Last week, with some sadness and much maneuvering, Marty let go of one of the last holdouts of his twentysomething dreams.  It was the end of an era.  The era called Back in the Day and it was trailered up in our driveway.


A 1969 Volkswagen Bus (or Van, if you prefer) purchased by Marty and his pal Jarrod when they were 26.  They bought it together, making plans about how they would restore it, man, and then hit the road.  They dreamed of the wind of the open road in their hair, nothing between them and the coast but a cooler of beer.  I imagine CCR's Bad Moon Rising playing on the boom box propped up in the back, although that part of the vision is pure fabrication on my part.


But now, thirteen years after the purchase, the bus is still in it's original condition.  Marty and Jarrod are now separated by many states, both have full-time jobs and children and RESPONSIBILITIES.  And the dream has turned dusty.  And rusty.  And a little bit smelly.  So before Marty hauled her off to her last destination, I took a few photos to try to capture her glory.


There's some beauty in rust like this.  More so in photographs than on your actual car, but beauty nonetheless.


Same thing with two-tone paint.  It looks kind of interesting here, but becomes LESS interesting when explaining why it's not just all one color to your children.


I'm not sure how many actual miles this van racked up over the years.  As I looked at the odometer I imagined that it would spin like a slot machine if I fired up the van.  How many miles?  Nobody knows!


The inside didn't contain actual seats, but it had plenty of ROOM for seats.  Or whatever.  Like that table in the back.  It came with the van and has a checkerboard printed on the top.  I'm sure that's what appealed to Marty and Jarrod, the thought of playing chess on the road.  In this photo you can also see that this van was fitted with an aftermarket aromatherapy system - the box of Bounce dryer sheets I threw in the back.  I like to think it helped.


The front seat needed a bit of work too.  But the seats were THERE, and I think that gave the boys a sense of OPTIMISM.


The van came with a standard air cooling system - the hole in the floor near the gas pedal.  It fills the van air with excitement for what might happen.  Will the floor hold?  WHO KNOWS?


And the hubcap, which Marty could imagine hanging on a wall as a decoration just as easily as he could see it on a wheel.  I can hardly blame him, it does look awfully COOL.


And as the bus made its way to the junkyard, carrying with it the end of an era, an email arrived for Marty to let him know that it's okay to let go of those Twentysomething dreams.  It's time to focus on the Fortysomething dreams and pre-order the car for the next stage of his life.  Only this one won't require any fixing up and goes a whole lot faster than the bus even on its very best day.