How to get it home the first time Part IIC -- Superman (hint: that ain't you)

BG6 · March 05, 2009, 05:22:23 PM

Well, there you are, droozling down the superslab. You're listening to your tunes, you have enough fuel to get home, and you're comfortable with handling the scales and cops. It's a nice night to be driving, with the stars out and the heater working like a champ . . .

. . .and, the next thing you know, the rumble strip is waking you up!

Let's back you up a couple of hours, shall we?

There you are, droozling down the superslab, and you're enjoying the last moments of sunlight. This is the time to pull off, find a motel and a restaurant.

Wait a minute . . .did he say "Motel"

I've got a MOTOR HOME!

Uh . . .no, you don't. You have a shell.

That first night, especially if you're not used to driving coaches, you will burn yourself out far sooner than you expect, and before you even know it. If you have more than 200 miles to go at sunset, then you need to Remain Over Night (RON) somewhere, and a motel is the place.

You need to relax and unwind. Muscles you're not used to remembering will make themselves noticed, so it's a lot better to spread out in a nice, big, soft bed than to stuff yourself into a sleeping bag on a cot. Your brain has been in high stress mode since that first "Now what?" moment, so watch some mindgum on the TV. After you get a meal and spend an hour sitting to eat it, your face looks like a test pattern because your mind is literally out to lunch.

So, you find a nice motel, near a decent restaurant. Check in, tell them NO wakeup call (trust me, you won't need it, and if you ask for one, you will sleep poorly waiting for the phone to ring). Get dinner, take a hot shower, hit the sack, even if it's only 8 PM. As soon as you think that you can go to sleep, do so.

Above, I said that if you have more than 200 miles to go, get a motel. If you have less and don't want to get a motel, then at sunset you pull off, eat, then go to the next rest area or other suitable parking place, go lie down on the cot for at least 10 minutes. If you sleep, then when you wake up, hit the road until the next rest area, then pull in and go lie down again. If you can't get to sleep in 10 minutes, then repeat this, one jump at a time. If you feel tired AT ALL, you need to pull off at your next opportunity and get another nap. If you catch yourself falling asleep, PULL OVER RIGHT THERE and get that nap.

If you fight it, you will end up wiped out and maybe in the ditch. If you get these "power naps," you will be home by midnight.

You've gone through too much to waste it by wrecking your new toy!

Let's say you have a multi-day trip to get home. That first morning, come out of the motel and do a pre-trip inspection. Use the same form, and keep it.

It doesn't matter how early or late you hit the road, as long as you aren't in a hurry. Take your time, you will make it up on the road. The best cure for stress is not to let it get started so start the day with a hot shower. Have a good low-residue, high-protein breakfast -- NASA tradition is to have steak and eggs with hashbrowns. You will need this boost (no pun intended . . .well, okay, maybe it was) to get to lunchtime. While you are eating, figure out your mileage and look at your map book and directions.

After breakfast, light the engine and air up, then go outside and do another walk around, looking for any problems that you missed on your pretrip. Spend a minute or two buckled into your seat to mentally review your remaining trip, and the part of it you plan to do that day. Will you need fuel? Where will you get it? Can you get to lunchtime before the needle hits 1/4?

On the road, if you find yourself getting bored, stop and look at the scenery for a minute. While you're doing that, walk a couple of hundred feet away and look at your coach, sitting there growling at you. That's YOURS!!! Pretty cool, ha? That's guaranteed to get your adrenaline up a bit. Take some pics of your coach on the way home, at interesting places.

In other words, make this the first vacation trip you make with your coach. Enjoy it. Feel sorry for the guys with their $125,000 sticks-n-staples rigs when you see them.

Just remember that unless you have an allergy to Kryptonite, you need to take care of yourself on this trip, to be able to handle the stress that you're facing. It's largely up to you whether you enjoy it or wish that you had stayed home and just written a check to a transport company.

There you have it, in four parts.

John316 · March 05, 2009, 06:22:13 PM

BG6,

I gotta ask. Did you write it all yourself? That sounds right on. You did a good job. Thanks.

