Blue Moves North!

Shortly after Blue was settled into his new parking spot, I left Idaho. I needed to move home and get away from some things out here and figure out what I was going to do next (apply for jobs, spend time with family, etc.). I looked into ways to get Blue out to Florida with me but nothing was really going to work- I was in a rush and didn't have time to get it to the shop to have a few necessary repairs made, and it would cost over $3,000 to have the bus shipped to Florida. With all that said, I decided it would be best to leave Blue tucked away in the storage lot while I went home and figured things out, which turned out to be a great decision because three months later, I was moving back to Idaho for a new job at Clearwater Fish Hatchery in Ahsahka, Idaho. On my trip from Florida to the hatchery, I stopped in Boise to say hello to Blue, start him up, and make sure everything was good to go with that. As always, he started like a champ and all seemed well so I said goodbye and headed up to get settled into the new job. 

Dropping Blue off at the Bus Doctor

After getting into the swing of things with work, I checked in with my Supervisor (the hatchery manager) to see if I would be able to park Blue at the hatchery and work on it in my free-time. Thankfully he said yes and was actually really excited about the project so I took a three day weekend and went down to Boise with one of my coworkers to take Blue to the shop and get everything squared away for moving up North. The awesome crew at Western Mountain Bus and Auto Sales took care of a leak in the rear axle, replaced the brakes as they had been saturated by the leak, and event went ahead and attached my new wiper blades for me. As always, it was a pleasure leaving Blue in their hands and I highly recommend the shop to anyone and everyone. All said and done, it cost me about $500 for the repairs, with labor being the bulk of it. (I am planning to eventually learn to to basic maintenance and repairs on my own, but at least in the beginning stages when I am on more of a time crunch, I'm fine paying a little extra and letting the professionals take care of things).

Snow is a great look for Blue

We drove back down the following weekend to pick up Blue and drive back to the Hatchery. It was a long and snowy drive, but it went over without any problems. At one point, visibility was minimal with how heavy the snow fall was, but I lucked out and ended up driving right behind the snowplow, which made the mountain roads much easier to navigate and made the train of cars behind me far more understanding of the slow uphill speed at which we were going. Once we got through the initial snowy area, it was clear skies through Riggins (Blue's prior homeland) and up through WhiteBird. WhiteBird hill, however, presented its own challenge with how incredible steep it is- Blue chugged along slow and steady like the big giant snail he is. After clearing the hill, it was back to white-out snowy conditions where I couldn't tell if we were driving on the road or the fields. Thankfully, Blue is a beast and was unphased by the thick covering of snow we were blazing a trail through.

After a long, long day of driving we arrived at the Hatchery just before sundown, got Blue tucked away between two of the storage sheds in the back, and I took a much needed nap.

Cheers to Bus Life!!

Finding a Place to Park

Blue's Views

Once Blue was legal (registered and insured) I needed to find a place to park him. My Americorps term at the wildlife refuge was over and I could no longer park Blue there. The tiny apartment I was crashing in did not have space to accommodate a 28ft bus, so I was on a mission to find a place that could. Many of the larger stores in and around Boise do not allow long-term/overnight parking in their lots, so I was directing my search towards a private lot or storage unit with RV/boat parking. I initially did a search online for storage facilities near Boise and called a few to check on availability and price for what I needed. Most were full/had no spaces available, or were charging upwards of $100/month and would not allow me to work on the bus while it was parked on site. I assumed that I may end up having to move the bus any time I was going to work on it, but not while paying so much for a parking spot. A bit discouraged, I decided to shift the focus of my search to private land owners and responded to a few postings on craigslist to see if I could get a better deal.

Blue Made A Friend!

