2015 Ranch Run
A few weeks ago, Nick Lettini of Sacramento's venerable Independent Eurocar repair shop, Frank's Automotive (shameless plug), told me about an event he was sponsoring called the 2015 Ranch Run. I'd never heard of it, but I was intrigued. What could be better than spending a beautiful Sunday afternoon loitering around some European cars (um, nothing says me)? So I slathered my 8 year old son Vince in sunscreen, charged my camera batteries and headed to Ride to Walk, a picturesque patch of Lincoln California, for the event.
Little did I know, we were in for quite a treat....
There was lots of food, live music, gearhead families, Ride to Walk demonstrations, phenomenal weather and hundreds of Volkswagens of every shape, size, age and color to explore. The event was preceded by a swap meet on Saturday morning and 300+ VW caravan that departed from Niello VW earlier Sunday morning.
Everything was well organized on the sprawling grounds of Ride to Walk, where most days children and young adults with neurological disabilities take part in therapeutic horseback riding activities with volunteers, their parents/caregivers and their community. The event has been held since 2007 and has raised thousands for the organization. We were all treated to riding demonstrations in the morning, and the inspiring display set the stage for a superb afternoon for all who attended. If you are curious about Ride to Walk, please visit their site ridetowalk.org and feel free to donate or get involved.
I suppose one could boil a description of the event and say it was a VW show...and that would be true, no doubt. But VWs, have some pretty hardcore devotees and, of course, their fanatics. This event make it abundantly clear that the world of the VW fan is indeed a rich and wonderful place to exist. Air cooled, water cooled, bagged and slammed, raised with knobbies, crusty, rusty, shiny and faded, chopped, lots of negative camber and even a little positive, but more than anything else, the foundation was the (be)loved and respected and mostly humble Volkswagen automobile. More than a car featured in an event....in many examples, the VW is a platform for its owner's expression and artistic and mechanical abilities. Not just "cars," but movable art or maybe the low slung rolling embodiment of cool and sometimes just examples of utilitarian transportation. Rather than try to dazzle you with more verbal puffery, I'll focus your attention to some of the images I captured.
I hope you enjoy my small glimpse into the assault on the senses that the Ranch Run provided, and by all means, make sure it's on your calendar of events next year for sure.
-Andrew
A young lady showed us how it's done.
This young man knew what he was doing.
Swap meet bargain hoodie?