The Power of ROOOM

My wife and I spent he weekend in Santa Ynez wine tasting. Wow, was it chilly in the mornings, but after 1 or so, the top came off and we were cruisin' thru the countryside in top down style. Everywhere, and I mean with out fail, we stopped, people wer commenting on the WUX. It's just a head turner, conversation starter, fill in the blank, the car gets noticed.

Putting the top up each evening was kind of a bummer. Anyone figured out how to get the thing on or off without getting filthy dirty? I haven't.

Well after two full days of wine tasting you can imagine how much wine we had in the wayback....we had to put the suitcases in the back seat. So on the way back, the wife wanted to stop at some stores...whoops,

Before I knew it we had purchased a bookcase and a coffe table. Well, the WUX swallowed it all. It just continues to impress.

Oh, I almost forgot...I finally got dirty. My wife's a late sleeper, I am most definately NOT. so Sunday Morning I got up early and decided to go for coffee. The Ranger said Rafugio Road was closed from the pass down to Santa Ynez, but he couldn't say for sure. I decided to go on a scouting mission. The road wasn't that difficult...never got the WUX into 4wd, but it was rocky and bouncy and fun.

What can I saw...government employees

no offense.

I planned my first off road trip in the WUX this past weekend. I did my research, found a route fairly close to where we live, just behind Ojai, CA. I called the Ranger Station because I read you needed a pass to get onto the route. The guy at the ranger station said I could just show up at the visitor center and get a pass. SWEET! So I put the kids in the back for a nice Saturday afternoon of wheelin.

Keep in mind, "the family", consists of three females who've never been out of southern california, and think roughing it is staying at the Holiday Inn instead of The Hyatt. I came from Idaho, roughing it is having to use leaves because you forgot your "mountain money". The wife said she'd try it. The teenage daughter was forced to come "tough love", we call it. The 5 year old has no say. So I'm all excited about finally getting the WUX dirty, everyone else in the car is...let's just say...apprehensive.

We get to the said Visitor Center. The guy at the desk, who had to be as old as the hills surrounding the station proceeds to tell me, "you're not wheelin' today". Apparently, he needs a fax, from the Ranger Station with my Vehicle License, my Name...yada...."Nothing I can do? No amount of money will get me and my family in the hills?", I ask. "A million dollars won't get you on that trail", was the response.....

CRAP!

So I get back to the WUX and relay the bad news....Cheers erupted.....

Now, I'm really determined to change some hearts and minds.....I'll try again soon.

Got the top on just fine

Had to put the top back up last weekend. It's just too cold in the morning now....June Gloom is starting here in the middle of May.

But it was pretty easy.....Logical....had to think about it a little bit...

• how the top was put together
• how the fasteners worked together to form a tight fit...
• what needed to be lined up when before doing what.

I'll do a pictorial next time.

I Have Two Gripes

OK...so far so good. But I have two gripes;

1. Limited Storage Space:

I guess I'm just used to other cars...but I need more places to put stuff that's reachable from the driver's seat. There seems to be a LOT of places they could have put a bin or a cubbie or something.

2. WHAT'S UP WITH THE LOW FUEL LIGHT?!?!?!

yeah, it tells you that you're low on fuel with the little light, like most cars. But it also has this Miles Till Empty counter which estimates how far you can go on the current tank....RIGHT UP UNTIL YOU REALLY NEED IT!.....when you're low on fuel it says "Lo Fuel" ... thank you very much you STUPID CAR!!!!!!!!

OK rant is over.

now THIS is commuting!

This was me all last week...

Driving in traffic...

SMILIN' MY A$$ OFF!

TOP DOWN BABY!!!

It's ON! ... or off...depending on how you look at it

It got really warm here in SoCal starting on Saturday...so the top came down...finally....completely down.

I was taking the kids to a party, the flip top was open...I decided to see if I could add a little more fun to the drive, so I stopped o nthe side of the road and took the windows out...that was fun...but not fun enough. So, before I went into the party, I spent 20 minutes figuring out how to get the top all the way down so we could have sunny "all-z-way-a-round" (remember Hot Dog?).

Any who....a couple mistakes here or there, but it wasn't too tough. What took the longest was figuring out folding pattern. Then I realized the plastic clips basically define where to fold the top, and it was lick-ty after that.

So, now....it ON! the commute is much more enjoyable. It's fun watching the rubber necking. This vehicle is truly one of a kind.

I'll tell you one thing. You can really feel the air masses when the top is off. I commute 40 miles from Thousand Oaks into Century City and I probably go thru 4 or 5 different climate changes in 40 minutes. At my house this morning at 6am it was 69. I crossed over the hill into Westlake and there was a clear demarkation, the temp dropped to 54. once over the Calabasas grade into "the valley" the temp jumped back up to 65, and thru the Sepulveda pass the temp dropped again.

Well, that's the story this week. It's gonna get colder later this week. I'll hold out as long as I can with the top down. Friday it's gonna be near 50 in the morning....that's pretty cold.