When he gets the pantry done (that’s next) and we get the bus cleaned up a little, I will redo all interior photos and do a Before and After post. Lots of changes to compare. See Before photos here for now.

Here is a  look at the new lighting.

Here is the new monitor panel above the refrigerator. He took out the old wooden frame and had a brushed metal frameplate made. Much nicer!

After we installed the new cabinets, he finished up the slides in the bays.

These will be great, especially the one in what we call the “bicycle bay.” Before we get some kind of outside carrier, we put the bikes in the bay and Jim thinks it is a huge pain to get them out.

Not anymore!

On another note, for some reason when he got done with these and I went outside to look at them, the first thing I did was put my hand on the wet paint! DUMB!

He fixed it, of course.

Latest on the list was a row of new overhead cabinets extending down the length of the bus toward the passenger seat. We figure we will need as much space as we can get.

BEFORE:

I wasn’t too sure about giving up the open spaciousness but they are awesome! Better than what was already there, since Jim’s brother Bob has a very nice woodshop setup and he is just as meticulous (Jim says more so!) than Jim is. They came out great!

He also installed a new monitor panel of brushed aluminum and is working on the slides in the bays. He’s working on the platforms for the slides today.

More photos here.

Before: Aquahot refurbished, ready for slide and tank.

Next is the slide

Voila! Now he can heat the bus with the Aquahot while he’s working on it. Plus, once we’re on the road, we’ll know that we aren’t draining the bus tank by running the generator and Aquahot.

On to new cabinets and a pantry with slide-out shelves.  He and his brother have practically got the new cabinets built already!

Then he cut cold air return vents and found material to cover them and complete the heating system. Thermostats are installed in the bedroom, bathroom and salon, or whatever you call the rest of the bus. He tested it and it got quite comfy in there.

Bay cleaned out ready for dedicated diesel tank in front of Aquahot. That’s next.

Hoses bundled and compacted. No before photo

Extra added benefit of the heating upgrade was the leveling of this floor in the bathroom cabinet.
Not painted/finished yet, but it’s level.

   The cabinet in the bay. Door closed.

Two tanks are better than one. All plumbed, secure and working.

Combine in large pot on stove:

1 head garlic, cloves separated and crushed
2 cups Kosher salt
2+ cups brown sugar
10 grams (one small container) Thyme
5 grams Rosemary
6 Bay leaves, crushed
Zest, pulp and juice of one orange
Cut the orange into pieces and add to mixture
8 Allspice berries, crushed
8 Juniper berries, crushed
8 Cloves, crushed
2 T. black peppercorns, crushed
1 cup fresh orange juice

Mix well.
Add 3/4 gallon of water, bring to boil.

To a clean, 5 gallon bucket, add 2+ gallons water
Add heated mixture to 5 gallon bucket, stir well.

Rinse the turkey (16.5 lb) and remove the neck and bags of organs.
Immerse turkey into bucket, making sure all cavities fill with brine mixture.

Place bucket in garage or other cold area.

I usually brine for 24 hours. Last year I got an early start and am brining for about 48 hours for extra delicious flavor . It did not disappoint. The meat is extra tender and juicy and bursting with flavor.

One year when I made the turkey for Jim’s family Christmas, one of my sister-in-laws commented, “Are you sure this is turkey? It tastes like roast beef or something, it is so good!”

Nuff said. Try it.

So once I got my savings account built back up to a certain point, everything above that is going for diesel.

Current total: $901. It’s a start.

Howard and Ellen Best

Before we even got close to getting a bus, we decided to go to the 2009 Arcadia Bus Rally to look at buses up close and personal. Jim had done a bunch of Internet research but we both wanted to see the spaces and confines for ourselves. So we flew down to Florida. We were there for several days and we took lots of photos and met lots of people.

When we met up with one couple and they heard our plan to buy a bus and sell our house and go full time she said, “You have GOT to talk to Howard and Ellen Best; they have been living in their bus for twenty years!” Wow! That was impressive and just the kind of information we needed.

By the time we wandered over to Howard and Ellen’s bus to introduce ourselves, I had decided to do a series of articles for Bus Conversion Magazine, just like I had several times for the Falcon and Oldsmobile Clubs. One thing I have learned as an Editor is that if you want to have plenty of material to publish, you should generate it yourself. So I do.

When I approached their bus, Ellen was reading a book in her chair out under the awning and graciously invited me to join her. After we had chatted for just a few minutes, I knew they would be a great subject for an interview. As we talked, Jim and Howard joined us and we spent a good part of the afternoon talking to them. They were so experienced and knowledgeable and we were totally green and wet behind the ears. You might think a combination like that would never hit it off, but we did. Howard opened all the bays and we got a feel for what we might be in for if we decided to take the plunge and get a bus. Ellen took us on a tour of the inside and we met the kitty. All in all, we had a very enjoyable afternoon with them and exchanged addresses and phone numbers. Howard encouraged Jim to call him with questions anytime. Whatta guy!

Before the Bests’ article appeared, I wrote an article about the rally for BCM which is how we found our bus.

I did end up writing the article, The Bests in the Bus, and it appeared in the February 2010 issue of the magazine. We kept in touch with them some as they traveled the country and we were invited to, but could not attend, their annual pig roast that year. Darn. We begged them to stop and see us anytime they were near.

