sprocket i/o

This weekend I took part in a very interesting event, Paddy’s Wagens 2003 in Sesqui Centennial State Park in Columbia, SC. It was a get together of Volkswagen Bus owners, thrown by the Full Moon Bus Club.. While I myself did not own a bus, Dallas, who invited me along last weekend, has a nifty 1971 Bus. Both of us took took a whole lot of photos.

Getting down to Columbia was a small adventure in itself. Dallas and I had only met up for the first time a few weeks ago, so we had a lot to learn about each other. She had definitely done her research using my blog and e-mail archives, to the point that it almost made me paranoid with how much internet stalking she had done. She was very easy to talk to, and after my initial silence, I just started yammering without discretion. I figured if she was to figure out who I was, I may as well just tell it how it was, and throw in a few words to see her reactions. She did well

We get down to South Carolina, and after a coworker, Debby calls me about some Allentown printing emergency, we end up breaking down on I-20. Total loss of power in the vehicle. Sputter. As much as Dallas tried to deny it, we were just simply out of gas. To her credit, there were also other issues that confused the symptoms, such as the twisted fan belt and the leaking oil pressure switch. It was just out of gas, but I couldn’t diagnose car issues well enough to argue, I can just fix them when people tell me what to do

So, Dallas calls AAA. We let em know the mile marker, and that we’ve got two GPS’s on board. They were pretty surprised to hear that, since we were driving a Volkswagen Bus. After about 45 minutes of Dallas and I exploring each other’s inner mental workings, and comfortable (for me) silence in between, the tow truck driver comes and picks us up.

It’s 40 miles to the park, and he drives us to there. We get to the park entrance, and there is supposed to be an out-of-place rock with the code to get in written on it. We can’t find it, and eventually the tow truck driver joins in the search. After about 30 minutes of seeking it out, an SUV pulls up. It’s evidently someone related to the park ranger. I tried to talk to her, ask her if we could follow her in, etc.. but she responded only with a soft grunt. I really thought she was a mute.

Dallas manages to get her to say something in english, but I could tell she was really strung out. We follow her to the camp ground, and the tow truck then dumps off the bus. We have 2 or 3 drunk bus people come visit to see the ruckus. It was quite humorous

I try to get a fire going, with the wet wood, and eventually manage. After setting up the tent, Dallas and I stay up for a bit talking, and eventually wander off into sleep.

The next day was cold rain personified. It just never let up. Dallas and I did some socializing, eating breakfast burritos and such. Mark from Salem Imports came to take a look at the bus to see it’s issues, and then we went out and did some geocaching in the rain. I went around and took photos of people’s busses, altogether about 30 people showed up for the get together. We joined the other bus folks for the pot-luck dinner which was great (especially the cheesecake that someone from Conneticut brought). Before night fell, we setup another tarp, courtesy of Bryan, over our tent and over the campfire area so that we stood a chance of getting a fire going.

We hung out by the fire, roasted smores, and drank. We got into some interesting questions for each other. Everything from our first kiss, to masturbation, to fetishes was discussed. Almost as if we were trying to outdo each other for embarrassment. I honestly never got embarrassed, but I did get surprised by the nature of some of the questions.

The entire trip would be characterized by an overdose of personal information exchanged between the two of us. We both learned a lot about each other, and I think both were caught somewhat by surprise about what we heard. I honestly didn’t think she was as conservative in certain areas as she was. I can definitely say Dallas is a complex and intriguing lady. I tried to organize a mental map of her in my head, but the coasts ended up looking more like Greece (tons of fingers reaching into the ocean), rather than Florida. I’d comment more, but I always hate telling people things they don’t necessarily know out-of-person when it’s an emotional issue of some sort. Every time I thought I figured her out, she said something to kill my characterization of her. It ends up we share a lot of interests and quirks, which I find very unusual. Maybe because both of us spent so long on BBS’s?

I slept like a baby on Saturday night, and on Sunday we packed up to leave, and had lunch with a bunch of the other folks at a local Chinese buffet. It was good stuff, and the folks from Greensboro (who’s name’s I have forgotten), paid for us! Wow! How cool is that?

We then split, with some folks in a Caravan of busses. As you can see by the final photos of the trip, we broke down again. This time it was fairly simple, just a wire that had come loose from the distributor. You can see my underwear in the photo that Dallas took. I feel like a plumber, suddenly.

All in all, I had a very cool trip, and it’s something I would love to do again. Dallas was a very entertaining, and prepared guest. Had she not had those black waterproof pants for me, I would have been absolutely miserable on Saturday

I hope to see more of Dallas in the future, she’s a lot of fun to hang out with. I also hope that this TaraPaca Cabernet Sauvignon that I’ve been drinking tonight hasn’t killed my already absent sense of discretion that David likes to criticize me for. What an awesome weekend.

Editors note: Dallas corrected me on the spelling of Bryan’s name, so I’ve fixed it in this blog. Sorry if it gets reposed to your feeds