August 16, 2010

Hello Good Ole Volks,

We have been going to Greensboro quite a bit this week, and have had really good result's with both trip's. We were at Guilford Urologic Ctr.on Monday, where Susan got a good progress report (thank all of you for the prayer's), and then there was our GOV Break The Record Night on Thursday!

There were several thing's that had to be done before August 12,2010, and one of those was getting my Squareback ready for our annual event. I had put the battery charger on my battery to charge it up for a small run, and it turned over a few times till all of its juice was drained and I knew that I needed a new battery. So, off to Advance Auto I went to get me a new battery. I noticed that when the last battery was installed a few year's ago, the battery hold down bracket wasn't even bolted onto the battery, so I made sure that it was done this time and took my Squareback to the service station for some gas, to check the air in the tire's and the oil level. Then I was off for a little personal cruise of my own! The only thing that remained to be done was to wash it, and I took care of that Thursday morning before it got so hot, and went ahead and put 2 folding chair's in the back.....just in case we needed to sit down while there.

I got off early from work, went to pick up Susan and my Squareback, filled up the tank with gas, and headed to Greensboro and Herbie's Place for our annual GOV Break The Record Night. Now.....due to the heat AND humidity, I kept my speed around 60 MPH......no need in trying to overheat my VW, and the car done great! When we got to Herbie's Place, the place was already wide open and buzzing with activity. We met Sheari as we pulled into the lot, and she placed my "green dot" on my Squareback to let me know that we were counted, and then had to find us a parking spot among the horde of VW's already in the lot. There was Billy & Jonathan Dye with a booth selling "new" Good Ole Volks t-shirt's, and I had to have me one of those. Jimmy Jarrett brought his small trailer to the event with plenty of VW goodies that some of us could use, and I got me a new pair of headlight ring's while there, and then there were all of the people. We got to see so many of our friend's that night, as well as standing outside with the sweat running off our forehead's and down our back's. Did anyone notice how hot it was? Whew! We had quite a few of us that had to get something to eat, and Herbie's Place was packed all night long with our member's and other's taking advantage of the good food, and the air conditioning. Then it was back outside to mingle with the crowd, check out all of the VW's, and catch up with our friend's!

Around 8:00PM...Sheari made it official! We had broken our previous record of 119 VW's! We had a new total of 153 VW's to join us on our annual event. Now....I have been to VW show's that didn't have nowhere near that amount of vehicle's, so we have a reason to be proud of our accomplishment....don't you think? This is one of our annual event's that has endured the year's, and meant so much to our member's. My first Break The Record Night.....back in 2004......brought just 61 VW's! It has only got larger over the year's, and I can only guess what next year's event will bring. Now, I did notice that our event was posted in the "coming events" in the latest issue of Dune Buggies & Hot VW's magazine as well, so that made us nationwide folk's! Our Good Ole Volks VW Club! I did notice that some of our member's were missing this year, and can only hope that they will make it to next year's event to break the record again, but this year's event was huge and we were there to see history made again!

OK...the next VW show is the SEVWA's Nothern Challenge #5 in Radford,VA at the Motormile Dragway this coming Sunday August 22, 2010! Till later...........................

Have a VW day,
Bobby

June 16, 2010

Hello Good Ole Volks,

I hope that everyone is doing great and enjoying this early summer! It's about time that I got you a story on our recent GOV Cruise to BUGOUT #67 in Manassas,VA during the Memorial Day weekend. Sooooooo........

Susan and me have been wanting to take us a trip lately and when we got the memo about the GOV BUGOUT Cruise, we knew what we wanted to do. It's been 4 year's since we last went to a BUGOUT show, and we always enjoyed taking the trip with our GOV friend's. The only thing that changed with us this time is that I wasn't driving my Squareback. Susan had to be back for work the following Monday so our time was limited to start with, but we were still looking forward to joining the caravan up to Manassas with our GOV.

The caravan started at the intersection of Hwy#150 & Hwy#29 at Browns Summit at 7:00AM on Saturday, May 29,2010, and headed north. They hooked up with us at the Kangaroo Station in Blairs,VA, and off we went. It was Jack & Deb in their white 69 Bug, Bill in his black 69 Bug, Steve in his orange 83 Thing, Chan, Kim, & Caley were in Caley's blue new Beetle Convertible, Daniel was in his orange "horned" Bug, Billy was driving his van and trailering his orange 71 Squareback, Jonathan, Lauren, & boy's were driving their pickup and trailering his rail buggy, Jim & Courtney was in a Mustang, and Susan and me in our pickup!

