7 A Beetle Crawls Across America

It was a pretty smooth ride. I had minimal traffic navigating through Cleveland (home of the rock and roll hall of fame). I finally got off highway 80 and got onto highway 90 for the rest of the trip. Highway 90 parallels Lake Erie through Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York until it gets to Buffalo. After Buffalo, the road heads pretty much due east passing Rochester and Syracuse to the north and the New York finger lakes (see picture) to the south. I turned south at Albany and drove alongside the Hudson River for about 20 miles before crossing the Hudson River and joining the Massachusetts Turnpike. The Hudson River flows past the Catskills and ends up pouring into the Atlantic Ocean at New York City. At one point near Buffalo, I crossed some tributary to the Erie Canal, which I read was the first real navigation system in the United States. It was surveyed in 1816, and when it was finished, the canal ended up connecting Lake Erie to the Hudson River which made it possible to travel (and haul goods) all the way from New York City to the Great Lakes.

Anyway, enough history. So I made it all the way home by 8:30 p.m. which was exactly 12 hours of driving yesterday, and a total of 742 miles. For statistics sake, I drove a total of 3,197 miles in 5 days, spent $290 on gasoline and got an average of 30.8 miles per gallon. The cheapest gas was in the Midwest, getting as low as $2.62 per gallon. The highest was in California at $3.40 a gallon.

Would I do it again? Hell, no. Not in a 33 year old, 1,800 pound VW bug. (A new Beetle is 3,200 pounds.) My hands are still aching from gripping the wheel while winds and 18-wheeler-produced air buffeted me from side to side for at least half of my drive time. But the scenery is great, and I will probably do it some time in the future in a new car or small RV. I also think I’m lucky nothing serious (or even minor) happened mechanically to the car. I think the car had been sitting for a while before I bought it, and, although I had it checked out and had front end work done and new tires installed, the smallest problem (such as a bad coil) could have left me stranded somewhere.

One advantage, however, was that driving this bug across the country forced me to slow down and go with the flow. I couldn’t be competitive with ANY other vehicle on the road, so I tried to accommodate their passing whenever I could; even moving over to the left lane at times so an 18-wheeler coming up from behind wouldn’t have to change lanes to pass me. Often, I would let the bug slow down going up hills, then harness gravity and speed up on the down slope. Because of this, when I got close to Boston where the traffic picked up, I was a fly in these commuters’ ointment. But I had no choice, really.

Everyone’s in a rush to go back and forth to work or whatever. And most of them will probably always be in a rush until they die. I think the ingrained American lifestyle of working until you’re 65, then finally relaxing and reflecting is all wrong. You should start the life reflection process a lot earlier and continue to do so for at least 30 years. It should be a phase of life. You’re going to say, “But I’ve got to pay the bills.” Well, maybe you don’t need a new Lexus every other year, or the latest Treo cell phone with unlimited internet access. Okay, one more thing and that will be the end of Paul Ogier's ‘Thought for the Day.’

And you run and you run to catch up with the sun,
but it’s sinking
And racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in the relative way, but you’re older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death. (Roger Waters)

So, I won’t drive across the country in an old Beetle again. No sir. But I am thinking of driving down to Mexico in a VW bus--after I take a break. And I’ve got my eye on a nice one. (see picture)

6 A Beetle Crawls Across America

It’s Monday morning, and I’m in a little, podunk town called Sandusky between Toledo, Ohio and Cleveland. I drove 800 miles yesterday. I started at 0515 because I wanted to begin just once before the sun came out. The drive was not too exciting except for the winds rocking the car most of the way (see picture), and the first traffic jam I’ve encountered since I retired from American Airlines five months ago. The traffic occurred south of Chicago on highway 80 because of construction just before a toll booth. It’s the first time I’ve hit any traffic since leaving California. And right now I’m postponing my start so that when I shoot through Cleveland, the morning rush hour will be done.

Yesterday I left Nebraska, and drove through Omaha and Des Moines in Iowa, over the Mississippi River, through Illinois just south of Chicago, past South Bend in Indiana, and past Toledo, Ohio. Near Omaha, Nebraska, the landscape changed almost immediately from parched land to green, rolling hills. Now, and for the last two states, the scenery is farmscapes and lots of silos. Pleasant.

A couple places back in the parched lands, there were signs telling me it was against the law to pick up hitchhikers because there were prisons in those vicinities. It was a pity, because there was a hitchhiker I really felt sorry for (see picture), but there was another that I was a bit suspicious of (see picture).

The car is running fine, except for the fact that it’s still leaking oil at the gasket between the engine and the transmission. I guess I’ll fix it when I get back to New Hampshire. I might actually make it back today (Monday). I have 740 miles to go (see map).

