POST BCI RALLY --- YOU MISSED IT.

boxcarOkie · March 26, 2015, 03:14:18 AM

4:00 A.M. good time to be up, "if you are a Bat." Have not posted in awhile and I know that most of you miss me (not!). So here is another feeble attempt to increase my nuisance value.

For all of you that are wondering, we were out on the Super Slab chasing all the boys with their bright shiny backdoors on their reefers, racing up and down the road in the Great American Southwest. Which is now unfortunately just a glimmer of what it used to be.

Quite a few old robust business are now shut down, anything useful or worth anything, stripped off and taken to the scrap man, in some cases, the appearance of a Ghost Town relic. Good deal of trash on the roads, and the air was dingy and brown all the way out and back, things are not looking as good as they used to be in our country.

It is in a way ... it is kind of sad.

Nice to be home and back in the abode, old bed feels good, and the smell of diesel is not in the air. All I have to do is wash the trailer, wash the bus, unload some of items, wash the clothes ... reload ... and wait for the next one. And then I suppose, wash me, but only the parts that smell bad and then call it a day.

Tough job, but someone has to do it.

Met a lot of good people this trip, upper-drawer, top of the line new friends, and that is always nice. Would name a lot of them, but we all know that always doesn't work, you will forget someone and hurt their feelings, so I will just say, "we met a lot of good folks on this trip and this rally" and had a great time.

And believe it or not ... Not a single person was kung fu fighting.

First thing the wife did upon arriving home was step up onto the scales and check out her weight. I firmly believe it is all right to care about how you look, and it certainly is a good idea to take care of hour health by eating right and squeezing in time for some kind of exercise.

However, it is self-defeating to step on a scale everyday, especially when you are your exact weight for a seven foot tall man, such as I am. She will tell you that I am scratching parts of me I have not seen in over five years ... So why document it?

We had a motorhome fire on the Interstate outside Kingman AZ, stick and staples jobbies, burned to the ground, which kept us there 2.5 hours all total. Brush fire outside of Flagstaff, another 2 plus hours, kind of screwed things up. Only got flipped off one time, which was okay, some guy later gave me a thumbs up, so it cancelled out the nasty guy altogether (you get 1.5 Atta-boys for one thumbs up at the current rate).

About $1,300 for the entire trip cash spent (I didn't count the table dance in Amarillo, Texas). $901.00 for fuel (about $2.51 per gallon average), the days of running the road in this country for next to nothing, have disappeared from the landscape, traveling is no longer cheap. We burned 333 gallons, ran 2,310 miles, for an average of 6.5 mpg.

All in all .... Money well spent.

Next time you have some time on your hands and some spare scrilla. Take in your local bus rally. You will soon discover that you're the PT Cruiser of people. Your learning curve will expand ... You will learn mechanical tricks you did not know. Such as if a hammer or a butter knife won't fix it, it's broke for good. That you are running the wrong motor, transmission, using the worst motor oil made and your dog is ugly.

But that is all part of the fun.

Then there is the added bonus of being out on the American Highway ... Always nice to pass a SWIFT truck on the road, and listen for the Wooooooooooooie coming thru the turnpike window ... Kind of like the sound audiences make on a sit-com when two of the actors kiss.

The Old Hoopie performed well and was very little trouble. Dirty as hell, it will still turn a head or two on the boulevard and that is always nice. Nothing like an Iggle running hard on good pavement to make a guy's day.

And yes ... Some things never change ... the right lane is still closed in 1500 feet.

It is good to be home.

Watch those right-handers

BCO

scanzel · March 26, 2015, 03:40:43 AM

Really enjoyed your article at 6:53 am here on the east coast. You should become a writer. I am happy that you had a good time and you trip went fairly smooth.

digesterman · March 26, 2015, 03:53:03 AM

Good read Don

buswarrior · March 26, 2015, 08:59:23 AM

Aye!

Happy coaching!
buswarrior

luvrbus · March 26, 2015, 10:28:15 AM

That was a good rally no business or club meeting and without a pissing contest on where to display the flag just people enjoying the fellowship of each other.I am not a rally person but I enjoyed it,a tip if you park next to a red Eagle owned by Art and Cindy you will never get thirsty love those 2 people

qayqayt · March 26, 2015, 04:46:45 PM

Sorry we missed the rally. Art and Cindy are awesome. Rhonda wants to know if Art got a new hat.

