll find a single white>black>tan hair from Bee, our Shepard, when removing some obscure interior piece. You'll find Tunes white-on-white reminders for the rest of your days.

Sun Oct 08, 2023 6:20 pm

Since Saturday was going to be sunny and mild, we decided to go on the western Indiana tour-de-covered-bridges that we had been planning for a while.

In Parke County are almost 40 covered bridges. Their numbers are dwindling, going from ~400 statewide in the 1800s, to ~200 in 1940, to ~90 today.

Clearly there was no time to waste. We mapped out a loop to visit 11 of them and hit the road.

The first few covered bridges were easy to locate and we were taken by their simplicity and rustic charm, invariably situated in a beautiful rural setting.

Near some of the bridges, the vendors were beginning to set up the food and merch booths for the massive covered bridge festival scheduled for the following weekend.

As we got deeper into the countryside and our cell service faded to nothing, the bridges became much trickier to find in the maze of twisty gravel back roads and tracks.

With both our phones now giving us the electronic equivalent of a dumb "I dunno" look, we relied on a combination of memory, intuition, and luck to locate them.

The historic Bridgeton span and mill pond, featured on the most common Indiana license plate, was beautiful.

We walked through the Bridgeton Mill, seeing local crafts, and reading about its history.

As elsewhere, the locals were busy setting up booths for the upcoming covered bridge Festival.
We deliberately timed this expedition to avoid the 2.5M people projected to descend into this area for the main festival next weekend.
But this weekend, the atmosphere was very calm and relaxed, with a feeling of the calm before the storm.
We chatted with the friendly locals, hearing their perspectives on the regional impact of the festival and their fond memories of driving VW bugs in their youth.

Driving out of Bridgeton, we came across another unexpected Indiana vineyard and pulled a quick U-turn to stop in.
After our good experience with Mallow Run the week before, we were excited to see what this one had to offer.
Maybe we were on to another awesome hidden Indiana secret, handmade craft wines!

The tasting room was clean and fresh with several customers at the tables, this was a good start.

Mrs S picked out a wine flight and as the server poured them out, we attempted to engage the young woman to give her an opening to brag about their top wines and give us some insider knowledge on which ones were best. But our question of "Can you tell us about your wines?" was met with a curt "No."

Ok... that wasn't at all the response we were expecting... Let's try another approach with a more open ended question...

"How about your grapes, what makes them stand out?" She was just as surly, saying, "There's not much to say, the Chardonnay is from Chardonnay grapes, the Merlot is from Merlot grapes, the Riesling is from Riesling grapes. We don't grow them ourselves, we get them from upstate New York and age them in stainless here."

Well, I guess that was more information than the first answer, but it still didn't bode well...

While we are not wine snobs and don't hesitate to enjoy a simple vin ordinare, from either bottle or box, we have experienced some wonderful Napa/Sonoma vineyards in the past that we hope to never forget. We retreated with our flight to a nearby table to let the grapes speak for themselves. A microsip of the first two wines proved them to be too sickly sweet to be drinkable by either one of us. We shifted to the dry end of the flight hoping for redemption. After a microsip of the first, I had to give Mrs S. that bad news that it was simply dreadful; tinny yet bitter with a delicate hint of turpentine. We started laughing at each other's shocked sour-faced expressions as each taste through the flight proved worse than the awful one that had proceeded it. We struggled to find the right words to describe to each other just how terrible each subsequent one tasted.

With our tastebuds thoroughly assaulted, we turned our practically untouched flight back in, politely thanking the staff and trying disengage as gracefully as possible, saying that they just weren't for us. We couldn't get out of there quickly enough as the staff proceeded to throw the entire CA/FR/IT wine industry under the bus, explaining to us it was our palates, expecting the complexities and textures that come from traditionally oak-aged wines, which were the real problem here. Yes, of course, sure, that must be it, thanks, bye...

