travels with the ‘78 ce2

[Abscate]

[SGKent]

[dodger tom]

break-in day two. i’m going to drag you along on a typical saturday morning cruise. a bit mundane, but here we go.

my normal route, except, no freeway to san luis. so, north on ontario road alongside us 101…..

…..turns into south higuera, and leads past the octagonal barn…..

into town.

that’s cerro san luis (also known as madonna mountain) in the distance.

over us 101, and in between the two big commercial developments.

parking in the wayback.

and, walking toward farmers’ market.

quite a few vendors of the best food on earth.

first stop: cortez family farms for…..

…..brussels sprouts.

then to see canyon for white peaches.

bautista family farms for rainbow chard.

campbell ranches for asparagus.

pat gives me the frequent-spearer discount.

pepper creek for yellow wax beans.

and, francisco vasquez for zucchinuses.

then south on calle joaquin…..

…..and east on buckley road.

if it’s california, there must be vineyards.

and, flowers.

alongside the airport,…..

…..onto ca 227, and through the edna valley,…..

…..up past the dump.

er, landfill.

into carpenter canyon.

a right onto oak park goes up the foothills,…..

…..and down into the coastal valley.

a left takes us through rural arroyo grande,….

…..and the backroad to

trader joe’s!

this store runs counter to the usual in that it has a decent parking lot.

soon after, a stop for my weekly plain cake donut.

(we’ve been here before.)

then into grover beach for a small neighborhood farm stand.

got a haas avocado, four yellow peaches, and five bearss limes.

cost $3.

could’ve hit five other farms stands along the way, but i can only eat so much..

stopped at my favorite spot for lunch.

(we’ve been here before.)

up a coupla blocks to the grover beach community center to eat…..

…..my carnitas taco and chili relleno.

(i ate the beans n rice at dinner.)

stopped at the market…..

for…..

over a hundred miles now. time to hit the highway!
_________________
1978 Champaign Edition 2 Westfalia
Would never find the time to keep up another classic air-cooled.

[KTPhil]

Damn, you have the nicest journeys near me but mostly unknown to me. When I retire I have some catching up (and carabusing) to do! I'll be checking these threads to prep!
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Current Fleet:
- '71 Fastback
- '69 Westfalia
Retired:
- '67 Beetle
- '65 Beetle (x2)
- '65 Bus
- '71 Squareback

[OB Bus]

[dodger tom]

headed to la again. once again for sad circumstances.

(the first day will be a bit redundant to previous trips. bear with me.)

took the usual route.

through nipomo, where, considering this is is california, there is agriculture.

i’m guessing tomatoes, but ??

veered off the usual route to avoid taking my brand-new engine over san marcos pass.

went through the coastal hills to the great blue pacific.

the pacific coastliner runs over this tressel.

strawberry field next to the ocean.

yup, we’e on the king’s highway.

stopped at the usual spots…..

…..for sustenance…..

…..and refreshment.

through the santa rosa valley…..

…..and simi valley…..

…..into THE valley.

this is the mission san fernando rey de españa.

the 17th of the 21 california missions, it was established in 1797. as an unusual pop-culture reference, bob hope is buried there. and, of course, it’s on the king’s highway.

usual evening stop in THE valley…..

…..for beverages,…..

…..dinner,…..

…..and the dodger game (they blew it in the 10th).

urban camped in glendale.

can you say creature of habit?
_________________
1978 Champaign Edition 2 Westfalia
Would never find the time to keep up another classic air-cooled.

[richparker]

_________________
__________
’71 Westy build
Adventure thread
’65 Deluxe Build
’71 Double Cab

[dodger tom]

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

[dodger tom]

woke up, and found a quiet street to drink some earl grey and read the paper.

headed through glendale.

onto ca 2 south.

through the hills to la proper…..

…..and echo park.

you can almost see the fountain.

and, here’s one of the swan paddle boats.

just up the hill is angelino heights.

home of carrol avenue,…..

…..which is full of classic victorian,…..

…..and, craftsman houses.

down the hill, left on sunset…..

….and, just around the corner is…..

they wouldn’t let me in to take pictures (have to get permission), or even to go to the store (special event).

so, further up the hill we go.

past a buncha heroes.

and up until….

…..(we don’t need no stinking permission.)

up a bit more…..

…..to a nice view of the la city skyline,…..

…..and the la river.

on a clear day the view in all directions would be astounding.

over what is left of chavez ravine.

the area was home to mostly working-class mexican-american folks until the cit of la used eminent domain to force the residents out, bulldoze the land, and make a trade with walter o’malley soes he could build dodger stadium. still the most beautiful (and third-oldest mlb) ballpark in the world. built on tragedy.

back down the hill.

over the la river.

to highland park brewery.

looking back at the hills down which we just came.

had a papis ipa.

