SO WE HAD BEEN DREAMING OF BUYING AN OLD SCHOOL BUS OR VAN AND HITTING THE ROAD FOR AWHILE, ALMOST AS SOON AS WE MET. JUST AS A DAY DREAM, A MAYBE HOW COOL, KIND OF IDEA. THEN IT'S FUNNY HOW THE UNIVERSE WILL GIVE YOU EXACTLY WHAT YOU ASK FOR SOMETIMES. WE ENDED UP MOVING OUT OF OUR HOUSE IN TAHOE CALIFORNIA AND SOMEHOW BECAME THE ALMOST GROUNDS MEN FOR THIS MILLION DOLLAR HOME IN TAHOE. CRAZY. WE LIVED THERE FOR A YEAR THINKING WE WERE ABOUT TO BUY A PIECE OF LAND AND START BUILDING A DREAM HOME. WE WOULD LIVE IN OUR PULL BEHIND CAMPER AND IT WOULD BE GREAT. THEN ADAM FOUND A SCHOOL BUS IN ILLINOIS THAT SUMMER, AND BOUGHT IT RIGHT UP. WE LEFT IT IN ILLINOIS TILL WE COULD DRIVE BACK WITH OUR PACK AND START TO CONVERT IT TO A HOUSE. AND THEN WE FOUND ANOTHER BUS... AND IT WAS EVEN MORE PERFECT. SO WE DROVE TO THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT AND CASH IN HAND BOUGHT OUR 2ND BUS IN ONE YEAR.
EXCEPT THE 2ND BUS WE FOUND WAS PERFECT. THE RIGHT LENGTH, THE RIGHT HEIGHT (WE CAN BOTH STAND AND WE'RE BOTH OVER 6') AND SHE HAS A 7.3 INTERNATIONAL MOTOR. IN EVERY WAY, FOR EVERYONE. SO WE STARTED WORK I THINK LITERALLY THE NEXT DAY. WE WERE SO GIDDY. WE TORE THE SEATS ON, STRIPPED THE VINYL SEATS, ADDED A WATER LINE AND POWER, AND BEGAN BUILDING OUR HOME AND SHOP ALL IN ONE.
THE MILLION DOLLAR HOUSE ENDED UP SELLING AND THIS MEANT WE SORT OF NEEDED TO MOVE INTO THE BUS A.S.A.P. SO WE DID. WE PARKED HER IN OUR SHOP PARKING LOT AND LUCKILY WE HAVE ALL THE BEST SHOP NEIGHBORS AND DIDNT COMPLAIN ABOUT US BEING HOBOS THERE FOR 2 WEEKS. WE WOULD WAKE UP WITH THE SUN BEFORE ANYONE GOT THERE AND START CRANKING ON THE BUS AND STOP LONG AFTER THE SUN WENT DOWN. AND IN ONLY A COUPLE OF MONTHS WE FINISHED.
WE DROVE DOWN TO SACRAMENTO FOR OUR FIRST TEST RUN TO HELP A FRIEND REBUILD THEIR HOUSE FOR A WEEK. WE DIDNT HAVE THE BUS PAINTED YET BUT THE PREVIOUS OWNER HAD VERY POORLY SPRAY PAINTED THE WORD SCHOOL OUT WITH RED SPRAY PAINT, NEEDLESS TO SAY IT LOOKED MAYBE A LITTLE GHETTO. AND PEOPLE CALLED AND COMPLAINED ABOUT OUR BUS PARKED ON THE ROAD EVERY DAY. EVERY. DAY. WE SLEPT AT A CAMPGROUND FOR THE WEEK AND GOT MAULED BY MOSQUITOS.
WE GOT BACK TO TAHOE TO SAY OUR OFFICIAL GOOD BYES AND FINISHED THE FINAL TOUCHES ON THE BUS. WE SPENT A COUPLE DAYS SCRUBBING, SANDING, AND PAINTING THE ENTIRE OUTSIDE, AND THEN FINALLY SHE WASNT SO GHETTO BUT BEAUTIFUL AND CLEAN. AND THEN WE WERE OFF.
