CONSTIPATED

Constipated - Can't Pass a Thing

Never get behind a VW Bus

You're seen one or both of those bumper stickers. Driving up a steep hill behind a VW bus is torture. Your speed goes from 65 mph down to 40. On a two lane highway with double yellow lines you're stuck for the duration.

Wifey and I owned a VW bus much like the one you see on the left of the row of buses. After a year of ownership we sold our bus in favor of something else American.

We bought our bus from our good friends, Carol Ann and Alan. They were ready for something different and now that I think of it, we were ready to buy something different, too.

One summer Max and I drove the bus to Oregon to visit my parents. At the time they were working at Diamond Lake - -- a resort twenty minutes north of Crater Lake. During the visit we slept on the floor of the bus. While the bare floor of the bus was uncomfortable it beat sleeping in the travel trailer with mom and dad. Dad's snoring made for a sleepless night.

I had a VW bug in high school. Wrecked it twice. Damn thing just would not stay on the road. That's a story for another blog post.

Then there was the two VW bugs I owned during my stint in the military.

During college I bought a new VW squareback . . . the station wagon variety of VW's.

You can say I've owned more than my share of VW's.


Old VW buses are coming back. It's like a cult thing. Restored. Conversions to surfer-mobiles. Hot rods for the drag strip. Fruit juice mobiles like you see here at San Diego State. And mounted on the side of buildings like Fudpuckers.
I wouldn't mind owning another van like this one. Classic. Cool. Different.

Then I remember about those long, slow drives up steep hills with the pissed off drivers behind just begging me to pull over.

There's a price to pay for being cool.