Date: Sun, 18 Jan 1998 21:48:12 -0700
From: Charlie Ford <cford@altamaha.net>
To: type2@bigkitty.azaccess.com
Subject: Part Five (Vegas and up the west coast)

Upon Leaving Vegas I drove on over to Los Angeles.  I was having some
problems with the Mothership but she was still running reasonably well.  I
figured if I could make L.A. and rest her a while and find some parts to
put her in proper running condition.  I, with the help of Jack Stafford did
just that.  One helluva guy.

The airflow meter had essentially worn out, wearing a hole in the carbon
strip that allows it to read whatever it reads.  jack Picked me up on
Saturday morning and we went out Junkyarding.  We went to the fanciest
junkyard I have ever laid eyes on.  Pick Your part was a most comfortable
place with all the cars already set up on blocks.  Each one of them were in
categories on a large lot of asphalt.  Fancy!!!!

Jack and I didn;t find the part I needed there so we went to a more
traditional junkyard that reminded me more of what I was used to.  You know
the type, the office looks like it hasn't been cleaned in 100 years and the
guys that work there don't look much better.  He gave us a good price on
the meter, and Jack, because I was low on money paid for the biggest
portion of it.  I told you he was a good fellow.

I stayed in L.A. for about two weeks.  I camped at a cousins house and hung
out with him.  While there Dobbie, my cousin, age 65, had a heart attack.
He came through it OK and I moved on up the coast.  Next big stop, San
Francisco.  But first, the southern California coastline, complete with
surfers, blondes, and wind that could move the world if it wasn't tied down
by gravity.

The southern California coast is a fine thing to see with the green covered
hills that loom just across the highway from the white sand beaches.  I
stopped in Malibu at Pepperdine University and visited David Robinson, then
on up to Santa Cruz where I saw Kyle Wade.  David gave me a radio but I
didn't install it till I reached San Francisco.  I didn't have any speakers.

San Francisco was a trip.  The first night there I camped in the park
beside the Saint Andrews Yacht Club.  I had gotten permission from the
guard on duty during the day, and he told me that if the night man said
anything to tell him that I had a permit.

The night man rousted me at about 1:00 AM from a peaceful sleep that
Rumpelstiltsken would have savored.  I moved right across the street to a
Safeway Grocery and fell back asleep.  I was not in a good mood.

The next day I tracked down a friend of mine that I had also met working
with National Service.  Julien Phillips was the Bush appointee to head up
the commission to study whether National Service could become a viable
asset to service in America.  Julien welcomed me into his house and made me
feel at home.

While there I had to find work so I went to Manpower in San Mateo.  They
found me a job that was only supposed to last one day, but ended up lasting
three weeks.  When I arrived in that city I was down to my last $20.00 and
needed it bad.  I got what I needed and needed what I got.  I ended up
staying with Julien for about five weeks.  Then I moved on up the coast.

I caravaned with a couple of guys that I met a service station just north
of San Francisco.  They were driving an old split window bus and were
cruising around visitng as many hot springs as they could in the four weeks
they had taken for vacation.

They were brothers from somewhere in the southwest and seemed like pretty
good dudes.  We traveled together for three days.  As we neared Portland,
Oregon I broke off, they went east, I went north toward Portland.

It was there that I ran up on Eric Waxler, yet another good friend that had
moved out here from the east.  He is a student at Lewis and Clark College
and he also welcomed me in.  He is one of my many brothers and it was great
to see him.  He is one of the finest people I know.

By this time in the journey, I was well on my way to relaxing to the max.
I knew when I hit the California coast that I was on an adventure unlike
any I had been on before.  I loved my life now, and nothing would stop me
from making my appointed rounds.  The Mothership was running great and all
was well with the world.

Portland is a nice city.  It is surrounded by scenery that is panoramic in
beauty.  Mount Saint Helens with it's volcanicly shaved top looms in the
distance just to the east.  Mount Hood still stands in all of it's radiant
glory, and the tall northwestern evergreens point to the sky beckoning one
to look upward.  The Pacific Northwest is one of the most beautiful places
on earth.  The downside is that it rains so much you cannot always see all
of this beauty.  That is why many whimsically refer to this area as "The
Wet Coast".

I hung out with Eric for a week or so.  While there I got an E mail from
the Governors Commission for National Service in the State of Mississippi.
They were requesting that I come down and do some workshops for them for
their annual spring conference.  I messaged them back and explained that I
was not in Georgia and would not be able to drive over as I usually do.
They replied back that they would fly me in.  Oh Happy Day, more money on
the way.

I had a couple weeks before I was to head down there, so I headed on up to
Seattle.  Mike Lewis, another list member had written me and said that he
wanted to host me for a while.  I arrived and over the next few weeks came
to love that city.  I want to live there someday.

I made several good friends in Seattle.  Doug Thompson at Dougs VW, a shop
in West Seattle became one of my most appreciated buddies.  I met him on
the first day I was in town and we just hit it off like gangbusters.  Doug
is my VW guru from now on.  If I need advice or trouble shooting for my bus
I will call Doug and even if he is miles away, he will help me figure it
out.

Another friend I met was Clint who lived right next door to Michael and
just happened to be Dougs best friend.  The way we all met was ironic
enough but you will just have to read the post in order to glean an
understanding of what I mean.

Mike and his family welcomed me into their lives with no holds barred.  We
ate together, worked together, and played together.  I lived an alley
behind their house.  While their I carried on my philosophy of living a
life of service and helped clean up the neighborhood a little bit.

There were some exciting times in the two months I was living the alley
life.  Some rough folks moved into the house behind Michael and drugs were
running in and out at all hours of the night.  I had a hand in finally
getting them removed and arrested.  If there had not been kids involved I
might not have done anything at all, but there four children that needed
someone to give them some guidance, I called the authorities.

While in the PNW I drove up to Vancouver to visit with Tobin Copely and
Christa Ovenell.  They had just had a baby boy and were like me VW
fanatics.  they had gotten in touch with me via E mail and invited me to
drop in.  I slept in their underground parking garage for the next week.

The last weekend I was there we all vacated the city and drove up to a free
campground just north of Vancouver in Whistler, British Columbia.  It was
there I met my first true Canadian "Hosiers".  Bob and Doug McKenzie of
SCTV had nothing on these guys.  They used 'eh about three times per
sentence.

I left Seattle around the first of July.  The turn back toward the east was
a tough one to make.  I knew I was headed back to where I had come from.
It was a lonely trail to blaze.  I drove thinking that the adventure was
coming to an end, but in all honesty it was just beginning.  I was only
half way done.

Part Five to come.....................................

Thanks for tolerating the ramblings.

Charlie Ford


"79" Transporter, dressed for the road
The Mothership

 The"Turning 40 Nostalgic VW Service Tour, and
Search for the Beginning of Wind".

http://www.slurpee.net/~keen/charlie/charlie.html

"Wider still and wider.....shall thy bounds be set"



-------------------------------------------------------------------------
To leave the list, send an UNSUBSCRIBE message to TYPE2-REQUEST@TYPE2.COM
-------------------------------------------------------------------------