We sped out of there laughing to each other, dissecting the experience to get past the shared trauma. As we talked, the biggest mystery to us became how that place has ever stayed in business for so long. Yet, they are relatively new and we sincerely hoped that it will improve with time.

We drove on to the next town where we had a delicious lunch, while planning a parody of the "Bridges of Madison County" novel involving covered bridges, VW busses, and deadly wines as we ate. Mrs S, having been less than impressed by her past interactions with the author, eventually nixed the idea.

We hit the road again to find more covered bridges.

By now, we were learning to spot the clues indicating a covered bridge was near, signs saying a 1-line bridge with a 4-6 ton weight limit and a 10'6" height height restriction ahead on a small lane descending into a stream valley.

We were also starting to get covered bridge overload and, although they never lost their charm, the different bridges were starting to run together.

So, before we totally lost our appreciation for them, we knocked off the last couple covered bridges on our list, left some for next time, and then headed back home for dinner with some friends.

Sun Oct 08, 2023 9:55 pm

Beautiful trip report.

Great photos. A story arc and good narration.

Beautiful.

Sun Oct 08, 2023 10:14 pm

Thanks for the trip back home... I lived in Morgan County for the first half of my adult life and hiked, caved and canoed throughout the southern half of the state.

Mon Oct 09, 2023 4:03 am

Quote: With our tastebuds thoroughly assaulted, we turned our practically untouched flight back in, politely thanking the staff and trying disengage as gracefully as possible, saying that they just weren't for us. We couldn't get out of there quickly enough as the staff proceeded to throw the entire CA/FR/IT wine industry under the bus, explaining to us it was our palates, expecting the complexities and textures that come from traditionally oak-aged wines, which were the real problem here. Yes, of course, sure, that must be it, thanks, bye...

It’s Covid. I lost my palate for turpentine after Covid

There are some truly horrific red grapes coming from upstate NY. If you make it out to Long Island , there is some good stuff out here plus a room for 1+-2 nights

Mon Oct 09, 2023 5:47 am

Fun report. Thanks!

Bottoms up...

Mon Oct 09, 2023 5:51 am

Those are great Photo's, reminds me that there are beautiful places here in the heartland. Good call going last weekend, the Covered Bridge festival turns into a giant parking lot sometimes.

Mon Oct 09, 2023 2:47 pm

As a relatively new Samba poster who stumbled upon your first two threads soon after joining and read them front to back, I'm pump for the third edition. Thanks for sharing with us!

Mon Oct 09, 2023 5:17 pm

Sunday we took a drive down the Wabash River for a few miles to Fort Ouiatenon for the Feast of the Hunters' Moon.

"The Feast of the Hunters’ Moon is a re-creation of the annual gathering of the French and Native Americans which took place each fall at Fort Ouiatenon, a fur-trading outpost in the mid – 1700s. It is held annually in early autumn on the banks of the Wabash River just outside of West Lafayette, Indiana." http://feastofthehuntersmoon.org/

The rebuilt Fort Ouiatenon blockhouse is in the back of the picture below.

There were American fife and drum bands,

Scottish bagpipe bands,

French troops marching,

Voyageurs racing canoes,

and Native American displays and dancing.

The main event was a couple hundred period crafts booths teaching and selling just about anything one needed to live back then, from tanning and weaving, to metal and wood work, to candle making and food preserving. The only rule was that everything has to be correct for the late 1700s.

The nicest part was that the overall tone of the event was extremely relaxed and laid back.
The people in period dress seemed more numerous, "correct", and at home there than those in modern garb.
The tone reminded me more of the native pow-wows we went to out west, which quietly celebrated tradition, grace, and family connections, rather than the angry macho individualism of the western rodeos we've also attended and enjoyed.

We had great fun taking part in the group Scottish community social dancing, visiting many of the booths and learning about the clothing and crafts, eating roasted fish and corn-on-the-cob, talking with the period participants, and generally getting completely immersed in that world for a couple hours.

