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"The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration
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cru62
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 13, 2020 9:56 pm    Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration Reply with quote

Did you eat at the Dinky Diner in Goldfield? They make a great burger. And anything for breakfast was always good.
I spent almost a year in Tonopah working on the road to Silver Peak. Met a lot of interesting folks and spent a lot of time at the brewery. Their brisket is to die for!!
There is a guy that owns an old gas station in town who has a dismantled 60’s VW convertible in the back room. Completely rust free. He also has a pretty awesome collection of cars from his museum he had in Vegas.
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DadaCheese
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 14, 2020 7:28 am    Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration Reply with quote

cru62 wrote:
Did you eat at the Dinky Diner in Goldfield?

We did indeed! We had breakfast there. For both of us, with tip, it was less than $20 and excellent. Plus, all the locals were friendly. They let us know about garage sale up the road. As the town has such a small population, we saw a couple of the same people later in the day and they were pleased to see us again.

cru62 wrote:
Met a lot of interesting folks and spent a lot of time at the brewery. Their brisket is to die for!!

They were out of the Brisket Butts by the time we got there, but the pulled pork was amazing! So tender.

cru62 wrote:
There is a guy that owns an old gas station in town who has a dismantled 60’s VW convertible in the back room. Completely rust free. He also has a pretty awesome collection of cars from his museum he had in Vegas.

Must have been this place (pictures below). Too bad we missed the convertible.
Naturally we have a lot more photos from our trip, but the majority of the ones I've posted are mostly VW-related.

Truly was a fun trip; if anyone reading this enjoys this kind of travel-exploration, just as you, cru62, exemplified, it's a fun, interesting and great area to see!

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Side note; that "International Car Forest of the Last Church" in Goldfield, NV; I was pleased to notice that none of the dead cars in the ground were VWs.
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 14, 2020 7:57 am    Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration Reply with quote

Awesome get-away trip you guys! When you coming back to St. Charles, MO? Your room will be ready!

I just got to thinking after seeing all the news and videos of fire related air quality out there that with all that smoke/cinder/ash in the air out west, do you folks worry about more frequent oil changes for your air filter or any other preventative measures when out on driving adventures? Luckily, that is quick and easy to do, just haven't heard anyone else think out loud about it. Hopefully it's not an issue...

Keep up having "too much fun"!

Bill & Kathryn Bowman
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 14, 2020 8:58 am    Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration Reply with quote

Goldfield has the highest per capita population of Veterans in the US. If you really want to experience it, go back for “Goldfield Days” in August. It is a blast! There is a hot spring on the road to Silver Peak. The owner allows camping if you clean up after your self. You won’t believe the sky at night.
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 15, 2020 7:43 am    Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration Reply with quote

BulliBill wrote:
Awesome get-away trip you guys! When you coming back to St. Charles, MO? Your room will be ready!

Bill, thanks! We'd love to make it to your fine town again. When/as things *normalize* we'd love to make it to "Buses Nowhere Near the Arch" (correct title?).

BulliBill wrote:
... do you folks worry about more frequent oil changes for your air filter or any other preventative measures...

I was thinking about exactly this as we were on our trip. Oil, and filter's oil had recently been changed, but I think you're right. Now that we're back, it might be time to change again. We hope to see you and Kathryn again soon. Remember; you're always welcome here at our place in California.

cru62 wrote:
...There is a hot spring on the road to Silver Peak. The owner allows camping if you clean up after your self. You won’t believe the sky at night.

We almost went to the hot springs... we had hoped for star gazing, but there was enough smoke high in the atmosphere that visibility wasn't as great as we had hoped.

AS350driver wrote:
Goldfield, NV is featured in the original 1971 "Vanishing Point" (great film, btw). It doesn't look very different than in 1971.

AS350driver; I don't think I've seen "Vanishing Point". I've added it to our list.
---------------------------------------------

Although Kathy and I have been working from home, we mostly need to be close-by here in the Bay Area of California. If we could work anywhere, anytime, we'd gladly hop into "The Toaster" and make our way East again for another cross-country. Covid naturally would make it a bit less interesting (inability to go to many sites/museums, etc.) as well as risky, but the desire to be traveling is there...

