Date: Sun, 28 Jun 1998 19:36:49 -0700 From: Charlie Ford To: vintagebus@type2.com Subject: A Dog's Day Away ((((((((((BETTER LATE THAN NEVER. I started writing this little report two weeks ago and am just finishing it today (Sunday June 28th). Another will be coming soon. The Mothership and Gus are fine and Gus is back with me, I went and retrieved him yesterday.))))))))))))))) Gus's Big Adventure Wow, where do I start? The past three weeks have been a whirlwind to say the least. As of this writing I find myself in Southeastern Wisconsin camping in the yard of Matt and Andy Soiney, The President and Beverage Coordinator of the DBG (Der Busbesitzer Gruppe). I met them and there brother Dan, who many of you know from the type 2 list, last year in my travels. They were good volks folks then, and so are they now. When I last dropped you a line I was in Southern Missouri and on my way to Saint Louis. Upon arrival in that blessed town I drove straight to Pat Hoffman's home and proceeded to set up camp. Pat didn't know I was in town so when he arrived home and found this beautiful road worn Brown 79 Transporter in his yard it set him back a bit. I asked if it would be OK to crash in his yard and as expected he said ŅI don't care. that's just the kind of guy Pat is, a damn good one! Plus he just doesn't care if someone shows up un announced. For the next couple of days I did very little. The weekend after arriving in Saint Louis I was preparing to drive a couple hours northeast and attend the Busses doing Nothing event in Shelbyville, Illinois. I had gone in the house for a while and when I came back out Gus had gone missing. I hollered and whistled a while then went out to search for him. Bill, Kurt Smith and I were supposed to meet up and carabus to the event but I had to postpone my departure until I could find Gus, Dead or Alive. Hopefully the latter would not ring true. Gus is not to great with highways and cars and I don't really want him to be. I drove around the block several times, called the Humane Society, and checked with all of the neighbors to see if they had seen him. No, Gus was missing. I stopped by the local police station and asked them to put out an All points bulletin and gave them his description. I told him he was a Whole dog long and a half a dog high, and answered mostly to anyone that might pet him on his back or wherever they bend over to reach. They actually said they would let the next shift know about the missing canine. Finally in one last cry of desperation I drove around the block again. I saw a sign on a building not far from Pat's house that said Lazy Susan catering. Hmmm I said, They make food in there I wheeled the Mothership into the parking lot and walked inside. It had started to rain so I knew he would start to miserable by now and would be looking for shelter. I walked to the front desk and asked if they had seen a Basset hound anywhere around. The lady smiled a really large smile and said Yes we have! Relief spread over me pretty strongly to say the least. I asked where that particular dog might be found now. She explained that one of her employees had take him to the vet to get the chip in his shoulder scanned to ascertain the owner. I asked her where he had taken the mongrel. She said she would try to call the vets office and put us in touch with one another. I gave her my number and drove back to Pats house to wait on the call. Finally this guy named Tim called and said he had Gus. I asked him where I could meet him to pick him up and he explained that he was real close to downtown Saint Louis and that it would be a lot of trouble for me to come all the way to town to pick him up. I told Tim that I was on my way to Shelbyville for the weekend and he suggested that he just keep him for the weekend. We spoke for a few on the subject and he explained that he had two other dogs and a fenced yard and that Gus would be no problem at all. The guy seemed nice enough and the company he worked for spoke well of him so I decided it wouldn't be bad for Gus to be stable for a few days. I headed out to Shelbyville and arrived there in two hours or so. Busses Doing Nothing was my fourth event of the year. It is certainly not a show although everyone is always gathering at each others vehicle to scope out the latest. You guys no how it is. Hell, you can meet some guy at a gas station and the next thing you know your looking at his latest exhaust or .009 Distributor. That's just the way we are. The first night there were only 6 or so busses, but that didn't stop the party from happening. Where two or more are gathered in the name of VW there a party shall be. The DBG guys arrived and set up the miniature version of the big top tent (the larger version can be seen at BBTA 98 and thus ensued the first nights gathering of happy conversationalist. Around midnight the storm clouds rolled across the Midwest and roars of thunder could be heard from far away. Spatters of lightning lit the night sky with light flashes at first and growing stronger along with the thunder. The party