Mr. Will's Wild Ride

This past weekend we traveled to Solvang (near Santa Barbara) for a vintage VW car show. This was a very important weekend since it was Will's first show to debut his 1952 ragtop VW beetle he has been restoring for the past 7 years. To make the weekend even more memorable, Will took home First Place in his class! This was an amazing accomplishment since he was up against very tough competition. Everyone was very impressed with the quality and accuracy of the restoration. I was SO proud of him. He truly deserved this award since he put in so many hours restoring his car, rebuilding it from the ground up, and returning it to it's original glory.


Will had the awesome experience to drive his VW from San Jose to Solvang in a caravan of 12 different old VW's. Considering he has a 25 horespower engine in a 58-year old car, this was going to be quite a trip, but his car made it flawlessly to Solvang. The drive each way took 10-11 hours, but with frequent stops for rest and to sight see. You can't be in much of a hurry when all the cars have a 25 or 36 horsepower engine!


Kate, my mom, and I drove a more direct route to Solvang and arrived in 6.5 hours Friday night. Kate was amazing in the car...she slept for only one hour, but we kept her entertained with snacks, Elmo DVD's and books.


Below are some pictures from Will's drive and the car show.


6:45 AM Friday morning, gassed up and ready to go. The black 1946, Will's 1952 and the green 1952 "splits" only have 25hp! Top speed: 102kph (Although Will pushed it to 110kph on some of the long downhill stretches of Highway 101)



One of the many rest stops

Proud owner!

We took this picture right after he won first place. We were so excited! So many people came up to Will to shake his hand and tell him that they loved his car and voted for it.

During the show, Gramma and Kate hung out in the shade to stay cool. It reached over 100 degrees! It was very hot! Our silly little girl.

Kate and Mommy. Kate refused to look directly at the camera. :-)

Here is Will's split next to a very nice 1954 "oval" at the King Frederick Inn

On the way home from Solvang, Will drove his VW back in the caravan of cars. They took Highway 1, enjoying the coastal views along the way. My mom, Kate and I took a little detour to Fresno and visited Will's dad for the night. We had a wonderful time hanging out with Dedushka and Grammalene.

Yet another stop for refreshments & a photo opportunity

What a long way to drive in such an old car

The Solvang vintage meet is only held every other year, and we are already planning on doing the drive again. This time with both of us in the car together!