Need to plan some weekend trip or something for October.
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 15, 2020 9:52 am    Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration Reply with quote

Bryce,

Do keep the trips and the debriefs coming. Your positivity is infectious during this time of constant negativity from, seemingly, every corner. It inspires others to also shrug off the negativity, to not allow it to soak in and change their behavior towards others. You’ve got a knack for retelling your expeditions.
Ever consider having a videographer accompany you guys? I could see you guys having a YouTube channel with millions of followers or a Travel channel series.

Kombi life for the over 30 crowd.
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 15, 2020 10:21 am    Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration Reply with quote

always love to read this thread and see the pics. thanks!

as for Ripon... I thought it was dutch? I grew up with a guy who's family is pretty well known in Ripon and have been there a very long time, a lot of the streets in Ripon are named after their kids, grand kids, and now great grand kids. They were DeJong's very much dutch
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 15, 2020 10:50 am    Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration Reply with quote

DadaCheese wrote:
AS350driver wrote:
Goldfield, NV is featured in the original 1971 "Vanishing Point" (great film, btw). It doesn't look very different than in 1971.

AS350driver; I don't think I've seen "Vanishing Point". I've added it to our list.

I loved the mini-bike guy and what he did with the mini-bike.
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DadaCheese
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 15, 2020 1:08 pm    Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration Reply with quote

Erik G wrote:
...as for Ripon... I thought it was dutch?

You're very likely correct.
Since my Grandparents would travel to Ripon's Swiss Club once a year for the festival, I think I always just assumed it was Swiss.
https://sjvscriponswiss.com/club-history

Further down the 99 (125 miles further south) is Kingsburg with a Swedish history of settlers.

Part of California's history had lot of Swiss, German, Dutch and other European folks making their way west, in part when/if they had skills with dairy cows. Happened later, however, then in places like Wisconsin.

Kathy's great-grandparents initially lived in the Chilcoot-Vinton area of California (admittedly very far from Ripon). In the graveyard out there there's memorials/markers set up to specifically commemorate the influence of European immigrants on the dairy farming beginnings of California.

...sorry; I just love this kind of history stuff. And now I want some cheese.

AS350driver wrote:
Bryce,

Do keep the trips and the debriefs coming. Your positivity is infectious during this time of constant negativity from, seemingly, every corner. It inspires others to also shrug off the negativity, to not allow it to soak in and change their behavior towards others. You’ve got a knack for retelling your expeditions.
Ever consider having a videographer accompany you guys? I could see you guys having a YouTube channel with millions of followers or a Travel channel series.

Kombi life for the over 30 crowd.


AS350driver, thanks for the kind words/encouragement.

Funny, I have to admit, Kathy and I fell into a long conversation on our trip with a guy whose current political and world view was about as 180-degrees away from mine as you can get.
...but that's exactly why we continued to have the conversation.
I wanted to hear his beliefs and opinions and experiences.
I wanted, perhaps desperately wanted, to have a dialog instead of the isolation we have all been experiencing.
I wanted to dispel (for/of myself, as well as for/from him) any kind of all-or-nothing side-taking viewpoints which media may emphasize as being currently common nowadays.
I wasn't out to change his opinion, and I doubt that he felt that he was going to change mine; but we did both want to hear one another. To give space for our differences, and perhaps have the chance to see something from a different angle.
One of the main things that I greatly appreciate about people is that their own lives, experiences and beliefs make them the interesting and worthwhile humans that they/we are. I attempt to learn about people since it has the ability to enriches ones self and expand an understanding of the world.
I always try to offer the same open respect as I hope to receive.
We ended our conversation with my summarizing the experience; "here's some things that I sense/heard that we have in common. We come about it different ways, and have some differing opinions, but I'm so pleased we get to talk and appreciate one another."
We both "won" since we both came away from the experience smiling and wishing one another well and to have great travels.

As to a doing video journals? Sure; why not? Set us up with a videographer (I couldn't bear the time it takes for editing).
If anyone can put up with my bad puns and my personal sense of humor/"wit", we'll gladly try to fill the space left behind by someone like Huell Howser of "California's Gold" ('cept VW-centric).

All joking aside; we're pleased when/if these stories at least give folks an arm-chair travel view of what we're up to.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PS: It's Huell's accent (not from California) and almost child-like amazement at anything he's told that just makes him hilarious to watch.
ie: "...and you say they'd pan the gold, right here? Amazing!"


Link

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DadaCheese
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 27, 2020 3:46 pm    Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration Reply with quote

Another great cruise...
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Sunday, October 25th, 2020
SHE-852 VW Cruise #9


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"SHE-852" Cruises are in the San Francisco Bay Area of California and are organized by Jason M.
"SHE-852" was the license plate of Jason's former bug (he's now driving an early RHD).

