I drove a LOT over the weekend. 13 hours to my parents' place in my old VW. Todd and I drove back home in the New Beetle together (okay, he did all the driving, though I would have been willing to share the duties)
Anywa, I had lots and lots of time for meandering thought across the wastes of Nebraska in a car I didn't want to take over 70mph (it tends to kind of feel like lifting off when driven fast into a headwind)
1. Upon finding half a packet of “tropical” flavor Skittles in the glovebox and eating them. They all taste like products from Bath & Bodywork smell. Tropical Skittles are really freaking nasty. I mean yuk.
2. When I have the space all to myself, I can amuse myself by doing REALLY irritating things. Cracking my chewing gum. Singing Rocky Horror Picture Show songs. Making myself belch.
3. It is really fun to lead a mini-caravan of Beetles. At one point in the trip, I was behind a white New Beetle, then Todd was behind in the yellow car, and there was a New blue one behind him. Coming up the other side of the interstate were a lot of hot-rods intermittantly spaced. Apparrantely there was a large rally/cruise/show in the Kansas City area the weekend we were out of town. We saw dozens of cars wending their way toward KC during our trip out of town, and dozens more leaving KC on our way back. I recognised some of the ones I saw going in coming back tonight, especially the minty-green 1928 Model A Ford Tudor sedan.
4. Long car trips are a lot more fun with somebody riding with you, especially when you see something cool on the road (like the hot-rods) or a really dumb song comes on the radio, and you want to make fun of it, but what is the point without someone to share your stupid-brilliance with?
Anyway, I had a great visit with my folks. My dad and I took the old car around to several body shops in order to see if anyone was willing to take on the project this winter. Then I got in my car and threw away the headliner, mats, carpeting, and door and quarter panel coverings. Uncovered all the rust I *knew* was there, and got to see how bad/not-so-bad it was. I am SO excited about this restoration. I have been waiting for the day when the body work could get done for a very, very long time. And it will look so great when it is painted. All mouldy-green once again. Apparently PPG brand does paint mixes for restorations, and I was looking through back-issues of Hot VWs and learned that PPG's name for my car's color is “Pastel Green” chip number L11. More yay!
My folks got the regular invasion. My sister's longtime boyfriend (and friend of mine from WAY back) was visiting his grandparents that weekend too, so he was down to my folks' house a few times, and we had a good visit, and a couple of my sister's friends from college came down one evening, and mom cooked up a big batch of fajita ingredients, and we had a real feast, and hung out cracking wise, reminiscing, chowing down, and having a good time.