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DadaCheese Samba Member
Joined: April 15, 2008 Posts: 837 Location: Richmond, CA
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Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2020 12:02 pm Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration |
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You know how it is when you find you have a lot of random VW pictures
on your phone and/or camera, and you realize there's no real context to post them?
Well; this is one of those.
Random Photo Crap and Last Two Jalousie Windows Refreshed and Put In
Where to start?
How about some random stuff?
Here's Barbi in a Bay-Window at a thrift shop:
Here's a Kiddie Split-Window Bus Carnival Ride that was at a Community Fair in El Cerrito, CA:
Here we have a 1946 Type 11 Saloon VW Bug which is part of the Nethercutt Museum & Collection (in Sylmar, CA not far from the southern side of the Grapevine).
https://www.nethercuttcollection.org/Visitor.aspx
Back in September or October some dear friends of ours gifted us the Lego Camper set, and on eBay I picked up the after-market LED lights for it too:
Here's another random thing... back when we did our cross-country trip, our fuel pump went out. I replaced it with the after-market Chinese spare I had with me. In case THAT one went out, Abscate (Samba Member/friend), lent us one as a spare when we visited him and his family.
Thanks to his kindness, I had been meaning to get it refurbished for him before returning it. Here's the before and after, the refurb work was done by Bill (Wcfvw69 on TheSamba)
More random junk; the new Porsche I picked up last year for $1 at a grocery store:
WINDOWS
Of the five Jaloise Windows on "The Toaster" I restored three (a few years back) and have been lazy about doing the last two.
I took advantage of this "lazy" approach and am VERY pleased to have sent them to Bobby (aka fotoroadie on TheSamba) to do the restoration work on them.
I'm VERY pleased with the work Bobby did.
Here's a before and after:
...so I FINALLY also got around to putting them onto/into The Toaster.
Before:
During:
After:
LAST RANDOM Bits of Junk for this post...
Kathy and I were in San Jose, California this past weekend at a Flea Market.
As an impulse buy, I picked up this fun rechargable Blue Tooth/FM/Media Player/Speaker.
They only had Blue and White (I would have bought green if I could).
The Bus details on this are hilarious and odd. The side vent and gas fill cover are cast into the plastic on both sides of the bus as part of the clear plastic overlay, just as the windshield wipers and arms are.
As far as simple BlueTooth speakers go, this one is great. Removable rechargeable battery (you can also charge it while it is in the device), there's hilarious flashing LED lights that you can turn on and off, and considering it has sockets for just about all kinds of media as well, it's a great little speaker/device.
Here's a 2-minute YouTube link showing me connecting the BlueTooth from my phone and turning on the LED lights.
Link
....and the last random photos I found on my phone/camera from the last couple months...
Some fabric on a pillow at a couch store in Oakland, CA:
A fun T-shirt seen at the San Jose Flea Market on Saturday, meant to resemble a Mexican Loteria game card:
...and ending with Split Buses...
Some stickers on a Register at an antique shop in Petaluma, CA.
I hope everyone is out and about in their buses.
I'm getting ready for California's Spring, and I hope we'll be seeing many of you at meets and cruises and just generally out on the road. _________________ ----------------------------------------------------------
Dada as in dadaism.
Cheese as in the stuff I love to eat.
Last edited by DadaCheese on Mon Jan 27, 2020 12:17 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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volkswagen60 Samba Member
Joined: August 10, 2005 Posts: 326
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Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2020 12:08 pm Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration |
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Sweeeet Sea Blue bluetooth speaker! San Jose Fleamarket here I come! _________________ http://www.vw-trader.com |
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DadaCheese Samba Member
Joined: April 15, 2008 Posts: 837 Location: Richmond, CA
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Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2020 12:39 pm Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration |
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volkswagen60 wrote: |
Sweeeet Sea Blue bluetooth speaker! San Jose Fleamarket here I come! |
I haven't checked, but who knows; you might find it on-line.
Here's more info. to search for it:
_________________ ----------------------------------------------------------
Dada as in dadaism.
