Pictures and Update

Figure 1: Pretty much what all of South Dakota looks like so far

Figure 2: The crew with Yogi Bear. Can you spot James?

Figure 3: Super - Pillow.

Figure 4: Our esteemed loadmaster at Sioux Falls

Figure 5: The crew at the international SPAM museum

Figure 6: Matt riding a pig

Blog update:
Pictures are in reverse chronological order.
Installed new fan clutch, bus can go faster and not overheat.
Collin got pooped on by a bird
We're at Wall Drug right now
Before that we went to Yogi Bear campground in Sioux Falls
Before that we saw the SPAM museum
Average trip MPG: 10.1 (.1 better than projections)
Next stop(s) Black hills national forest, Crazy horse, Mt. Rushmore.

Have a great day!

Another update with Chris/ Message to Kyle

We are currently heading towards Mt. Rushmore, after spending a night at the Yogi Bear camp site. We had a blast there, even though it wasn't real camping and we managed to made many children happy by bouncing them really high on a moon bounce like contraption. Yesterday we also went to the Spam Museum(SPAM!!!) and due to its influence a few of us decided to have spam salad for dinner. And yes it was delicious. Since I am not the one taking pictures, hopefully the people who are will post them soon.

P.S. Kyle, we hope you are having fun and make it home safely. We already miss your comic relief.

Next Up...

Just wanted to fill everyone in on our plans. We are taking it easy today and are just covering Wisconsin. We stopped at another fab cheese place for a lunch of cheese, meat, and wine samples. We are going to stop and play on the Mississippi later today. Tom we are going to go Sioux Falls, followed by a couple days in Mt. Rushmore, 2 days later we expect to be in Yellowstone then down to SLC. See you SLC people shortly!

Hello I-90

We have now been on the road one week. We have seen a lot of ups and downs (courtesy of the Appalachian Mtns) but have made it a full week! We have been camping since DC, staying at campgrounds of varying quality.


First we stayed at Mt. Morris campground outside of Morgantown WV, where we met some awesome people who had moved there from Texas. It was right next to the road which was noisy, but we were privileged enough to see a great firefly display. We got in late and left early, so we really don't have much to say.

Next we stayed at East Harbor State Park near Cedar Point. Our budget doesn't allow a day at rollercoaster central, but it was cool oogling them anyway! This campground had nice showers and a beautiful view of Lake Eerie. We also met some really friendly people who helped us with our bus. We took advantage of their firepit to make s'mores and hotdogs. Yum! We also stopped at Cheese Haven, where they sell over 125 types of cheese and a large variety of smoked meats (and some nice wine).

Last night we stayed Bigfoot Beach. It had some beautiful woods and some great lakes. Most people got in a good night's sleep and a nice walk in the morning. On our way there we stopped by Chicago and got some Chicago-style pizza. :) We also scared a lot of Amish people's horses.

At this second we are driving down I-90. Jessie is talking about stopping by the world's biggest ball of twine, Matt is playing online, Anne and James are reading, Chris is sleeping, Collin and Kyle are keeping the driver awake, and Scott is driving. More updates soon!

Greetings from Ohio

After leaving after leaving yesterday, we promptly set out west. This meant that we had to travel through a mountain range, the bus did not like this. Due to our large quantity of luggage, the engine can not take the strain of going up hill at highway speeds for too long. This is more of an inconvenience than a problem, as we now have to stop every hour or so to cool the engine down.

Yesterday we managed to find a camp site that would let us stay the night. Thankfully there were showers and we took advantage of those. Also on the way up the mountain we saw a few trucks carrying tanks :-D

500 miles down; 8,000 to go

Hello!
Yesterday we safely arrived in DC to a grand reception! We partied like Cubans (think pork, fried platanos, swimming, and flan) and enjoyed a great night's sleep at the lovely Nolan residence.

It was scary leaving the bus, but today we managed to do some sightseeing. We split into 3-4 groups and went out on the town. We saw the Natural History Museum, the new American Indian Museum, and the Air and Space Museum; a pan-american festival filled with music, good food, and dancing; and fed a squirrel. We eventually regrouped and had a lovely chicken dinner with the Nolans. Tonight we plan on relaxing and planning the next stage of our journey.

