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!!