Paul McCartney
Has anyone else realized the coincidence (or irony), that Paul McCartney has gotten his only divorce at the age of 64? So, does he finally have the answer to, “Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm 64?" Check out the picture. You can tell he was already wanting out. I never liked her. During an interview with Paul and what's her name, Larry King asked her something about Paul. She replied, "I'm not here to talk about Paul. I'm here to talk about land mines!" Well, the hell with her. We don't want to hear anything from you. Get off the stage.

A note to John Nelson. Yes, McCartney wrote and sang , "When I'm 64." It was on the Sgt. Pepper album. You dare question my knowledge of Paul McCartney?

5 A Beetle Crawls Across America

This morning, I slept in and didn’t leave Rawlins, Wyoming until 0830. It’s Saturday evening as I write this. I traveled 600 miles today. I’m just a little more than half way. Some of the best scenery I’ll probably see on this entire trip was to the east of the continental divide just west of Laramie until a little before Cheyenne. What I don’t understand is that there was a sign announcing the continental divide, then 10 or 20 miles later there was another sign announcing it again. I wondered in what direction the rivers of the U.S. flow when they are between those two signs. The highway (still U.S. 80) is on a plateau about 5,000 feet high and there are peaks to the south (such as Elk Mountain-picture enclosed) that are more than 11,000 feet. They jut out of the high plateau, and, when you look farther south, you can see snow-capped peaks in Colorado. I’d definitely like to go back to Wyoming and Colorado and spend some time there. So many places to visit; so little time. Well, I guess I have a lot of time.

My cell phone worked for about 30 minutes in the Cheyenne area. Before that, the only place it worked this entire trip was for about an hour while I was driving through Salt Lake City. Now that I’m in Lincoln, Nebraska, it’s working again. I use Sprint. Let this be an advertisement for them. Man, Nebraska is wide. It seems to go on and on. The land sloped down out of Wyoming, and the bug and I drove past fairly boring land with many short plateaus that look like they may have been big hills at one time, but then the tops all got sliced off.

I drove along the Platte River, and past Ogallala where Gus McCrae’s true love, Clara Allen, ended up living with a rancher, and raising kids in the novel, Lonesome Dove. Gus and Call kept heading north with their cattle, but it looks like a lot of ranchers stayed put because I saw and smelled huge herds today (bigger than I’d ever seen before), hanging out behind ranch fences along the river.

Also in abundance are those flower farms irrigated by mile long circular watering systems (picture enclosed). The second most common question I used to get from passengers while flying across the country in the Super 80 was, “What are those crop circles all over the land below us?” The second most common question was, “When are we going to get there?” But that was from the flight attendants.

Well, not too exciting today, except for the seemingly nonstop attempt at maintaining control of the bug while, one by one, the eighteen wheelers would blow past me on the left, and their solid cushion of air tried to nudge me onto the shoulder.

4 A Beetle Crawls Across America

It’s a nice, blue and sunny morning in beautiful downtown Rawlins, Wyoming. It’s not much of a town, though; one short street of small business, and a couple other main drags with many motels and hotels spread along them. (Oh yeah, and there’s several big rocks a few hundred feet high jutting out of the ground.) But at least there’s a car wash so I cleaned the bugs off the bug, and washed away the oil from the bottom of the engine where the rear main seal is leaking. It’s not leaking enough to give me a concern though because every time I check the oil, it’s still almost full. Oh, and the engine quit again just like last time but this time I discovered the real cause. The connector ends of two wires associated with the distributor and coil were touching. When I bent them away from each other, the car still didn’t start. (I was once again on the side of Highway 80.) I looked around and found a wire with an enclosed fuse going to the coil. When I checked the fuse, it was blown. I replaced the fuse with a spare one, and, voila, the bug started up again, and I haven’t had any problems again. That was 600 miles ago.

I started early yesterday because I wanted the bug to run cool through the Great Salt Lake desert. The old VWs don’t have radiators; they’re air cooled, and the cooler the air, the better. I cruised over the salt flat desert west of Salt Lake City, through light traffic in the city, then up through a mountain pass leading east. I crossed the border into Wyoming, and I almost stopped for the night at a National Park called Flaming George, which I believe was named after one of the first gay pioneers in old west. But I decided to just keep going, so here I am in Rawlins, Wyoming.

I’ve driven a total of 1,050 miles, and I have another 2,100 to go. The bug is getting about 32 miles per gallon, which came in handy through California and Nevada because the price of gasoline was as high as $3.45 a gallon. Now the price has settled to about $2.62. .

