November is half over already – how did that happen?  I spent a lot of time last week scrubbing walls and cleaning around the windows, as well as the glass itself.

It took some trial and error to find the best medium to get the foam to stick to the walls, but the cement we eventually purchased seems to be doing the trick.  David got more brackets to install the frame for mounting the chests at the foot of the bed.

Coming soon, the completion of my decoupage chest.  I’m putting the second coat of Ultra Gloss Epoxy on today.

Enjoy!

After 34 years of marriage – over 25 of them spent living in homes with cellars, garages, and in one case, an attic – David and I have accumulated a whole lot of “stuff”.  Much of it is our own, and some is from stored belongings of our parents, things they couldn’t use but didn’t want to throw away, often inherited from their parents or other family members.   The great thing about this is that over the years, we have frequently been able to go shopping in our cellar when we needed something.

• Broke the carafe from the kitchen coffeemaker?  There is an old, mini 4-cup one downstairs.
• Motor burned out in the Blender?  Isn’t there one in the cellar?

Etcetera, etcetera.

This is largely the case in our bus conversion.

If I haven’t stated this directly, here it is:  we are doing phase 1 of this conversion on a very low budget.

The thing is, if we keep waiting until we have saved up “enough” money to finance this project, it will never happen.

So, here are the financials so far:

• Bus Seats: sold on eBay for $500
• Scrap Metal: 3 loads taken to recycling center for a total of just over $250

That $750 has been put back into the foam tiles for the floor and miscellaneous tools – saw bits, drill bits and the rest applied to the cost of the Nature’s Head toilet.

The rest of our conversion construction materials are coming out of the house, and even the backyard.

All the scrap wood that David and I have been climbing over in the cellar will make up at least 50% to 75% of the lumber for the project.

Over the foam tiles, we will be placing assorted area rugs.  We have a lovely, brand new Berber for our bedroom area (OK, the small amount of empty space at the foot of our bed), remnants of the carpet laid in our smallest bedroom, and stored in the cellar since the house was built 20 years ago.

We have several large area rugs that will go in the middle and front sections of the bus. All are pictured.

We inherited 2 cedar chests from my family – one was my grandmother’s and it suffered some water damage in our cellar a few years ago.  The other was my mother’s, and we’ve been using it at the foot of our bed for the past 10 years.  Neither is in perfect condition, but they are both totally functional, and the chest in the cellar was loosing its veneer laminate on the top.  We plan to use them in the bus, to anchor the bed in place and serve as storage for our clothes.

I decided to decoupage the top of the water-damaged chest.  I have several magazines with Island/Coastal Living/Florida Beach themes, so it took me about 20 minutes to rip out enough pages of photos that appeal to me.  Another 30 – 45 minutes to trim them up, and I have all my decoupage art pictures ready to go.

I used a razor, scraper/putty knife and a steak knife to get the rest of the veneer off the chest lid.  Today I will sand the top enough to glue the photos on top, and then by this weekend I will pick up some lacquer or acrylic to put multiple coats on the lid.  I will check my stores downstairs, first, as there is a cabinet full of old paints, stains, lacquers and more, but these things do go bad eventually.

I remember doing decoupage projects as a kid, and it was fun, easy, and inexpensive.  We are pleased by the decision to use these chests, since they will be multi-functional and of minimal cost to convert and mount.

We are also planning to use a few other pieces of furniture from our household, but I’ll present the details on that when we get to that point.

This is all coming together quite nicely! 

This is the conclusion of the story started in this post.

Our bus in Jacksonville on 5/15/09

Monday morning felt much better than the previous day… we were more rested and excited about the mechanic’s return to get the bus going.  We had been told that he would get there “first thing” on Monday morning, so we quickly got presentable and ready to get going.

8:00 am came and went.

9:00 came and went….

10:00… David went to the Limo office to see if Ron was around, and what he could tell us about the situation.  Ron called the repair shop, and was told that the mechanic would be there as soon as possible.

Well, we didn’t really know what was possible, so we did our best to be patient and stay positive.

11:00…

Noon…

1:00…

I started getting rather irritable.  I started whining at David and asking him what he thought we should do.  He obviously had no control over the situation, either, but he went back over to the office to check with Ron again and see if there was any news.  I’m sure it was much more pleasant in the air conditioned office without a whiny itchy wife complaining at him.

