My VW Travels With RAJA

[life long VW]

Everett I hope you don't mind me moving this story over from split bus.
So we have a road trip going on here. We left Sacramento in late June and headed South to Phoenix then headed East towards the Atlantic.
I will be presenting the trip in Episodes. It will likely take all summer. Who knows. We will visit familiar locations, family, events and generally take it all in as we go.
The bus is my 1958 PGSG factory sunroof and safari windowed marvel that I call RAJA. Along the way I will talk about some of the work I've done on it as well as some of my choices regarding power, options and setup. I have history (lifelongvw) with VW split busses and good reasons for my choices.
I am traveling along with my sister Diane and my railfan bud Ted. I am hoping to get more pics and commentary from Ted but he's being shy for now. We'll see. Diane on the other hand offers her commentary as we go. She also grew up in Vdubs.
I will share pics of the bus, us, trains, locations and other interesting things along the way.
So please watch for updates and new episodes. I'll catch up the backlog and post thereafter about each week till the trip ends.
And Away we go...

Link

_________________
in order
55 sunroof / sema bug
60 23 wndo deluxe safari microbus https://youtu.be/anajRR57nPI
66 21 wndo deluxe microbus
59 bug
63 kombi w/ SO-22 westy
66 squareback
59 logoed standard bus Orangevale Baptist Church
58 PG/SG sunroof /safari standard
94 golf
2013 Bettle TDI (cheater)

[life long VW]

So Arizona at the beginning of July... or most of the summer. HOT!! Glad to have the sunroof, safaris and some nighttime driving. The bus is running well even in the heat. Stop and go traffic in Phoenix not so good but hiway cruising is doable. So a magical night drive thru the Superstition Mtns.
Watch for more soon.

Link

_________________
in order
55 sunroof / sema bug
60 23 wndo deluxe safari microbus https://youtu.be/anajRR57nPI
66 21 wndo deluxe microbus
59 bug
63 kombi w/ SO-22 westy
66 squareback
59 logoed standard bus Orangevale Baptist Church
58 PG/SG sunroof /safari standard
94 golf
2013 Bettle TDI (cheater)

[life long VW]

So on to the Rainbow Gathering of the Tribes in the Gila. Unlike Burning Man this event is automobile free. That is leave your ride in the parking area and hike it in. Wonderful people doing groovy hippie shit in the national forest. Tipis, meditation, free kitchens, music and peyote. Ask Ted about that.
Link

_________________
in order
55 sunroof / sema bug
60 23 wndo deluxe safari microbus https://youtu.be/anajRR57nPI
66 21 wndo deluxe microbus
59 bug
63 kombi w/ SO-22 westy
66 squareback
59 logoed standard bus Orangevale Baptist Church
58 PG/SG sunroof /safari standard
94 golf
2013 Bettle TDI (cheater)

[life long VW]

And Away We Go. We helped several hitchhikers leaving the Rainbow Gathering. We headed on down to El Paso, TX. Diane has friends there and we had a chance to clean up and rearrange the bus. We did some touristy shopping and returned later to close some bars in Jaurez, MEX.
The sun is ris and the sun is set and we ain't got across Texas yet. My state of birth.
The starter solenoid failed and till we could find one I had to do the crawl under and short a screwdriver across the terminals to start it. Also dirty electricals and a visit to a dealer for help. They were jazzed to see vintage RAJ in the shop. They got everything cleaned and lights bright so glad for that. However the mechanic had likely never worked with the glass taillight lenses and managed to over tighten them and cracked both. Unfortunately I didn't discover for a couple of days and hundreds of miles on down the road. uuugh.
We visited the Lone Star Brewery in San Antonio. "The Hall of Horns". YIKES!! Then on to Houston. We visited my place of birth near there. Had a trip down to Galveston and a swim in the Gulf. Back up to Houston then East on to New Orleans. Enjoy. We are.

Link

_________________
in order
55 sunroof / sema bug
60 23 wndo deluxe safari microbus https://youtu.be/anajRR57nPI
66 21 wndo deluxe microbus
59 bug
63 kombi w/ SO-22 westy
66 squareback
59 logoed standard bus Orangevale Baptist Church
58 PG/SG sunroof /safari standard
94 golf
2013 Bettle TDI (cheater)

[life long VW]

Read the description. Started in New Orleans, traveled along the Gulf Coast to St Petersburg, FL. up thru Disneyworld and on up to Isle of Palms, SC.

