Rude Electrical

     Sunday night two weeks ago as we were settling down to get some rest I turned on the ignition to run some of the interior lights.  To my pleasant surprise the alarm buzzer that signals if one of the emergency hatches or doors is open was going off.  I had this issue about a week earlier and it just took a quick adjustment to the sensor on the roof hatch and it stopped.  This time however it simply wouldn't stop.  In typical I can fix it style I grabbed a couple tools headed to the electrical access panel and dug in.  I found the component and the connecting lines and determined which one of the wires was powering it.  I quickly disconnected it to stop the annoying sound ringing throughout the camping area around us ( it was after 9 pm ) and then had a new problem.  There was no longer any power to the bus at all.  Now this simply baffled me as to why anyone would run the electrical in this kind of method but it was too dark to continue working on it.  I decided to work on it in the morning and we used our flashlights to get through the evening.

     I got to the issue as soon as we finished breakfast knowing that the temperature was going to get hotter quickly.  Now that I could see I could tell that they had run the power loop from the ignition to this buzzer and then spliced off from it to the main power solenoid.  So to get thing straitened out I would need to redirect the wiring which didn't look like it would be all that bad.  I removed the buzzer completely and moved the extra wiring from it out of the way and then used a splice connector I had in the tool box to run the ignition switch power to the solenoid.  We had power, I checked all the systems and fuses just to be sure and it was good.  It was a pretty simple fix but it really reinforces my desire to go through and rework and clean up the electrical systems on this bus.

     With that taken care of it was time to hit the water.

Having fun. Even when things happen.

     Its been about two weeks since I have done much posting and that's primarily due to the kids and I just enjoying our time with our bus.  Which frankly was the plan.  However there have been a few things worthy of mentioning.

     After a night of terrible discomfort I went and see a Doc during the week and she said it looks like a torn rotator cuff and to take it easy and not make it worse.  Then I scheduled an appointment with her recommended specialist a few weeks away. fun!

    We have been Camping every weekend and have tried a number of the campgrounds around Lake Mineral Wells.  We have a couple favorites sites now and will definitely visit them often as our quick getaway from the  DFW Metroplex.

     Things have been pretty good and the kids have been slowly learning about catching all the critters we can find, frogs and toads, (both of which have taken trips to the shower with one kid or the other) minnows, lizards and one little crawdad.  It's good to see the kids find so much interest in the nature around them and enjoy the opportunity to get hands on with it.  

     We have also seen lots of deer and both kids have been expressing their own interest in hunting.
I'm not a big hunter in many respects as I just don't have a need to go out and kill a ton of animals every year just to do it.  I have done my fair share of hunting for the purpose of filling the freezer however and I do plan to take them both hunting as the get a little older to teach them the skills and the proper perspective to respect the wild and the animals in it.

    Overall we've spent a lot of time playing in the water where they have been making friends to play with.  There has also been the occasional sand castle and bury the kid up to the chest in sand.  Its been a pretty good few weeks for the most part.

     This last week I had a couple people come and pick up bus seats and I finally got the second set of 4 rows out of the bus.  I simply love the extra room and cant wait to start taking measurements for the interior planning.

     This last Sunday things were going really good we decided to try a campsite that's a little further from the lake but was a more spacious area and had more room for our hammocks.  It also didn't have any electrical so the prices are less and we don't need the utility.

     When we got to the site we had picked there was a very large branch that some previous campers had broken off laying across a good portion of the fire pit area and a lot of debris from it crashing through the adjacent trees.  I called the park ranger for a rake and we got it all cleaned up.  Then we set up our stuff at camp as usual and after a short rest we headed down to play in the lake.

     We had a blast playing with some other folk at the swimming area and finely headed back to our site around 7:30 pm.  My daughter said something to me as we arrived that  didnt quite understand on first hearing but as I looked around the campsite I quickly made sense of her words.

     We had been cleaned out.

     Yep, she said "Daddy the hammocks are gone" with a little bit of quiver and a higher tone to her voice.

