travels with the ‘78 ce2

[SGKent]

[dodger tom]

to steve kent:

hope the procedure and recovery go waaay more smoothly than the lead up.

i look forward to caravaning with you in the not-too-distant future, steve.
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1978 Champaign Edition 2 Westfalia
Would never find the time to keep up another classic air-cooled.

[dodger tom]

ok, one more new thing before leaving the bus behind.

stopped at the biergarten in folsom.

hell hound wc ipa 6.9% abv. a collaboration between ghost town brewing in oakland and ism brewing in long beach. pale golden. clear as a bell. citrus flavors. nice mild hoppy bitterness hits mid-tongue, continues back, and lingers.
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1978 Champaign Edition 2 Westfalia
Would never find the time to keep up another classic air-cooled.

[dodger tom]

i don’t usually post about my travels when not in the ce 2.

however, driving in carl’s ‘99 eurovan through northern idaho just short of montana, there was a squall, which left a double rainbow.

the one on the right was complete.

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1978 Champaign Edition 2 Westfalia
Would never find the time to keep up another classic air-cooled.

[Abscate]

I bet if you looked closely you might have seen a triple. Usually hard to capture on film/ pixels. You are touching on my professional world if you notice that the colours on the rainbows reverse on each band.
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🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🍊 🍊 🍊

[SGKent]

[dodger tom]

on the way home from the montana trip in carl’s eurovan i took a side trip to one of my favorite spots.

leaving davis, ca (which is in the middle of the lower half of the sacramento valley) through the ag fields and orchards…..

…..we enter winters,ca.

the area was part of the rancho rio de los p-u-t-o’s mexican land grant of 1842. the river is now known as p-u-t-a-h creek. bleep (hey, it’s the same of a river!) has a whole different meaning. it is tail water from lake berryessa.

one of the town’s two water towers.

winters was incorporated in 1898. it’s a small city in the middle of walnut orchards and other farmland. it’s a nice little town with lots of mature trees (it cane be ungodly hot in the valley), and a bunch of old neighborhoods with victorians and craftsmen.

the downtown has a number of old buildings dating from 1876. the de vilbiss hotel, built in1889, now houses the buckhorn steakhouse. it’s a favorite of carl’s and mine, as we love their prime rib dinner.

the bank of winters block was built in 1904.

but, the town was built on walnuts.

the mariani nut company is located in winters.

their name used to be on costco walnuts; no producer name on them now.

but, we came here for two reasons. one was the farmers’ market.

heading home from a long trip means the fresh food cupboard is bare. got some potatoes, zucchinuses, and rainbow chard from one of the few farmer vendors.

don’t you just love the farmers’ markets that have one or two farmers, with the rest just being crafts of various kinds? this one had three, if you count mushroom growers as farmers, which, i guess, they are.

now for the real reason for the side trip to winters. continuing west on ca 128…..

…..we reach berryessa brewing company, one of the great small breweries. they offer an array of clean tasty ales and lagers.

their vast covered patio is comfy, even in the heat when the misters are turned on. family friendly, the place jumps on the weekend. (it was just after opening, 12:30, so no jumping yet.)

the separation anxiety west coast ipa is 6% abv. light yellow-gold with a slight chill haze. the mosaic hops give it that wonderful bright stone-fruit flavor. the hop bitterness goes front-to-back, and lingers pleasingly. a great place to spend an afternoon.
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1978 Champaign Edition 2 Westfalia
Would never find the time to keep up another classic air-cooled.

[Shonandb]

Thanks for sharing the pics and stories, Tom. Berryessa Brewing sounds like a good place to visit before heading home.
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76 Westy with a 2.5L Subaru SOHC + Vanagon (010) Automatic Transaxle
Build & Trip Thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=758760
Previous 1973 Panel Bus:
Click to view image

[Abscate]

[Shonandb]

[KTPhil]

Just when I think I've seen most of California, a trip like this reminds me I have a lot more to go.

Thanks for the vicarious vacation!
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Current Fleet:
- '71 Fastback
- '69 Westfalia
Retired:
- '67 Beetle
- '65 Beetle (x2)
- '65 Bus
- '71 Squareback

[Xevin]

[67rustavenger]

I worked on a factory construction project right by the Nut Tree back in 2006-7.
We partied in Dixon. Talk about a sleepy town.

I never traveled up the 505 to Winters. It was just a little blip on the map 18 years ago.
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I have learned over the years.
Cheap parts are gonna disappoint you.
Buy Once, Cry Once!

There's never enough time to do it right the first time. But there's always enough time to do it thrice.
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo!
2003 Astrovan? GFYS again, Xevin!

[Clementine79]

Love the updates, more breweries added to the list I want to visit!
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1979 VW BUS
Riviera Penthouse Model