eblau
Adventurer
Impossible!
Texas to California and back in a formerly derelict 1966 VW Beetle
- Thread starter slowlane
- Start date
Impossible!
unkamonkey
Explorer
I spent a few years with a 1964 VW. Motor is easy to rebuild and go to a big bore kit. Fortunatly they are also easy to push start.
texasnielsen
Outdoorsman
Wonderfully entertaining
Slowlane,
Evidence of your talents, (mechanical, photographic, and writing) abound in this essay. Those skills are certainly not something found in abundance singularly yet you possess them all in enviable quantities. Hats off to you sir.
I have but one question after reading your report. The Bug was obviously restored with more than an eye towards the mechanical, meaning the body got a makeover as well. How is it that one fender and one door remained color-mismatched after you completed your "restoration" project?
Thanks again for sharing. The pictures were truly inspirational regarding getting out and smelling the roses as the saying goes...
Oh, and no offense taken regarding RTTs. At my age I deserve some creature comforts even when away from home.
:ylsmoke:
Slowlane,
Evidence of your talents, (mechanical, photographic, and writing) abound in this essay. Those skills are certainly not something found in abundance singularly yet you possess them all in enviable quantities. Hats off to you sir.
I have but one question after reading your report. The Bug was obviously restored with more than an eye towards the mechanical, meaning the body got a makeover as well. How is it that one fender and one door remained color-mismatched after you completed your "restoration" project?
Thanks again for sharing. The pictures were truly inspirational regarding getting out and smelling the roses as the saying goes...
Oh, and no offense taken regarding RTTs. At my age I deserve some creature comforts even when away from home.
:ylsmoke:
Wow thanks for the responses everyone. Sorry I have not been very diligent at updating this thread for a while. My computer took a dump and I had to get another one. So now I am back and should hopefully work up another post tomorrow. As for the questions that have been posted, I'll try to answer them now. SSEITEL my camera is actually a 8-9 year old Fuji Finepix SLR. It's outdated and definitely has its limitations, but it is always dead-on reliable and runs off simple AA batteries which is perfect because the VW has no cigarette lighter to run a charger. I use a free online photo editing program for fine tuning and cropping. Texasnielsen I left the fender and door mismatched just for the heck of it. As a friend in Texas once commented, "It's like tartar sauce, ketchup and mustard with the cranberry insides". If the car hadn't been so rusted out, I wouldn't have painted anything at all. The rest of the body is just sprayed with Krylon so I can always buy a couple more cans if the mismatch starts to bother me, which it has not.
I woke up early, excited to be so close to my destination checked the Volkswagen's belt tension, timing, and oil level, filled up with gas, and putted westward aimed for Carson City. The Sierra Nevada range loomed large beyond Carson City. In the distance, the dusty yellows and browns of the desert suddenly give way to grey peaks dotted with dark trees. Leaving carson City, I said goodbye to US-50 and turned onto State Route 88 toward the Sierra Nevada Mountains. 88 crossed into California and wound up into the Sierra Nevadas, cresting at Carson Pass. On a particularly steep section just before the top, I had to downshift the Volkswagen to second in order to maintain a steady, blistering speed of 25 mph. The temperature was cool and the smell of the pine trees in the air was refreshing. The views from the turn-outs along this road were spectacular with pine trees as far as I could see. They almost seemed to grow out of the solid rock that surrounded them, as there was very little dirt or grasses to be seen, save for a couple of small meadows here and there.
After Carson Pass the road descended downward for many miles eventually leveling off close to sea level where I would remain for the remainder of the drive. The VW’s little 40-horse engine was much happier to be out of the mountains after almost four days of nearly constant over 4000 foot elevations. It was running smoother, and as ridiculous as it sounds, actually felt slightly peppy to me after I had become accustomed to its anemic high altitude sluggishness. I buzzed past vineyard after vineyard and many rolling golden fields dotted with black cows and small green trees. The latter is not the typical California scene that I would think of, but it is interesting how much of this area of the state is actually very rural.
Small towns came and went. After missing it the first time, I turned onto California 12 in Lodi. Although CA-12 was a small worn out two-lane road, it seemed to be a main thoroughfare in this area. The traffic was bumper to bumper for many miles through the nothingness that surrounded the road. The wind was insane and it was a full-time affair fighting the little Beetle’s persistent attempts to swerve suicidally into oncoming traffic with every gust of wind. 12 merged onto an Interstate for a while and I exited as soon as possible for CA-29 which took me to my final main road of the trip, CA-37. This road skirts along a marshy sort of area just north enough of the San Francisco Bay that you cannot see the water. Eventually 37 started bending south and at about 2:00 PM on July 5, after five days and a bit over 2000 miles, I rolled into Novato, California where my friend lives. I was so proud of the little Volkswagen. We made it.
Heading up CA-88 toward Carson Pass
A meadow in the Sierra Nevada.
A mountain lake along CA-88.
The VW at a turn-out on the way up.
Overlooking the lake in the earlier photo.