6.5% abv. medium yellow with a slight chill haze. mild but delightful fruity flavors with medium bitterness. across the mouth.

and, a smash burger with a burnt cheddar cheese tongue hanging out.

then into the heart of downtown.

city hall.

the united states court building.

and the triforium.

a disneyesque 60-foot-tall public art piece built in 1975. its 1,494 venetian glass prisms and light bulbs used to pulse in sync with the music from the 79 glass-bell clarion. but, almost everyone hated it. it shut down except for a brief revival in 2006 and another in 2018. now it’s just there.

on hill street just down from third is angels flight. a two-car 298-foot funicular railway that carries folks too lazy to walk the 153 steps up the hill.

built in 1901 it is a quaint civic treasure. “world’s shortest railway.” two cars; one goes up while other comes down.

west on i 10, one of la’s busiest freeways, even on saturday.

but, it was a drive-quickly-slow-down-drive-quickly kinda busy.

south on the 405 was just slow.

quick stop in inglewood.

la has mass transit!

well, some mass transit. city’s just too big and spread out. it’ll take forever to build what was lost when gm sold the red car system to japan.

and, finally to my sister’s house.

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

[KTPhil]

Nice trip, thanks for all the photos, some familiar, some not!

We might have just missed you along 101/1 south of Buellton as we spent the long weekend at Jalama Beach.

(glad I missed THAT Dodger game, just saw the box score... and had a few more beers!)
_________________
Current Fleet:
- '71 Fastback
- '69 Westfalia
Retired:
- '67 Beetle
- '65 Beetle (x2)
- '65 Bus
- '71 Squareback

[Shonandb]

Great pics as always Tom! Thanks for taking us along. How's the Bus running?
_________________
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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

[dodger tom]

[dodger tom]

sunday was the day of the wake for my old friend, eric, whom i called e. we were friends for 49 years.

headed toward marina del rey.

down panay way adjacent to basin d of the marina,…..

…..where a flotilla of exotic cars were parked (the ce2 being one of them, of course).

walked along the marina to the pacific marina yacht club,…..

…..which the members all called the pmyc. e was not your typical yachtsman. he wasn’t your typical anything, but he was beloved by the pmyc’ers. and by me.

on the way back there were envelopes on all the exotic cars (except, of course for the ce2 whose owner paid the $3.50).

nice to see the rich get treated like the rest of us.

on the way out google took us through a labyrinthine maze of back streets (i assume avoiding busy westside main drags full of people out on a beautiful late-summer sunday afternoon), of venice…..

…..and santa monica.

i used my local knowledge to eventually ignore her, and headed straight for the great blue pacific…..

…..and the pacific coast highway, my main drag (about 200 miles north).

the cleanup being largely done (la strong, baby) all that’s left of the fire that raged through malibu are empty spaces where houses used to behind the chainlink fences.

some houses were spared,…..

…..but just beyond others were not.

some businesses were spared,…..

…..but just beyond others were not.

the pier made it.

the fourth of the id buzzes (this one was a commercial vehicle) i saw on the trip. my first four as a matter of fact. (i don’t usually count, but this one’s for you, db.)

on the pepperdine university campus was the waves of flags memorial for those lost on 9/11.

not all were us of a flags. but, of course, most were.

it went on…..

…..and on.

we’ve been this way before, but it’s so beautiful, and worth a brief revisit.

through some agricultural fields in oxnard.

google took us on a strange route, including wood road, a narrow country byway.

when google suggested turning east, i knew something was wrong. google had chosen an alternative destination way back in thousand oaks. no wonder she was relentless in trying to get me to head off pch up into one of the many canyons through the coastal mountains. ”turn right. make a u-turn. turn right. make a u-turn.” i corrected the destination, and moved on. she took me down a wide deserted thoroughfare, confusingly called south del norte boulevard.

google feeling contrite? i noticed some umbrellas, and saw they marked a brewery i knew nothing about. making a u-turn, i investigated. maybe google was trying to make it up to me.

zeroes to heaven west coast ipa. 7% abv. light yellow/gold. very slight chill haze. fruit flavors come on late. light bitterness hits mid-tongue, dissipating quickly. tasty, but kinda juicy in style rather than west coast.

reset the destination, and headed out. google changed it to the same place in thousand oaks. accepting bribes to waylay the wayward? not this time, google. i reentered my goal. can i expect retribution from ai sometime in the future for writing and publishing this?

to soothe my ai anxieties, i had a barbers hop at a usual stop.

6.8% abv. dark golden. clear. the hops hit first, and bright fruit flavors second. hoppiness all the way back. lingering. brewed to honor a local barbershop, manny and burd. tasty.

nice spot for the obligatory sunset shot.
_________________
1978 Champaign Edition 2 Westfalia
Would never find the time to keep up another classic air-cooled.

[dodger tom]