Howdy campers,

It's a few days later and I've finally caught my breath again since the busy weekend we just had.  I thought a brief "debrief" of the BNNTA event would be in order.

First off, I'd like to thank everyone who drove so many old VWs to Mark Twain Lake in NE Missouri to enjoy the long holiday weekend VW camping event.  Longest didtance for a Splitty was from Texas and for an IRS axle Bus from New Mexico!  It looks like we had about 90 VWs registered.  Well over 90 percent were Type 2s, with several Beetles, a Ghia, and some Rabbits all camping too.  Probably a little over 300 VW enthusiasts,family, dogs and even a cat enjoyed unusually cool, spectacular camping weather all weekend.  Lots of campfires late into the evening, and quite a few canoes and kayaks out on the 22 mile long lake.  No one seemed to have ANY major mechanical problems getting there, so I thankfully never saw an engine out on a picnic table for repairs.

The Saturday scenic caravan across the dam and then on to historic Hanibal, MO was awesome!  Voting was fierce and some lucky participants took home well deserved awards, and about 3/4 of the owners even took home a door prize too.  Sunday's "slow drags" we're histerical, with some creative cheating going on throughout the competition.

After hosting 22 of these events over the past 17 years (at first called "Buses by the Arch", now called "Buses Nowhere Near The Arch") the event really has the feel of a huge family reunion of old and new friends, folks that just happen to be very passionate about camping with their VWs.  Like we did last year, we'll be donating the proceeds from the event to a soon to be selected worthy charity.

Again, thanks to all of the attendees for driving so far and making the event such a pleasure to host.  We look forward to seeing you all (as well as many new visitors) again over the next Labor Day weekend at the lake in 2008!

Bill Bowman
http://www.bnnta.com