     With a lifetime of camping I have never had anything taken from camp before and just thought to myself who takes stuff from a camp.  Really?  I walked around the site in bewilderment at the fact that the stuff was gone.  We hadn't left all that much really just 3 hammocks, the old ropes to hang them, a few extra straps and a couple bungy cords basically.  All totaled probably about $200.  The thing I found strange was that it was all totally gone.  I could see if someone wanted to steal the hammocks that they'd grab them quick and bolt but to go to the effort to take down all the hanging ropes which where made from some old ratty fades rope and two, one clearly broken, sun faded ratchet strap and some cheap bungy's just didn't compute.

     Since it was starting to get dark I made us dinner and then listened to the kids complain all night about not having anywhere to sit with the hammocks being gone.

     The fallowing morning I called the ranger station and asked if by chance they may have come and collected the stuff from the camp thinking it was left behind.  They said no and sent us the park police officer who kindly filled out a report after looking the site over and said that this was the first time in four years that they have had a report of anything missing from a campsite.  I felt so privileged.  OK maybe not.  He said he would let me know if he found anything.

     With that we spent the majority of the day at the lake since our loungability had been reduced and enjoyed what was left of our weekend.

A U-boat?

     On the last day before the temporary tag expired I made a final trip to the title and registration office and finally got the bus title, licence and registration done along with a payment of sales tax.

     I again got the same lady who was so adamant that I go get an official scale weight for the bus before she could finalize the paperwork.  This was to my benefit however as they determined the fees of the scale weight instead of the actual Gross Vehicle Weight Rating which saved me about $400. Every other state I have worked with in the past Has always used the GVWR.

     With payment made and documents signed she handed me the plates and I immediately had a thought of WWII when I read the number.  One of the sets of numbers happens to be U99.  I have always had a interest in the great mechanical wonders of the industrial age especially  the later part considered the machine age.  Like many boys big, loud and powerful pieces of transportation are at the top of my list of interests and submarines are one of the coolest.  I instantly recalled that the U99 designation was one of the more successful U-boats in the German fleet and as a man who appreciates the machines and there engineering I thought it was pretty cool.  I have thought many times how cool it would be to have a submarine for a home just like the old classic 20,000 leagues under the sea.

Now that it's all legal I hope to get her down the road some more and start planning for the conversion.


  

Full timer.

     

     Now that I have had a few weeks to get everything situated I am a full timer with the bus. I will be selling the small SUV I have to help with the overall cost of the bus. I am still planning out the layout for the inside but I'm already enjoying it and really look forward each step of this project.  There are so many things that I want to do but I will have to take it slow as it all has costs and requires time to do.

     I am planning to hopefully be able to take a few longer trips with it in the late fall and winter season.  I very much want to take the kids home to Montana this Christmas season to play in the snow and see some family.  It has been six years since I have been home and seen any of them.  No one in my family has ever even met my son. 

     I would also like to try for Yosemite National Park.  I really enjoyed its splendor as a child and would love to see it in the fall colors while watching the kids take it all in. We'll have to see how progress is going at that time and see what happens with our schedules.

     I do have to say that I have driven a full gambit of vehicles of all types but this definitely ranks at the top for me when on the road.  The window views are awesome and the International DT466 just hums right along full of authority.

Rock climbing?

     It was Tuesday and after our morning routine we packed up camp.  I find it amusing how the kids so much want to help set up camp but are so against helping the tear down process.  With some parental encouragement and a little explanation of the expectations if they wished to have an afternoon with some fun we made good progress.

     On the far end of Lake Mineral Wells Park map it says there's an area for rock climbing and we were headed to check it out.  I have heard about it from some other people in the past and hoped it would be a fun excursion for the kids.

     It's not exactly what I would call rock climbing coming from a high mountain region of the country.  The area was built up of a lot of large stone and broken rocky ledges. The maximum height was probably about 40 feet and the majority was around thirty.  There were lots of places however that the kids could challenge themselves climbing around the rocks.  I helped them up a couple of obstacles and we explored all around the area for a few hours.  We will definitely come back to this area on our next trip and let them play some more.

   
     As a side note I seem to be bad about taking pictures while on our adventures.  I will have to make a much more focused effort to do so so that I can share with all of you who choose to keep up with us.

