Took our first trip in the new bus!

[DriverGT5]

Just a few weeks after getting our old Eagle we took our first road trip. 500 miles round trip from Charlotte to Atlanta and back.

Our plan was to pull out at 6PM Friday after work so of course we left at 11:00 PM   and decided to just drive as far as we could. It's nice to be able to sleep where ever you pull over.

We had to be in Atlanta at 9AM Saturday for our event so we drove until about 12:30 and stopped at our favorite Quick Trip to fill the bus and grab some food. I decided to put about 140 gallons in so I pulled up to the quick fill pumps and pop both tanks open to fill up. After a minute or two I realize the larges pumps won't fit our tank fillers so I put everything back, cancel the pump, load up and pull around to the baby diesel pumps trying to hide my red face to all the big truckers standing around....

Trying to save some face I pull some Diesel Kleen out and stick a funnel in my tank and pour some in. Now, when I purchased the bus, I was told it's impossible to put the filler in and there was a hose that you put into the tank to fill up. I pull it out and spend the next 10 minutes spilling more fuel on the ground and myself than in the tank. I finally gave up the plastic hose and discovered the pump works just fine at a slight angle...   I manage to get about 25 gallons in the side tank but when I start filling the aux/gen tank I quickly find that the filler neck is 4 feel long and at about a 5 degree angle so the pump instantly shuts off. Setting it to a slow trickle worked and 15 minutes later the aux tank is also filled up.

45 minutes and $477 later I managed to fill the aux tank and both saddle tanks and now have a benchmark to check our millage and generator gallons per hour when we fill up again. First obstacle overcome!!! Nest time it'll take me about 10 minutes to fill the whole thing up.

During this whole process a beautiful Provost coach pulls up next to me but I never saw anyone get out. About 5 minutes later a Ram pulls up and two guys get out, look at the Provost, look at my Eagle, and says "Anyone on the bus I'd know?"    I guess they thought we were going to a show or something. Keep in mind my wife is laying down in the back (above the fuel tank) and before I could think I replied "No one important".

Guess the look I got when I got back on the bus....

So we spend our first night on the bus sleeping at the Quick Trip running the generator for AC. My wife passes out and sleeps great! I toss and turn all night long, staying in some kind of half sleep state having minor panic attacks the bus is rolling away or someone is going to come up and yell at us for staying there for the night. First night on the bus for me ... not so successful. About 45 minutes of total sleep for me and we pull off around 7AM heading to ATL.

Atlanta was great. We pull in, find a 50 AMP hookup. Rewire the 50AMP hook up so it works.... Opened the awning and found out there were ants living in it. Skydiving ants. Skydiving ants that skydive on my arms when the awning is opened. Skydiving ants bite...

In spite of the daredevil ants we had a great weekend. Better than this guy that's for sure...



Backed into a wall during one of the races. I heard they just built this car too. Racing can be cruel sometimes. No injuries which is important. The only reason I post this picture is because I feel guilty I didn't take any of the bus during the weekend.

Slept awesome Saturday night and we pull out Sunday around 7PM and stop in Clemson for dinner. I tag along with a few friends, one in a CAT powered tractor pulling a big stacker trailer and the other in a Freightliner with a 53' hauler. I felt good the CAT was setting the pace and I was able to keep up as we hit all the hills. No issues there.

After dinner we had our only failure of the whole trip. Around 10PM I turn off our cruise control and find the bus still accelerating. Hit the breaks, throttle is still engaged. Turn the motor off, engine shuts down (that's good), turn it back on, FULL THROTTLE. I radio the lead truck and we pull over, shut the motor down and pull out some WD-40 and soak the throttle linkage and pedal assembly. Activate the air throttle a few times and fire the motor back up. Idles fine, no issues. I made it back with no further problems but I think the cruise control was the culprit as we didn't really see anything binding or stuck in the throttle. I will have to stop using it until we figure more out about it.

All in all it was a great trip. Bus is 20 times easier to drive than towing our trailer behind our F450 truck which is unexpected. We have a list about a mile long of things to bring on the next trip like a trash can and a floor mat. Turns out camping is the only way to figure out what you need to go camping.