3 A Beetle Crawls Across America

Well, today, Thursday, started off quite well. I showed up at Donsco VW at 11 a.m. and Joe was just lowering the bug on the lift. He had just finished installing the steering box. Apparently the part arrived early as promised, and Joe was a man of his word, and had also arrived early to install it. Every one was happy, and I bought some extra tune up parts for the road. Joe even threw in a free can of oil. I was finally starting my journey a day late just before noon. Joe remarked that it probably wasn't my destiny to have left the previous day. Whatever. I cruised over the Bay Bridge, then past Sacramento, up through Donner Pass, where the infamous Donner Party became stranded in 1846 on their way to California (before the gold rush), and were forced to resort to cannibalism to survive. Read the book "Ordeal by Hunger" for more. I cruised past Reno, NV, then onward on Highway 80 through desert valleys surrounded by a few snow capped peaks, occasional rain and a two rainbows. The bug's comfortable speed, after a few hours of experimenting, is 70 miles an hour ( unless, of course, it's going up a hill), and I was pretty impressed with the bug's performance in the climbs up the Sierra Nevadas to Reno. I even passed a car or two. So, as I was saying, all was going fine cruising through the Nevada desert valleys. The engine was running cool in light rain, and I was listening to Claudine Longet on the Ipod when all of a sudden, the engine stopped. I had passed the city of Winnimucca about 20 miles earlier and there was nothing but desolation and about an hour of daylight left as I coasted to the side of the road. My cell phone's constant search for service was not reassuring. I thought the fact that the engine just plain stopped all of a sudden was a good thing. (Unless, of course, it just seized. Then that's a bad thing.) I turned the key after I stopped, and the engine at least turned over; but wouldn't start, of course. I got out, and opened the back (where the engine is, if you're not familiar with old bugs), as trucks blew wind and light rain onto me. It was actually refreshing since it had been hot most of the day. Basic troubleshooting says that the problem can only be fuel or electricity. I saw that the clear fuel filter still had fuel in it, so that was good. I then pulled the distributor cap and verified that the points were sparking. I looked at the inside of the distributor cap, and the contacts were pretty black and corroded, so I replaced it with the cap I had bought that morning, replaced the plug and coil wires, and voila, the engine started up and purred like a kitten. (Better than before, I must say.) I don't know if it was the cap for sure because I didn't make verify the coil and plug wires were snug before I pulled it off, but, in any event, I was soon on my way and listening to Claudine singing "Love is Blue." In the back of my mind, while I was troubleshooting the engine, I had a blurry vision of spending a night in the car, then trying to get help the next morning with no sleep. I thought about Joe telling me it wasn't my destiny to have left the previous day, and I wondered if maybe I would have been in too much of a rush to have bought that distributor cap. Oh, well. Whatever. But now , here I am, at a Motel 8, with wifi, the weather channel and David Letterman.

2 A Beetle Crawls Across America

So I went in yesterday to Donsco VW because the steering needed an adjustment after the new steering box was installed last week. Joe, the owner, was going to reinstall it and have me out in the morning and I'd commence my trip. Worst case scenario would be that he would not have it fixed until too late for me to make any real headway on my trip, thus postponing the start until early today. Wrong. Worst case scenario was that the the steering box would break while Joe was trying to get it out, and that the closest available steering box would be in Orange County, southern California. I watched as the drive pulled out of the box instead of the steering box pulling away from the drive. I agree with Joe that it was probably the poor workmanship of the box that made this happen. But, anyway, I was left stranded without a car, since I returned my rental car the day before. Joe said the part would arrive this morning at 7:30 a.m., and that he would install it as soon as he could.

Donsco VW seems to be really a parts shop where VW fans come in and shoot the breeze. Joe is the owner and the only mechanic, and my perspective of the operation is that the maintenance part of the business is more of a hobby than a business. It does, however, seem to be a good parts shop, and both Joe and Fred, the part-time parts man and full-time chef, are both friendly, and the source of a lot of good information on VWs. I just hope the steering box arrives this morning.

1 A Beetle Crawls Across America

May 16, 2006

One week working on the retaining wall with my Guatemalan workers, planting a few vines, installing a timer to water them, and generally fixing up the outside of the house again and I'm finally done. Now begins the drive from Redwood City to North Hampton, NH. The record breaking rainfall should be stopped by the time I get there around Tuesday. The distance is 3,200 miles, and it should take me 5 or 6 days if I drive 500 to 600 miles a day. I don't plan on rushing; I'll stop along the way and enjoy the scenery. I was going to start driving tomorrow at 6 a.m. but I discovered the turning radius on my '73 Super Beetle is not the same in both directions. I went back to to the guys at Donsco who installed a new steering box last week, and they said they could do it first thing in the morning. So maybe I'll leave after that. Now, if I could just figure out where the fuel smell is coming from....

I really haven't had much time off this past week, so I'm kind of tired. So, if I don't leave until Thursday morning, I'll get to do nothing (hopefully) tomorrow, which won't be so bad. I'll just rest, then jog on the trails at Edgewood Park near my house. My driving route will take me through San Francisco, over the Bay Bridge, past Sacramento then up through Donner and Reno. I was planning on getting at least as far as some place called Elko, NV tomorrow, but now we'll just see. Later on I'll go through Denver, Salt Lake City and just south of Chicago.