     This past week was  my sons 5th birthday so for fun our trip of camping concluded with a trip to Dairy Queen for lunch and ice cream on the way home.  What's better than that! 

Critters

     

     In the late Monday night hours and wee early Tuesday morning hours I spent some of it hanging out with guests.  Not really invited guests but guests all the same.  Now I've never had anything against the average critter from the forests but I wasn't completely enthused about the noise and timing this evening.  The local raccoon's were having an absolute party scurrying through all the empty camps chattering and dumpster diving.  After a few hours of this I decided I would get out of my hammock and encourage them off to other areas.  A few steps into my walk and I found I had another camp friend.  Not quite as entertaining however.

     I of course standing there in shorts and slip on's with only a flashlight in hand felt a little unprepared for the possible skirmish that could arise.  Choosing to equip myself with better tooling before directing the serpent to vacate I made the ten steps to the back of the bus full well knowing he wouldn't stay where he was.   With the right accessories now in hand for removing the critter I turned back to see his movements.  To my slight surprise he took a hard left and had bailed for cover.  Where?  Under the tent that was housing my sleeping kids.  While I was fully confident that he wasn't going to get in the sealed up tent having him under there with my son rolling and flopping as he does when he's asleep didn't seem like a good situation.  I decide that the tent and kids would have to move.  I pulled up the tent stakes as I watched the tent floor move between the  two kids.  I grabbed the foot end of the tent and lifted it straight up and the kids rolled up and over as I turned the tent over.  Our unwanted guest made a lunge for the treeline opposite of my position. I quickly fallowed him in to the grass and piles of leaves prepared to strike until he slipped under the leaves and I could no longer see him.  With the quick realization that he now had the upper hand and that I was still not dressed for such a dance I chose to return to the tent.  With a little work I had the kids rearranged and humorously they never stirred at all.  I spent a few minutes there with the tent removing some very large spiders from the area including one carrying hundreds of babies on its back.

     I returned my attention to the raccoon's and had a rather one sides conversation with them.  I think they got the point of my side of the conversation however as they made off to other campsites and didn't return.  I'm not sure just how long this all took but it seemed like it was about an hour of which was long enough for the mosquitoes to do there damage and while I was in the grasses it appears I had run in to a pack of chiggers/red-bugs.  I wiped off and prayed down with some more repellent and made my way back to the hammock hoping for some rest.

A New Campground

 
     Sunday afternoon the kids and I headed out to Lake Mineral Wells.  I had been to the lake about 6 weeks prior camping with a few people.

     The campground the kids and I went to is a little further up the lake from my previous trip but it has good shade, a decent amount of trees for hanging the hammocks and is pretty spacious.  Sunday evening my kids found some playmates from a neighboring campsite to play soccer

with.  

     This campground was overall much better maintained and the facilities where miles above the cleanliness of the last place we visited.  We even got to catch a gecko lizard while we where using them. 

     Monday morning we had our bible reading time and my daughter continued reading from genius and then I read out some from psalms.  I'm really not sure how we got on the topic but my daughter showed off her bible knowledge a bit clarifying that Jesus was not baptized in a lake but in the river. It was an interesting conversation to have with my 5 and soon to be 8 year old.  I am always in awe as they continue to reveal just how much they are learning from the kids classes at the church.

     This day was pretty relaxing overall as we did the usual go down to the beach and swim, grill some burgers and just hangout.

A Slow Week

     Well the Forth of July was good and the bus and I did a little bonding, well I bonded with it while I sat on the roof and watched the fireworks.

     I haven't got much else done on the bus over the last week.  I have just been enjoying it and contemplating all the possibilities.  Even a few of my friends have started thinking of the possibilities of one for themselves.

     On Thursday I made another trip up to the regional title and registration office and was surprised to find them closed for the day. This was what I saw when I arrived.

     I was not very pleased to say the least as it's a bit of a trip to get there and it's not like I can really just put it off until it's convenient for me in a few months or so.  While I was there there were about 20 people that came in to be surprised by the shutdown and had some really nice things to say about it.

