Early morning sights and sounds from the Volkswagen Show

It's 6:30 am and even though it's summer, the sun is still hiding behind the gray clouds. I've been awake for almost an hour now. As I sit on our OSCAR cooler and listen to the sounds of early morning --complete with a snoring contest in the surrounding tents-- I see the first van door slide open and a groggy person crawl out. Most of the people who had planned on camping left when the worst of the rain hit, so the field is pretty empty. (We didn't leave but instead used the falling wetness as an opportunity to play rain Frisbee. The shelter we had bought to protect us from the 90 degree sun had proven to be a poor rain guard, so what other choice did we have? In fact, I'm not certain those that cowered under it to stay dry ended up any less wet than us crazy fools out in the rain.)

Our part's peddler neighbors who left when the second storm hit have just returned. They seem less drunk than when they left, but the day is still young. They laugh as they empty the water out of the bins of heads and gaskets and hoses. They'll have a few hours before the crowds arrive to dry out the parts. (Are water-logged engine parts easy to sell? They are if you leave out the water-logged part.)

The poor lady that had to follow me into the porta-jon seems to have recovered. The guy who followed her? Not doing so well. It seems a light rain has started to fall, because the words I just wrote seem to be running together. (Hope they make sense when I go to type them.)

Jim, the owner of the shop hosting this event, is humming around on a golf cart. Part trash gathering, part BS'ing with the half dozen people up this early.

My friend Brad is still sleeping on the ground under the screen-sided shelter. His signature mohawk rising high on the pillow. I wonder how wet he is? (Speaking of wet, I hope the campstove lights or those pancakes and coffee we brought aren't going to see the light of day.)

The old man in the Vanagon is up. He doesn't seem to be a morning person; grumbling something like, "Where's my dang coffee pot?" Those type of people make me laugh.

The guy who dared drive a honda to a VW show is up. I think I'll make it a point to walk by him later wearing my Honda Eater (complete with the VW symbol split apart in classic Pac-Man pose ready to chomp on the honda symbol.)

The clouds seemed to have tricked the rooster at the farm down the road. He just crowed for the first time.

An old Bug is pulling in with it's distinctive tapping engine. That should wake some people up. Yep. The guys in the Bus next to us are stirring. Brad's still snoring though. It woke up Brandon, the guy who gave us Yingling last night. His 6'2" frame is stretching out cramped muscles from spending the night in a new Beetle.

The distinctive orange and white striping of the loan Westfalia Bus is popping up over by the main tent. What a visual beauty that is.

The man in the purple bug who left it here last night is wiping down the curved fenders. Can't have water spots at a car show, now can we?

Oh dear!. The lady across the filed should not be wearing shorts like that. I don't care if this place is teaming with love-filled hippies, even hippies don't want to see that.

The two hour cleaning I did on my GTI seemed to have paid off; it's still shining in the falling rain. The inside got wet last night but it still looks good too.

The coffee guy is doing better, someone shared their joe with him.

I think I'm going to pack a bowl of Blue Diamond in my Peterson and walk around. Maybe bum some coffee. Yeah that sounds good.

The best bumper sticker I saw yesterday: Who are the Dead and why do they keep following me?