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Any/All VWs are welcome 'though many/most tend to be air-cooled.

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This is the second of the "SHE-852" Cruises that we have been able to attend during Covid, and it has been great to have a safe, socially distant opportunity to enjoy our VWs and the company of other VWs.

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This particular Cruise was from Concord (having met up in the morning near the Sun Valley Mall), over towards Port Costa then headed through Pinole on Bear Creek Rd. through Tilden and Grizzly Peak then through Canyon and then back down into Moraga and then to Orinda for some lunch at Europa Hoffbrau. It was only about 47 miles with nice scenic stops for photo ops and to see the views.

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Had a great time, got to talk to a lot of great folks about their VWs, despite the distancing and masks and good safety precautions, it's nice to do something that feels a little "normal" so as to not go crazy at home.

Some folks met up at the start just to say hello (couldn't stay for the cruise), and others joined later, but there were about 20 in all that did the drive.

Here's all the photos I took in gallery view:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_search.php...ts=summary


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Hope that anyone/everyone reading this is having the chance to make it out in their VWs whether alone or safely in groups. See you on the road!

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PostPosted: Tue Feb 16, 2021 6:12 pm    Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration Reply with quote

Valentine's Day/President's Day Weekend Get-Away

During Covid and shelter in place, it is NOT every weekend that you tell yourself; I think I'll drive 1300 miles (or 1358 miles to be exact).

However, that's what we just did.
Kathy had Friday & Monday off, I took Friday off (so that we'd both have four days off) and we hit the road this past Thursday night...

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I'm getting ahead of myself though; we've been continuing to take occasional weekend day-trips in "The Toaster", but I haven't documented them all.

Here's one from a few weekends ago:

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Also sometime during January we treated ourselves to a tune-up at Kombihaus in Sacramento, CA and had them put a reproduction steering wheel in for us... It's always great to see what's happening at Kombihaus...

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I think that's the same trip that I snapped this shot of a couple bugs up in Chico:

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The steering wheel... I may get around to having my original recast/restored...

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...but until that happens, I am trying out this "Flat 4" reproduction that I bought from Wolfsburg West. I read they weren't always that great, but so far I feel pretty good about this one I bought in January (2021):

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Back at home, I finished a couple small things; new grab bar:

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Also wrote up a tutorial for anyone who needs one about putting in a reproduction turn signal:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=748515&highlight=

...and thanks to simple and practical friendly advice here on TheSamba, I finally got my back dome light working again:

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NOW to this past weekend...

Both Kathy and I have been working pretty hard, and have been very appreciative to be working (from home).
Like many of you, I am certain, we have also been going a little stir-crazy, so it was time for another as-safe-as-possible socially-distancing road trip.

Our plans were a bit vague, but we decided to travel south, and at some point make it to Indio, California for Date Shakes (ice cream shakes with palm dates in them).

My mom, now 84, got her vaccine shot, and since we hadn't seen her in person in over a year, we decided to surprise her in Huntington Beach.

Got out some maps, and decided we'd leave right after work on Thursday and make it to Solvang, which enjoys being a "Danish Village" attracting tourists from far and wide. ...I'll be honest, I think we were most excited about going to our favorite Solvang bakery there (Olsen's Danish Village Bakery).

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Not only did we have pastries, but we stuck around for lunch after looking at the tourist shops. There's a beer garden with a good selection of sausages in Solvang (Copenhagen Sausage Garden).

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Eventually we got back on the road and before going to surprise my mom, we stopped off at Venice Beach:

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My mom was thrilled with the surprise of our coming for a visit, and we stayed the night. After breakfast we hit the road again. In order to take the Pacific Coast Highway to our next destination, we drove to the Huntington Beach Pier and headed south.

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Trying to find great things to do, as safely as we can with social distancing, we made a visit reservation for the San Diego Botanic Garden. It is actually in the town of Encinitas; north of San Diego.

The diversity of plants there is incredible, and this small collage doesn't show 1/50th of what we saw and experienced there.

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While driving to the Botanical Garden, Kathy received a text. A former adult student of hers (from when Kathy was teaching English as a second language: ESL), was driving on the same highway with her husband and, due to The Toaster, knew it was us. They were headed to the S.D. Zoo from Orange County. We agreed to meet for dinner in the evening (all via text), but they later had to cancel; they got to the Zoo, and found that it was a super long line (limited capacity due to Covid, I imagine), and they hadn't made zoo reservations in advance.