Red Rider · March 26, 2015, 06:02:20 PM

Don: many thanks for the evening light show(s) and your never ending humor there is no doubt that we shared time with an awesome group of people. I kept trying to find Arts drone and missed Clifford at the cooler.

lvmci · March 26, 2015, 06:21:28 PM

Clifford was in the cooler? what'd he doo? ...

boxcarOkie · March 27, 2015, 04:12:41 AM

Quote from: scanzel on March 26, 2015, 03:40:43 AM
Really enjoyed your article at 6:53 am here on the east coast. You should become a writer. I am happy that you had a good time and you trip went fairly smooth.

Thank you for your input. As the written word is quickly disappearing in America, I do not see writing or becoming a writer in my future. B'sides, you have to have something to say, and most people who know me, say I am a man of few words.

A good trip, hope to see you at the next one.

BCO

boxcarOkie · March 27, 2015, 04:17:42 AM

Quote from: Red Rider on March 26, 2015, 06:02:20 PM
Don: many thanks for the evening light show(s) and your never ending humor there is no doubt that we shared time with an awesome group of people. I kept trying to find Arts drone and missed Clifford at the cooler.

Always glad to share it with a guy (the bus) and show off some of its neat features. You GM guys blow me away Mike, with what it is that you have accomplished with those old hoopies. Outstanding work and there were some first class road warriors there in Pahrump for sure.

As for the humor?

I think about humor a lot. I also take it for granted most of the time, until I come upon someone in my daily life who has none – who knows neither how to accept it or express it.

And I feel the worst for those people.

What must their life be like without laughter? And is it life that killed their humor, or lack of humor that killed their life?

It also takes the rough edges off the day, and that always helps some.

BCO

boxcarOkie · March 27, 2015, 04:20:19 AM

Quote from: digesterman on March 26, 2015, 03:53:03 AM
Good read Don

Thanks. Was hoping to see you there. Did you know Pahrump is an Indian word? I think it means turn squaw over.

BCO

boxcarOkie · March 27, 2015, 04:21:20 AM

Quote from: lvmci on March 26, 2015, 06:21:28 PM
Clifford was in the cooler? what'd he doo? ...

A night in the box?

BCO

lvmci · March 27, 2015, 08:31:08 AM

hi Don, yes, we all spend a night in the cooler, the difference is ours is by choice, and our coolers are luxuriously appointed and cool l like an icebox, except mine, right now. Boy I thought I'd have a month or more before installing air conditioning, but no, approaching 90 degrees here in the Mojave desert, but it's a dry heat! By the way, Pahrump means, water rock in Piaute, which was an ancient discovery. I feel silly about needing air conditioning, knowing that growing up here in LV, we had only a Swamp cooler to keep us comfortable and no AC in the cars. But I'll be staying in the bus in LA, working a few weeks, on and off, this spring, at least the nights are cooler there, I may even need a heater, to keep my tin can cooler cozy, tom...

edvanland · March 27, 2015, 09:16:54 AM

Janet & I had a wonderful time course we had a sh%%t time twice, then hole in holding tank. We got home on Sat night the 21st. Cleaned the bus out on Sunday and then put it in the garage. Plugged it in then sat down for a cold one. Started smelling smoke. Went over unplugged it and then found where the smoke came from. Fried the inverter and wires, but luck was with us it started while I was there otherwise we would have lost the bus, garage, boat, truck and probably the shop and guest house as well. Now I have ordered a new holding tank. Have called the insurance company and will take it to the generator shop on Monday.
Thanks again Tony and Pam for a great time and to all the great people we met.
ED & Janet

pabusnut · March 27, 2015, 09:54:24 AM

QuoteAnd believe it or not ... Not a single person was kung fu fighting.

Don, I really like kung fu fighting, so now I feel better about missing yet another bus rally

When I saw your post, of course I had to look the song up on YouTube and play it, and follow the rabbit trail to find out why Carl Douglas wasn't known for other music. In the meantime, my 13 y/o daughter was griping about me making noise while she was doing Literature Homework, which was just a ruse for her to stall until she found the CeLo Green version of the song that loops for 24 hours. Just then the wife happens into the office------Yes---Really-----It is bus related!!!