On 08/10  8:19 PM, Carl Marin wrote, in part:
>  If you sit inside a Westfalia and
>it puts a smile on your face as you daydream about the places that you'd
>go in it and all the good times that might bring  then you must have one.  The
>Westfalia is about the imagination and the possibilities.

Carl�s email may be the most poetic of all. How many other cars or vans inspire this level of elegant description?

It is hard to drive a Westy without a big smile on your face most of the time. :)
It has so many possibilities and  is so well designed, it just takes your breath away some days. It is  an adventure discovering new ways to use all the nooks and crannies each time you plan a trip.

I have gone camping in mine more in this one year of ownership than I have camped in an entire lifetime!

Carl and others are also  right that it doesn�t matter if you use all the appliances, all the time. It is knowing they are there and seeing how well they fit together.

This weekend, at the grocery store, a bag boy (bag person?)  helped me load groceries in the Vanagon. He smiled when he saw the stove, sink and refrigerator and I got a kick out of telling him about all the features. I can�t think of any other car or minivan that offers that kind of delight so readily, even for passersby.

So, the question is probably not whether you need or would use a Westy, but how do you rationalize getting one so that the practical, left-brain side of you agrees with the right-brain artist and dreamer. :) Good luck with the left brain!

Maureen Stretch
Natick, Mass.
91 Vanagon GL Westy �Johann