Ron called again, and they told him someone would be over as soon as possible, definitely that afternoon.  Great.

I kept my mouth shut.  There was nothing we could accomplish by wallowing in misery or impatience or frustration, so I just read my book (thank goodness I had brought a few more books than I expected to be able to finish) and sat in front of the fan.  My bug bites had become slightly overwhelming.  Maybe the fact that I had no way to shower, or that it was so hot and I was so sweaty or that I had been scratching in my sleep were to blame.  Regardless of the reason, I felt quite miserable, and many of the bites were now scratched raw, some bleeding, some scabby, and I believed I looked ready for a part in a movie about the plague.

Bug-bitten ankle

Around 4:00 pm, a truck pulled up, and a mechanic got out and approached us.   As David  greeted him, he informed us that he was the person who had tried unsuccessfully the previous Friday.  The master mechanic was still tied up with other work, but he had been given some more tips to try to get it going.

David tried to help him in any way possible, mainly by yelling things back and forth, turning over the engine when prompted,  and lending moral support.  I contributed by staying the heck out of the way and keeping quiet.

After a couple of hours, the mechanic determined that the fuel pump had gone bad, and he made some calls and promised us that he would be back “first thing” the next morning with a new one.

We were feeling a bit discouraged at that point, but we just tried to keep faith that all would work out, and we proceeded to walk to a local fast food place for a hot supper.  We also picked up some beer for David and a box of wine for me.  Now, I am not usually one to drink boxed wines, but that night, it really hit the spot!  Everything became much more humorous and tolerable after  a little imbibing, and we retired sometime after dark with great anticipation that we would finally get on the road on Tuesday!!!

Tuesday morning came, and happily, “first thing” arrived sometime between 8:00 and 9:00 am, and the junior mechanic brought the master mechanic along with him this time.  It turned out that the Monday appointment was delayed by “insurance jobs”… apparently, in order to get insurance claim work, the garage needed to give them priority over anything else already scheduled.  So, we got bumped.

The bad news was that they could not obtain the fuel pump. The good news was that the master mechanic was going to try to work his magic and get it going anyway.

It took about an hour, but he got it going!  YAY!!!  Never before had I felt so happy about smelling diesel exhaust from a bus!!!   After they were really sure it was good to go, and they made sure there was enough fuel in the tank for us to get to a gas station, Ron came back to see how things were going, and with a show of reluctance, agreed to take care of the mechanic’s bill.  Darn straight, Ron! 

As an act of faith, I had gotten all our belongings secured and ready for the trip, so we got on the road by about 10:00 am Tuesday morning.

Now came the fun experience of David actually driving the bus for the first time.  He had driven many other large vehicles in the past, often taking a school bus load of students to a Ski area back in his coaching days.  So, this was not out of his ability range, but it was a tiny stretch – certainly the largest vehicle he has driven to date.

The first step was to get to a gas station with a diesel pump, and enough space for the bus to fit and then get out.  The place recommended was not far, but once we got there, they actually didn’t sell diesel.  They gave us directions to a gas station that they knew for sure did sell diesel fuel, so we headed that way.  Bingo – $200 later, we had a full tank and were ready to get on I95 and head north!

If you have ever driven through downtown Jacksonville on I95, you are familiar with the curvy, lane-changy, overpass-intensive section in the center of the city.  I always loved that part of the drive, but I could see how relieved David was after we finally got though it and were on more straight and open road.  Soon we were in Georgia and he visibly relaxed.

He didn’t really want to push it, so we stayed at around 55 to 60 mph most of the way north that day, and the bus was a bit slow to accelerate, particularly uphill.  Thank goodness, the traffic was fairly light and we made great time.  Leaving FL from Jacksonville instead of more southern points also helped us feel like we were a bit further along, too – we previously left from Orlando, or Ft. Pierce, or even Miami.