After we bought it and picked up The Mighty Bus in Las Vegas, and Captain Ted taught us how to drive it, we brought ‘er home successfully, just the two of us, through the mountains and across the plains. That was quite an accomplishment, but we knew we still had a tremendous amount to learn. And it was just beginning to sink in that we now owned this bus and had a lot to digest. Lo and Behold! Literally, about three or four days after we got back, who called? Howard and Ellen. They were traveling through and we made a plan for them to visit with their friends Anna and Andy. I told them that we literally had just brought it home and  As soon as they arrived, Howard and Andy and Jim got busy looking things over on the bus. Jim is the thorough type and he had a long list of questions and problems he wanted to run by Howard. Jim was still pretty nervous about all the systems and things to become familiar with and he said that while they were going over the bus, Howard kept whispering, “Big learning curve…” At least Jim didn’t tell me that till later.

We had a very nice visit and dinner with them and they were off. We kept in touch, then Jim retired and really got busy.

This year we couldn’t attend the pig roast because Jim had a contract teaching job that was too good to pass up. Darn again. I promised that we would come next year and we are going – no matter what!  Then they called this week and said they were on their way to Las Vegas and would be stopping through. We were so excited that they were coming and wanted them to see all the stuff Jim has done to the bus. They are traveling with their son and his wife and four kids, in two buses. We met up at Cabela’s and just as we exited the highway, I saw a bus and knew it had to be them, but it wasn’t Howard’s, it was Christopher and Jackie’s Bluebird Wanderlodge. Then we saw Howard and Ellen’s in front. It’s always fun on the highway to see a BUS, not just an RV. This was  a bonus because there were two of them.

We ate some Kansas City barbecue and then headed down to our place to check out the bus. We are quite a ways from Cabela’s and it was nice of them to take the time to come. Of course, although it hasn’t rained in ages here, as soon as we came out of lunch it was raining. We need it, but… not such great timing. We showed them all the stuff we had done and Howard said to Jim, “You’ve been busy.” He noticed the redone dash right away and it was really nice to have him see it again after the first time when we were so green. We are still pretty green, but getting much more comfortable. Now when I see somebody in a bus, it really makes me want to GET UP AND GO down the road.

Thanks Howard and Ellen, for being our friends and for taking the time to think of us and come to see us. And thanks to Christopher and Jackie and the kids, Christian, Ethan, Christina and Bree. They are all heading for Las Vegas for an air show with the Thunderbirds. Jackie’s son just happens to be a crew chief for them, how cool is that? Then off to Colorado where they will spend a month in the Rockies. We won’t be able to see them on their way back, since they will be taking the southern route, but we vowed to meet on the road soon.

As they were leaving, I said to Howard, “Come see us!” And he said “We do!”

Good point.

Some photos of the crew…

Howard and Jim

Christina, Christian, Bree and Ethan. Really good kids. Glad to meet you guys.
I told you I’d put you on the Internet.

Jackie and Christopher. Thanks for indulging us and letting us spend time with Howard and Ellen.
Safe travels all and come back soon!

We have awnings! Who would have thought we would have them so soon? At the first Texas Bus Roundup we went to in 2009, before we even had a bus, Ron and Sharon had just gotten awnings for their Flxible and they were like thousands of dollars. I just figured that would be way down on the list for us. Once we actually had a bus, that is.

Then when we got the Mighty Bus, it was so ugly that we figured we would have to have a paint job. Trying to decide on designs, not to mention finding and paying a good painter became obstacles. Our friend Chris, who painted Jim’s Studebaker, came up with a very good price, but his “design helper” was an old school muralist who never came up with anything.

In the meantime, we started working on the systems and the inside and we just got used to the bus the way it was. Once we dreamed up The Diesel Fund, we quickly calculated that a paint job would buy an awfully lot of diesel. Plus, the paint is all chipping off and geting scraped by tree branches and such on a regular basis. On a brand new paint job, that would be tough to take.

Once we decided to remain anonymous, we were freed up on the awnings issue. We had a trip planned to Colaw RV in Carthage, MO to scope out a few items, and while relaxing with a cocktail the evening before we set off, we decided to add awnings to the list. We wsndered around the yard and quickly found a couple of window awnings that were in great shape for the bedroom windows. Then we found a window awning for the slide windows. Last we scored a brand new 20 foot patio awning for the passenger side of the bus.

The window awnings are reddish, the slide awning is grey and the patio awning is tan. We went back down to carthage last weekend to have them all installed at Consignment RV, right across the street and run by Cowlaw’s owner’s son. We got there after lunch on Thursday and they got going right away. Rick was very competent and did a great job on all of them. He even fixed the awning right over the slide so it actually slopes now and the water runs off instead of collecting on the slide. They didn’t quite get done, so we stayed in their yard overnight and they finished up the next morning. We have had only good experiences with both these vendors. Thanks guys!

One affirmation we received regarding the “anonymous” factor in not painting the bus was when Rick, the installer, came in the bus because they had to adjust the slide to work on it. He looked around and really seemed surprised that the inside was nice looking, not surprising having seen the outside. It seems to be working!