Much to my surprise, the private land owners I spoke to had set an even higher price point- most trying to charge a base fee and then incremental increases based on how many times I intended to visit the bus each week- it was ridiculous. One such individual told me that for what I was hoping to get out of the deal, he would expect me to pay almost $300/month!! That was an insane price to pay just for a patch of dirt to park my bus in- no electricity, no fence, no security- just the bare bones.
With such a shocking twist, I figured my best bet would be to revisit the storage unit idea and hope to work out a sweeter deal for me and Big Blue. Luckily, after dozens of disappointing phone calls, I came across a small local storage facility (Lock Away Storage) in Boise, Idaho- just about 20 minutes from the place I was staying at the time. A very friendly gentleman named Bruce Williams (the facility manager) answered the phone and informed me that he had ONE space left for vehicle storage. He asked a bunch of questions about the bus, mostly making sure that it was registered and would actually fit in the parking space. Thankfully, the spaces were 30' long and Blue is 28' long, so it was a snug but perfect fit! My designated spot was ideal as I had the wall of a storage building to the right and a small Dutch Bros Trailer to the left that was hardly ever actually parked there- I didn't have to worry about the bus getting in anyone's way or my work disturbing anyone else!

Full disclosure, I contacted the storage unit BEFORE I had actually finalized the bus registration, but after talking with Bruce, he was kind enough to hold the spot for me while I took care of everything else, When all my ducks were in a row, I stopped by the facility to meet Bruce and lock in Blue's new parking spot. For a mere $50 /month I was able to park Blue in a secure local facility where I could come and go as I pleased to work on Blue- it was the perfect set-up (aside from having Blue parked where I was staying of course). If you are ever looking for a place to park/store your skoolie/RV/trailer, etc. I highly recommend giving Bruce a call! And if you are elsewhere and experiencing the same struggle I did in trying to find somewhere to park while you are building, DO NOT GIVE UP! It may get super discouraging at times, but make that millionth phone call, and send that additional email- eventually you will strike gold and find the perfect spot for you and your bus, just like I found for Blue! Best of luck in your search, and thank's for reading!

****If you check out the storage facility website (Lock Away Storage), you'll see Blue in the background of the photo on the home page!****

Title, Registration, Insurance...Oh My!

One of the biggest obstacles in skoolie ownership is easily dealing with the title, registration, and insurance for the bus. Many people in the skoolie community have struggled with finding and keeping insurance, particularly during the build and before they switch the title to RV or motorhome. Going into this, I was incredibly worried about being able to insure the bus purely because so many others had experienced difficulties. Thankfully, I was able to secure exactly what I needed from the insurance front on the first day I attempted it! I anticipated Progressive being the only insurance, but I went ahead and gave a call to Allstate, State Farm, and Geico as well-just to cover all the bases. Just as expected, none of the other three would insure a skoolie during the build process, but most would insure it after it is titled as an RV, so I will have to keep that in mind for the future! That being said, I would definitely recommend giving them a call anyways if you are in the market for insurance as they all told me that their rules change frequently and with the increase in popularity of skoolies, they may eventually insure them. (They are just starting to make changes to insure van conversions, so it is likely just a matter of time before skoolies get added to the mix). After speaking with Progressive trying to get a quote, I was passed to their commercial division and asked for a commercial for personal use policy. (this is what you want, so make sure that you ask for that. They will ask a few questions regarding things like what you will be using it for, how much you will be driving it, if the stop sigh and lights are still installed, etc. Just make sure you are 100% honest with them. You do not have to volunteer information, but you do need to be truthful because if you ever need to file a claim and were dishonest, it is very much possible that they will deny your claim. Full disclosure: I was upfront with them about the fact I was converting it but that the insurance was to be strictly used during the build process and that I understood that they would no longer cover me when the conversion was done.) After just a few short phone calls, I was all set up with some solid insurance, and for MUCH less than I had anticipated- in all of the states I have set up insurance (Washington and Idaho), it has been less than $300 for 6 months of coverage.

After I had my insurance squared away, I gave the DMV a call to ask them what I would need to do in order to transfer the title and register the bus in Idaho. Being that I was still officially a Florida resident, they told me I would have to get an Idaho drivers license before I could tackle the rest, and that was the more difficult and time consuming portion.Once that was settled, I got the original title and insurance information together and went to the DMV to get my bus registered. I was in and out in about 15 minutes total and left with some truck plates and zero issues at all. I was completely shocked! I went in expecting to spend at least an hour or two in there and to have to field dozens of questions about it, but encountered none of it!
Fingers crossed it is as easy to insure the bus as a skoolie as it was this go around!

Cheers to more adventures with the Big Blue Bus!

Blue's New Shoes!

