hey eug,  count me in as one who spends his weekend time
          laboring in driveway AND on the road.  did 200+ miles this
          sunday in the '66 kombi after working on it most of the day
          saturday.  we're doing cleanup/fixup for the Busses on the
          Blue Ridge Tour in a few weeks, which will be approx 1000
          miles round trip not counting side roads ;^).  several
          things happened on the beach trip (Matanzas beach on the
          florida atlantic coast) that reminded us why we love this
          vehicle.  the throttle cable slipped out of the clamp on the
          carb while puttering along at 60 mph, taking the pedal
          immediately to the floor and no power of course.  we pulled
          off to the grass and neither of us panicked.  we had tools,
          the bible, and experience enough to feel confident we could
          fix the beast on the side of the road (if we could only keep
          from being eaten by red ants).  we rediscovered how great
          the ventilation is once it's rolling.  even in the 95F
          florida heat we were comfortable.  we enjoyed the various
          and numerous waves from fellow travellers along the road AND
          the questions and stories from people walking up to us at
          the beach.  finally, we really appreciated that rear drive
          when it came time to go and we watched several vehicles get
          stuck in the powder-like sand.  i wouldn't attempt to tow
          anyone but i'm not sure what it would take to get us really
          stuck.  it barely worked through the deepest sand; no
          problem.  we can't imagine another vehicle we'd rather have.
          now if we could only figure a way to tow the guzzi on our
          trips to the mountains so we could play with both!
          ray.hale@santafe.cc.fl.us     gainesville, fl