      I really just find it sad that it takes an entire office shutdown to do training and the only notice provided seems to be the sign on the door after you arrive. They seemed to omit those of us that needed tax and title work and that this is the only local station.  I guess I'll try again next week. 

This weekend the kids and I are off for a few more days of camping.

Electrical Discovery

      I started looking in to  the electrical Friday afternoon.  I am simply astounded at the amount of wiring in this thing.  I really cant believe it.  The basic truck chassis and engine do not require that much.  There are more wires and connections to now where than I can count.  Honestly the bus only has about a dozen extra lights to operate.

   Well I have checked each fuse and tried to figure out where some of this wiring goes.  It looks like there's at least half a wiring harness that's not used at all.  I have figured out all the lighting switches and operations and I finally found the right circuit to stop the headlights from coming on without the headlight switch being on. That is a major plus.

      I have been thinking about it a little and I would like to keep all the lights on the bus working however I want to run them on the standard systems.  The red flashers on the top rear I will connect to the brake light system and the amber flashers front and rear I will set up to work with the turn signals while maintaining the flasher function as to provide for a hazard light system.  I haven't decided on the red flashers on the front of the bus as of yet.  I would also like to get rid of the key ignition and opt for a switch series and a hidden kill switch.  It will give me more control to power things as needed.






      Thursday afternoon I was able to get over to the scales for the weight ticket to get the title and registration done.  She weighed in at just over 17,700 pounds.  I just have to go back to the regional office now and see if I can get the title and registration completed finally.

First trip comes to an end

   

  At 5:30 am. I was up and getting us ready to go. At 6 am. I got the kids up and into there seats and we hit the road.  My son had a field trip planed at his summer school and we needed to be there at 8 am.  I had opened the heater valve that I closed last week to help the coolant temperature on the way back and we were able to run 65 most of the way and stay around 200 degrees or less depending on the inclines.  We made good time and the kids napped a little on the way.

     With our first trip over I can see lots of areas that I want to work on to get us through the summer. Starting with finishing the title and registration process. I had attempted to do it earlier on the Friday before our trip but the Texas state office and the regional office didn't seen to agree on what was need to be done.  I  will have to go get one more thing before I can get it finalized.  The gal at the regional office wouldn't accept the factory gross vehicle weight rating and wanted a weight ticket from a certified scale. This I was assured by the state office that I wouldn't need to have until I have actually completed the conversion on the vehicle. Oh well, I can run it by a scale later this week.  

     I have to figure out how to get the headlights to come on only when the light switch is turned on. Right now you can not run anything else with out the headlights being on.  I assume this is a safety feature they planned for the school bus use however all it does for me is run down the battery when you only want to use something like the interior lights.  I also want to build a ice chest air cooler for the short term and get 4 more rows of seating out of the way.

Campground Woes

     

     The second day of camping began with a child needing to go potty.  Of course it did.  After getting everyone up and fed we made our way to the campground showers. 

     I must say that I have seen a lot of less than perfect camp facilities but I had never encountered one this awful.  We had been in there the night before to use the toilets prior to bed but in the dark I did not see what I could see in the daylight.  By far the worst campground shower and toilet facilities I had ever seen.  There was actually a large smear of bodily waste on the wall in several places and the spider webs were cascading down every corner of the shower stalls. You could obviously see the walls had not been cleaned in some time as the black mildew was growing in every crevice available and there were bug carcasses piled up everywhere. The spiders were king in this dump and their webs were in every corner, all over the ceiling and skylight and even under one of the toilets.  It was unbelievable that they charged 20 dollars a night just for a basic site and they let the facilities go so unclean.  I brought the issue up with the Rangers office later that day and they basically said they didn't believe me.  Just based on that experience and interaction I don't think we will return.  The Texas parks campground I stayed at a month earlier was half the price and 3 time as clean.

     We spent a good portion of our morning hanging in the hammocks and my daughter and I took turns reading from genesis.  It was a great moment and after we finished reading both kids were asking questions and we talked about the verses.  I set up a makeshift rope swing and a strap for balancing on and let them play for a while as the temperature was warming up. After lunch we drove down to the marina where they have a swimming area. The kids and I enjoyed the water and they played in the playground area for awhile. 

