Re: NNG - Chasing Choo-Choos in a Folks-Vagen . . .

Russo Loco Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Most of Ophir
> Pass in either direction is pretty easy for a VW
> Beetle, at least during the summer and fall, but a
> camper van has a lot more weight with not even one
> small pony more horsepower.  I had to cut in
> the boosters – John & Tom – to get up
> one really steep spot just east of the
> summit;  if I had been alone I'd
> have had to back down several yards before turning
> around and then to go west the long way around via
> Red Mountain Pass, Ouray, Ridgway and Sawpit (the
> latter is a suburb of Placerville, IIRC).

I started driving the family 1968 VW vamper when I was about 15 and a half (Winter of 81/82 I think). One of the tricks I learned was that reverse was a lower gear than 1st, and could be used to back up hills that I couldn't otherwise drive up (First time I drove it on my own, it took me 20 minutes to realize that I had to push down on the stock to get into reverse).

When I started college, I made a few trips from one end of CA to the other. Very, very long days. The only time I could exceed 55 was downhill. Windy days were the worst - it was like driving a billboard and the play in the steering wheel was about 90 degrees of the wheel.

I don't miss the *van*, but I think about it a lot.

Greg Coit
Bayfield, CO



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/03/2022 07:39AM by gregcoit.