The point is; when you're driving a distinctive car, friends can spot you easily.

We managed to get a room for the night in San Diego at a re-vamped older hotel, despite it being a 3-day weekend, and a lot of people out celebrating Valentine's too.

As we often do, we looked up vinyl record shops and good bookstores and went through stacks and stacks at FeelIt Records. Small place, but they were only allowing 2 people in at a time, masked, etc. which was great.

As to the Gaslamp Quarter which we were near, it seemed a bit too overcrowded with folks celebrating Valentine's Day a night early. Lots of outdoor seating, but too many people for our comfort.

We got takeout from a great place near the Downtown Train Station instead (fantastic Burgers and Draft Beers from Hidden Craft SD), eating in at our hotel. Was very comfortable and relaxing to be off the road again for awhile.

The next morning I went to get the car from a parking structure a few blocks away, while Kathy got us some actual coffee (not the stuff in the hotel room).

Naturally I was pleased to see The Toaster just as we had left it...

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...but there was a note on it saying that we had violated the garage rules in that we had parked overnight. Naturally I hadn't seen any signs about no overnight parking on our way in...

I winded down the corkscrew exit to the gate where the security guard was, and I asked him about it. We had difficulty talking to one another due to our masks. "You're going to pay for it, right?" was what I got from him, to which I told him it didn't say how much it was. As it turns out, he meant just the regular $18 fee, not any violation fee. He told me not to worry about that.

Perhaps it was my typical confused demeanor, or the fact that I was driving a 1967 VW, he then asked me how I was, in German. So I answered in German, and we had a great short conversation. He had been stationed in the Army in Hessen and had really enjoyed his time there. I complimented his German (without letting on that I am not a native speaker). I'm always impressed when folks in the military take the time to learn the native language of the places they are stationed.

The coffee was great, and we moved on in an meandering way to get to Indio, California.

We crossed over into the rocky foreboding hills of the Anza-Borrego desert, Kathy piloting through the steep and winding passes of the 79 Highway.

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Pulled out at a scenic view area...

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...and since it was now also Valentine's Day, I'll show off one of our LP vinyl finds:
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We were AMAZED by the number of GIGANTIC recreational vehicles we saw through the desert. I don't just mean those high-roof new Mercedes vans that are becoming ubiquitous in California, I mean the longer-than-a-city-bus RVs that are then ALSO towing a car, or a long trailer or ATVs.

Also, as seems to be typical nowadays, we just don't see many other air-cooled VWs driving about. This trip we saw maybe only 3 Vanagons on the road, one bug (picture coming up), one Bay Window bus, and perhaps some other broken down VWs here and there on folk's properties.

The most air-cooled VWs we saw was when we made a pit-stop in the town of Ocotillo Wells. It's a place where off-road vehicle enthusiasts go with dirt bikes, ATVs and yes; Baja Bugs. Sure, newer ATVs dominated the scene from what we could see, but there were a few old-school air-cooled VWs too. Even saw a tricked out VW Thing (on a trailer behind a GIGANTIC RV), that had been re-vamped for actual off-road adventures.

We hit the Salton Sea and stopped for gas in Salton City. That's where I had my second German conversation of the day. A German man came up and asked if he could take a picture, I recognized his accent and answered in German. We then spoke for quite awhile about VWs, and how about 8 years ago he moved to Canada, but often travels by car for work in the states. His first car, in Germany, was a split-window standard. He was pretty pleased to reminisce, and I took some photos of him and The Toaster using his phone.

"Date Shakes" were still on our minds for Valentine's Day so we continued to Indio.

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$8 for a date shake is a lot, but I have no solid idea how inflation has/has not adjusted. Perhaps it's about the same price (adjusted) as when my parents brought my brother and sister and I, as kids, in The Toaster to Indio?
An absolute must, however. sweet, creamy delicious date shakes!

Looking at our possibilities for the rest of the trip, we booked a motel in Lancaster, and drove on.

The sunsets for the entire trip were incredible...

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Why Lancaster? Well, the Edwards Air Force base is nearby, and I am sure that there's some great museums around there. However, this is what we wanted to see on Monday:

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Yep; it is the Church from Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill"
...but it's been in a lot of other things too.
Do you know the Talking Head's song "Road to Nowhere"?
It's in the opening shot for the video; folks gathering inside to sing the opening lines.

