OREGON COAST

September 9, 2014 / Lindsey&Steven / 1 Comment

Where we last left off we were driving through Northern California along famous highway 101, enjoying a beautiful day along the coast. We had spent the night in Fortuna, parked behind the Eel River Brewery. Our goal for the day was to drive through some of the redwoods, cross the Oregon border, and find a place to camp close to the beach. This was the big day! We would be seeing that “Welcome to Oregon” sign for the first time in almost 2 years.

Crescent City was the last large town before we got to Oregon, I recall some wild stories from my Grandpa’s early days working as a logger here. Back when they worked hard and partied even harder. We passed through without stopping, as we were too excited to get to the border. When we finally saw that Oregon sign we had to stop and take some photos with the bus. We couldn’t believe that we were finally here, the southern Oregon coast is so beautiful! After we took enough pictures we kept driving, heading along the coast until we reached Bandon, OR. This is where we would be camping for the night, at a nice little campground just a short bike ride from the beach. Once we were settled into our camping spot and said hi to the neighbors we unloaded our bicycles and rode down to Face Rock State Park, where we locked up the bikes and hiked down to the sand. The beach was mostly empty so we got to enjoy a beautiful summer evening all to ourselves. After cleaning up the dinner dishes we crawled into our cozy bed and felt the cool breeze come in through our windows.

The next morning we were on the road early and heading for the northern end of the Oregon coast. Before we left Bandon we had to stop in at the Face Rock Creamery, where we enjoyed sampling all of their delicious cheese. We couldn’t leave without buying a couple different types, as well as some of the best butter ever.

Our next (and last) stop on the trip before reaching home was Pacific City, one of our favorite beaches on the whole coast. A big part of that is due to the Pelican Pub, an award winning brewery right on the sand overlooking the ocean. Even though it was the peak of the busy season we managed to snag an RV campsite at the county park directly across the street from the beach and the pub. What luck! The tricky part is that the site was listed as only allowing an RV up to 23′ long, so when we called to book the site I asked the camp host to measure the site, and she reported that the absolute maximum length that would fit would be 35′. Dang, should we attempt to squeeze our 40′ bus in there? We didn’t have any other options so we crossed our fingers and headed for the campsite. When we got there we unloaded the motorcycle and took the rack off the back, giving us just enough clearance to fit in the site with 2 feet to spare. Woohoo! We were ready to have a couple beers at the Pelican and wait for our friends from Portland to join us for our last night camping.

While we were relaxing on the back deck at the pub we started chatting with the guy next to us, and quickly discovered that he was riding his bicycle around the US. Daniel was a very interesting guy, and it was a lot of fun to exchange travel stories with him. His trip is mostly centered around craft beer, kind of like ours is, so we had plenty to talk about. Pretty soon we offered to let him camp at our site with us, so he joined our group for the rest of the night. You can check out his travel blog here.

Pretty soon our friends from Portland arrived, and we went out to the beach and built up a nice fire to sit around while we enjoyed a few more beers and some good company. There was a lot of catching up to do after being away for a while, and it was nice to finally be camping with some of our oldest friends. That night the floor of the bus was packed with sleepy campers, which is always a fun experience. The next morning we made a big breakfast for everyone, really putting our little kitchen setup to the test. It worked wonderfully, and we even got to make some beermosas using Widmer Hefeweizen, which is a beer that we really missed. We packed up our camp and prepared for the drive up to Tillamook and over to Portland. Daniel was heading toward Tillamook, so we loaded his bicycle up and gave him a ride. He was very excited to get to experience riding in the bus, and we always enjoy having extra passengers! Having Daniel along for part of the trip was really fun, it is always nice to meet another unconventional traveler.

After dropping Daniel in Tillamook we turned onto highway 6 and headed toward Portland. We were going to park at my moms property in Sherwood, where we would meet a large group of family and friends that had gathered to welcome us home. Getting to see so many people that we’ve been missing all in one place was a real treat.

It was such a surreal experience driving through all these familiar towns and roads. After driving this bus all over the country in unfamiliar places we were finally home. We are so excited to be here and so proud that our old bus made the journey without much of any issues at all. It has carried us safely and in style through some of the most interesting terrain in the country and hasn’t let us down. Now we are working at finding jobs, finding a place to park the bus and work on it some more, trying to decide if we are going to live in it full time or just use it as a camping rig. So many questions! We will be keeping this blog updated with any interesting bus adventures or additions to the project. Thanks for following along with us!

