With my old '66 Westy, I use to promise it treats as rewards for good behaviour - go to MTL and back w/o complaint and I'll clean and paint your belly/   I plan on the same "at-a-boy" and carrot approach with the '88 Westy when my son and I slip away from Calgary on August 05 and start the meandering two week drive back to the east coast.

If we get home without any incident, I've promised a new paint job ... a really paint job, the kind where I spend part of the winter removing the interior and prepping.

On 31-Jul-2014, at 21:06, Roland wrote:

> Last week we went to Big Bear for a few days from San Diego.  It isn't all
> that far, typically only 2.5-3 hours, but with stops and traffic it was
> about 5 hours.   This time we had our grandson with us, and going through
> the Inland Empire (Riverside, San Bernardino, etc.) was at over 100 degrees
> in evening rush hour.  The climb to Big Bear is to straight up to 6,000 ft,
> with some steep grades.   I was able to keep at about 50-55 mph in 3rd;
> many people waved or flashed "thank you" when I used the pull-outs to let
> them by.
> 
> We hadn't been on a trip with the Vanagon for some time, and I only did a
> few basic checks.   So I was a bit worried, always planning how I would
> handle a breakdown.  High temps, no air conditioning, very heavy
> stop-and-go traffic for dozens of miles.    But it was all smooth sailing,
> not even an oil buzzer!
> 
> Back at home, I patted her on the dashboard and said thank you!   I thought
> for a moment that she replied with a front suspension creak but ......
> 
> Roland
> '89 Syncro