continued, no one broke stride. For some reason I looked over at the bus every now and then, I miss Gus. The storms finally greeted us head on. Lightning was striking within 100 yards of us on the right and left, front and rear. We continued on through the night unwavering in our attempt to take the everyday world off our minds. As the storms swept on through the party started to die down. We each retired to our bunks and dreamed of things, bugs, Ghia's and busses all being driven by beautiful blondes, brunettes, and redheads, and each of them knew how to adjust valves and change oil. Life was good in Shelbyville. On Saturday we sort of hung around once again doing nothing. The Rangers had warned us about the tick problem they have been having this year. That little tidbit of information created I believe more psychosomatic ticks than the real ones. Every time I felt any little tickle on my body I did a tick check. I tried to do a tick check on a couple of the single females but no one fell for my ploy. Dammit Jim! Steve Lashely (alias: Tentguy) showed up and brought me something to do. He and I have worked out a deal so that I show a tent at the shows I attend this year, and if I sell any, I make a little commission. He brought me a brand spanking new Reimo Side tent to hang on the side of the Mothership and show as a demo. I don't know how I have lived without one so long. I can stand up to put my pants on now. If any of you have any doubts about these tents I can tell you now that they are first rate. I have been in three heavy rains with this one and thus far there has not been one drop come in. The construction is solid and the material dries fast. Plus they look pretty cool. On Sunday we once again stood around doing nothing basically waiting on Monday. We all sat around the campfire that night and discussed matters of great importance and anyone should do while sitting around a perfectly good campfire. I mean a good fire would be wasted if some wisdom and thoughtful wondering didn't exude from it. On Monday we all packed up and pulled out. There was hugging and kissing and tick checking going on everywhere. Folks are genuinely sad to leave these events. We all promised to promise that would all be there again next year and went off to suffer the arduous task of driving back to the house beside the Jones's. Except for me of course. I just drove to my next campsite, the same one I had left on Friday. On Monday evening Bill and Kathryn and myself had dinner and got to talk a little about the upcoming VW Revival aptly known as Busses by the Arch 98. This event promises to be pretty cool this year with all the plans being made thus far. It is rumored that music will be played by not one, but two different bands (but not to loud); an editor of a popular VW magazine will be in attendance to capture the story in a professional sort of way (I think he will leave out the hoodlums part); the unofficial yet serious wedding vows between Brian Holcomb and Dawn Stokesbury will take place (I have been asked to officiate): and of course the ever-present VW fellowship will be shared by all. What more could one ask for? I would wager to say that this year there will be in attendance well over 150 busses, not to mention all the great volks folks that drive them. On Tuesday I went over to pick up Gus. I had thought about it a good bit over the weekend and had decided that if this guy would keep him for while till I got settled in somewhere it would be better on him. A dog's life is tough enough but riding in a bus all day in the summer would not be good for him at all. I asked if he would consider boarding him for a while. He said it would be no problem at all and that his kids had already fallen in love with him. I don't know what I should do, I love Gus like he is my kid, but this travel is taking it's toll on him in a rough sort of way. It is not fair to him to be hauled around and be made to suffer different surroundings each night. I feel like this is the best thing for him until I get settled in somewhere, then I will come back and pick him up. I will look at it as a dog summer camp. (For all general purposes the guys name is Tim Brady and he works for Lazy Susan Catering Maryland Heights.) The Soiney Brothers and the DBG (Der Busbezitzer Gruppe) have invited me to come up to Wisconsin for the summer. Since Gus is settled in and I have no long-term work here, I will head on up that way. Wisconsin is one of the nicer States I visited last year and the Soiney's are just damn good folks so it should be alright. I wonder how I will like the go -cart business? Matt Soiney says he can get me a job doing that for a couple or three weeks. I hope it pays well and most of all satisfies my mind. You know what I mean. Thanks for tolerating the ramblings. Charlie Ford Charlie Ford cford@sysnet.net (912) 375-3651 (Leave Message) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ To leave the list, send an UNSUBSCRIBE message to VINTAGEBUS-REQUEST@TYPE2.COM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------