Cheese as in the stuff I love to eat. |
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volkswagen60 Samba Member
Joined: August 10, 2005 Posts: 326
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Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2020 2:03 pm Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration |
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Thanks. I'm overdue for a SJ fleamarket trip anyways _________________ http://www.vw-trader.com |
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EverettB Administrator
Joined: April 11, 2000 Posts: 69829 Location: Phoenix Metro
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Abscate Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014 Posts: 22670 Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2020 2:38 am Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration |
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Overdue thank you to you and Mrs Cheese , and toBill, for that fine piece of workmanship of the fuel pump I received in gift. _________________ .ssS! |
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BulliBill Samba Member
Joined: July 09, 2004 Posts: 4573 Location: St Charles, MO
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Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2020 9:35 am Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration |
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EverettB wrote: |
DadaCheese wrote: |
Here's a Kiddie Split-Window Bus Carnival Ride that was at a Community Fair in El Cerrito, CA:
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I'd ride that! |
Hi Bryce & Kathy!
Hell, I want one of those for my backyard!
You remember my 'tin-top" Westy during your visit? Well, after over 25 years of procrastinating, it now looks like this:
I had to do it! Will I see you guys out at the upcoming Kelley Park weekend?
Bill & Kathryn
Bill _________________ I'm looking for these license plate frames for my fleet:
Coeur D'Alene - Lake Shore Volkswagen
Mission VW - San Fernando
Thornton VW - Stockton
Thanks for any help! |
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DadaCheese Samba Member
Joined: April 15, 2008 Posts: 837 Location: Richmond, CA
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Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2020 11:06 am Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration |
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BulliBill wrote: |
Will I see you guys out at the upcoming Kelley Park weekend?
Bill |
Bill,
Your "Tin Top" is looking SO fantastic.
Super excited that you've been working on this amazing project.
Will you be bringing it out for Kelly Park, or are you flying in to California?
YES; Kathy and I are planning on being at Kelly Park this year, and we can't wait to see you.
As always; should you need/want a place to stay or visit in the north part of the East Bay, you're always welcome at our place.
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Yesterday morning (Friday, February 21st, 2020) I was in Sacramento being reunited with The Toaster.
This snap-shot phone photo shows a beam of light illuminating The Toaster after having had some work done...
Kombi Haus, Justin (its owner) and their entire team are such wonderful people who have on several occasions now helped get The Toaster dialed in for me with such concern and care for details that put my own meager skills to shame.
I'll need to find time to take some photos of the work completed, but our last heater boxes (the Danish reproduction after-market type) just never worked well or correctly. It was time to get Kombi Haus involved since we just couldn't get it dialed in.
Not only did they source some OEM boxes in fantastic shape that they had for The Toaster (ones that Justin said/joked that he had half-wished he had kept/used for his own Westfalia). I had been gathering additional parts such as clean/refurbished heat exchanger tubes etc. The Toaster's exhaust (which was not terribly old) also needed to be replaced; as it was already rusting through...
Each year; something new, something refurbished, something corrected.
SO nice to NOT have the heat "on" although it was was turned off (air had been continually leaking through the Danish repro's we had previously since the control flaps never closed correctly).
Sure, The Toaster has plenty of things (particularly paint/body work/1980's spots of Bondo, etc.) that I'd love to have repaired/fixed/improved, but over the past several years the main focus is/has always been to USE The Toaster often and well, and these projects of dialing in the "stock" nature of the engine, and the heater boxes and such are the most practical ways to make driving it such a joy.
Couldn't stop smiling driving home from Sacramento, passing gigantic RVs on the freeway while thinking about how Volkswagen's Buses offer plenty enough room to bring more than you'd ever need for a drive, a camping trip or a road trip.
Hope everyone is out enjoying their buses this weekend; thanks for reading through my rambling. _________________ ----------------------------------------------------------
Dada as in dadaism.
Cheese as in the stuff I love to eat. |
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DadaCheese Samba Member
Joined: April 15, 2008 Posts: 837 Location: Richmond, CA
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Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2020 9:46 pm Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration |
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Staying healthy and sane during the Coronavirus
First off; I hope any and all of you who read this are healthy, safe and happy.
I hope that you and everyone you know are also.
I hope that the burden that this pandemic is/has caused (and is/will be causing) is bearable for you and that by coming here to TheSamba you can, like I do, take a moment for yourself and spend some time revisiting your love and enjoyment for VWs and the community that this website builds.
Kathy and I consider ourselves to be very fortunate in that we are still both currently working, and that our work (and workplaces) help serve people who may not be as fortunate.
