[T3] Type 34 Karmann Ghia Road trip to Las Vegas...

[John Jaranson]

Answers and additional info below….

> On Oct 15, 2025, at 1:19 AM, jadney at vwtype3.org wrote:
> 
> John & Jill,
> 
> Well, that certainly WAS quite a photobomb! I was pleased to see the Blue 
> Swallow motel, where we have stayed a number of times. Did you meet the 
> shy dog in the office? Did you notice the dial style phones in each room?

Yup, we met the dog and the rotary phones were cool.  It was good to hear a real dial tone again after so many years. LOL

> 
> Did you eat at the place on the same main road, about a block east and on 
> the other side of the road? Did you notice the John Madden shrine there? ;-)  

We ate at Del’s just down the street.  Food was great.  Didn’t see a John Madden shrine, though.

> 
> What was that garage-like place Karmen was parked in? Must be at the Blue 
> Swallow, but I never saw that space.

The room we had at the Blue Swallow had a garage for your car.  Most of the rooms there did.  Not sure how folks in the 50s got those large American cars in those small spaces, but the Ghia fit nicely. <g>

> 
> What town is the Blue Swallow in?

Tucumcari, NM

> 
> I never saw/noticed the Midpoint Cafe. I'll have to watch for Adrian, TX.

We just did a drive-by.  We did not stop at the MidPoint Cafe, but it was open.  Pretty easy to find as there is not much in Adrian, TX and the Cafe is right off the exit.

> 
> OF COURSE, I've stood on the corner in Winslow, Arizona. Melissa being 
> the teenibopper she was, wouldn't have had it any other way.

I remember stopping there on our caravan to the Prescott Valley Invasion.

> 
> Who has the white Type 34 convertible? That wasn't Lee's was it? I don't 
> remember his being white. One of your photos says 6 out of 8 Type 34s, but 
> most of your photos only show 5. What happened to the other 3?

The white convertible is Pedro Sainz’s perfect reproduction of the the original 1962 prototype convertibles by Karmann.  Working top and all.  Just a gorgeous car.  Lee’s convertible was Ruby Red and was really a roadster as the top was just the cover when it was down.  There was no top mechanism under it.  Lee had the two-tone Blue 62 a t the show.  The oldest Type 34 in the world and restored to perfection in every detail.  Only the 5 of us made the tour of the Red Rocks Canyon.  Bill T. has the dark blue greek-themed Type 34 and he was the show host and was too busy to make the cruise.  Jack Fisher brought the 68 RH-Drive Automatic with Electric Sunroof up for the show and to deliver it to Bill T. Who bought it.  Jack arrived just as we were heading out and the car needed a little tuning so it didn’t make the cruise.  One other Type 34 showed up late on Friday or Saturday morning and wasn’t n the cruise.

> 
> Looks like a good crowd. Several faces looked familiar, but I could only put 
> names to the obvious two.

Counterclockwise from the bottom right:  Me, Jill, Briton’s mechanic friend (sorry don’t remember his name), Pedro, Lee, Briton Earle, Mike Denhaan, Judy and Jack Fisher, and Errol Farmer and family.

> 
> At this moment I'm in a motel in Bethany, MO, headed west to Tucson to visit 
> our daughter. With a little luck, I may manage to find the Midpoint Cafe.

Have a fun and safe trip….

> 
> Jim
>