The crisp, dry air up here made for some of the bluest skies I have seen.
The very hot and windy landscape on the other side of the mountains.
After Carson Pass the road descended downward for many miles eventually leveling off close to sea level where I would remain for the remainder of the drive. The VW’s little 40-horse engine was much happier to be out of the mountains after almost four days of nearly constant over 4000 foot elevations. It was running smoother, and as ridiculous as it sounds, actually felt slightly peppy to me after I had become accustomed to its anemic high altitude sluggishness. I buzzed past vineyard after vineyard and many rolling golden fields dotted with black cows and small green trees. The latter is not the typical California scene that I would think of, but it is interesting how much of this area of the state is actually very rural.
Small towns came and went. After missing it the first time, I turned onto California 12 in Lodi. Although CA-12 was a small worn out two-lane road, it seemed to be a main thoroughfare in this area. The traffic was bumper to bumper for many miles through the nothingness that surrounded the road. The wind was insane and it was a full-time affair fighting the little Beetle’s persistent attempts to swerve suicidally into oncoming traffic with every gust of wind. 12 merged onto an Interstate for a while and I exited as soon as possible for CA-29 which took me to my final main road of the trip, CA-37. This road skirts along a marshy sort of area just north enough of the San Francisco Bay that you cannot see the water. Eventually 37 started bending south and at about 2:00 PM on July 5, after five days and a bit over 2000 miles, I rolled into Novato, California where my friend lives. I was so proud of the little Volkswagen. We made it.
Heading up CA-88 toward Carson Pass
A meadow in the Sierra Nevada.
A mountain lake along CA-88.
The VW at a turn-out on the way up.
Overlooking the lake in the earlier photo.
The crisp, dry air up here made for some of the bluest skies I have seen.
The very hot and windy landscape on the other side of the mountains.
Here are some more pictures from California. I drove some of the Pacific Coast Highway, visited the Muir Woods, and hiked up Mount Tamalpias.
The high cliffs along the coast.
This should give a bit of perspective on the size of the cliffs. My VW is barely more than a speck in the at the top.
The vegetation along this stretch of the PCH is unlike anything I have seen before or since.
An enormous chunk of rock stands alone.
The Pacific Coast Hwy
Some neat orange flowers along a path at a turn-out. I was so enchanted by the breathtaking scenery that accidentally walked through poison oak along the path.
A rural section of the PCH.
The high cliffs along the coast.
This should give a bit of perspective on the size of the cliffs. My VW is barely more than a speck in the at the top.
The vegetation along this stretch of the PCH is unlike anything I have seen before or since.
An enormous chunk of rock stands alone.
The Pacific Coast Hwy
Some neat orange flowers along a path at a turn-out. I was so enchanted by the breathtaking scenery that accidentally walked through poison oak along the path.
A rural section of the PCH.
The Redwoods in the Muir woods were spectacular. After taking over 100 pictures, I discovered that it is simply beyond me to try to photographically capture the true immensity of these great trees. However the lighting in the woods provided an amazing opportunity for some high contrast pictures.
Redwood trunks.
Some ferns along a little stream.
I have no idea what this plant was. I am guessing these were seed pods?
Bench in front of a fallen redwood trunk.
Redwood bark.
The stump of a felled redwood.
A polished piece of redwood root. This root was at a convenient height to use as a grab bar and has been smoothed by the grasp of millions of hands.
Here is a shot from the top of Mount Tamalpias looking out over San Rafael, CA.
The VW above the fog shrouding the San Francisco Bay.
Redwood trunks.
Some ferns along a little stream.
I have no idea what this plant was. I am guessing these were seed pods?
Bench in front of a fallen redwood trunk.
Redwood bark.
The stump of a felled redwood.
A polished piece of redwood root. This root was at a convenient height to use as a grab bar and has been smoothed by the grasp of millions of hands.
Here is a shot from the top of Mount Tamalpias looking out over San Rafael, CA.
The VW above the fog shrouding the San Francisco Bay.
seeNik48
Adventurer
Back in 1973, in the summer after I graduated from college, a friend and I drove from Bellingham to Monterrey, Mexico in his 1960s vintage VW bug. He was to teach English there and I went along for the ride. Your journey reminds me of that trip. We visited Yellowstone (his degree was geology), Jackson (his sister worked in a bar there), Colorado, the caves in New Mexico, into Texas where we crossed at Laredo. I stayed a few days in Monterrey then took a bus to the border and hitch hiked home (a hairy experience that I never repeated). The entire trip cost less than a $100. We stopped at a restaurant somewhere in Wyoming and looking like a couple of hippies, were told to leave the restaurant. We had our sleeping bags and slept under the stars. Thanks for sharing your journey. I hope you and your VW have many more.
TexasGuidedExpeditions
Guide
What great little in progress story, and I must say that the yellow fender just keeps a smile on my face. 
Folks who liked this trip report may enjoy this: http://youtu.be/SdjRhk6USR0
Dude took a Beetle around the world....
Dude took a Beetle around the world....