Having a structured work day (from home) has, for the most part, allowed a sense of normalcy that we know many others are struggling to have for themselves.
If you are one of the many people who are "on the front lines" of the working force, be that at a hospital, a grocery store, or any job that has you among others; please accept my/our great appreciation.
A milestone birthday for me happened at the beginning of this month (yeah; I'm 50 now). I can finally say that I am "middle-aged" since I hope to live to 100 (ha ha).
Although I took my birthday off from work (which would have been working at home), I was at home for my birthday.
I did, however, hop into The Toaster mid-day to go grab some burgers and milkshakes for Kathy and myself. Here's a picture taken while waiting in the drive through line at In-and-Out:
I thought I'd post a couple of the VW-related things I was fortunate to receive for my birthday, as well as something I bought for myself...
My parents-in-law got me the horn button that was on my wish-list:
...and (VW-related) Kathy got me this wonderful soft double-zippered Polizei bus bag:
...as to the Hot Wheels tracks in the background, well, that's the thing I got for myself. Maybe it's that mid-life thing, or being stuck at home, and/or just wanting to play instead of sit around thinking about the Coronavirus, but I had tracks running down the stairs, doing loops and I found myself generally acting like I was 10 all over again.
With a gift certificate, I then went one level up and picked up the "ID" portal that Hot Wheels makes now. It is a system in which the cars have microchips, that then have both virtual games (races) you can play with the cars on your smartphone, and/or track your car's performance as you play with the (physical) tracks you have at home.
There's one Split Bus in this series; the "Volkswagen T1-GTR"
Here's a screenshot or two from the application (on a smartphone):
Not the best video (I'm no videographer), but here's one of the apps "interacting" with real-time play:
Link
Like I am certain many/most/all of you are feeling that getting out for exercise, fresh air and grocery shopping is all fine and good, but... but sometimes IN THE SAFEST WAY POSSIBLE (social distancing, masks, etc.), you just need to travel a little farther to maintain your mental health and stability during this pandemic.
Kathy and I ventured out for some sandwiches today.
The scenery change was a welcome respite.
(...and I just noticed I'm wearing the same shirt I was on my birthday. Must be my "leave the house" shirt)
This weekend would have been the Kelly Park meet in San Jose, California.
It's seeing everyone (in person) that we miss, but we hope that folks are doing OK and that we WILL get to meet up in our VWs again soon.
Stay safe, be well and know that people care.
Here's a view from The Toaster of the outside world:
_________________ ----------------------------------------------------------
Dada as in dadaism.
Cheese as in the stuff I love to eat. |
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DadaCheese Samba Member
Joined: April 15, 2008 Posts: 837 Location: Richmond, CA
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Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2020 12:53 pm Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration |
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Random stuff we've been up to.
Hope that everyone is healthy, happy and safe.
I've been in my mind a little too much lately (for all the obvious reasons), so I'm briefly here today practicing escapism before returning to my work (currently at home) for a non-profit that I believe in.
Just looking for a moment to relax, and VWs make me content and happy, so here I am on TheSamba.
(no, I don't wear masks at home; just photographing my new mask)
Kathy and I have been taking a few drives to get out of the house.
Back on Saturday, May 16th, 2020, there was an informal caravan called "CoVan2020" that drove from San Francisco down to Monterey.
It was mostly Vanagons, the only split being us in The Toaster, and the only Bay being a VW friend of ours, Will.
This woman's sweater was hand made for her by a friend of hers.
Pit-stop at a berry and pie place:
It was a good time; nice VW folks, all of us were social distancing, using masks, etc.
The weekend after that (on Saturday, May 23rd, 2020) Kathy and I ended up taking a much longer drive...
We didn't know exactly where we'd end up, and naturally I had everything we needed if we somehow were able to camp somewhere, but ultimately we drove, picnicked, relaxed, and returned home.
340 miles
Town of Fort Bragg, California:
Moment of zen:
_________________ ----------------------------------------------------------
Dada as in dadaism.
Cheese as in the stuff I love to eat. |
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DadaCheese Samba Member
Joined: April 15, 2008 Posts: 837 Location: Richmond, CA
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Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2020 1:31 pm Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration |
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Travels during Quarantine...
Kathy and I took a quick trip up to Chico, California and back yesterday in The Toaster.