At about 6 pm, we were getting near the NC/VA border, and we decided to find a Wal-Mart to pull into for the night.  We had loaded all the Wal-Mart locations on our Tom-tom, and found one within ½ mile of an exit near Petersburg, VA.  It was just starting to get dark as we pulled in, and we were happy to see that the WallyWorld was surrounded by a variety of take-out dining options, so we picked a spot, parked, and David blew up the air mattresses while I went to find food.

I’ve always been aware of the RVs in the Wal-Mart parking lots, but never paid much attention until that night.  More and more pulled in, at the far end of the lot well away from the store.  “There was long ones, tall ones, short ones, brown ones”… and as we encountered other RV occupants, we waved and chatted, like members of a tribe.  I liked it!

No electricity that night, but being the fan of battery-powered LED lights that David is, we were not left in the dark!  We turned in early, anyway, since a bus full of windows encourages waking with the sunrise.  The only down side to the Wal-Mart were the big vapor lights that burned all night.  Just had to use a T-shirt like an eye mask, and we slept fairly well.  Being so much further north, the temp was 55 or so, so no problem not having the fan running, either.  And, it was too cold for the mosquitoes!!

Wednesday morning came and we rose at about 5:30, and got going as soon as we used the Wal-Mart rest room.  I was absolutely determined that we would get home that night.  David was not so sure, since we were not quite half-way, and since he had to do all of the driving, we needed to make occasional rest breaks for his optimal functioning!

The ride was smooth, uneventful, but he was really tired.  We decided to make a change to our route that would take us from central MA into Vermont, instead of going more easterly through Massachusetts and directly into NH.  We knew that there was a Wal-Mart in Lebanon, NH, right on the VT border, so we figured that we could get at least that far if not all the way home.

You see, there were a couple of night-time running lights burnt out on the bus, and that would make it mildly unsafe and not completely legal to drive after dark.  We had hoped to get them replaced but as a specialized part, they were not readily available in any auto parts store.  So they had yet to be special-ordered, and we knew that we would need to drive only by daylight.  Given that David was the only driver, we had planned to limit ourselves this way for his sake, as well as the other obvious reasons.

The one disadvantage to driving through VT was the high number of hills we had to ascend.  Descending them was a breeze, but as they got larger and longer, the bus would loose velocity and decelerate down to 45 and even 40 mph as we climbed.  Then, David noticed that the oil gauge needle was dropping.  We had to pull over and see what was going on!

He had obtained and read through an electronic operating and maintenance manual for the bus and saved it on his laptop, so I quickly booted it and tried to find information about the oil blah-blah-blah (insert technical lingo here if you know it – I sure didn’t).  Dear reader, if you have been in a relationship that involved loving communication via bickering, you can well imagine the exchange.  David was feeling frustrated and pressured, and I had no clue.

Somehow I got the info on the screen, he had simultaneously found the requisite pipes, valves and gizmos, and he moved forward into berating himself for not thinking ahead and getting oil, and checking it thoroughly before we got on the road, and that all made him really grumpy.  There was not really anything seriously wrong, other than the bus uses a lot of oil and we didn’t have any.

Thank goodness for that extension cord in Jacksonville – we had a full charge on the laptop, and our Verizon wireless Internet card, so I was able to find the nearest auto parts stores, and we found a couple within a few miles of our location at the time.  We actually had to go to 2 different places to find the type of oil that the bus required, but we got it, David filled up the oil tank-or-whatever-you-call-it, and we proceeded to try to make it home.

And we did!  It was just a little more dusk than we would have liked, but I got ready with my most pathetic excuse-story in case we did get stopped: “Please officer, we are almost home – we have just driven all the way from VA this morning, and look at my bug bites from Florida – I need a shower, or maybe you can tell by your nose….”  Alas, this was all unnecessary, as we pulled into our driveway at about 8:00 pm that night.

The cats tried not to show how happy they were to see us.

The shower felt fantastic.

The bed felt even better.

We, and the bus, were home again. 

The bus is home!

Over the weekend, we took our king sized bed off of its frame, set the bed back up on our bedroom floor, and took the frame out to the bus.  David has since purchased the brackets needed to mount the wooden board to the metal sides of the bus, and will then anchor the bed frame to the wooden board.

