If we're honest, this year's Kreuzerfest was an unknown quantity. It's our traditional caravan to Waterfest and we'd been working with Volkswagen of America to again use its Herndon, VA headquarters as the starting point. Unfortunately, things had come together at the last minute and word got out late. So inevitably, we were concerned about how many would make the journey with us, and how many would share the delicious breakfast VWoA had provided.
Yet despite this and the forecast of rain, we were delighted to find sunshine and a crowd of people ready to embark.
Before leaving, we took a wander around the new corporate headquarters of VW and Audi North America. The purpose-built offices were under construction last year, so this was our chance to check it out properly. It's fronted by display space on the ground floor for the latest products, including accessories. We also found a small relaxation area off the main floor, but it was only a brief distraction before tucking into the breakfast bagels, pastries and fruit generously provided by VWoA for the registered Kreuzerfest participants.
Once we were fed and gathered in front of headquarters, Andres Valbuena of VWoA gave a welcoming speech to drivers. We then set out on the journey to Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ for Waterfest 15. With a brief stop for lunch in Maryland along the way, we were surprised to see the group stay tightly packed on the freeways. This caused a certain amount of consternation among the regular traffic but it all passed off without incident.
Although we'd been unable to secure the traditional road course finale to Kreuzerfest '09, a few lucky individuals did complete some laps of the track after all, rounding out another memorable drive to the biggest VW show in the US.
We were able to film parts of Kreuzerfest '09 before the batteries expired in our GoPro video camera, so wht not visit www.eurotuner.com for the exclusive video.
 |  Striped Mk6 Golf TDI alongside...  Striped Mk6 Golf TDI alongside five-door GTI with matte Wolfsburg roof wrap |  Adam Barb's clean '09 Rabbit...  Adam Barb's clean '09 Rabbit with Mercedes CL63 rims, Thunder Bunny kit and full stereo |