We hadn't seen Kathy's folks in months and months, and although we're still in "Stage 2" of Quarantine, we decided to go up to have a social-distant lunch with them in their backyard and garden.
On the way there I was lamenting (as I often do) about how rare it is these days to see ANY air-cooed VWs on the road (our friend VolksFire, waved at us on the Freeway from his 1998 Jetta TDI as he passed us; he was driving out to do some work on one of his water-cooled VWs. I wish his transmission was fixed for his split-double-cab).
While getting Shubert's ice cream (in Chico) to have for after lunch, however, a lovely 1956 Rag-top Bug pulled up in the parking spot behind us.
The owner, Dave, said he's had the bug for about 23 years, if I remember correctly. We spoke of how we were all missing going to the regular annual meets like Kelly Park and Buorama. We hope we'll run into him again sometime either in Chico or at a future VW meet.
Took a slightly longer route back, we were kind-of hoping that perhaps the Penny Candy Store in Live Oak, CA might be open, but it wasn't.
Strong gusty winds had The Toaster doing a little bit of a jitterbug on parts of the 80 as we made our way south, and we also saw (and smelled) the huge plume of smoke from the "Quail Fire" burning in Solano County, closer to the 505 Freeway that we had taken in the morning. As of this morning, that fire has burned 1,400 acres. Wind and dry conditions in California never mix well (thanks Global Warming).
When we got home we let know Kathy's folks that we made it back safe & sound; Chico ended up having thundershowers late in the afternoon after we had left.
Overall; great drive. 340 miles all together. _________________ ----------------------------------------------------------
Dada as in dadaism.
Cheese as in the stuff I love to eat. |
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DadaCheese Samba Member
Joined: April 15, 2008 Posts: 837 Location: Richmond, CA
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Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2020 4:19 pm Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration |
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Couple more "Social Distancing" trips in The Toaster...
A couple Sundays ago we took a day trip to Modesto, CA.
You know; birthplace of George Lucas. Also where "American Graffiti" takes place (filmed elsewhere, but it is the inspiration of/for the film).
Was a total of 191 miles round trip, and very worth it.
Not far from downtown is the Tuolumne River Regional Park where we walked around a bit in the water.
On our way heading back, we stopped at a small hard cider place in a business park just outside of the town of Ripon, CA.
Tapped Apple: https://www.tappedapplecider.com/
It was easy to social distance everywhere we went to. Wore masks, of course, while ordering our samplers, but with no one else there, and a nice cool breeze in the shade of the business park buildings, it felt, for a moment like everything was "normal".
This past weekend we actually went camping. Both Kathy and I took Monday off from work, partially because with some California campsites re-opening, they are pretty booked solid, but I managed to get a reservation for the Oak Bottom Campground up near Somes Bar, California (Northeast of Redding).
Campsite's Webpage: https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/srnf/recarea/?recid=11560
The area was amazing. Apparently there are six rivers around there.
The campsite was doing a LOT to follow social distancing protocols as well as constant cleaning of the pit toilet bathrooms.
The campsite host suggested a great isolated area of the nearby river to go swimming, and we had the river (our bend of it) to ourselves where we swam to a beach populated by butterflies and picnicked.
In the early evening we had deer walking through our campsite.
It was a bit of a long trip to camp (700 miles round-trip) but so worth it.
Did the math; we averaged 23.73 miles per gallon.
This would have been the weekend of one of our favorite VW Camping Meets; "Camp & Shine" at Clearlake, CA, but that was canceled due to Covid-19.
We were missing our regular camping trips so much, and having the chance to be out with "The Toaster" in nature again, and safely isolating, was wonderful.
On our way back this past Monday, we stopped in Redding, CA (where it was 105 degrees) and visited Wolfgang International for the first time.
Great place; great people.
Wolgang International: https://wolfgangint.com/
I loved their comment that they have one of the most expensive store counters:
...and out back...
...so I hope all of you are also managing to stay sane, stay safe, but still get to drive your buses here and there.
It was really tough to find ourselves back home again isolating indoors, but we also feel very fortunate to be working (from home).
Tomorrow (Saturday) we have another day trip planned already with The Toaster.
_________________ ----------------------------------------------------------
Dada as in dadaism.
