As first discussed in our most recent #roadtrip post, we got to play around in and w/ 1967 VW Beetle.  What makes this beyond exciting for us as Road and Snack, is that this car I grew up in, literally.   This is the car that started it all.

As a child, I would sit in what we dubbed “the way way back.” That little pocket of room where you can stuff 2 or 3 bags of groceries… My grandfather and I would zip around Glastonbury CT, get the dry cleaning, get some booze from Carl in South Glastonbury, pop over to the Connecticut River and throw some rocks, cruise up Route 2 to Portland, most of the time with no plan a all.  The childhood memories are endless.  This car, these experiences is why I am such a car person today.

Now, as an adult with an 18 month old, who someday will ride in “the way way back” it is a whole different type of experience.  As a father your focus shifts, your priorities change, your whole world changes.  Its not about me, its about him. And to share the same experiences, the same leather seat(s), the same engine and exhaust noise, the same smells with him… literally makes me smile, gives me goosebumps and chokes me up.  To most, you can’t explain why a car does this, sometimes cars aren’t just for getting you from point A to B… They just aren’t, they are so much more.

So we took the Robins Egg beetle around town, we took it to the farm stand, we zipped past a few farms, the town general store, the elementary school and back up to the house.  The windows were open, all of the gears were used, the mud flaps dragging on the ground as we drove along over bumps.  The beetle is for driving, and that is what we did.  The chrome looks great, the paint is immaculate, its just a great car.

As the quick drive was over and I exited the bug, I reached back and patted ‘the way way back” seat and smiled.  See you again in a few years old friend.

Road and Snack