At the end of the day, worn out from all the activities and walking, we returned to the van to bounce across the outlying meadow parking lot and head home.

Mon Oct 09, 2023 5:45 pm

That is just too cool. I am a big Revolutionary Period buff. A lot to learn from our Founding Fathers!

Great report.

Mon Oct 09, 2023 8:32 pm

Glad to see a new thread on the adventures of Sanchius! Good to see you highlighting the beauty, diverse sights, places, and events in the middle of the country. Wish I had your writing skills!

Tue Oct 10, 2023 8:26 am

Hooray! It's good to see Volume III of your Vanagon adventures getting under way. I just spent a week in WI visiting Mom and agree that the shoulder seasons in the midwest are the best.

Here's looking forward to future installments.

Sun Oct 22, 2023 2:52 pm

We have a guest husky, Fierra, staying with us while her mom is having some orthopedic work done.

It was a beautifully fall afternoon, warm, clear, and still, so we went for a drive out in the countryside, stopping by a friend's orchard to pick some pumpkins for the front porch.

We found some beauties.

Picking pumpkins is thirsty work, so a stop at Teays River brewing, with their yummy beers and dog-friendly south-facing patio, on the way home was definitely in order.

Both Mrs S. and I were quite happy with our choices and they were extra delicious when enjoyed sitting outside in the warm sun and fresh air, looking out at all the beautiful red and yellow fall colors on the trees. We discovered Teays make a fine quesadilla as well.

It's good having a husky onboard again, particularly a sweet soft cupcake of a pup who is completely unconcerned about other dogs.

Sun Nov 05, 2023 9:08 am

I've been meaning to write up my trip to the 2023 Leguna Seca vintage races with my brother last August for some time now.

Many of these pics are courtesy of my brother's great camerawork. If you like the pictures and story here, there are many more pics and a much more detailed write-up of this outing on his Eurovan page here: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=10105812#10105812

Content warning: Many Eurovan pictures to follow. But also lots of Vanagon pictures as well, so if you see yours here, let me know!

Since this is the Vanagon list and to protect the delicate sensibilities of the hardest-core Vanagonistas here, I'll start out with this beauty seen at the Bring-A-Trailer reunion area.

With my ‘86 Westy now in Indiana, my SF brother was kind enough to put in the long hours needed to make his new spare teal SWB Westy Weekender Euro project roadworthy in time for me to use for the races, in addition to his white LWB full Winnie Euro. Teal is a Burning Man survivor, so he spent much time removing playa dust from the undercarriage and cleaning unsavory PO stains from the carpets.

Tuesday was final prep and loading…

…before the beautiful drive down the coast on Hwy 1 from San Francisco to Monterey.

As before, we took an arrival picture when we reached the track (see my brother’s writeup for the minor adventure that occurred here).

Then we set up the campsite, where we have a good view of turn 5, with a constant parade of interesting vehicles, from our lower race camp and broad vistas across the Monterey hills from our upper service & parking campsite.

After doing this for several years, this group has developed a well paced schedule.

Wednesday is the down day, when most of the group arrives. This is perfect for touring the area and taking a drive further down the coast, along the magnificent beaches and headlands, to Big Sur.

The iconic 1932 Bixby Creek Bridge was infested with Instagram models trying to get their perfect shots.

Once those distractions were out of the way, the beauty of the location can be appreciated, and we could get our perfect pictures.

Further down along Big Sur, my camera always seems finds the old Jags.

Back at the races, we walk the pits and watch some of the test and tune laps at the track.

Weds wraps up with dinner and a quiet evening over the campfire.

Early Thursday morning is Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance, where the Pebble Beach Concours entrants get extra show points if their cars complete the 17-mile drive down the coast to Big Sur. This has become a major spectator event along the tour route.

We discovered that by setting up on the land side of the road leaving Carmel…

…we had great views over Monastery Beach and across Carmel Bay as the grand cars drove by.

