Well folks,

It's over again. The fat lady has sung.

bURNINGvAN 2009 is now history.

Sigh.

Cast of thousands and as usual I can only remember a few names and facts:

17 vans [counting transporters and BenT does], I think, and most of them
were syncros. Must have thought it was Syncro de Jano.

Da Dah! Bill from Stockton and his son came, with a case. We weren't sure it
was magnesium. It was. Said Bill and his son beat it to pieces with a
sledge he just happened to have around. Threw a piece on the fire and pretty
soon the fire was MUCH brighter. Hmm. He also brought Gumbo. I couldn't eat
any for a couple of reasons but it smelled great. Bill son took lots of
pictures so maybe he'll post them. I didn't take any pictures as I forgot to
bring my camera that's sitting on the floor next to me ready to go.

There was beer. Did you know people of French Canadian origin drink Millers?
True story. Ask Christian.

BenT was everywhere, glad handing the crowds, exuding charm, hail fellow
well met and all that. Unfortunately he wasn't doing it at Ocean Beach which
is where we were. To add insult to insult he showed up as everything was
winding down in a 2000 Routan! Gack. At least he brought Tina so not all was
lost.

Jeff from San Anselmo showed up just to tell me to get out of the way. Did I
mention it was a beautiful day and the parking lot was very crowded? Well,
it was and I was blocking the driveway with some help from a woman in car
going the wrong way down a one way isle. Sigh.

Stephen from Sacramento was there with a 1.8 turbo chipped and exhaust
modded to 240 hp. Beautiful installation. It pained me to learn he gets
better gas mileage than my stock 2.1. Double sigh.

John drove over from Utah to grace us with his presence. Says he does the
drive periodically, starting in the evening, driving late and finishing the
next day. Didn't say why he was living in Utah but local warrants may be
involved. May not.

Bag pipes were playing. People were cooking and had organized parties. But
not us. True to our code we had no planning or organization. And it showed.

I showed in a red syncro courtesy of Paul at Valley Wagon Werks in San
Rafael. My syncro was none vanus goeus. Which I think is Latin for fuel
pump. Hope so since I ordered a new one.

BenT knew who owned the transporters but I never did. Two soft tops and a
hard top from Sweden, the vehicles not the owners.

Till next year [and we have half a case left over]

Mike