[T3] Madera show

[Greg Merritt <gregm@vwtype3.org>]

	Wow, what a good time!

	I washed the Squareback Saturday morning.  Waiting for it to dry
all the way out before waxing, I had a go at installing an am/fm 1980s(?)
pushbutton radio in place of the original AM-only Sapphire.  My first
surprise was that the center button/dial pod didn't fit through the metal
mount.  Bummer.  I also have a plastic under-dash mount, but it's not
substantial enough to support the radio.  I didn't have time to work out
an additional support, so I reinstalled the original Sapphire.

	I got the Square waxed up and we packed up sleeping bags, the
tent, and some munchies.  We headed out around 3pm on Saturday, and showed
up at the Madera fairgrounds around 7ish.  Looked like a splitty bus show.
;)

	Ten bucks got us our space on the lawn for the night.  We hadn't
been there more than an hour, and one of the bus guys asked if I was
interested in an early square rear hinge cover w/ light.  Oooh, one of the
things on my shopping list, and it found *me*.  Good omen.

	My kid and I just slept in the back of the Square instead of
bothering with the tent.  I'm about 5'10", which turns out to be a couple
of inches too long to sleep comfortably if you can't use the space
diagonally.  *Must* get some sleep-in extenders.  Aside from a bit of a
stiff neck, it was too hot the first couple of hours with the latent heat
from the engine!  The night was pleasantly cool, probably upper 40sF or
so, but we had the popouts open most of the time.  Oh, and I woke up once
at about 2:30am, looked out, and saw a gorgeous T34 that hadn't been there
when I'd gone to sleep.  (Must figure out how to repeat that magical
appearance at home some day.) 

	Up before 7am, and the show was getting set up.  The organizers
are very laid back... we drove up to the entrance from the inside, paid
our five bucks for show entry, got our dash plaque and event schedule, and
were directed where to park.  "Just go down there, those guys will show
you where to park.  You can just park by your buddies or whatever, it's
not grouped by classes."

	We pulled in next to what I considered to be two of the finest
cars of the show -- or at least two of my favorites:  a silver 1950s Type
I Ghia and a 1964 T34, both from Oxnard CA.  They had pulled in about 1am
on Saturday night.

	We cruised the swap meet as people were gradually setting up.  It
was a good swap weekend for me.  I picked up somebody's unused large
cooling air intake boot, and before I could say anything the seller said
"two bucks".  That was easy.  $45 later I had an L distributor w/ trigger
points, a nice '69-only RF fender (sorry east coast folks!), a box full of
a dozen seat belts, *and* an already-hacked radio mounting bracket for my
AM/FM radio.  Cha-ching! 

	We registered for the show in the stock Type III class.  You get
two ballots with each registration.  Emily had brought some of her best
toys, so she entered a nice deep purple Ghia in the toy competition.
Another easy five bucks for that registration (for a toy that cost $3,
haha), and another two ballots for the entry!

	Emily and I had our work cut out for us, as there were maybe a
couple of hundred cars arranged randomly.  21 categories in all.  It kind
of went like this... "ooh, ok, here's a '68+ custom Bus.  I like it fine,
it's pretty clean, and don't recall seeing another in this category that I
like better.  It gets my vote!"

	There were several cars entered in the custom Type III class. 
These included a way low slammed Fasty, a nice blue Square (I think it won
best interior?), a blue notch with red flames up front and a big motor in
the back, and John's turbo monster (sleeper is *not* the word).  At the
end of the show, as we were leaving, I saw another T34 and a couple of
Fasties.  (Latecomers?)

	I chatted with a number of Type III people and let them know about
the list.  A woman with a '72 Squareback in the works at home said that
"it had an engine fire because of the fuel injection."  Sigh.  I was very
polite.

	There was an astro jump/bounce house set up for the kids, and a
coloring contest by age range.  Food items were $1 or $2 apiece, not $3-$5
each like most shows.  There was also a banana-eating contest for the
kids, as well as a hotwheels race (side-by-side downhill track, sudden
death elimination).  I skipped the engine blow, but if an engine blow is
the "worst" part of the show, then they've really got something.  You
could hear yourself think over the piped-in music, and they even had a
live rock'n'rollish band that played in the middle of the day.  

	The show was on grass, and plenty of room.  It was funny -- at
Kelley Park a couple of weeks ago, it was "can you pull in a little closer
to the car next to you?"  At Madera it was "you can pull over and give
yourself some more room if you want."  Plenty of trees for shade, too.  It
was also nice to see lots of cars from down south, as I've been seeing a
lot of the same cars at the KP/Vallejo/Sacto shows.

	Oh, and Emily got 3rd place in the toy competition out of nine or
ten entries.  I think she grew an inch when they called her name as a
plaque winner.  She took the Ghia and the plaque to school today for
show-and-tell.  Our Squareback got 2nd place in stock Type III, which was
also last place in stock Type III. :)  I tell ya, the stock Type III class
seems to be wide open at a lot of these CA shows.

	We did a straight shot all the way home, a little over two and a
half hours.  It was a bit breezy, but not terrible.  As we headed west
through the pass at Livermore we lost that central valley sun and heat for
dark clouds and rain in the east bay.  Em slept about half of the ride
home, which was good as she was pretty beat.

	This is now my one and only must-attend show of the year.  We
should get a Type III list contingent to go next year; make it an annual
California listee meet.  (Er, though I'm going to try to bring a Beetle
next year, but that's another story!)

-Greg

p.s. -- we're not going to make Paso Robles this Saturday, but I *may*
head up to Vallejo on Sunday.  I'll be saving my pennies and parking
outside if I do go.

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