In the video, I mention that the platform will be the bottom of a closet area.  I think that may be a little vague, so I’ll elaborate a bit here.  At the very back end of the bus, there is a platform which was what the back seats rested upon.  It’s also where the toilet and sink mounted, when the bathroom was there.  Since removing all the plumbing, toilet and (ugh!) holding tank, the platform is now just a platform.  The front edge is where the board is secured, and the top of the platform will be the base of the closet.

There, I feel like that’s all cleared up now. 

Enjoy the video, and please check back often!

Our bus in Jacksonville on 5/15/09

This is the story of picking up our bus and driving it home to NH. It may not really benefit anyone who is reading this blog for the purpose of learning how to convert a bus to a motor home, but hopefully it will be entertaining enough, and maybe even a little bit educational, too.

As discussed in my Shopping for Buses post, we won the bus on eBay, and it was located in Jacksonville, FL. We decided to buy 1-way plane tickets from Manchester, NH to JAX, and then drive it north. Since the seller of the bus (we’ll call him “Ron”) owned and operated a Limo service, he was kind enough to offer to pick us up at the airport and take us to his place of business, located in the southern part of Jacksonville, near I95 and across the St. John’s river from the Naval Air Station. It wasn’t exactly downtown, but it was certainly within the city limits, and it was not like any campground we’d ever visited before!

Our flight was scheduled for Saturday, May 15^th, and we cleared our work schedules for the next 5 days, planning to get home well before the following Thursday when normal life would resume. David’s mom would watch Stitch (our American Eskimo dog) and the cats would watch the house during our absence. We had the new, converted title to the bus (now officially a Motor Home), and we felt great about our plans.

Surprise! On Friday, May 14^th, we got a call from Ron (the seller of the bus), who had one of his employees go start up the bus to be sure it would be ready for us to drive home. Ron’s employee didn’t learn how little diesel fuel was in the tank until he ran it dry. The bus had started again just fine, but in running out of fuel, it needed an expert to clear the air out of the fuel lines and re-prime the bus to start again. Ron called a local mechanic service he used for any repairs to his Limo fleet, but the fellow they sent out didn’t have the expertise to fix the problem.

So, Ron’s call to David was a heads-up that we probably wouldn’t be able to drive the bus until the following Monday at the earliest, when a more expert mechanic would be sent out.

What to do?

We had very little flexibility in our dates and options at that point. Since taking our dog on the plane was not an option, we needed to work around Mom’s schedule, and she would not be able to take him again until 3 to 4 weeks later. Our temporary plate was already issued, with a 30-day period of validity.

We decided to go forward as planned. We figured that the extra day (Sunday) would give us a chance to do some work on the bus that needed to be done anyway, and it would be a fun adventure.

Our luggage and its contents were rather strange for the flight south. We packed our largest suitcase – the one that met all the maximum limits for most airlines – with a king-sized air mattress, sheets, pillows and 1 sleeping bag. We chose one of our coolers for allowable dimensions for checked luggage, and verified online that Southwest would accept it. David filled the cooler with all the tools and gadgets he thought he would need to use while we were down there, then sealed it tight with Duct tape. We then each packed a carry-on sized suitcase with a few changes of clothing and toiletries. David took his laptop and we were all set to go.

The flight to JAX was uneventful, and Ron met us at the airport as planned. I admit I was hoping for some miraculous spontaneous restoration of the bus fuel lines, but that was not to be. We arrived in the back parking lot of the Limo shop, and met our future Motor Home for the first time.

It was all that we had hoped for and more. The first thing we did was open all the windows to get some ventilation going – it was HOT in Jacksonville, about 95 during the afternoon, sunny and cloudless.

Ron seemed a bit surprised that we were not planning to rent a car and book a motel room for the following nights until Monday’s service appointment. We considered that a back-up option, but really felt that we had planned well enough to manage “camping” in the bus for that period. Honestly, we wanted to minimize costs. And David wanted to play with his new toy!

David had planned to immediately remove enough seats so that we could spread out the air mattress that night. For the remaining daylight he worked on it, but found that the bolts were so rusted, they wouldn’t budge without some WD-40 soaking first. Fortunately, our King mattress unzipped into 2 single-sized units, so we blew them up separately and wedged them on the floor in the aisle between the seats, one for each of us.