     Back at camp it was an evening much like the last, diner and just hanging out with each other, except at the end of the night I gathered everything up so what could take off in the morning with out much to do.  I setup the hammocks in the bus and then we made a quick run up to the disgusting shower facilities and attempted to get cleaned up.  It was just as it was earlier with not a single thing attempted to be cleaned other than maybe someone sprayed the floor. We made it quick and went back to the comfort of our bus. The kids piled in to there hammocks and were asleep in no time at all. I quickly fallowed. 

A day of rest!

     Today's the day! Our first road trip.  There's nothing like the excitement you get from kids when they realize they have their very own school bus!  Well little kids any way.  That excitement was certainty not shared by their mother when I pulled up in the bus to pick them up for the camping trip. There's a great many things my ex-wife and I don't see eye to eye on and this is obviously another.  I will likely talk more about that situation some other time but as I said from day one this is about the kids, the memories, nature and adventure and sharing my love of god with them.

     So we have officially embarked on our maiden voyage. Two nights of camping await us at the Oklahoma Lake Murray State park.

     We had been on the road for about an hour when the water/oil light and alarm started going off.  I have been watching over ever thing from the first day and the bus has run pretty good but the temp gauge has done a little dance here and there.  It seems that I can run it as hard as I want to in town and it will stay at about 190 degrees. Open highway at 60 mph and it settles in at about 195 but when pushing her to 65 for 30 minutes or more it will be up to 210 and starts climbing up to 215-220 when we hit inclines.  Within a couple minutes of backing off on the speed or pulling in to a stop it will be right back down to 190 or less.  I'm gonna have to look in to this more next week after we get back to town.

     After a quick stop to cool the engine down and a small speed adjustment we easily made the last leg to the campgrounds.  This is certainly not the kinda camping I grew up on but it will have to do to start.

     Now that we had arrived and finally found a decent spot to camp the first priority was to hang the hammocks. I have a true love of lounging in a hammock and have taken many opportunities over the years to hang one any time and place I could.  I can often even be found sleeping in one daily as my regular bed.  I hope that the kids will enjoy them just as much especially since I didn't bring anything else to sit on. We got our camp set up and had a snack then headed down the short hike to play in the lake.

     The one thing that has been the hardest adjustment for me in the outdoors of the south has been the water. Back home in the mountains and valleys of Montana and the rest of the Pacific Northwest the water is so beautiful.  There's plenty of sandy or rocky shorelines to play on and the water is so clear. You can usually see the bottom of the water till it gets about 10 ft deep and in some places much deeper than that even. I don't know how anyone truly enjoys playing in this muddy soup they call lake water down here.
   
     The kids and I finally found a muddy bank that we could get decent access to the water from and made the best of it.  We did a little swimming and of course caught a few frogs.  My eight year old daughter has been very much like me as a child and is normally full steam ahead for trying new things in the way of the outdoors. My 4 year old son however is a bit more skeptical about trying things that look like there could be consequences.  I cant blame him for being precocious as it is probably a good thing in the long run.  This was really his first true outdoor adventure and I had to work at it some to convince him to hold one of the frogs I had caught.  Once he had it in his hands however he quickly made friends and named him hopper.

     As the evening wound down we made a little fire, cooked up some dinner, roasted a few marshmallows and relaxed in our hammocks.  at the end of the night With a few minutes of work I had our hammocks hung in the bus and a couple of fans running off of my solar setup to help keep us cool.  I tucked the kids in and we called it a night.

Day 5

     Today I took after the back 4 rows of seating. I wasn't going to do anything about the seating for a few weeks but after going up and down the isles a couple times while planing where I was going to put the camping gear I found it was just to tight between the seats.  Taking some rear seating out would give tons of room to accommodate anything I could think of bringing and it would be easy to load in and out from the rear door.