We stopped at the Golden Corral in Lynchburg,VA for some breakfast, and to meet up with 3 guy's with the Bugs in the Burg VW club. Jimmy in his yellow Bug Convertible, with 2 other member's, both in blue Bug's. While we were there, here came the water cooled group with Jordan, Stephanie,Matt, Steve, Jess, Kevin......who ate and then left on their own ahead of us. Daniel took his Bug to April's place, and Jonathan unloaded his rail buggy while in Lynchburg as well. So, we were off once again with our group. This is where the trip gets really neat, as we head on into the mountains, with all of that great scenery, and the tree's canopying over the highway, which was always one of my favorite places on the trip, and then we stopped at another one of the GOV favorite spots....the Crossroad Store. Everyone got to stretch their leg's well, get some gas, etc....and we met up with Betty there, and added her black 74 Super Beetle to our caravan. Next stop........Quality Inn in Manassas,VA! And....one other note, before I forget again! When we met the group at the Kangaroo Station, the weather was cool, slightly overcast, with low cloud's hanging around in the air. The sun popped out by the time we got to Charlottesville,VA, and by the time we got to Manassas,VA, it was flat out HOT!

We arrived at the motel, got past the confusion with the staff about smoking and non smoking room's, unloaded our vehicle's, and found something cold to drink, or cool to jump in.....or maybe even both! After some quality relaxation, our GOV got together in the rear parking lot for a great cookout of hamburger's with the works, and some great salad's. We had some good time's, good conversation, and some decent joke's as well. Then the margaritas arrived....oh boy! Well, after awhile we all retired!

We were up early on Sunday morning, but not as early as some. You've heard the saying....the early bird gets the worm! There are a couple of guy's that I know that will be in the gate as soon as they can get in to find those great part's at the swap meet. We joined Betty for a continental breakfast, then headed to Walmart for a few necessities before turning in the room key and heading to Old Dominion Speedway for BUGOUT #67. We paid our way into the speedway and parked beside Billy Dye at his spot, then Derrick & Yvonne parked their pickup beside us and joined the group. I will admit that I was glad that we decided to bring our EZ UP. As long as you were in the shade, and with a steady breeze blowing that day, you could stay right cool. But, as soon as you went into the sunshine.....whew! I had no sooner backed our pickup into our spot, when I found one of the swap meet guys with some great Type 3 part's that I needed. I do know that Betty and Deb showed their Bug's, but I'm not sure if they placed or not. After our GOV had went searching for that special part, numerous trips of course, and kind of settled in to relax and watch some quality drag racing, the grill was brought out again and we had us another great cookout. That was so much nicer that paying those high prices at the track, and the food was better too.Well....since Susan had to get up early on Monday morning to go to work, we had to leave ahead of the other's. So we said our good bye's, climbed into our pickup, and headed south. We didn't stop till we reached Lynchburg, and we stopped for a bite to eat, then it was off to Danville, and some rest.

Overall.....the GOV member's were all excited about heading to BUGOUT #67, and glad that they went when they arrived back home. I know this because we were there with them. I will still recommend that every GOV member should join us on one of our BUGOUT cruise's when they get the chance. It's how great memories and friendship's are made. OK, that's all for now. Till later.........................................

Have a VW day,
Bobby

April 11, 2010

Hello Good Ole Volks,

Has anyone noticed that Spring has sprung.....especially with all of the tree's and flower's blooming everywhere! And how about this beautiful weather that we've been having too. I have been riding my Squareback around quite a bit, but still not planning on showing it anytime soon. I will be attending some of those VW show's this year however, and the first one we've attended was this past Sunday, April11,2010, at SEVWA Fast Times at Farmington.

It started out with a chilly morning start......filling the cooler, loading the pick up truck with the essentials, stopping for breakfast at Bisquitville, and filling the gas tank at Sheetz. Then off to Farmington we went. The trip went smoothly, and I still enjoy looking at the redbud tree's that were blooming all up and down Interstate 40! We arrived at the Farmington Dragway to find it about packed with people and VW's galore. I cannot recall ever seeing as many dealer's as there were there. There was Bill, and Chan, and Tony & Susan with a setup there, trying to unload some of their extra part's and VW's too. We just pulled the pickup over behind Stick's Bug-B-Que grill and joined in the activities already in progress. There we were with a load of our GOV member's doing thing's that we love to do so much. Along with the GOV member's that I've already mentioned, were Beverly, Pete, Teresa, Wyley, Justin, Alan, & Jimbo. I seen Steve French there and was about to speak to Jack Vann when we seen him, but he was in the art of a deal with a dealer for a pedal assembly that he was trying to get, so I didn't want to disturb him. I seen Craig riding his Bug all over the place but didn't get a chance to speak to him. I also got the chance to speak with Elliott, who I haven't seen in quite awhile.

The weather couldn't have been any nicer than it was, with the sun and warm temp's. It made for a very nice event. We started out checking the dealer's out and I found me a nice new decal...then onto all of those shiney VW showcar's, and there were some new car's that I haven't seen before.....and we even risked some sunburn as we watched some of the drag car's try to set some new record times. And after all of that fun, what could be better than settling in at Stick's grill for some great food with friend's. Well....after a very filling meal, another walk around the event, and telling our friend's goodbye for the day, we came back to Danville thinking about how much we enjoyed our day.

To the member's that I missed seeing while there.....I hope that you enjoyed yourself as much as we did, and I hope to see more of y'all soon. Pay attention to our website because there are quite a few nice cruise's that have been scheduled this year, in addition to the VW show's that will be going on. We're looking forward to seeing you guy's soon! Till later..............................................................................................

Have a VW day,
Bobby