Cheese as in the stuff I love to eat. |
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AS350driver Samba Member
Joined: April 17, 2016 Posts: 1340 Location: Tucson
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Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2020 4:50 pm Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration |
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It’s interesting you mention George Lucas, American Graffiti, and having cider in Ripon CA. I had cider in Ripon one time. But it was the other Ripon, in Wisconsin. Do you know how Ripon, Wisconsin intersects with Lucas and American Graffiti? |
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DadaCheese Samba Member
Joined: April 15, 2008 Posts: 837 Location: Richmond, CA
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Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2020 4:54 pm Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration |
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AS350driver wrote: |
...Do you know how Ripon, Wisconsin intersects with Lucas and American Graffiti? |
No; I didn't. You've peaked my curiosity though.
Ripon, CA has Swiss/Germanic cultural roots and history, which I imagine is likely true of the one in Wisconsin as well (?). _________________ ----------------------------------------------------------
Dada as in dadaism.
Cheese as in the stuff I love to eat. |
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AS350driver Samba Member
Joined: April 17, 2016 Posts: 1340 Location: Tucson
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Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2020 4:59 pm Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration |
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It’s a person. Quite famous, I might add. I met him once as we were gassing up our planes at the Calexico, CA airport. |
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DadaCheese Samba Member
Joined: April 15, 2008 Posts: 837 Location: Richmond, CA
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Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2020 10:32 am Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration |
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Perfect VW Weekend...
Started on Friday; Kathy and I had to go up to pick something up in Citrus Heights, California (not far from Sacramento), so we also went to Folsom to give the "Red Bus Brewing Company" a try...
https://www.redbusbrew.com/
The folks were really nice there, and they recommended a local Mexican place that has take-out.
The name of the Brewery was inspired by the owner's Bay Window Red Bus.
and then...
FINALLY; a VW event!
Yearly, around this time, is the annual "Bug Bash" meet in Antioch, CA.
It was canceled this year, but some excellent mindful Bay Area VW folks got together this "Pre Bug Bash" cruise.
Following best practices for health and safety for Covid, it was a socially-distant cruise that had us driving from Concord, up into the Berkeley and Oakland hills through groves of pines and oaks, up the ridge with a spectacular view of the entirety of the San Francisco Bay, and back down and around to Orinda, CA where there was a Hofbrau resturant that had take out.
Perfect weather, got to catch up with friends and meet new folks too.
There were THREE "Things" at this cruise.
Only 3 split-buses... 2 Ghias...
I think in all we were around 25 VWs.
You can check out all the snap-shop photos I took here:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_search.php?...ts=summary
We hope everyone is having a good summer despite Covid, and that you are having the chance to take some safe trips in your VWs.
_________________ ----------------------------------------------------------
Dada as in dadaism.
Cheese as in the stuff I love to eat. |
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DadaCheese Samba Member
Joined: April 15, 2008 Posts: 837 Location: Richmond, CA
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Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2020 12:26 pm Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration |
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How to avoid pandemics, heat and fires...
It had been a challenging August.
My father-in-law passed away after a long battle with a rare blood disease.
Although this is very sad for Kathy and myself, he is no longer in pain.
Both of his daughters, and his wife, were by his side as he passed.
... there's plenty more to say about this bittersweet time in our lives, but this posting is not about that. It is about seeking some normalcy and rest despite a world-wide pandemic, a record-breaking heat wave in California, and an extreme and destructive fire "season" in our state.
Kathy and I have been very fortunate to continue to be working, from home, for jobs/causes we believe in. We have not, however, had any substantial vacation time (except weekends) for a very long time.
Naturally it was time to take The Toaster on a journey.
Labor Day weekend would have been BugoRama in Sacramento, but with Covid, it was not going to happen...
Searching maps and the Internet, where better to go to beat California's heat wave than the high western desert of Nevada?
It was going to be 10 to 15 degrees cooler than the Bay Area of California.
We took off Friday (Sept. 4th) evening after work and headed to Dayton, Nevada.
Stopped in Auburn, CA for an outdoor dinner:
Dayton was the backdrop for many of the scenes in the movie "The Misfits" (1961) including the Bar at which Marilyn Monroe plays paddle-ball.
...not sure if this is the specific bar, but if it isn't, it was very close to here in the historic downtown...
Our main destination was to be Goldfield, Nevada where we planned to stay for two nights.
