Made it to Quartzsite in our "new to us" Beaver Prevost conversion, YIPPEE

[Christyhicks]

Well, glory be, we MADE IT TO QUARTZSITE IN ONE PIECE!  Yee Haw.  First time Quartzsiters. . newbees. ..  .you name it, that's us.  We got in at 2:00 a.m. this morn, slept for a few hours and then hit the streets for a few.  AHHHHHH, it's so nice to be out of that crap cold weather in Oklahoma!

Before we left, I called my brother, who is an ex-trucker, current charter driver, and asked him about any large hills/small mountains between OKC and Flagstaff, but neglected to ask about between Flagstaff and Phoenix, ha ha, so a few good steep climbs followed by a few steeeeeeeeeeep downhills gave the ole bus a good workout. . . and doing it in the dark gave Larry a good workout too, ha ha.  We made it in one piece and are going to enjoy absorbing the whole atmosphere. . . we're open to any suggestions of places to go, things to do, people to see! 

Oh, yeah, BTW, we bought yet ANOTHER bus conversion. . .crap. .. anyone want to buy a bus  . . . . a shell  . . . a "TempBus"  . . . a started MCI-9 conversion?  hahaha.  Christy Hicks

[Ray D]

Sounds like you are on top of the world, I'm envious, ours is not ready yet.

Enjoy...
Ray D

[bobofthenorth]

So what's the deal?  You didn't come to see us.  Mark & Donna (Stormcloud) and the frenchy-bus are just south of Plomosa road, 2nd dirt trail past mile marker 1.  Michael & Christi are supposed to be here too but they haven't found us yet either.  33.76 x 114.18 GPS if that helps.

[John316]

Christy,

I had no idea that you guys got a new bus. You got pics?

Also, what about pics of all of your other buses...lol

Glad you made it safely. Try to have a little fun while you are there .

God bless,

John

[Christyhicks]

hahahaha, well, that was all Greek to me!  Course, we got in at 2:00 a.m. this morn, so haven't had much time to scope things out. . . by 2:00 in the morn, pretty much I'm focused  on one thing only. . . park that sucker and let's go to sleep!

I seriously wondered whether Larry, focused on staying in our lane on a dark highway, would even notice if I rocked my co-pilot seat back and extended the foot rest, sneaking a few short winks!  We had hoped to stay at the Flying J in Phoeix after filling, but unfortunately, there was no room at the inn, so Larry said, "Get me some coffee, we're going on to Quartzsite". . . and away we went.  

I got him some God-awful pizza from inside the store, (only because it looked like it had been there at least an hour or two less time than everything else they offered ), nuked it a little extra in the micro/convection oven, figuring that it might zap at least a small percentage of the thousands of live bacterium that thought they had finally found a permanent residence, whacked it up into finger-food sized bites and figured that the cramps from the attempted food poisening would help keep him alert as he chewed up those last 120 miles.  

I kind of know were we are,   sort of. . . across from Gamblers RV, in a gravel lot by the "parking $7 per night" sign. . . north side of the road I guess, black, grey, and silver Prevost conversion with a "used to be white but now matches the black bus", "carbon-blacked" Jeep.  Anyone and everyone is welcome to stop and share a seat and a beer (or soda or water or whatever your poisen) and we'll try to connect with a few people once we get settled in a little better.  Christy Hicks

[Dreamscape]

I see how ya are! You guys are going to miss all the fun of building one!

Send me an email on the Temp Bus, I have a friend looking.

Paul

[Christyhicks]

I had no idea that you guys got a new bus. You got pics?. . .Also, what about pics of all of your other buses...lol

HA HA HA, no, I know, pretty much NO ONE knew we bought that bus!  We kept it a secret so we could surprise some friends who were expecting us here in Quartzsite.  You do not KNOW how hard it was to keep my mouth shut and not get on here and tell everyone!

There always will be a part of me that will be disappointed that I didn't get the opportunity to convert BigBus, but the facts were as they were. . . the bus was beautiful, low miles, had EVERYTHING we wanted on one, and although it wasn't EXACTLY the same floor plan I had designed (and designed, and designed, and designed again), it was close enough for me to know I'd be very comfortable inside it.  The thing was for sale pretty much in our back yard, and due to the seller's current situation, miraculously priced close enough to what we could afford that we were able to come to terms.  That, coupled with the demands of the business, a fair amount of trim work I still need to finish on our home, and the slightly disappointing results from my hand surgeries, well, the reality was that we'd have been fools to pass this one up.