When I bought Big Blue, I was aware that the tires were old and a bit cracked and they would need to be replaced before driving for any extensive distances. For many people, "bad" tires are an immediate turn off when it comes to selecting a bus. However, for me, I was getting such a good deal on the cost of the bus that even with the cost of new tires factored in, it was well below what I was expecting to pay outright. While this may not be the right decision for everyone, it was right for me.
When I took Big Blue in for the inspection at Western Mountain, Cliff recommended a tire place (American Tire & Auto Service) for me to go to and told me to ask for Jason. After my initial experience with  Western Mountain, I felt that I could trust them (especially in comparison to my experiences with other auto shops in the past with my car), so I decided to go to their recommended tire shop. Jason was incredibly helpful with answering my questions and getting Blue set up with some new rear wheels and tires. He was fast and persistent in getting in contact with me throughout the process and was always very friendly. I was out of town while the bus was with them, but I picked it up when I got home, about two weeks from when I dropped it off. The four rear tires and wheels cost about $700 in the end, which is actually a pretty solid deal. I still need to replace the front tires, but they aren't in as bad of a condition as the rear ones were, so I'm going to take care of that once I've saved up a bit more.

Big Blue's First Inspection!

A lot of perspective skoolie owners hire a mechanic to come with them to look at the bus they are interested in purchasing. This allows them to get a professional's input regarding the condition of the bus and use that to make a well informed decision regarding their purchase. This, however, is not something I decided to do. I got some advice from the skoolie community online about some major red flags to look out for and took care of it all myself. That being said, after geting Big Blue home, I knew there were probably at least a few mechanical issues with the bus, so I decided to have it inspected so I could start to prepare to take care of some repairs. I found a local bus repair shop (Western Mountain Bus & Auto Sales) and gave them a call. Cliff (Bus Sales) gave me the option of a basic one hour inspection for $90, or a slightly more in depth inspection at a higher price point. I opted for the basic inspection, as it would cover enough to get the ball rolling with bus repairs. I scheduled an appointment as soon as possible and dropped Big Blue off to be inspected. The guys at Western Mountain worked incredibly quickly and I was able to pick Big Blue up the next day. When I arrived, Cliff brought me out to the bus, gave me a short list of repairs to make, handed me the keys and sent me on my way- no charge at all! He said that the suggested repairs and maintenance were pretty minor (new tires, oil change, and fixing the rear axle seal) and that there was no real rush on getting them done but that it was more so just things to start thinking about as they would eventually need to be taken care of. It was incredibly reassuring to hear from some bus professionals that I didn't make a horrible mistake in purchasing my bus.
New tires is the next step on the road to making this bus a home.

Removing the Seats!

After getting Big Blue home, I was eager to get to work and begin the build!

The first step in the conversion process is to remove the bus seats. I had seen a lot of people in my skoolie groups complaining about how difficult it was for them to remove the seats, which had me a little worried as I had assumed removing the seats would be the easiest part of the entire build. Turns out, I was right! All it took was a socket wrench and about two hours and all 14 seats were up and free from the floor- piece of cake! A few of the bolts were super rusted and snapped in half as soon as I tried to turn them, but for the most part they all came up really easily. I had prepared for it to take much longer to get the job done, so the free time afterwards was unexpected. It was a super hot day, so I went down to a local coffee house and got some Kombucha and cooled off in the AC. A tasty reward for making the first step towards my home on wheels!

Big Blue's Journey Home!!

After paperwork had been filled out and funds exchanged, Big Blue was ALL MINE!! My first thought was "I'm a homeowner now! I've got to take one of those stereotypical pictures out in front with they keys like everyone else does when they buy a more traditional home." But that would have to wait- getting the bus down to it's new home in Nampa was the priority and pictures would come later.

About 10 minutes into the drive, I pulled over at a rest area, frustrated with the idea that the bus wasn't going over 45 mph and convinced that I had just made a huge mistake and bought a dysfunctional bus.  I calmed down a bit after I realized that I had been driving up a slight incline the entire time and, as I had learned from my skoolie groups, buses don't go very fast uphill. After a few minutes had passed, I continued south and everything was going great until Big Blue died at a stop sign in New Meadows, started up again, and then died again a few yards down the road. Thankfully, I was able to roll into a Family Dollar parking lot so I was out of the way and able to try and troubleshoot the issue. I went through some basic checks- oil, coolant, battery connections, fuel gauge, etc. and everything looked to be in working order. 