We also found out a 1968 Eagle gets more attention in the race paddock than the $450,000 coaches. It was very popular over the weekend. We could get used to this.

[muldoonman]

Glad you had a good time and you're right, it gets addicting! They is always something to do on these buses. Downright frustrating at times. Keep the forum posted on your adventures.

[Audiomaker]

That's awesome!

Something you said I might add to...

When I was a kid, I lived in a van for a couple years.  It was about a twice a week occurrence that from my sleep I'd leap up and dive into the driver's seat slamming on the brakes.
In fact, even years after living in a normal house it still happens rarely (the driver's seat must be very entertaining to watch me try to find in my bedroom).

Because I'm going to full-time for awhile in a couple months, I've been sleeping in my rig and it's happened to me a couple times again.

What I do as I'm about to fade out is to remind myself that the rig is on flat ground and not going to roll...and that if I think it is, it's just a dream.  It's the same thing I did to lessen the 3am long jump back in the van.

Cheers
Sean

[DriverGT5]

That's awesome!

Something you said I might add to...

When I was a kid, I lived in a van for a couple years.  It was about a twice a week occurrence that from my sleep I'd leap up and dive into the driver's seat slamming on the brakes.
In fact, even years after living in a normal house it still happens rarely (the driver's seat must be very entertaining to watch me try to find in my bedroom).

Because I'm going to full-time for awhile in a couple months, I've been sleeping in my rig and it's happened to me a couple times again.

What I do as I'm about to fade out is to remind myself that the rig is on flat ground and going to roll...and that if I think it is, it's just a dream.  It's the same thing I did to lessen the 3am long jump back in the van.

Cheers
Sean

Nice to know I'm not totally nuts! I think I'm going to invest in some wheel stops, not because I think the parking brake would ever fail, but just for my brain to be able to relax. I think it'll go away as I get used to it on its own. It's just the newness of it all...

When my wife and I were dating I would sleep in the car on long trips. On a few occasions I would wake up thinking we were about to crash and try to grab the wheel. I'm glad that doesn't happen any more. One time I got a hold of it before my brain was awake enough to realize I was about to get us into a crash instead of save us from one....

[Audiomaker]

Nice to know I'm not totally nuts! I think I'm going to invest in some wheel stops, not because I think the parking brake would ever fail, but just for my brain to be able to relax. I think it'll go away as I get used to it on its own. It's just the newness of it all...

When my wife and I were dating I would sleep in the car on long trips. On a few occasions I would wake up thinking we were about to crash and try to grab the wheel. I'm glad that doesn't happen any more. One time I got a hold of it before my brain was awake enough to realize I was about to get us into a crash instead of save us from one....

You may well indeed still be totally nuts

I find parking with any nose-down is the worst.   Can't park facing downhill.  Your mileage may vary

[Scott & Heather]

Nice little intro you'll enjoy bus life. We have fulltimed nearly 4 years now and can't imagine ever owning a home. Enjoyed reading your story. Share more as you get them. Maybe someone can chime in on what the issue may be with your cruise control.


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[lostagain]

Enjoyed the story!

More, with pictures, please.

We're all here, cause we ain't quite there...

JC

[Charles in SC]

Glad to hear you had a good trip! I find it hard to sleep the first trip out each year, it seems like every time you hear a noise you jump and think the worst. Talking about rolling be sure to put the parking brake on good when you make a hurried stop on the side of the road to run back the the bathroom.

[TedCalvert]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Private Coaches.

[OneLapper]

Most of the time when I sleep in the bus, I sleep in the basement bedroom.  It's fully insulated, has a 4.5" memory foam mattress, warm, dark, and cozy.  And quiet.  Really, really quiet.  I sleep better down there than I normally do at home.

[niles500]

Pull up to the downhill check in, pull the brake, go to walk down the entry steps, realize the bus is MOVING forward, check to find out your NOT dreaming, jump back in the seat and slam the brakes, find that auto slack adjusters are NOT infallible, PRICELESS