Link

_________________
in order
55 sunroof / sema bug
60 23 wndo deluxe safari microbus https://youtu.be/anajRR57nPI
66 21 wndo deluxe microbus
59 bug
63 kombi w/ SO-22 westy
66 squareback
59 logoed standard bus Orangevale Baptist Church
58 PG/SG sunroof /safari standard
94 golf
2013 Bettle TDI (cheater)

[life long VW]

After our visit with cousin Gary and family in South Carolina we head to the Great Smokey Mountains. Also drive time on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We got out of the bus for a couple nights backpacking. On to DC. Thanks for watching.

Link

_________________
in order
55 sunroof / sema bug
60 23 wndo deluxe safari microbus https://youtu.be/anajRR57nPI
66 21 wndo deluxe microbus
59 bug
63 kombi w/ SO-22 westy
66 squareback
59 logoed standard bus Orangevale Baptist Church
58 PG/SG sunroof /safari standard
94 golf
2013 Bettle TDI (cheater)

[life long VW]

Sorry the delay. There was that hurricane in Maine. Not so much VW in this one but still on the road. They stole my Raleigh Super Course in DC. I got that on my birthday. My money, $131.25. A great bike and put lots of miles on it.

Link

_________________
in order
55 sunroof / sema bug
60 23 wndo deluxe safari microbus https://youtu.be/anajRR57nPI
66 21 wndo deluxe microbus
59 bug
63 kombi w/ SO-22 westy
66 squareback
59 logoed standard bus Orangevale Baptist Church
58 PG/SG sunroof /safari standard
94 golf
2013 Bettle TDI (cheater)

[life long VW]

Sorry the delay getting this episode posted. There was Hurricane Lee going through Maine and then the Biblical rains and flooding in New York. Lot's going on, on the road.
So we did spend a day in New York City. Hardly enough time or way too much? Ted chased trains out on Long Island while Diane and I did some museum visits.
From NYC we head on up to Boston. We visited a friend in Worcester, Massachusetts. Unfortunately while waiting for Jeff to get home to his apartment we were mistaken for VW bus thieves. The cops showed up, rousted us and searched through all our stuff. Some of our stuff was contraband in the Great State of MASS! They were kind enough to dump our stuff out and warn us about what Californians shouldn't do while visiting. So no jail time and Ted and I got roaring drunk the next day while Diane drove us North.
On to Bangor and Bar Harbor. This will probably be our northernmost point of the trip. However there's lots of open road between Maine and California... and no route planned. We'll see.
So on to Niagara Falls. We walked across to Canada to avoid Customs finding the stuff that Worcester PD didn't take from the bus. = Labatt's Velvet Cream Porter. We hand carried two cases back from Canada. Good flavors that.
TED HAS TO LEAVE! Watch for upcoming Episode 9.

Link

_________________
in order
55 sunroof / sema bug
60 23 wndo deluxe safari microbus https://youtu.be/anajRR57nPI
66 21 wndo deluxe microbus
59 bug
63 kombi w/ SO-22 westy
66 squareback
59 logoed standard bus Orangevale Baptist Church
58 PG/SG sunroof /safari standard
94 golf
2013 Bettle TDI (cheater)

[life long VW]

So we left Niagara and headed down through Buffalo. We had a quick stop at the "Taggarts Tavern" and got some "Teds" Charbroiled. Ted has to get back to California and a new job with the railroad. We put him on the roadside in Boston, New York. He's on his way.

Link

This should have been back in Episode 4 and photo credit to Ted O.

_________________
in order
55 sunroof / sema bug
60 23 wndo deluxe safari microbus https://youtu.be/anajRR57nPI
66 21 wndo deluxe microbus
59 bug
63 kombi w/ SO-22 westy
66 squareback
59 logoed standard bus Orangevale Baptist Church
58 PG/SG sunroof /safari standard
94 golf
2013 Bettle TDI (cheater)

[life long VW]

Sorry the delay. Read the description and hang in there watching to the second part. That's where our legacy bus is starting at 2:32. That is our 1960 then new SWRed Deluxe Microbus that dad bought in Tokyo. Japan. Neat specs including factory safaris, Euro bumpers and it had the ambulance fan in the overhead vent. Diane got work and now I'm on my own to get back to CA.

Link

You can see that new bus in this video.

Link

That video was taken just weeks before the B&W Iowa visit pics in EP-10. Enjoy and thanks for watching.
_________________
in order
55 sunroof / sema bug
60 23 wndo deluxe safari microbus https://youtu.be/anajRR57nPI
66 21 wndo deluxe microbus
59 bug
63 kombi w/ SO-22 westy
66 squareback
59 logoed standard bus Orangevale Baptist Church
58 PG/SG sunroof /safari standard
94 golf
2013 Bettle TDI (cheater)