R. TERRY (152.163.201.214)
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, February 02, 2002 - 3:55 am: | |
My guess is, as a Busnut, the two most exciting things you can do is go pick up your
"new" bus, and... that other thing which you know what is.
The day after Christmas, we got to do just that. The kids and I jumped in the car, drove from Arizona to Nebraska, and, to our surprise, very quickly located Our New Bus. The following day
we drove it 1300 miles back to Arizona just in time to see the countdown from New
York City as the ball in Times Square fell, bringing in the New Bus! I mean, the New
Year! Wow! Now, THAT is the most exciting thing you can do as a bonafied,
heart-and-soul Busnut!! (No, I didn't get to do that other thing.)
Such a wonderful time, and what a FABULOUS way to kick off 2002!
What made it particularly wonderful was being able to share the experience with my
two boys, ages 10 and 13.
Two summers ago when I went to Detroit to pick up the GMC 4104, they were not
allowed to go. Their mom was convinced I had lost my mind. "You bought a WHAT?!" I
didn't mind her saying that, it was that other question that bugged me: "Why?" She
was afraid any number of things would go wrong, that "her" boys would get stranded
in the middle of nowhere, and God knows what else. OK, the bus did break down
three times while still in Detroit and finally had to be parked at a storage lot, allowing
Greyhound to do the honors back to Phoenix. But to me, that was part of the whole
bus adventure thing, even "Going Greyhound" and having my wallet boosted on the
bus in Memphis. I think it would have done them good to see what happens when
everything goes haywire, how you make new plans on the fly, keep on truckin' in
spite of it, and learn to deal with the fascinating vagaries of life. Stuff like that keeps
you snappy!
This time those lucky little guys got to take that big bus adventure with their crazy
dad. Maybe it was because this bus was newer, a 1974 model instead of 1955, and
the likelihood of it completing a long trip uneventfully was perceived to be much
greater. Or, maybe it was the thought of pressing her luck if she had said "No" again. I
like to think it was the latter.
Now, imagine how amazing and wonderful it is to see snow falling for the first time in
your life. My boys, born and raised in America's frying pan, Phoenix, had never seen it
snow! They had never been in a place where there was an opportunity to look up at
the sky and see those fluffy, soundless flakes floating down by the zillions. When we
left Phoenix, it was around 70 degrees and the weather was CAVU (for those of you
who are not pilots, that's clear and visibility unlimited). 15 miles outside of the little
town in Nebraska where the bus was patiently waiting to be rescued from the deep
freeze, it happened. "Stop the car! Dad, STOP the car!!" We had just driven into
Winter Wonderland! It was snowing and the kids were going nuts! Could there have
been a better, more fantastic way to get our new bus? I don't think so.
There was something else we had never seen: our new bus! We actually didn't know
where it was. All we knew was, it was snowing. We had the street address of the
school that owned the bus and knew that the street intersected with the US Highway
we were on, going north through town, but we didn't know if that is where the bus
was. Since I had Arizona plates on my car and it was SNOWING, people behind me
probably thought they knew why I was driving like I was from Arizona—real slow. They
were wrong; we didn't want to pass the street we were looking for.
Suddenly, the street was right there. Do we turn left or right? We didn't know. The light
turned red, we stopped. Which way do we go? Across the street on the left was a
lighted sign flashing the time and temperature. It was 15 degrees!! OHMYGOD! I
checked the light, it was still red. I looked across the street on the right. OHMYGOD!
There it was, sitting on a thick layer of ice in a parking lot right there on that very
corner!! A great big, beautiful, magnificent-looking, snow-covered 40 ft. GMC 4905!
The coach towered above the building next to it. What a sight to see! We all started
screaming!
Although the boys were as anxious to see the bus as I was, they really wanted to go
play in the snow—really, really badly. "Hey, nice bus, Dad!", and off they went!
Snowballs were flying everywhere. Priorities.
This coach, having paid its early dues in Trailways service and of late an
over-the-road school bus replete with the precious names of student lovebirds
scratched into the backs of the seats, was an all original, unmodified, fully seated, 49
passenger coach. (Unmodified except for the automatic transmission conversion and
a wooden cabinet in the rear baggage bay that held football helmets.) Just 100%
bus, and just what I wanted. By strange coincidence, it had been purchased from an
outfit in Arizona!
After the ususal Bill of Sale monkey business and a long spiel about what a wonderful
bus we were getting, we locked her up, got back in the nice warm car and drove
another two hours through the blowing snow storm that had been creeping up
behind us, to Omaha. There we picked up a traveling companion who would follow
us in the car to Wichita, then ride the rest of the way back to Phoenix in the bus. The
next morning as we left Omaha, we saw another time and temperature sign. It read:
"Five degrees below zero"! (Yikes! Arizona boy not happy.)
Before we left Phoenix, the kids' mom, again, worried that something might go wrong
with the bus. I told her to forget it, that I was positively assured by the seller that
everything about the bus was in top shape, it had been well maintained by the
school and is in excellent condition. She said, "It's real cold in Nebraska. Does the
heater work OK?" "Listen, Babe", I reassurred her, "if there's anything I know it's this:
Any bus in NEBRASKA is going to have a GREAT heater, I guarantee ya!"
Murphy's Law. It was the only thing on the bus that DIDN'T work! Fortunately for the
guy from the school who sold me the bus—his wife ought to be thankful her husband
doesn't have a really flat nose now—, we didn't find out the heater didn't work until
we were well underway.
So, how was the trip home in the new bus? Did you ever drive halfway across
America inside a frozen food locker? We did. It was fun! (I can't believe I said that!)
I'll tell you about it, and those wild truckers in Texas, in my next installment.
I love this bus!
R.Terry
BTW, just in case you didn't know, that other most exciting thing a Busnut can do is...
take your bus to an an airshow, silly. |