The whole trip was 1,089 miles.
Our gas mileage averaged out to 21.11 mpg.
There was a LOT of elevation change throughout the trip, and we were most often up at about 5,000 feet, but also above 8,000 over some passes.
The lowest mpg was 17.04, and the best was 23.24
We brought all of our camping gear (which we typically have packed anyway), but had arranged to stay in non-shared AirBnB places that had very specific write-ups about everything they do cleaning-wise to mitigate the spread of Covid.
The shifting landscapes from California and through the high western deserts of Nevada were beautiful and dramatic.
We stopped in nearby Fallon, NV to stretch our legs and look at their weathered downtown, but our next major stop was Tonopah, where we went to a BBQ/Brewpub with outdoor seating.
On the way to Tonopah we saw a lot of advertisements for a a casino/hotel which said; "Roll the dice for a free room"
Why not? We pulled up, put on our masks, went in and they had a "Chuck-a-Luck" dice cage with three over-sized dice. If you get three of a kind, you'd win a free room.
...well, I won a free room. Approx. $76 value.
We didn't need it, or want it, but it was non-transferable and could only be used that evening.
Funny thing; a woman after us ALSO got three of a kind.
I looked up the odds; 1:36.
We were dusty and hot from the trip, so we took the room, brought our traveling drink kit upstairs, had a gin & tonic, used the shower and a little later hit the road again... we had an AirBnB waiting for us Goldfield.
(the casino/hotel):
Also stopped for a picture op. in Tonopah when we saw this bug...
Tonopah also has this very frightening motel/road-side attraction, the Clown Motel.
GOLDFIELD, Nevada
This town, and its history are incredible.
When gold was discovered there in 1906, the town blew up to a population of 20,000. It was a thriving community of about 30 city blocks. Then several things happened... the gold mining dried up. There was a massive fire in the town due to the explosion of a moonshine still which destroyed most all of the town's buildings, now, the population of the town is (as of the 2010 census) 268.
What of the town that still exists is fascinating.
A few historic buildings that survived the 1923 fire, some of which you can arrange to take tours of.
Two Saloons.
A few shops to attract tourists.
A diner for breakfast and lunch...
...and so much more.
Like many of the freeways and highways in NV, typically this time of year folks pass through on their way to Burning Man.
One of the shops in Goldfield had these "Art Cars" (abandoned?) that sadly had bugs stuck to them...
...but that's not all; Goldfield has the "International Car Forest of the Last Church"
It is basically someone's property (now a non-profit) with cars stuck into the ground.
Met a nice family in this new VW at the "Forest". They had three young kids; reminded me of my childhood; five of us going camping and hiking in The Toaster back in the 1970's.
They asked to share a photo-op.
But what else can you do in Goldfield?
...well, naturally you can drive over to nearby Gemfield and look for interesting rocks.
Some local land owners allow visitors onto their property; a couple miles off the highway to look around, and with the honor system, you pay $1 per pound of rocks you remove. We picked up some beautiful rocks.
...and with any good ghost town Goldfield had a fantastic graveyard with a great many graves which really illustrated how challenging the gold rush was on the folks who made their living there.
This one reads:
FINIS E. FOLSOM
JUNE 27, 1917
AGE 34
ELECTRIC SHOCK
AT RED HILLS
MINE
ELECTRICIAN
As always when we travel I'm always looking for other air-cooled VWs on or off the road. Here's a few we saw, I missed taking a picture of a Ghia in Goldfield, however.
After two nights in town we had to decide how we wanted to return to the Bay.
Originally we thought we'd go through Death Valley and stop at Scotty's Castle.
...however, Scotty's Castle had a flood a year or two ago and they are still trying to refurbish it AND the temperature in Death Valley was predicted to have a high of 120 degrees.
We spent awhile looking through maps and decided to stay on the East side of the Sierras and head towards South Lake Tahoe.
We're so glad we did; we had the road to ourselves for much of the way.
I wish I had taken pictures of all the warning signs about animals that might be in the road at various parts of our trip. They included: cows, bulls, burros, bears and deer.
In parts the smoke from California's fires (and possibly some from Nevada as well) were in the areas that we were. Tragic, but it also made for interesting light.
Kathy took this picture near Dyer, Nevada:
Passed by Mono Lake in California on our route...