God bless,

John

oldmansax · March 05, 2009, 06:36:29 PM

Well written and funny!

BigDougInOregon · March 05, 2009, 07:06:04 PM

I wanted to say something pithy to this because I loved it so much, but I think my mind is on auto-pilot today and I just couldn't come up with anything good to say except "Wow!", you are right on. I think you need to use these posts as the foreword for a book about the affliction we bus nuts suffer from. Excellent form. Good job!

Doug

BG6 · March 06, 2009, 08:56:58 AM

Quote from: John316 on March 05, 2009, 06:22:13 PM
BG6,

I gotta ask. Did you write it all yourself? That sounds right on. You did a good job. Thanks.

God bless,

John

Yep. the whole thing was inspired by the "get bus to Florida" thread.

PP · March 06, 2009, 09:07:10 AM

BG6,
Take it from a professional writer, you done good.

I especially liked the part about stepping back and eyeing your new purchase over. Anyone that brought their rig home without that moment missed out on something special. It's part of forming the bond and fueling the addiction.
Thank you, Will

kyle4501 · March 06, 2009, 09:41:25 AM

How's this for an interesting picture taken during the trip home?
It was sent to me via a friend who was talking to someone who knew somebody. . . .

No, I didn't make that up, nor did I take the picture.

A friend (Jack Hart) went on the trip with me & was telling a customer about us blocking one of the exits to the restaurant on the Chesapeake bay bridge tunnel. Emails were exchanged & this picture showed up.

That's Jack in the red shirt & I'm to his left working on the battery cable connections.

What led to parking like this?
Jack said there was plenty of room for a bus to make that turn - NOT

When reverse was tried, the solenoid didn't work & we ended up stalling the bus.

Wouldn't start back, so we assumed it was due to weak batteries - NOT, after spending ~$360 on NEW 8D's, we found out it was the starter solenoid that wouldn't work when hot.

Great trip now that we made it home, not so much while we were on it.

One thing to add, if you're going to shut down your new bus on the way home, park near an electrical outlet. If you need it, you'll be glad you did.

BG6 · March 06, 2009, 09:42:00 AM

Quote from: PP on March 06, 2009, 09:07:10 AM
BG6,
Take it from a professional writer, you done good.

As a professional writer myself, thank you.

If there were a market, I would develop this into a How-To guide. There aren't enough potential purchasers, though, so here it is.

BG6 · March 06, 2009, 09:45:16 AM

Quote from: kyle4501 on March 06, 2009, 09:41:25 AM
What led to parking like this?
Jack said there was plenty of room for a bus to make that turn - NOT
When reverse was tried, the solenoid didn't work & we ended up stalling the bus.

Somewhere in this series, I mention checking reverse and learning how to make it happen. Thanks for the example why!

Remember, no company ever sells a coach because it's in TOO GOOD condition to keep!

kyle4501 · March 06, 2009, 09:58:41 AM

Reverse worked that morning when we did the pre trip check. Things happen when you least expect them.

I was fortunate to have a couple of busnut friends show up & help me look her over before the trip home.
The 2 ~~suckers~~ buddies that made the trip with me were the best I could have had.
Jack was able to find the best restaurants right on our route as soon as we decided what we wanted to eat. He was also amazingly fast at finding the motel we needed (with spacious bus parking) at a very cheap rate.

Ash was adept at fixing any electrical issue that came up with the 50+ year old wiring.

This hobby is best enjoyed with friends!

And, according to the seller, she doesn't smoke much either!

John316 · March 06, 2009, 10:42:27 AM

Thanks for these threads! They are great! It brought back a lot of memories. Like sitting in the middle of a on ramp, to the interstate, and having the parking brake frozen, and knowing NOTHING about the bus...

Thanks again, and it was well written.

God bless,

John

Don4107 · March 06, 2009, 04:13:00 PM

We located our second bus, a 4107, on "The Great Bus Shopping Trip" which took us from Eastern Washington to San Diego looking at a bunch of conversion/shells.

We made the deal on the return trip home. Took care of the paperwork through the mail and thanks to a small town license agency had the license and registration (RV) in hand before we headed out to pick it up.

Don 4107