Is this the Road to Nowhere?

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Also the church is in "True Confessions" (1981) with Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall...
And so many other films, short subjects and music videos I won't name them all.
You can read all about it online, but the best thing about our visit was the owner of the building who is also the minister of the 7th Day Adventist church that it now operates as. He was incredibly kind and welcoming as well as informative about the history of the building.
He told us that roughly 20 people a day come to see the church (Hollywood altered the building over the years; it was originally just a rectangular community building. The church façade was built for the De Niro film, and the plank wood floor and front porch were added for "Kill Bill").
He welcomes the people who visit, gives a brief history and yes, Hollywood still does use the remote location for filming.

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We still had a lot of driving yesterday (Monday, President's Day) to finish but we decided to make Tehachapi our next stop; another peek to climb, this one only 3,970′.

The wind was something fierce not only near the "Kill Bill" church, but also up the grade to Tehachapi. Signs warned of fog, and sure enough, we really didn't see Tehachapi, as much as we went through it, stopping for lunch at an amazing locally owned BBQ place.

With Covid, there was no indoor seating, which is why we're so happy to have a Westfalia. It was COLD (California cold) outside though with the fog and wind.

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We knew we'd take the 99 to head north through the central valley, but seeing that the State Route 65 parallels it starting at Bakersfield, we opted for that.

Initially, it wasn't so pretty...
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But the oil wells gave way to agriculture; citrus trees, occasional vines of wine grapes all covering rolling green hills.
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Stopped for gas in Ducor before rejoining with the 99 a little bit later.

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Did someone say cheese?
Of course we stopped at the Bravo Farms tourist pit-stop off of the 99 as well...

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There we got to have a nice conversation with the owner of this bug who recently got it road-worthy again after letting it sit for a couple years. We encouraged him to make it to some of the local meets (when they start happening again).
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After so much driving, it was nice to eventually roll into Richmond again, but not before another spectacular sunset.

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If you're living someplace cold, snowy or wet, we hope our trip photos brighten your winter. ...but we'd love to see YOUR trip photos too.
Hope you're all safe, healthy and out driving in your buses.
See you on the road!


Collage of just SOME of the bus-related stuff one finds at tourist traps when traveling:

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Dada as in dadaism.
Cheese as in the stuff I love to eat.


Last edited by DadaCheese on Fri Feb 19, 2021 11:19 am; edited 5 times in total
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EverettB Premium Member
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 16, 2021 6:37 pm    Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration Reply with quote

Good stuff, I didn't know the Kill Bill building was there.

I've only been to the "other" Date Shake place right on the 10E, I think they say they are the real ones too...
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mandraks
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 16, 2021 7:27 pm    Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration Reply with quote

since you like Solvang, if you ever make it out to Georgia, check out Helen, Ga. a "bavarian" town in the North Georgia Mountains.
DadaCheese wrote:

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not quite Holland but pretty nice.
https://www.helenga.org/
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AS350driver
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 16, 2021 9:43 pm    Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration Reply with quote

The last time I was driving through Tehachapi, it was foggy, and I ate BBQ at the exact same place. It has low visibility pretty often. When I used to fly around a lot in the area, I remember flying in clear air above Tehachapi, which was socked in with fog and clouds from the surface up to about 3,000 feet, and dodging gliders at my altitude. Not sure where they came from, or how they planned to land blind in Tehachapi if they couldn't find any thermals. Maybe, hopefully, they could glide to Mojave. Weird.

Date shakes: next time, go to Chiriaco Summit and treat yourself to a more gooder one. It's probably the place EB is referencing.
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Two Glove Boxes
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 16, 2021 10:23 pm    Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration Reply with quote

Very cool, "all I have to do is wiggle my big toe!" Applause Applause
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DadaCheese
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 26, 2021 4:30 pm    Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration Reply with quote

mandraks wrote:
since you like Solvang, if you ever make it out to Georgia, check out Helen, Ga. a "bavarian" town in the North Georgia Mountains.
not quite Holland but pretty nice.
https://www.helenga.org/


mandraks, Looks great, and just the right amount of Kitsch!
Kathy and I have been itching to take a second cross-country trip, a southern route next time... putting it on the list.

AS350driver wrote:
...I remember flying in clear air above Tehachapi, which was socked in with fog and clouds from the surface up to about 3,000 feet, and dodging gliders at my altitude...