We continued to Bridgeport, CA which was pretty crowded with people (it was Labor Day) and stopped for a burger (regretfully not that great).
Kathy took this photo of what the place had to offer(!?!??).
We ate in the bus, had a nice conversation with a local business owner who was passing by. Although she doesn't have any air-cooled VWs now, she was once secretary for the Vintage Volkswagen Club of America. She had known Gene Berg, and many folks who were in Southern California when she lived there in the 1960's through the mid 80's.
We continued all the way to South Lake Tahoe where, due to the 3-day weekend ending we had our pick of inexpensive and clean places to stay.
Due to Covid, the not-too-distant California fires, and wind, most everything (including the Lake's Beaches) were closed, but we had a good time walking around. Despite all of the challenges most of California was experiencing over the weekend, the air and sky around Lake Tahoe was excellent.
In the evening we made it Himmel Haus; an excellent German restaurant..
All of their dishes are freshly made there, including their sausages and the beer selection was excellent (we took a ride-share to get there and back).
By Wednesday we had to return to home, but had a great stop on the 50 at "Strawberry Station"
I assume that some/many of you already know Jenny and "Squirrel" who were wonderful to talk to. Not only are they bus owners and enthusiasts, but they obviously are great for their local community as well as for folks passing through. Their general store includes anything and everything you could need from camping gear to snow gear, rock climbing gear as well as good food, VW memorabilia, snacks, etc.
Truly nice and friendly folks.
...Squirrel started to realize that we may have met previously at a VW meet or two and/or that we knew each other via the Internet. He said that he remembered that I am always in that orange shirt that, yes, I was wearing. He pulled up facebook, and yeah; there I was wearing the same shirt there on my profile.
We had a good laugh; I thought "The Toaster" preceded Kathy and myself, but I guess that yes; I wear that shirt a lot when we're on drives or camping.
Further down the 50, we stopped in Folsom since we had brought an empty growler and stopped at Red Bus to get it filled.
We had been following the news of the weather, the fires, and the smoke during our travels, and we returned home to the apocalyptic-looking orange "Dune" -like sky in the Bay Area once we returned.
This picture was taken at 4:00pm on Wednesday.
The street lights around town were on.
It was a great get-away.
Although there's LOTS of challenges in California, the US and the world at large, it was well worth taking a safe-as-possible break to go out and be reminded how friendly and great people are, and how we are all experiencing these challenges together.
We hope you all are also safe, healthy and doing what you need to do to remain that way. At the very least; hop in your bus and take a quick spin.
I promise it'll put a smile on your face. _________________ ----------------------------------------------------------
Dada as in dadaism.
Cheese as in the stuff I love to eat.
Last edited by DadaCheese on Tue Sep 15, 2020 11:11 am; edited 1 time in total |
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BarryL Samba Member
Joined: November 01, 2004 Posts: 14271 Location: Casa de Oro, California
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Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2020 2:20 pm Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration |
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Epic post and trip. Great photos sharing your rich experiences. Did you get the ex VVWOA lady's name? I had to appear in the stone courthouse on a trumped up bogus ticket in my bus. So sad for the loss. |
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DadaCheese Samba Member
Joined: April 15, 2008 Posts: 837 Location: Richmond, CA
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Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2020 2:47 pm Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration |
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BarryL wrote: |
...Did you get the ex VVWOA lady's name? ... |
Barry, thanks.
Her name; I am terrible about names.
I always tell folks, particularly at VW meets, that they're welcome to forget and ask my name again any time we see one another as long as I am allowed to do the same.
I forgot her name already, but I believe she said she is now 63 and used to live in Orange, CA (or was it Anaheim?). She drove a split-window bug that was stolen... named... it was a famous person's name...
Darn it. Something like "Kit Karson" or even "Spiro Agnew" (I realize those two names are vastly different, but you get the idea).
She now lives there in Bridgeport, CA. _________________ ----------------------------------------------------------
Dada as in dadaism.
Cheese as in the stuff I love to eat. |
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AS350driver Samba Member
Joined: April 17, 2016 Posts: 1340 Location: Tucson
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Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2020 3:58 pm Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration |
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Goldfield, NV is featured in the original 1971 "Vanishing Point" (great film, btw). It doesn't look very different than in 1971. |
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