The Limo shop was the kind of place that had people coming and going at all hours, and Ron told us that we could help ourselves to ice from their ice machines in the unlocked area of his offices. He also ran an extension cord out to us, so we had electricity. David had brought his own selection of cords and plug adapters, so we were in great shape in that regard. The bus had a bathroom, but no running water, and we weren’t really sure we wanted to use the toilet and holding tank anyway. Upon exploration of accessible areas in the shop, we found a nasty lavatory, but it was better than nothing!

We were within walking distance of a variety of fast-food restaurants, grocery and drug stores, and there was even a Wal-Mart about a mile away. So, we moved all the tools out of the cooler, filled it with ice, and took a walk as the sun set to get some take-out for supper, bottled water and beverages for the evening.

We went to sleep feeling excited and happy about how things were going, but it was not destined to be a very good night.

The night was still, hot, humid and buggy. We had to keep the windows open to get any hint of breeze that might blow through, and as a result, the bugs found us. Or, rather the bugs found ME. The aisle space between the seats was about 18”, so we had enough space below the seat bottoms to lay flat, or lay on one side, but changing positions was very difficult. The bus had absorbed so much of the day’s heat, the the temperature near the floor had to be around 85 to 90 degrees, even if the air outside was closer to 75. I kept throwing the sheet off me, drenched in sweat, and apparently that’s when the bugs got me. During the night, I was so distracted by the heat and cramped discomfort of the tight space, I didn’t notice the bugs biting, I guess, not that I could have done anything about it at that point.

Around 3 am, we learned another fun fact about our surroundings: The brush and shrubbery bordering the back parking lot (that made the area so nice and private) hid train tracks, and some sort of loading station. Suddenly the air was filled with the grinding of tracks moving, trains getting filled up with whatever load they hauled, and generally reminded us of the ambiance of the motel in “My Cousin Vinny” – remember that movie?

We were both relieved – and wide awake – by the time sunrise rolled around. As we drank our first Pepsi (blech! I don’t usually drink that, but we knew we’d have no immediate coffee and would need some morning caffeine), we discussed how we were going to manage sleeping better the following night. The first priority was to get rid of enough seats to have more space on the floor.

While David successfully loosened the bolts that had been marinating all night, I proceeded to count my bug bites, which were beginning to itch like crazy. Hmmm, 75 on one arm, 68 on the other, 85 or so on each leg, with lots around the ankles and tops of my feet. Thank goodness I’d worn an oversized T-shirt to sleep in and protect my torso and butt, for the most part!

We washed up as best we could, and took a walk to the grocery store. We got food for breakfast and lunch, and then checked out the Walgreen’s next door. There, we found a box fan on sale, and since we had power, we grabbed it! I also got some itch-fighting spray and ointment and cleaning products so I could wash the floor where David took out seats. It was really dirty under the seats!

Sunday was another cloudless day, and by 11 am we could feel the heat rising as we walked back to the Limo lot. Fortunately, the fan worked wonders! We were able to direct it to the area we were working in and it kept us comfortable throughout the day.

After removing seats andshopping

Even better, that night it effectively solved 3 problems: it kept us cooler, it kept enough breeze going to prevent the mosquitoes from landing on us, and it provided white noise to help offset the 3 am train activity!

Check back soon for Part two!

David has been researching this project for a few years now, and in that time he has accumulated quite the library of web site links.  The various web sites that document a bus conversion done by a particular person or family were, of course, the inspiration for this blog.   We will do some things suggested by these other conversions, and we will come up with some completely original choices, as well.

These links are now updated on our sidebar, and we will certainly continue to add more as we find them.  I’ve included descriptions for every link, so just hover your mouse over if you want a little more info before you click.

Some may require a bit of explanation. 

Why yurts and tiki huts?  Just in case you might like to spread out!  Seriously, Yurts are designed to be portable.  The idea of toting the parts to put up a yurt whenever we end up someplace for more than a week or two, is appealing.  Don’t know if we’ll ever do it, but we like the info.  Same goes for the tiki huts, and particularly the fact that much of the raw material needed for a tiki hut, or a “chickee” as they are sometimes called, might be obtained from routine palm trimming.

