Road trip to VW classic

My wife and I were discussing a road trip. It is a heck of a drive, but we were thinking about making the trip from Georgia to California in the bug for the June classic in California. There would be a lot to plan, and this is just a thought at the moment, but is anyone else interested in making the trip? It would have to be a 2 week trip for us, making various site seeing stops on the way. Its about a 36 hour drive if you go straight there.

June 2013 or June 2014?
I would love to, but It'll be 10 more years before the kids start to leave the house...
KC

2014.......or 2015 lol

it would be a cool trip. Especially if you can take your time to and from....

glenn left for the classic after YU buggin last year....
http://forum.georgiadubs.com/t6367-the-classic?highlight=classic

Ive done about 10 hours in a 36 horse oval, but 36 hours will be an endurance test. It would be nice to be in a group.

I would love to be a part of this. The way it's going on my bus, it might be able to make the trek in 2016.

Crazy road trip I drove to Dallas to mall of georgia that was a road trip.... LOL

As someone who has gone from GA to CA before, I wholeheartedly endorse it. Absolutely beautiful ride. But what I would factor in heavy to the equation: the possibility of heat at that time of year and perhaps allowing yourself close to 3 weeks. It's a lot of time to spend in a vehicle with no air conditioning. We've been very fortunate with the temps this year so far, as y'all know it can really get roasting in June.

But, that can be planned around; some night driving or very early morning departures.

vw57drvr wrote:Ive done about 10 hours in a 36 horse oval, but 36 hours will be an endurance test. It would be nice to be in a group.

Plus, those Oval seats don't offer a lot of support, like today's modern car seats with bolsters and stuff

Wait a minute, your WIFE is actually entertaining this idea? God bless her!

hahaha...yeah. She actually suggested it. We were planning the HO show in germany but that fell through. It costs a fortune these days to fly over seas, so maybe next time. Which will be in 4 years. Meanwhile, if we can take the trip to Cali, we can see a lot on the journey. Just got to make sure the VW is in tip top shape.

Grifspop wrote:

vw57drvr wrote:Ive done about 10 hours in a 36 horse oval, but 36 hours will be an endurance test. It would be nice to be in a group.

Plus, those Oval seats don't offer a lot of support, like today's modern car seats with bolsters and stuff

That is absolutely correct. It would be nice if there was a direct replacement seat that could be swapped in for long trips.

vw57drvr wrote:

Grifspop wrote:

vw57drvr wrote:Ive done about 10 hours in a 36 horse oval, but 36 hours will be an endurance test. It would be nice to be in a group.

Plus, those Oval seats don't offer a lot of support, like today's modern car seats with bolsters and stuff

That is absolutely correct. It would be nice if there was a direct replacement seat that could be swapped in for long trips.

Yeah- if you could weld something comfortable to an old set of risers- that would be the way to go- then replace the original seats when you got home

So would you take the '57?

If your wife is on board then you just have to do it. You could make it your own Enduro rally like the "Long Road to Paris" couple. You've seen their blog right? ( I assume all Beetle owners have by now).

It'd be great if a group could get together but if not, it would still be doable and epic. Print off your AIRS contacts and you'd have help on the road.

Just noticed y'all are from Rome, great town. We love it up there. Good cruising routes around there. I need to do one around there and finish at Schroeder's Deli.....

Yep. Come on up. 

I would prefer to take the 57. I think it would be more comfortable. I love the convertible but it can cook you with the top down on a long trip. Not to mention its easier to use a roof rack. 

If you're going to do it, I think you should give yourself more than 2 weeks. When I was in the planning stages and calculating how many miles I'd have to cover in a day I think I planned on spending 10-12 driving per day. My bus cruised @ 58mph though. I did it in two weeks but I really wish I would've given myself an extra 4 days or so (two days each way). You can do it in two without a whole lot of effort but your ability to stop and enjoy the country is hampered. If two weeks is all you have...I still say go for it! It was an epic trip and something I was able to scratch off my bucket list.

Yeah, two weeks is probably the best I can do from work. So how did the bus do on the trip?

Only had one hiccup in West Texas about 10 miles from from where I-10 and I-20 come together. Lost power and had to pull over. Fiddled with it for about 20 minutes to try to figure out what the problem was. Everything seemed fine and hit the road again. Ran great for about five minutes and started acting up again. Pretty sure it was vapor lock. Re-routed the fuel lines and replaced the fuel pump, the latter for good measure, at a rest stop. Was rolling perfect again in 30 minutes. Other than that, it ran perfect the whole trip. Even when we were cruising though the Mojave in the afternoon at 100+ degrees.

I left here prepared for every possible problem I could imagine happening. Full compliment of tools including a floor jack. I had enough spare parts to completely assemble a spare engine minus the tin and an alternator. I was prepared to repair anything that could go wrong. The only thing stopping me from getting to Cali was time or a catastrophic trany failure.

This is the trip that I have on my bucket list, If I start planning from today it will be possible. What dates are looking for it?

ultralite wrote:Just noticed y'all are from Rome, great town. We love it up there. Good cruising routes around there. I need to do one around there and finish at Schroeder's Deli.....

There's a few of us Romans on here, ultra! (:

Are the "Romans" generally in the DripnDrivers club? I may come out for a visit at a meeting sometime. I did that once with the Athens group one Sunday and had a great time. I finally met the Atlanta crowd but they don't get together often.

There is no club in Rome.

Here's some "go west" motivation from the Samba. This guy just took his wife and 3 kids out West and back in a Westy. Also some good food for thought if you peruse the whole thread which had a lot of long distance prep considerations. This link goes right to some pictures:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=542338&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=80

Awesome. I will definitely read the thread. I could use the motivation. The 12 hour trip I took in the Oval about killed me....but, it was all at once, then turned around and came home a few hours later. So about 22-24 hours in a vw was a LONG time. Going west though will give us a chance to stop and take breaks...see the sites.