My New Old VW Van-The First Drive

I have just returned from my first trip in my most recent addition....a 1972 Volkswagen Bus.  It was both exhilarating and nerve wracking. 

Backing out of my driveway was not the exhilarating part.  My drive way is very narrow, perfect for an '82 Datsun, and getting the car into reverse was difficult.  I thought I would just coast back but I did not want to scrape the car on my fence or rip off my side view mirror like I have on my other Volkswagen.  So I decided to do something a little trashy: I turned around in my front yard. (I wasn't going to park there, I was just turning around!) This felt a little unnatural, but it worked and I will probably continue to do it.

And then I was off! Out the drive way front first, sitting up straight with pride and headed towards my first stop: the gas station.  Driving the bus takes some time to get used to...Why?  Well, the gear shift for one: it's a yard stick sized pole coming out of the floor and you have to wiggle and rattle and find your way into gear. Figuring out the appropriate proportion of clutch and gas so you can actually move forward....that takes some time and so far has not been consistent.  (this could be me) Going up even a slight grade proves a little trying for us...me and the car and the car that is behind us...but once she goes, she does go. And so we went to Chevron.

But not for gas....for coffee.  A coffee cup holder came with the van!   I stopped to get my "gas station coffee" where I have my morning ritual with Marci, the woman behind the counter, and I wanted to show her my van.   Unfortunately, she was not working, so I said to the weekend guy "Look what I got!"  He said "I saw that...I expected a hippie to get out..." This kind of hurt my feelings...I could be a hippie if I wanted to! Don't I kind of look like one?   Next he said "What are you, trying to relive your youth?"   

First off, my youth was not in 1972-that was my toddler hood, and 2nd...well maybe first, do I look like my youth is gone? Do I look like a person who needs to relive it?  I might be having a midlife crisis, but I do not want it to show!  Granted, I am older than the bus BUT COME ON!!!  I think he saw my face register the disappointment - his reaction did not meet my expectations AND he thinks I'm old. He started back pedaling...."well, have fun in it.".."they're easy to work on...."  I got my coffee and continued on my journey.

I got on the freeway and started to circle down town which was suddenly backed up. There was a stalled vehicle and everyone was trying to get in or over....and with my blind spot suddenly ten times larger than usual I didn't feel comfortable just assuming my way in....eventually I did get in the moving lane and passed the trouble spot, and was on my way to the PCH!

This was the exhilarating part!  Pacific Coast Highway in a '72 VW Bus, playing whatever happened to be on the radio - I was not discriminating because my main focus was navigating the vehicle.  I heard bits of NPR before I lost it in Malibu, the oldies station, and I listened to the latin music station radio for quite some time because I did not feel comfortable taking my eyes of the road.  

I drove up past Zuma Beach, where I gave a nod too all my fellow surfers and free spirits. (I am not the former and a part time latter)   I looked to the beach when I felt I could take my eyes off the road, and I finally made the right hand turn on Malibu Canyon to start heading home....it slowly twisted and turned around the canyons and mountains, took me thru tunnels and back to the Valley for the final freeway I was to travel - the 101.  We covered a lot of ground.

Driving this van is a very insulating experiencing..so much that you forget you might need things like gas and oil, and that other drivers are living and breathing around you as you go slowly around the curve.  I also thought that I would magically become someone who was mechanically inclined.  This was going to start with me going to my trusted mechanic and saying "Can you please show me how to check my oil?'  

The bus will also help me become a better driver...it is incapable of going fast and I, so far, am incapable of taking chances while driving it. It could be the best thing for my driving record...I literally can not speed.  I can still sware at people who turn in front of me, however, and I did.   It was not that transformative of an experience. During these brief interludes with the other Leslie who does not own a hippie van, I did discover the horn does not work, and that is a very important thing to have working.  

I also have to surrender to the fact that other drivers are potentially cursing me.  I do not like to be disliked and I am very aware that I can not get up to speed as quickly I can in my other Volkswagen....and that those behind me are getting very impatient as I say "Come on baby, Come on..." There definitely is a significant lapse in time between when I step on the gas and the car actually moves forward....this is the most anxiety provoking time of driving her. (I think she is a she)

  

Today while driving I had the same feeling I did when I test drove it: that of being alive.  Exhilarating and nerve wracking....I was present...I didn't (or couldn't) care what others thought of me....I took my time...I had fun...I was capable.  And I do really have the feeling that this van is meant to be mine.  I felt this when I first stepped into it for the test drive.  They say when you know, you know, and I knew, and I acted.  This act alone was thrilling.