loss of power, white smoke - another one

read the other similar thread and while it has some good info, I just had something similar happen to my 2005 MKIV Jetta yesterday.

car has 245k miles. been running fine but I don't drive it nearly as much as I had been, so it had been sitting for maybe 2 weeks. Drove it thursday and friday. Saturday afternoon coming back from running errands I make a left turn onto a main road. hear a slight "pop" and then start loosing power. as I turn into the shopping center, I notice huge cloud of white smoke behind me.

have power to go at least 20mph or so and get the car parked. still smoking but not as bad. turn car off, pop hood, don't see anything obvious (leaking fluids, odd noises, etc). Wait a bit and start car again. starts easily, again no obvious engine noises (knocking, etc) but still a lot of white smoke.

didn't have time to really go into it (check coolant, oil, etc) but will go back this evening to check the basics.

without knowing too much about it, my first guesses would be blown turbo, or head gasket?

so here's my questions:

1) what can I check to verify any specific conditions (will check oil level, coolant level)? I don't have a code reader.

2) The car is about 2 miles from my house. I am out of town the next week, so was hoping to drive the car back to my house tonight (under cover of darkness) and deal with it when I get back in town. Would driving it back to the house cause more damage given a range of likely problems with the motor? I have AAA so I could have them tow it to the house, but would like to use the AAA to tow it to a shop once I decide if/when to get it fixed. the jetta is a spare car for us, so maybe doing the work myself, or just selling it as is might be an option (wife has been wanting me to sell it for a while).

thoughts from the peanut gallery?

I would suspect a disconnected booster hose or pipe, but that would create black smoke as this happened to me. Loss of power also due to bottom hose having popped out from the inter cooler. The barbs had worn down.

White smoke = unburned fuel (*no compression or a complete crap spray pattern such as a MISSING injector tip*, no ignition of fuel in the cylinder.)

Black smoke = burned fuel, but poorly (e.g. you have compression but not enough air most of the time.)

White smoke is usually anywhere from somewhat serious to VERY serious trouble.

went and started it up to see what it would do. oil level was low so added some just to see what happens.

car started fine, no smoke. I drove it briefly across the parking lot. as it accelerated, white smoke started again. stopped and let it idle, smoke pretty much went away. came back as I moved the car again. guessing turbo but any other thoughts?

decided to not risk it, having it towed back to my house where I can look at it later on and decide what to do with it..

I'd bet on the turbo, impeller probably came apart, ask me how i know . for a quick test you could pull the elbow pipe off the intake and see if it stops smoking.