WE COULD ONLY GO 55 BECAUSE THERE IS A GOVERNOR ON THE TRANSMISSION, SO THAT A SCHOOL BUS CANT SPEED. AND MYLES, OUR DOG GETS REALLY CAR SICK AND DEHYDRATES HIMSELF SO WE CAN ONLY DRIVE FOR ABOUT 2-3 HOURS A DAY. SO IT TOOK US A BIT OF TIME TO MAKE IT TO ILLINOIS. BUT WE MADE IT THERE. AND SHE DID GREAT.
WE DROVE THROUGH NEVADA, THE UTAH WHERE WE MET SOME COOL ESCAPED MORMANS WHO GAVE US THE LOW DOWN ON THE RELIGION AND WHAT THE RULES WERE REALLY, SINCE WE HAD BURIED OUR CERAMIC COFFEE MUG WITH A BOWL ON IT IN NEVADA BEING TERRIFIED OF UTAHS HARSH RULES. WE DRANK BEERS AND LAID ON THE BEACH ALL DAY TALKING ABOUT UTAH AND THE WORLD AND IT WAS SO NICE. THEY SHARED THEIR LOCAL BEERS WITH US, AND WE smoked WEED WITH THEM ON THE BUS and talked about all the great things about summer. AND SAID GOODBYE AS THE SUN WAS JUST GETTING READY TO SETTLE.
ONWARD AGAIN, TO THE NEXT STATE.
WE STILL DONT AGREE WITH ALOT OF UTAHS LAWS THOUGH.
WE STAYED AT A LOT OF TRUCK STOPS BLM LAND. SOME WERE BEAUTIFUL SPOTS, SOME I COULDNT SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT. BUT ONCE WE HAD OUR CURTAINS DOWN, DINNER GOING, AND A MOVIE ON WE NEVER FELT LIKE WE WERENT HOME. WHICH IS A CRAZY FEELING TO FEEL TRUELY AT HOME, ANYWHERE YOU COULD GO.
WE FOUND A MAJESTIC SPOT IN WYOMING, WE FOUND WILD STRAWBERRIES, PEAS, LAMBS QUARTERS, AND MUSHROOMS (WE COULDN'T EAT ANY OF THOSE.) WE STAYED THERE TWO NIGHTS BECAUSE IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL. WE WENT ON LONG DEEP HIKES THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS AND MEADOWS AND SWEATED ALOT.
ON OUR HOME STRETCH TO ILLINOIS WE HAD TO FLAG DOWN AN OLD MAN IN A GIANT OLD RV PULLING BEHIND A JEEP THAT HAD CAUGHT FIRE. WE STOPPED THE BUS AND ADAM RAN INTO ACTION. HE GRABBED ALL THE FIRE EXTINGUISHERS WE HAD AND STARTED ASSERTING THE OLD CONFUSED MAN INTO ACTION TO DISCONNECT HIS CAMPER BEFORE IT TOO CAUGHT FLAME. WE USED 3 EXTINGUISHERS, GOT THEM FAR AWAY ENOUGH FROM THE ENGULFED VEHICLE AND CONTINUED ON OUR WAY WATCHING FIRE TRUCKS FLY DOWN THE INTERSTATE. WHAT A CRAZY RUSH.
YOU CAN HEAR ALL THE HORRIBLE THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN OUR WORLD EVERY DAY, BUT WHEN YOURE APART OF IT AND FOCUSING ON THE POSITIVE THINGS, YOU CAN SEE THE WORLD ALOT DIFFERENT. PEOPLE AS A WHOLE ARE INCREDIBLE AND LOVING, AND WILL ALWAYS LOOK FOR A SENSE OF COMMUNITY. SEEING SO MUCH OPEN LAND AND DIFFERENT WORLDS ALL IN OUR ONE COUNTRY IS WILD.
FROM ILLINOIS WE HEADED TOWARD NASHVILLE TENNESSEE, TO SEE THE HOUSE WE HAD JUST BOUGHT TO REMODEL. AND HERE WE ARE.
WE WILL BE ADVENTURING BACK OVER TO OUR SHOP IN TAHOE CALIFORNIA AROUND NOVEMBER.