I tried again and it started up just fine. I made it about one mile out of town before it died again. I tried to get as far off the road as I could, but the tail end of the bus was still out in the lane a bit. I put up my orange triangles, left a note on the door, and went back into town in search of a solution. 

The cell service wasn't strong enough in town to reach out to any of the skoolie groups and the local mechanic was closed for the day. The only solution I could come up with was to call Matt (the guy I had just bought the bus from).

Matt had just left on a rafting trip not long before I called, but I was told he would be back within the hour. In the meantime, I called the local police department to let them know that we were working on getting the bus moved in case they saw it or anyone reported it for being in the way. When I finally got a hold of Matt and he was genuinely concerned, primarily with making sure I was safe, but also with the fact I was having trouble with the bus. He got in contact with his dad who live close to where I was stranded and who has experience working on large trucks and such. He was more than happy to help and quickly met me at the bus with tools and some fuel. Turns out, the fuel gauge doesn't work and the problem was simply that my tank was empty. We made a makeshift funnel (the gas can's nozzle wasn't long enough) and got some diesel into Big Blue. I tried once more to crank it up with no luck- there was now air in the fuel lines. Another easy fix- Thank Goodness!!! After bleeding the air from the lines, he started up like a champ. Matt's dad followed behind the bus until we got to the gas station in Council just in case anything went wrong before I had a chance to fuel up. 

The rest of the trip went smoothly and Big Blue finally arrived in his new temporary home! I am still so grateful to Matt and his dad for being so sweet and helpful while I was stressed to the max. I don't know if I could have been more excited to finally have a bus of my very own!
Let the conversion begin!!

Big Blue's Adoption Story

In early July I was driving back to Boise from my birthday trip up in Northern Idaho. When I was passing through Riggins, I drove by a park and sell lot where this beautiful blue bus was sitting. I almost missed it because I was so focused on getting home, but I caught a glimpse of it at the last second and turned around to check it out. It was unlocked so I spent some time climbing around inside and looking under the hood. The bus looked to be in great shape and it was the exact size I was looking for!

I figured it would be WAY out of my price range, but I took down the number on the for sale sign and figured I would give it a call when I got back into cell service just on the off-chance I was wrong.
Before I even started to unpack from the trip I called the number and was greeted by a guy named  Matt. Turns out, Matt owns a rafting company (Wild River Adventures) in Riggins and was selling the bus because he didn't have space for it, it was bigger than what he needed for running rafting trips, and he need the money to fix one of his other rigs. He gave me the scoop on the bus and told me that it was in pretty great shape with the exception of the fact that he was not sure how to get the on-board AC running. To my surprise, his asking price ($2,000) was well within what I was expecting to spend. I excitedly told him that I could be up there that weekend to check it out and (hopefully) take it off his hands.

I jumped right into calling the bank to figure out how to withdraw enough cash to pay for the bus with my bank not existing in Idaho, and researching insurance and info on registering and titling the bus so that I would be ready for the weekend. After I had gotten all of my ducks in a row, my boyfriend at the time drove me up to Riggins so that I would be able to drive the bus home without leaving my car stranded. When we arrived, Matt was incredibly friendly and took us down to the lot to officially meet the bus. He showed me how to start it, how to prime the air brakes and all the other little quirks the bus had before taking us for a ride. When it was time to turn around, he let me take the wheel to get a feel for it myself. I IMMEDIATELY ran over a bloated dead skunk. (To be fair, I had tried to avoid it but I was new to bus driving and my spatial awareness was not yet adjusted). I parked it across from the raft shop and Matt left me alone to have some time to look over the bus without him lurking over my shoulder. I crawled around underneath it to check for rust (there was none that I could see) and decided I was gonna go for it!

I ran across the street and asked Matt if he would take $1500 instead of the $2000 he was originally asking. He told me that another guy had offered that but was kind of a jerk, so he told him no, but that he was willing to let me have it for that price because I was nice and he was excited at the idea of what I had planned for the bus. I all but threw my money at Matt I was so excited. We got all of the paperwork taken care of and he sent me on my way.
I was now the proud new owner of a Big Blue Bus!

Getting Big Blue home was an adventure all in itself! Check back in for the next blog post to find out about what a time that was!