I bet you all thought I forgot about this blog. Well, summer was focused on other things, but I didn't forget. Let's see, this summer I camped for three weeks (off and on, but mostly on), I participated in the 8th annual White Hart Renaissance Festival, I spent a week and a half on vacation at the beach with the fam, and just finished a two week reading orgy (14 books!). In between times, I've been dealing with my latest and greatest project. I bought my bus!!!!!!
It's a 1983 GMC school bus, named "Dory," so named because I sang "just keep swimming" a lot in the process of getting her started. It was a long, long process. Long. LONG!
I found the bus on Craigslist for $1200, and called about it. The next weekend, Dad and I drove down to check it out. We took it for a test drive, and we broke it. That sounds bad, but it really wasn't a big deal. First we ran out of gas. Then, while we were waiting for the seller to get back with gasoline, we noticed that a hose had come loose, and rubbed against a belt, creating a hole, which spilled a whole bunch of anti-freeze, and we ran down the battery. It took a total of three trips (plus about $300) down to where the bus was sitting in a field to get it running again. We have taken it to a repair shop, and they've taken a look, and I'll get an estimate on costs by Tuesday. Dad is thinking it'll cost around $5000,which he says seems reasonable. I guess when the average cost of building a tiny house is around $15,000 - $20,000 it's not too bad.
I have already been gifted with a floor, a chemical toilet, and a trickle solar charger for the battery. I've even made myself a floor plan! I'm getting excited, and worried, but mostly excited!
There a few pictures, but not many, so I'll post them in another episode.
Shoutout huge thanks to D.P. for driving me back and forth and getting the bus started, Ed from the repair shop who is awesome, Mike for my floor and advice, and finally, Dad for being awesomely supportive.
