my bus

Anonymous wrote that she had very good experiences with her VW. I am glad.

Hers was quite a bit newer than mine, that may be the secret.

My all time favorite rig in so many ways, was my VW bus. I had a bed in it and slept in it often. There was not a huge amount of space, but it was enough.

Once we were working in Pocatello, Idaho setting tile in a Bank. Friday we finished early and I decided to go to Ogden Utah, to see my brother who was living near there. It was a beautiful fall day.

I was driving along enjoying the view, going about 55 mph, a comfortable speed for the old girl. Then it jumped out of gear. No warning, nothing, just snap.

The engine had just frozen up.

I caught a ride somewhere, called my brother and he came with his pickup and towed me to his place.

I remember I pulled the engine out (not a big job) and took it to Idaho to rebuild it. What I remember most was putting the engine back in with a foot of snow on the ground. Your hands are never as cold as they are when covered by wet cold snow.

Back home, I visited the best VW shop in Boise. It was lunch time and all the guys were sitting around. I asked them what they drove and all drove VW’s. Then I asked how often they rebuilt their engines. “Every year” was the answer.

“Are you aware that there are Toyota’s out there with two hundred thousand miles that haven’t had the head off yet?” Yes they knew.

So I went home and sold my whole collection. Should have bought a Toyota I guess, but about that time we inherited my mother-in-law’s Pinto, but that is another bad story!