    The seats are bolted down with 8 bolts. 4 through the floor at the base of the legs and 2 where the seating meets the support rail on the wall.  It was really pretty simple to remove the bolts as a few would just break but most easily come loose. I worked from underneath the bus with my Milwaukee cordless impact while using a pair of vise grips inside the bus to brace the bolt heads.  I removed all the bolts in the last 4 rows and I started pulling the seats out. I was surprised as to how light they actually were. A quick clean of the floor and some caulk to fill the bolt holes in the floor so no critters try to stake a claim on the place and it was time to get the camping gear loaded.

     With all the gear loaded and a few hours of daylight left to kill I headed out for a quick bite to eat and then started putting up the ceiling insulation. To line it with the foam I cut the 4x8 sheets down 6 inches to 7 ft 6 inches and literally arched them into place. They stay up by tension and hug the roof line nicely. I have used 6 sheets to do the majority of the ceiling and just have the back foot over the rear door and the area  over the driver to finish.  I left these area undone for now until I decide exactly how I want to finish those areas. It looks pretty good and my daughter is sure to love the pink color. I will live with the pink for now knowing that I will be finishing it with something nice down the road.  It was a productive day and as I finished up I sat down in the rear doorway to watch the sun setting  and the moon which had already risen and enjoy a few minutes at the end of the evening.

     I'm so excited to pick up the kids for our first trip tomorrow. I will be surprising my kids with the bus when I pick them up at 9 a.m. They know where going camping but I haven't said a word to them about the bus.

Day 4

   

     After getting the bus home and resting for a day I decided to pick up some insulation for the roof line and the walls to help cut down the Texas heat from radiating into the inside from the exterior. This will of course also help retain the cool or warm air inside the bus when I get a a/c-heater unit mounted on the roof.  I have opted to use the solid 1" foam board insulation for a few reasons. The first being it's so easy to work with. The R-value 5 should go along way in making the internal temperature easier to manage in the long run and it is much better at sound control than most the other options.  The ceiling in this Amtran body is perforated metal and does already have some insulation in it so this should make for a good cozy setup. With a trip to home Depot and a bit of cash I have 10 sheets to start with. I will need to do a little more measuring and planing on the installation but that will have to wait for tomorrow as it's time to get to work.

First impressions

   

  Well here she is.

   
 2001 International with an Amtran body powered by the DT466 diesel and an Allison automatic transmission.

      I took a one way flight to Saint Louis, Mo. Tuesday morning and made the trek back to Texas.  It took forever it seemed but it was overall a nice drive. 15 hours with stops for lots of liquids and a few gallons of fuel. I wasn't being real exact about the math but the fuel mileage looks to be good at about 10-11 mpg. She ran great and my favorite feature so far is that it has cruise.  The only thing that I must figure out immediately is how to get the front heaters completely turned off they were both pumping out tons of heat and It was hot in there.  I'll look in to that right away this next week but I think I found the valve to stop the coolant from cycling though to the heaters. I will be doing just a few things to get it  ready this weekend and hopefully the kids and I will get to take her out for our first trip Sunday.  I cant wait to see there face expressions when the I show them our new ride.

In the beginning.

In the beginning... 

       was a man with few unconventional ideas and the desire to enjoy the heavens and the earth.

 So this is our story.

         I'm a single dad with two amazing kids and we're embarking on a journey to create memories that will last a lifetime.  So what's so unconventional you might say.  Well it's our new family member.  Yes it's a good old fashioned school bus.  I have been thinking about building out a super camper for about 15 years and now after many considerations and the current life situation it's time to start.  This is not the first school bus conversion by any means but it is considered to be  an abnormal venture by most. Over the next 3 months we will make some modest changes mostly to the general layout of  the seating in our new ride and attempt to enjoy as many trips to the lakes and parks as we can before school begins again.  Then god willing we'll start making a more elegant conversion to be able to enjoy it for the years to come. I have many ideas already however I really want to get some time in it to truly assess just how to best utilize the space.

     I am excited to make a ton of memories and have the opportunity to teach my kids so many of the things I want them to know about life, nature and gods will as we go on our adventures. I expect the teachable moments to be endless and I have a feeling that I will be learning as much from the experience as they do if not more.  I hope you enjoy our journey as we have some fun and take on the challenges we encounter.

       Blessings to you all!