We would also like to thank Anne's parents for the wonderful travel ideas! We appreciate everyone's help and support!
Omnomnom! Kurtz-i-pooh ate a raccoon and caught rabies.

Quick update from the road

Since our last post, we have left Worcester and have safely managed to arive at Kurtz's family workshop. We decided that it was a good idea to sleep in CT than to drive all the way to MD and get no sleep. We also did some minor beefing up of the belly tanks this morning since we had access to the necessary tools. We are just about to head out and hopefully will make in time for the party that my family is throwing for us.

P.S Kurtz has some awesome cars!

Snow Delay!

OK, maybe its not snowing but we are a bit delayed! We are exhausted and dirty but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel! We still have a bit of building, packing and cleaning to do but we are taking a break due to a noise complaint. We will be on the road for sure tomorrow! First we will make a quick stop in CT and then strait to Washington D.C.!

Watch for us in a city near you soon!

Almost on the road....

Things are moving along here a little slower than we had planned but we just wanted to give you a quick update of where we are at!

We have been building, packing and cleaning literally around the clock but unfortunately we didn't meet our 1pm departure goal. Things are however, moving along and we do still plan to head out later this evening.

Providence is a possible destination for the evening followed by camping somewhere.
Tomorrow we have plans for brunch in CT provided by the Kurtz family! After that we hope to stop in Philadelphia for some Philly cheese steak and then head strait to Washington DC to stay with the Nolan family! Hopefully we will have a clean apartment soon and all of these plans will be possible!

Thanks for your support! Hopefully we will have some interesting stories from the road soon!

Update with Chris

Since our last post, we have completed the platform and have secured all the furniture. In fact today was our first field test! Some of us took the bus to Salem MA. Needless to say most of us made it back in one piece. We also learned a few valuable lessons: did you know that diesel engines do not work correctly if they aren't warmed up first? We still have a little bit more work to do, but that will have to wait since tomorrow is commencement. Congratulations Graduates!!!!

We would also like to extend our thanks to Collin's mom and Scott's grandparents for lunch and their undying support!

Stripped

Our bus is naked! We no longer have seats, rubber floors, or a radio. We dismantled the seats as well :)
We have also finalized our floor plans. We will have the driver's seat, 2 chairs behind them, 2 love seats facing each other with a table in between, 2 recliners behind that, a storage area which includes the bed, and some seating in the back facing the lovely road.

We currently have all our furniture and are building the platforms for everything to go on. Here are a couple of pictures - check facebook if you want to see more ;)

Renovations

Now that the bus is finally in our possession (both legally and physically) we have begun "making it our own." We decided to paint it silver so it will be cooler (pun attempted). We figured out we have amazing talent painting (by painting I mean spilling paint).

After some intense scrubbing (and many tin man comments) we began taking out all the seats. They are all detached, but we are not sure what to do with them. If we scrap them we would get real (read: comfy) couches, which might or might not result in a net furniture profit depending on how much we pay for furniture. On the other hand, we can reuse them to make our own metal furniture.

We have also decided to rip up the rubber flooring. It smells and is really dirty and gross. Since we are putting storage under most of our furniture anyway, we will only have a small area to paint.

We would also like to extend our congratulations to Anne for being the first woman to ever complete the Cadillac Challenge!

The bus is here!

Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to announce that the bus has been fixed and is now currently sitting outside our apartment. Work on the bus will commence tomorrow, and pictures will (hopefully) be posted later.

Dontations are being accepted!

Do you have junk in your garage? We have a wish list of things we want to borrow for the trip:

8+ ton bottle or floor jack
Generator
Tarp
Angle Grinder - for grinding off some stuck bolts on seats
Rafts/Inflatables
Air pump for inflatables -hand powered or 12v
Car batteries/Deep cycle batteries
12vdc to 120vac inverter (we have a couple but need a few more)
Coolers
Recommendations for mobile internet providers - any wisdom is appreciated
Outdoor safe folding chairs
Any hinges - we're building storage bins


If you have any innovative suggestions for entertainment or survival, please post your ideas.