The Cruise Starts
The next morning (Sunday) some 80-100 cars gathered for the official start. The news helicopter was out there to record the event. Scott explained how to get us all out on the freeway and we were off. We were a bit concerned that our trip through the Los Angeles area would get tricky with all of the interchanges and freeway changes that were in store for us but the Sunday morning traffic proved light and we made it to the mountains as a group. On 
the trip to the summit a few cars fell back and as we crested we heard that Rachel was broken down but thankfully had our trip mechanic with her to help diagnose the problem. Our lunch stop was in Barstow where 'Hot Dog' Fred grilled brats for the hungry crowd. Mary had to head home from here and we had previously arranged for her to go with Jeff Gillaland. So Dave Whitaker would be my partner from here on out. After lunch a number of cars left us and we took off with about a dozen hard core VW owners.
Then disaster struck. We had made a long gradual pull up a desert mountain and were about 40 miles from Needles when I lost power and had to pull over. I was leading the cruise heading for a major photo op with Disney and Nextel in Oatman, Arizona when this happened so I asked Steve and Deanna to take the lead. After a fruitless peak at the engine I decided to push on hoping that the problem was minor and would go away as the engine cooled down. Before long I pulled into a convenient rest stop where we discovered that the rocker studs had broken off on #3/4 cylinder.
But that wasn't my only concern. I had to reach the others ahead to get them off the freeway and headed to Oatman. Oatman had been chosen during our planning as a place we could get out onto old Route 66 and off the freeway for awhile. Disney and Nextel had scheduled photo ops so it was imperative for the cruise to get there.
With that taken care of I turned my attention to finding repair parts and then to getting towed to Kingman, AZ where we would be spending the night. The AIRS list helped us get ahold of Ronny who interrupted his Sunday to go down and break apart a ratio rocker kit so that I could have the studs. Brent Carter took off to pick up the parts while I made arrangements for my tow.
But as I was to find out my troubles had only started. The tow truck finally arrived as the sun hung over the mountain we had just crested. He said he could only take me as far as Needles. I countered that with my 100 mile AAA plan I should be able to go to Kingman. He explained that there were many more people waiting to be picked up on this hot day and offered to drop me off at the first gas area inside Arizona. I relented because I knew that Brent would need to go right by there on his way from picking up the parts. Since Brent didn't have a phone I called Ronnie back and told him to have Brent meet me there. By the time I got dropped off in Arizona the sun had set and the tarmac at the gas station was turning into a spooky place. Here's the account I wrote following that night:
A Thousand Stick Beetles
Under the false light of the Pilot station a thousand black stink beetles wandered with singular purpose across the tarmac while grasshoppers and moths ruled the skies. After the second grasshopper invaded the car I rolled the windows up. Occasionally a grasshopper would land on the blacktop and a confrontation would quickly develop between the lone grasshopper and the swarm of huge stink beetles. I looked longingly at the Wendy's at the other end of the pavement. But this was shortly after the thumb in the chili incident so even that haven didn't seem as inviting as it once might have. Time ticked away and I began to notice that the inside of my windshield was filling with gnats. Great, another insect to deal with! Where could Brent be with my parts? A couple disappointing hours later I settled for a tow into Kingman where I would at least be able to link up with the rest of the travelers and hope for the best. Freed from the twilight zone at the Pilot station I found a handful of cruisers tossing a few beers in the parking lot of the Best Western. And soon after I arrived Brent showed up with the rocker studs I needed to get back on the road. After the evening I’d had I was in no mood to work on the car but the others had longer to unwind and were in a better mood and insisted on getting right to work. With Frenchy and Blair doing the work all I had to do was hand them the tools. So after that depressing breakdown on the first day out I was back in line with the rest of the cruisers for day 2 of our cross country trek.