That Bus Life
The other night, we said "Goodbye for now" to the bus.
It's a bittersweet feeling, but it is definitely the right decision for our little family in this season of life.
We are so grateful to have made some friends out here on the Western Slope, and it is awesome that we were given the opportunity to upgrade our Tiny Home life.
With that being said, the bus was Zac and I's first home together. Zac built all of it out of his own imagination, blood and sweat. (And lots of time and money)
It was Orin's first home, we brought him there from the hospital. He learned to crawl on our bed, he took a first step or two in our little living room. Orin and I danced around when KOSI 101 flipped the switch to Christmas music last year, his first time hearing it and he absolutely loved Oh Holy Night. He transitioned from mushed baby food to real food on the bus.
We found out we are pregnant with our second baby in the little bathroom on the bus.
It took us to North Carolina and everywhere in between.
It has been "HOME" since February 2016.
However, the bus didn't come without issues.
In the beginning, after Zac and I quit our jobs to live a hippie life, we had to spend all our savings for our trip to buy a new transmission.
It was HOT inside in the summer, and cold in the winter. (The morning we left for our trip, it was -6° and ZigZag & Zoe's water bowl froze to the floor, along with the water inside it.
There was never anywhere for us to put the bus. RV parks wouldn't accept conversions, and even if they did it was over 10 years old so we couldn't stay anyway.
The police in Denver made it seem like it was their goal to chase us out of Walmart parking lots, even though there was ALWAYS a myriad of semi trucks and RVs at them too.
We lucked out staying at our old house every couple weeks with our neighbors who had become our best friends, even though the landlord wanted nothing more than to see it towed away. (Every time he called the cops, they said we were doing nothing wrong)
When we weren't there, we got to stay at Standley Lake Regional Park.
We saw a TON of people who LOVED the bus. They even backed up traffic on highways to take selfies with it. #thefbus
But, for every 10 people that thought the bus was so awesome, there were 100 people who hated it and us.
After we had Orin, we decided to finally move to Grand Junction, and we found an RV park that had absolutely no problem with a school bus conversion being there. It was like a light at the end of the tunnel!
We bought a great air conditioner, but the desert sun made the bus so hot that the cool air was inconsistent and we could only cool one part at at time. Or heat it for that matter.
I almost burned the bus down when I moved some wires, which blew the batteries we had for the solar panels.
Our water tank exploded and put 40 gallons of water into the back of the bus. (Fortunately, there were still holes from where the seats were that acted as a drain so it wasn't a complete flood)
Its been a L O T.
Orin needed more space to run around, so did the puppies. Yes, there are people with multiple kids living in a bus conversion. In order to do that, we would have to completely renovate it. That's definitely doable, but not while we are living in it. So, we are in a 5th wheel RV now!
As for the bus... Its being stored for now. It might become a Toy Hauler, it might become a Food Truck. Only time will tell at this point!
If you have any other questions about the bus life, please let me know!
-Marcie
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