The Bug is home!

Time to hit the road has come! It has been quite a crazy past couple of days. Monday my brother, dad, and I worked to get the Imp and my "stuff" into a smaller storage unit (save some cash so that I can buy parts for the Bug). Yesterday it was about last minute packing, getting the Bug loaded, and getting some sleep for today. 

My brother and I started the day with an early breakfast with my long time friend Wilt. Wilt was out of town for the time we were here in California, but we were able to get together this morning for a great breakfast talking about cars and bicycles! 

There she is, ready to hit the road! Chris and I did a walk around to make sure that all of the tie downs were tight, that all of the lights were working, that the tires were properly aired up, and that the connections to my Flex were all good. Everything was ready to go! 

At this point, I have to admit that I was nervous. There was a lot riding on this trip. First one was the fact that I had never towed anything of this weight before in my life. The extent of my towing experience was a small U-Haul trailer a few years ago with my step-daughters stuff and of course many trips towing Bugs with a small tow bar. 

I was confident that my Flex could handle, but I still had my fears. We had some "nice" grades to scale before we made it home. This included the "Baker" grade in California as you approach Primm and Jean along the state border. There would also be a good grade on the way to Park City, Utah. I had to believe that I did my homework and that my Flex is in top shape! Let's hit the road! 

So how did the Flex and Bug in tow make the Baker grade? Well here we are in Jean, Nevada and everything was looking great! The Flex did great, doing about 60 mph at 4500 rpm up the steepest sections! As I expected, the Flex was using more fuel than usual, so we were taking more frequent fuel stops along the way, but I have to say that we were still averaging about 16 mpg so far. 

Done for the night! We arrived in Beaver, Utah for the evening. Chris and I were looking forward to dinner at Beaver Taco, so Mexican food was the menu for tonight. By the time we were ready to leave the restaurant, the sun was disappearing on the western horizon. The sight gave me the inspiration for this cool photograph. The journey was half way over yet, as we had about 650 miles to go on Thursday. 

The next morning, we got ready, had our free breakfast (thank you to the Best Western Paradise Inn hotel!), fueled up the Flex, stopped by at the local Dairy Farmers of America store to stock up on some of their delicious cheese curds, and then got back on the I-15. We had a lot of driving ahead of us and we were ready to get home as soon as we could. 

We made sure to make a fuel up in Orem, Utah, as this was going to be the last stop before we headed up into the mountains to the east of Orem, on highway 189. The last thing I wanted to do was the fuel tank get low in the middle of nowhere. As we did at every stop, we check the trailer, the Bug, the straps, and the trailer connections to the Flex. Everything was looking great! 

We made it!! We were back in Laramie and all was well! My house doesn't have much parking space, so we briefly double parked in front of the house and unloaded the Flex. We had our luggage, along with some VW parts from storage, birthday gifts from my parents for my grandson, and a few things my wife and step-daughter asked us to bring back. By this point, Chris and I were tired from a long day, so we agreed that we would park the Flex and trailer up the street. 

Due to the long length of the combined Flex and 20' auto carrier trailer, I had to park up the street where the curb space was more available. She would be safe there overnight and we would unload her the next morning. 

The next morning, after a good breakfast, I walked up the street and got into the Flex. I drove her around the corner and after some discussion with my brother, we decided it was best to back up the trailer onto my driveway. As I stated earlier, I have little experience with trailers, so backing up a trailer isn't on my resume. After a bit of backing, turning the wheel, going forward to correct, repeat, I had the trailer up on the driveway. 

We had used the Bug also as a transportation container, so the first step was to empty the inside of her, which included yard tools, my Yakima roof rack, Berg traction bar, three original EMPI Spyder GT (8-spoke) wheels, four Gurney/Western wheels, my small air compressor, low profile floor jack, jack stands and whatever else we could stuff inside. 

At the end of the day, we got her off the trailer and in her location in my driveway. One of the front tires, a 145R15, will only hold air for about 10 minutes max, so the first item on my parts list are two new 145s. 

I also got inside of her and cleared out any remaining trash that had accumulated in there. She doesn't look as bad as I had remembered, but I do have my work cut out for cleaning her up and assessing my plan of attack to making her driveable again. 

Well stay tuned for update from the VDub Geek's Garage about my WyoLook Bug!!

--the VDub Geek