East Coast R32 GTG

      Herbie and Friends

      2^nd East Coast R32 GTG

      Kwik-E-Mart

Kwik-E-Mart

      Bladensburg, MD (7^th July 2007):  My brother’s visit to the grand opening of his local Kwik-E-Mart inspired me to make a stop of my own at my not-so-local Kwik-E-Mart.  It’s only a 40 minute drive, one-way… or it would have been if it hadn’t been for the accident that cost me 20 minutes to travel 0.3 miles.  Ugh.

      I thought it was a little anti-climactic, though.  The drive and pics were fun, but once I walked in the store I lost the feeling of eager anticipation, which kind of makes sense, I guess, since there was no more anticipation.  I couldn’t maintain the level of excitement—how excited can a person get over a redecorated 7-Eleven, anyway? 

      I bought the obligatory sprinkled donuts, a can of Buzz Cola and left.  Still, with the mostly pleasant drive it was a worthwhile trip.

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2^nd East Coast R32 GTG

      Westminster, MD (13-14 May 2006):  Everyone was at EIP Tuning to take a look at everyone’s rides—and to see what goodies the different sponsors were offering ;o)  I don’t know what the final turn-out will be, but today there wasn’t the mad rush and line-up to buy things that I remember from last year.  Maybe it’s because most everyone has already modded their rides as much as they want (or as their wallets allow?). On Sunday there will be breakfast and then a caravan to Summit Point Raceway in West Virginia where I think there are a couple club events that are free for spectators.  I didn’t stay too long.  I just picked up what I wanted then wandered around taking pictures :o)

      Rs with EIP turbos parked in front, with the rest parking on the side and rear of the building.  There were fifteen or so parked in front.

      North American Motorsports had a booth this year, too.  Gomobile had on display an R with an amazing sound system.  With the hatch closed and bass going you could see the rear wiper vibrating to the music :o)

      I wish I was better at remembering names—several of the EIP people recognized me, and I them, but don’t ask me to name them.  I felt a little guilty.

EIP’s Turbo R (Stage 4?)

I really like these wheels!

This is certainly different :o)

What are those two silver thingies beneath the bumper?

I like these wheels, too :o)

How many billet items can you see?

I wonder how much more hp the bear gives….

An example of Gomobile’s work.

Maybe the tow-hook impedes the ‘touch’ method of parallel parking?

Nice wheels, but I like the other two better.

Another sound system.

Eh?!

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Herbie and Friends

      Gaithersburg, MD (27 May 2005): Herbieeeeeee!  Herbie was the first VW I really connected with.  So when I heard that the Herbie and Friends tour would be stopping by a local dealership, I made the time to feed my nostalgia—or renew my obsession, depending on how you look at it.  Besides Herbie, they had Herbie 2.0 (New Beetle), several Karmann Ghias and a couple VW vans.  Oh, yeah, the free food was good, too :o) 

Herbie 2.0!

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East Coast R32 GTG

      Westminster, MD (23 April 2005): This was at EIP Tuning.  Kudos for a great job, though they could certainly have used more sales staff to handle the opening rush.  But I’m not complaining, if I hadn’t had to wait seven hours for my ECU upgrade, I wouldn’t have stuck around for the last door prize drawing…. :o)

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