Date shakes: next time, go to Chiriaco Summit and treat yourself to a more gooder one. It's probably the place EB is referencing.


AS350driver, that sounds intense, and super pleased we both had pretty much the same experience in Tehachapi. I'm all for Date Shakes, so YES; will try the one that you and EverettB have suggested.

Heck; I'm itching to just do a day trip this weekend to ANYWHERE that isn't sitting at home working in front of a computer.

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Banner day.

A very dear friend of mine, one who I actually had the honor of presiding the wedding for, and is a huge fan/adult kid concerning Playmobil surprised me with the Campervan!
Kathy says I was 7 years old suddenly as I eagerly put it together.
I'll have to dig up my 1977 Playmobil knights to see what they think of this iron horse.
I'm sure its already been on TheSamba, but if you haven't seen it, here it is:

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BarryL Premium Member
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 27, 2021 6:43 pm    Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration Reply with quote

So fine. Westy Sunroof to boot. In the second to last photo does the guy have a mask over his beard?
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DadaCheese
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 22, 2021 2:39 pm    Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration Reply with quote

Springtime...

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Beautiful weather this past weekend here in our part of California.

Took a short get-out-of-our-house road trip, and visited, among other places, the Quarryhill Botanical Garden (near Sonoma, CA) pictured above.

Will make it out again this coming weekend to the S.O.T.O. meet in Carmichael, CA (not far from Sacaramento) so before I forget; here's the details on that if you have a split bus, and/or you just want to hang out with other air-cooled enthusiasts
(bear in mind if you can attend: they'd naturally like everyone to be cautious and social distance, following Covid prevention guidelines)

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Note; these wonderful SOTO meets up near/around Sacramento don't tend to go too long when held on a Sunday, so be sure to arrive at 8am for full enjoyment and bus display!

Hope to see any/all Split Bus folks who can bring out their Bus on Sunday, March 28th, 2021. 8am.

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Back to this past weekend;

Stopped at Bear Republic Brewery in Rohnert Park... they're doing a good job with social distancing, outdoor seating etc.
Their Racer 5 is their "flagship" beer, and of the beer sampler we tried, it is still my favorite of what they make.
Their brewery fare looked good on paper, but wasn't as tasty or as well executed as we would have hoped, but heck; there was beer, so it all worked out.

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Also stopped in Petaluma (picture below)...

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Way back sometime before the pandemic we spent a long day in Petaluma for a film shoot.
Water-cooled Diesel VW enthusiast friends of ours who live in Sacramento have an adult son who works at a European Specialist Auto Shop in Petaluma, which was used as a location for the film "Born a Champion" (2021 release).
He's the one that let us know about them needing air-cooled VWs, and we had a great day out there on the day of the film shoot at his work's shop.

There's an undercurrent of VW use in the movie. A bug is used as a vehicle for some plot-points. (As a vehicle ... ha ha ha).
There were a few VWs featured; that bug, as well as a bus that Robert Skinner and his wife brought for the shoot.
The Mechanic character in the film owned the bus the Skinners brought for the shoot.

I regret that I don't remember the name of the (real life) gentleman who owns the convertible bug in the film; which was the most prominently featured VW in this film.
The film's plot takes place mostly in the 1990's.
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10661710/

We got around to watching the film, and were pleased to see that for a few moments both Kathy's 1971 Karmann Ghia can be seen in a shot or two (green Ghia in the picture below), as well as The Toaster for half a second.... here's some pictures straight off of a TV of the movie:

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Who knows if this was a straight to video movie or not, but due to Covid, that's where it ended up, and we naturally watched it at home. On the day of filming we were in Petaluma all day so, returning there this past weekend we knew our way around even better than before.

Yesterday we saw this nice Ghia in Sonoma...

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Had a short friendly conversation with the owner from the window of our bus, but had to get back home.

Hope folks are getting some nice Spring weather wherever it is that you live and that if you haven't been already that you're out in your bus.

Also hope to see you at the SOTO get-together this next Sunday in Carmichael, CA.

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Dada as in dadaism.
Cheese as in the stuff I love to eat.
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AS350driver
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 22, 2021 11:41 pm    Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration Reply with quote

That IS a gorgeous Ghia. I wonder if the owner is on here?
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comcam
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 24, 2021 7:29 am    Post subject: Re: "The Toaster" ~ Personal History and restoration Reply with quote

Never knew about the PLAYMOBIL bus, just ordered one. Thanks for sharing the pictures.
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