Back at the track, we always try to take a Tour de' Campsites to see all the other Westys in attendance at the races.

The informal Thursday night informal car show, with the crowds, bands, and noisy boisterous dinner at the Baja Cantina in Carmel, is always interesting.

Friday we get serious, starting with Beverley's East Coast Bagel Bar, and the smoker is fired up for the racks of ribs to slowly cook all day for dinner that evening.

Friday is when the vintage racing begins in earnest. Not being on one of the race teams, we are reduced to being mere spectators, rather than the active participants we once were, in the racing, which isn’t nearly as much fun.

Friday afternoon wraps up with Dr. A’s big rib feast. Once the marine layer fog rolls in at the end end of the day and the temperatures drop, we build up the fire and quietly enjoy the rest of the evening.

Saturday starts early with Concours de' Lemons, which has been an ugly oil stain on Monterey Auto week for the past 14 years.

Then it’s back to the track, starting with a walk-though of the Bring-A-Trailer reunion lot.

Most of the day is spent lazing away in our chairs and drinks under the shade of the trees at the Corkscrew, watching one of the friends of the group field his BMW through the twisties.

All too soon, the races are finished and it is time to strike camp.

And head back up to San Francisco though the heavy end-of-weekend traffic.

It was a great weekend that I'm sure we'll do again.

If you want to see more, including the breakdown & road-side repair on the way back, see my brother’s write-up on the Eurovan list: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=10105812#10105812

If you have made it this far, my writeup of the 2021 Leguna Seca trip is here: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9698560#9698560

Sun Nov 05, 2023 9:15 am

Vanagons at racetracks RULE! The two Vanagons may have been in the very campsite we had in 2014. We just got back out west from the SCCA Runoffs at Virginia.

And I saw that George Follmer Javelin race in Trans-Am in 1972!

Great post!

Sun Nov 05, 2023 10:26 am

Great thread revival - thx for the re-start. Awesome content - thanks for bringing us along vicariously. Also good to see you are partaking of ‘rental’ huskies - when we were between doggo’s, we would always welcome the odd week or weekend of dog-sitting, which always reminded me as to why a house without a dog is simply not a home. Also great to see the ES making its presence known.

Sun Dec 03, 2023 8:22 am

Volunteering weekly at our local food pantry is one of the activities that keeps our lives in balance.

It helps that the environment here is so vastly different from what we experienced out west. In the massive western homeless camps and skid-row motels, the mathematics of profound immediate need, in the context of widespread economic despair and opioid addition, was simple in its brutality. All we could do there was nonjudgmentally move as much protein, hygiene, and clothing as quickly as possible, hoping to shift their gauge from death to survival, while also working the long-game at the community and legislative level to systemically address the root causes. Although we didn't realize it at the time, what we saw, heard, smelled, and lived through when we were in the camps was psychologically damaging, feeling more akin to surviving a dog fight in a parking lot than anything else. Still, we'd jump back in, load the van up with supply boxes, and do it all again in an instant.

Here, it is different; warm, clean, well-lit, and dignified, with the clients shopping in a pleasant supermarket environment, pushing nice shopping carts, and having a generous budget of nonmonetary points to spend however they choose on a wide variety of nutritionally balanced goods. Of course, none of this would be possible without the generous sustained contributions from individuals, companies, and community grants. As we work checkout and stock product, arranging the milk and eggs just so, putting out the pallets of fresh donated bread, dressing all the labels on the canned goods to point outwards, and just saying "Hi, how ya doin' today?" to folks who may not have anyone acknowledge their existence recently, we find the trauma of the western volunteer experience slowly fading away as we help families and the needy here to thrive rather than just survive.

Volunteering keeps us grounded and is always a powerful reminder of just how incredibly fortunate we are.

Sun Dec 03, 2023 8:33 am

^^^^ This!

We donate heavily to our local food bank every year.