We have a strong interest in composting toilets because they eliminate the need for a sewage holding tank in the traditional sense.  So, not adding weight to the bus is a good thing.  Composting is a GREAT thing.   In any event, being different is a given in this arena.

Bamboo is THE wood of choice for us if and when we do use any wood for finishing.  The exception there will be anything we can recycle or re-purpose.   If we find good wood of any variety that we can re-use, it is better than starting with something new, however renewable the source may be.

If you have links you’d like to recommend, please suggest away!

We have been focused on getting the floor prepared, and removed the linoleum as well as the ramp.  We decided that one level floor area in the front with a step to access it from the driver’s area was best for us.  Also, David had to replace some of the plywood floor near the area of the former bathroom.

Ultimately, we would love to get bamboo flooring installed, and that is our plan eventually.  For now, we just want something comfortable and safe to walk on, and we will cover the foam layer with some wall-to-wall new carpet remnant we have (bedroom area)as well as large throw rugs.

David has been removing screws and hardware on the side walls to prepare to mount some of the foam there, too.  We will use the seat backs and bottoms, now unattached, as one side of a booth-type kitchen table.

Watch for more updates, including more history, soon.

Welcome to our site, Bus to Home, in which we will document the progress of our MCI Bus conversion to a Motor Home.

As this is the very first post in the Blog, it stands to reason that some history is in order.

David is a mechanical savant, in Joy’s opinion.  At least, he can fix anything she breaks, usually, or diagnose the problem and assess how much he’ll have to pay someone else if he can’t do it himself.

Way back in the late 70s, David had a new motorcycle that he took apart one autumn, and he put all the pieces in a few cardboard boxes and stored them in the kitchen of our apartment.  Over the course of the winter, our cats found small parts to use as kitty toys, batting them across the floor, chasing them and hiding them whenever possible.  Joy swore that this motorcycle was forever destined to remain an expensive waste of a cat-toy…. as the snow melted and temperatures warmed, the pieces were reassembled.

Amazingly, it started on the first try and ran fine.   Joy never doubted his mechanical ability again.

Now, where David’s focus is on function, Joy covers the aesthetics.  Crafty by nature, Joy is pretty skilled at making David’s work look good.  So, that’s the plan with this bus, and efficiency, environmental friendliness and cost-effectiveness will be our guiding principles.

David has been shopping for buses for the past 3 to 5 years, at least.  Originally, the bus was going to be a boat.  Maybe someday the boat will happen.  If David lives long enough and finds the resources, the boat is likely next.  But, having lots of land-locked relatives, particularly our two children living in TX and AZ, we felt the boat could wait, and the bus was way more practical.  Yeah, we realize that our practicality is iffy in most peoples’ views.  But it works for us!

There are a number of people buying and selling buses: church buses, school buses, used Disney buses and more.  Links to David’s favorite sites are forthcoming.  With all those wonderful resources, we still turn to eBay, and that is where our bus was finally located.

David started watching the auctions for a number of MCI buses in 2008, and by the end of the year, ours was listed at over $10,000 for the starting bid.  David estimated it was worth a good bit more than that, and kept watching.  It was located in Jacksonville, FL, and since we love FL and any excuse to go there, this was a definite plus.  Only a bus located in NH or a nearby New England State would be preferred.

Weeks passed, the auctions ended with no bids, and each time the bus was re-listed the price went down.  Finally, in late March, it was listed for a starting bid of $7,000.  Someone bid on it.  It was time for us to make our move.

We made the arrangements necessary to obtain the funds to pay for it, and sniped the auction. We won!  For $7,300, the bus would be ours.  We started organizing our plans to fly down to Jacksonville and pick up the bus, but first there were several steps needed to drive it back.

As a bus, it would require that David have a Commercial Drivers License to drive it north to NH.  However, as a motor home, no CDL would be necessary. In David’s research, he located a company that does bus conversions as a business, and is versed in the process of re-titling the bus to motor home status.  So, for $250 and the cost of overnight delivery back and forth, we were able to have the title of the bus revised to that of a motor home, and obtained the temporary plate needed to get it home legally.

All was in order, and we purchased our one-way plane tickets to fly to Jacksonville on May 15, 2009.  The adventure was about to begin!