Touring Across the US with a VW Bus

When I first lay eyes on this vehice, I knew I had to have it. An original 1956 VW bus. To be precise, it is a Volkswagen Transporter T1, the first model ever made. The most luxurious version of this car made was the Sunroof Deluxe, also known as Volkswagen Samba.

From 1950 to 1956, the T1 (not called that at the time) was built in Wolfsburg, Germany; from 1956, it was built at the completely new Transporter factory in Hanover, Germany. This one was still made in Wolfsburg.  Like the Beetle, the first Transporters used the 1100 Volkswagen air-cooled engine, a 1,1 liter flat-four-cylinder boxer engine rated at 24 HP and mounted in the rear of the car. This car already has the newer 30 HP engine, also known as the 1200 at the time.

Among American enthusiasts, it is common to refer to the different models by the number of their windows. The basic Kombi or Bus is the 11-window (a.k.a. three-window bus because of three side windows) with a split windshield, two front cabin door windows, six rear side windows, and one rear window. The DeLuxe model featured eight rear side windows and two rear corner windows, making it the 15-window (not available in Europe). Meanwhile, the sunroof DeLuxe with its additional eight small skylight windows is, accordingly, the 23-window. From the 1964 model year, with its wider rear door, the rear corner windows were discontinued, making the latter two the 13-window and 21-window respectively. The 23- and later 21-window variants each carry the nickname 'Samba', or in Australia, officially 'Alpine'.

New York and Woodstock

After giving the car a good overhaul - changing oil, belts, tires, and the sparkplugs, we felt that we’re ready to go and hit the road.

From New York City we headed up towards the Catskills with a quick stop in Woodstock, the home of the legendary music event in the 60’s.

Woodstock was initiated through the efforts of Michael Lang, John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, and Artie Kornfeld. Roberts and Rosenman financed the project. Lang had experience as a promoter and had already organized the largest festival on the East Coast at the time, the Miami Pop Festival, where an estimated 100,000 people attended the two-day event. Roberts and Rosenman placed the following advertisement in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal under the name of Challenge International, Ltd.: "Young men with unlimited capital looking for interesting, legitimate investment opportunities and business propositions."

Lang and Kornfeld noticed the ad, and the four got together originally to discuss a retreat-like recording studio in Woodstock. The idea evolved into an outdoor music and arts festival, although even that was initially envisioned on a smaller scale, perhaps featuring some big-name artists who lived in the Woodstock area (such as Bob Dylan and The Band). There were differences in approach among the four: Roberts was disciplined and knew what was needed for the venture to succeed, while the laid-back Lang saw Woodstock as a new, relaxed way of bringing entrepreneurs together. There were further doubts over the venture, as Roberts wondered whether to consolidate his losses and pull the plug, or to continue pumping his own finances into the project.

In April 1969, newly minted superstars Creedence Clearwater Revival became the first act to sign a contract for the event, agreeing to play for $10,000. The promoters had experienced difficulty landing big-name groups prior to Creedence committing to play. Creedence drummer Doug Clifford later commented, "Once Creedence signed, everyone else jumped in line and all the other big acts came on." Given their 3:00 a.m. start time and omission (at Creedence frontman John Fogerty's insistence) from the Woodstock film, Creedence members have expressed bitterness over their experiences at the famed festival.

Woodstock was designed as a profit-making venture, aptly titled "Woodstock Ventures". It famously became a "free concert" only after the event drew hundreds of thousands more patrons than the organizers had prepared for. Tickets for the three-day event cost $18 in advance and $24 at the gate (equivalent to $120.00 and $150.00 in 2014). Ticket sales were limited to record stores in the greater New York City area, or by mail via a post office box at the Radio City Station Post Office located in Midtown Manhattan. Around 186,000 advance tickets were sold, and the organizers anticipated approximately 200,000 festival-goers would turn up.

To California

Across the Rockies we drove through the Western US all the way to California. The lovely organic food and coffee shops in California are just wonderful.

Due in part to the increased interest in healthier foods, a greater desire to preserve local cultivars or livestock (some of which may not be up to commercial shipping or yield standards) and an increased understanding of the importance of maintaining small, sustainable farms on the fringe of urban environments, farmers' markets in the US have grown from 1,755 in 1994 to 4,385 in 2006, to 5,274 in 2009, to 8,144 in 2013.[1] In New York City, there are 107 farmers' markets in operation. In the Los Angeles area, 88 farmers' markets exist, many of which support Hispanic and Asian fare, and the Los Angeles Farmers' Market has been in continuous operation since 1934.

The trip ended where it should, at the beach in La Jolla. La Jolla is an affluent neighborhood in San Diego, California. It is a hilly seaside community, occupying 7 miles (11 km) of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean within the northern city limits. La Jolla had the highest home prices in the nation in 2008 and 2009; the average price of a standardized four-bedroom home in La Jolla was reported as US $1.8 million in 2008 and US $2.1 million in 2009. The 2004 estimated population of the 92037 ZIP code was 42,808 while the La Jolla community planning area had an estimated population of 31,746 in 2010. La Jolla is surrounded on three sides by ocean bluffs and beaches and is located 12 miles (19 km) north of Downtown San Diego, and 40 miles (64 km) south of Orange County California, The climate is mild, with an average daily temperature of 70.5 °F (21.4 °C) La Jolla is home to a variety of businesses in the areas of lodging, dining, shopping, software, finance, real estate, bio-engineering, medical practice and scientific research. 

This article is based on the Wikipedia article "Volkswagen Type 2" and is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.