I will list the empty shell, the started conversion, and TempBus, our much-loved 4107 factory conversion, for sale this Spring, but for now, we're going to enjoy Quartzsite, the wonderful lack of snow down here, the opportunity to meet some people who previously have only existed as "names of people on the board", and just the fun of exploring a "new to us" coach.  Have a little fun?  We've bene here less than 24 hrs and have already had a LOT of fun!  We'll be here for a couple of weeks if things go our way. . i.e., if Becky, my office girl, doesn't burn out or flare out or something, ha ha.  I'll try to post a couple of pics of the new toy tomorrow, but to be honest, I've had about 15 hours of sleep over the last four days, so I need to hit the shower and rack.  I'm hoping at least a few fellow-busnuts will look us up, track us down, or at least stumble gently across us!  Christy hicks

[Christyhicks]

I see how ya are! You guys are going to miss all the fun of building one! Send me an email on the Temp Bus, I have a friend looking.

I'll try to get something to you soon Paul.  It looks better than it did last time you saw it, as we had just replaced the drivers and co-pilot's seats before we, who were SO NOT LOOKING FOR ANOTHER BUS, stumbled across this Prevost.  We never even took a trip in them, and only sat on the leather couch on one or two trips!  I actually sat in the co-pilot's seat once, to say, "ohhhhh, these are going to be GREAT!", and that's it!

TempBus has been a loyal coach and friend, so it was a little sad to back him back into his spot in the garage and drive away, eaving him behind.  We had a lot of fun and adventures and put a lot of love and "fixing up" into him, so he'll make a good coach for someone. 

Yeah, crazy as it sounds, I actually really enjoyed designing and installing the a/c units and I had insulated every nook and cranny in the floor and walls on Bigbus and had JUST FINALLY gotten Larry to drive it down into the back yard by my shop so that I could start pulling down ceiling panels to insulate the ceiling.  I spent so much time drawing out the floor plan and then mocking it up to make sure it'd work, and I relished the challenge of fitting as much storage as possible into my design. 

Unfortuately, it appears that the damage I had done to my wrist when I shattered it many years ago was more extensive than anyone realized, and some tendons I was supposed to have were no longer there, so the carpal surgery on that hand was pretty much  ineffective and I've been plagued with numbness since the surgery this spring.  The demands of getting after that conversion hot and heavy probably would have made things even worse.  Adding in Larry's back issues this last year and we just decided that we'd be fools to pass up a beautiful, low mileage coach at a great price.  We've not traveled as much as we would have liked to these last couple of years and this trip alone showed us that it was the right decision for us.  We're here in Quartzsite having fun, instead of freezing our butts off and then working them off creating something that would cost us almost as much and be worth a quarter of what this one is.  Having said that, yes, I still have a little regret.   Christy

[Dreamscape]

You guys have fun!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm not going to be able to make the trip this year!

My Web classes are going pretty hot and heavy and I don't want to disturb my train of thought! I need all the help I can get, if you know what I mean!

Paul

[ruthi]

Christy, sounds like you guys have made the right decision. Enjoy your time away, as well as enjoy time to kick back and relax. Our cruise did that for us, although I am now stuck at home with the flu. You dont realize how much you need a break until you do it, and then you wonder why you waited so long.  ???Have fun for us all!

[Christyhicks]

Thanks Ruthi. . . . I guess I'll just have to buckle down and have LOTS of fun for everyone who can't be here . . .  it's a tough job but I'll just have to put in EXTRA effort and do my share for the good of busnuts EVERYWHERE!

Paul, I'm really disappointed that you won't be here!  I thought you and Sonny might be coming down .  Well, I guess you'd better go ahead and concentrate on your studies. . .been there, done that. . . . .. .  . then my furnace broke and I met this GORGEOUS hvac guy and . . . well, guess the rest is history.

I'm going to try to find out more about the rally that's coming up. . . . we weren't sure that we'd be down here in time, but then we just put the fire to it and decided, "First time taking a new coach out and we take it 1/2 way across the country???  Not knowing anything much about it?  Awwww, what the heck. . . let's head to Quartzsite and we'll just see what happens!!!!"   Christy

[Ed Hackenbruch]

Christy,  looks like we will head up there on tuesday. Hope to meet up with you so i can give you those 2 bottles from your home town.  Ed    1968 MCI 5A,   Shades of Blue,   "Footloose and Fancy Free"

[bobofthenorth]

'bout time you got up in town.  Coffee's on up here on Plomosa Road.  Come for a visit - you can likely just follow the sound of my Kubota - I'm sure you can hear it in town right now.

[Van]

Christy,we'll expect daily weather reports untill we all arrive, and don't forget the sun lotion, # 6 works well this time of year LOL, enjoy the warmth, the sun, and a couple of beach boys tunes to just warm those winter blues away.  

[luvrbus]

Christy, Sonnie will be in late Tue or early Wed , some of us will be at the east end of town on the south side of I 10 for a pre-rally, going to be home made fajitas on Wed you and Larry come out you too Bob but leave George at home to many coyotes in the area and as fat as he his they may enjoy him LOL.  


good luck