Follow Our Progress
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March 16th 2004
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We started the day out from the Blue Water Casino
in Parker, AZ. We stopped in Quartzsite to fill up on
propane, and dump/fill our tanks. The town was MUCH less
hectic since most of the winter people had departed. While
driving through town we saw a bus a lot like ours, and decided
to stop. We met a very nice couple who run a diner out of
their Flexible. The name of it is "The City Bus
Cafe" and live in a GMC very much like ours. In
talking, we found out we even have the same mechanic! They
let us take a look inside their rig, and we got some good ideas
for future projects on our bus. It was really great to
meet another couple with a bus so similar to
ours. |
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We didn't realize it at first, but Elfrida is very
close to the historic town of Tombstone, AZ.
We decided to take the back roads and go through
Tombstone. We managed to get run off the road THREE times
by police escorted "wide loads." It was very
entertaining to try to pull a 32,000 pound/40 foot bus off into
the dirt shoulder.... THREE times. One of the pipes they
were hauling was big enough for us to park the bus inside
of. |
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After driving most of the day, we made it to Elfrida.
We missed our turn off onto "Martineau" and ended up
three-point-turning the bus around at a scenic pull-off.
We had to un-hook the jeep so we could back up the bus.
After we un-hooked the jeep and got the bus blocking the entire
road..... it would not shift into reverse. We figured we
were low on transmission fluid, but we only had some 40wt oil
with us. So, we had to make due. Luckily it worked,
and we managed to get the bus turned around at made it to our
turn-off.
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So we made it down "Martineau" which was
muddy and wet. There was a post right in the center
of the driveway. We looked it all over, and decided our
best bet for getting through was to remove a section of fence
and take the driveway at an angle. We took our time and
made sure we would not crush the culvert pipe...
Well, I was guiding Gary so he wouldn't crush the
culvert pipe, or hit the post... And I saw the back end of
the bus start to sink. I yelled to stop. I must have
been speaking in tongues again, because Gary gunned it...
Apparently he felt it sink too, and decided to power through it
before it sank even deeper. |
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The muddy road basically ate our rear tires.
Our bus sank right down to the frame. We came
un-prepared. Luckily we were equipped with our fireplace
shovel. Not exactly the right tool for the job, but when
your bus is sitting at a funky angle - all options are
open. At this point I was FREAKING out. The bus was
stuck up to the frame, wasn't going anywhere - the jeep was
inside the yard - trapped by the bus so we couldn't get
out. The bus was blocking the road. Oh, and did I
mention that once the bus was at a funky angle we couldn't shift
into reverse again? |
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This picture still makes my stomach do an
acrobatic act. Did I mention that I was freaking
out? All I could think was that we were sunk...
literally. How the hell do you tow a 32,000 pound bus out
of the mud, in the middle of nowhere, at about 7pm, with no clue
who to call, if it's even possible to tow - and then where do we
sleep? I was thinking that everything under the bus was
crushed and we had a lot of work ahead of us to repair
everything. The part that still sticks out in my mind was
a white truck driving by at about 10mph.... just kept
going. Man they must have had a good
laugh. |
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I have to hand it to Gary. He kept saying we
just needed to keep trying. So, we piled rocks, and sticks
behind the stuck tires as best we could, dug out in front as
best we could ( with a fireplace shovel...) and Gary kept
rocking the bus. Eventually, he pulled it off. To my
amazement and joy - he got that sucker un-stuck!
We didn't even hit the post in the middle of the
driveway. We parked it for the night in the driveway like
nothing happened, and slept like babies. Nothing under the
bus was damaged. Nothing was damaged at all.
AMAZING!!! |
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I had to check out the hole. It ate my
shoe. It doesn't look all that wet in this picture, but
that stuff is like quick-sand!
How do you describe the feeling of making a huge journey, and
having it almost fall completely apart a few feet from your
destination....? |
By the end of this day I was just so thankful that I didn't have to
try and sleep at a 45 degree angle, stuck out in the middle of the
road. We parked it for the night, hugged each other a lot, had
many beers, and went to bed in a strange new place. |