INTERIOR TOUR

August 20, 2014August 20, 2014 / Lindsey&Steven / Leave a comment

To help answer some questions we have been getting we decided it was time to take you on a little tour of our bus interior. I hope the photos show enough detail, feel free to post a comment if you have more questions.

We start up front with the captains chair and giant steering wheel. The air ride seat is fairly comfortable, and having the little fan actually helps quite a bit. The little handmade Bluebird is a gift from our friends in Michigan. All the gauges work except the speedometer, but I have gotten pretty good at judging our speed from the sound of the engine. Sitting right next to the engine is hot and loud, having a rear engine bus would sure be more comfortable! There is also a control panel for the old Scott Air AC setup, which is powered by a 17HP Yanmar 3 cylinder diesel. I still haven’t figured out what to do with that yet.

Next up is the box next to the front door. This was built over the wheel well as a storage area for shoes and spare parts and tools. It also allows quick access to two fire extinguishers. Across the isle there is a small bench built over the other wheel well, this is the only passenger seat available (besides the dinette).

Moving back we have the dinette, each bench has a small storage area underneath. The table was an old kitchen table we got for free. It was pretty beat up and didn’t look very nice, but after removing the side wings and some strategic sanding and staining it works out well and is very comfy to sit at. On the other side is a little bookshelf we installed to hold various supplies, and our secure bike storage area. Ratchet straps sure are useful!

We built a very simple but effective kitchen area, using a small Camp Chef propane camping stove/oven, a portable Edge Star fridge/freezer, and a foot pump sink. The stove is nice to use, and the oven works surprisingly well. Lindsey has successfully made many delicious biscuits and even a berry cobbler. We also made some amazing bus pizza while we were camping in Michigan. The little fridge works great, we are very happy with it. We have plans to add a small chest freezer converted into a fridge so we have some more food storage space. Our sink is run by a foot pump and two jerry cans, one for the drain and one for fresh water. The setup is very easy to use, and really teaches us about water conservation! When we are cooking and eating in the bus regularly we have to empty the grey water and refill the fresh at least once a day. We have separate containers for drinking water. The “faucet” is some copper pipe stuck together. It looks neat but I think we will need to come up with a more permanent solution. We also store two propane tanks under the sink, with a 10 foot hose running to the stove. Under the counter there are a couple shelves for food and cookware storage. It all works well while traveling, but I am excited to redo this area to be a little more user friendly.We want to be able to open up a more traditional cabinet and have a little more organization for the utensils. Across the aisle is another counter top and a storage shelf underneath. It is really nice to have all the counter space, especially when we start cooking up some bigger meals.

Behind the kitchen is the tiny bathroom with our dry-flush toilet. We are still coming up with some different ideas on how to build a bigger bathroom with a shower, there is a lot to learn about tiny home/RV plumbing! Across from the bathroom is my tool box. There wasn’t room for it anywhere else so we built it into the interior. Once we find a place to call home I will move the tool box outside the bus and free up that space for more storage.

In the back is the bedroom and closet area. We each have our own clothes storage, built over the rear wheel wells. The tops are built out of old pallet boards sanded down and pieced together. The plastic totes hold smaller clothing items, we put down rubber grip mats underneath so they don’t move around while driving. We attached a couple of antique cigar boxes to the tops to hold small personal things. You can also see our New Oregon Trail sign, a handmade gift from our friends in New Hampshire. The bed is built up on a tall platform to allow for lots of storage underneath. We also have our small inverter/charger under the bed, with heavy cables running through the back wall into the storage compartment where the battery bank is.

HOW WE TOOK THE SUMMER OFF

August 3, 2014 / Lindsey&Steven / 6 Comments

When we decided that we were going to buy a bus, we had a lot of questions. First off was the size. How do you get around in a giant bus? How do we title and insure it? We started reading about buses online and learned quite a bit, but we needed to go look at some in person. It had been years since either of us had set foot in a school bus, and we didn’t know what to expect. We found a dealer in Tampa who carried quite a few retired school buses and went to check them out. After spending a few hours in the lot we found what we thought was the ideal setup. It was a mid 90’s Blue Bird, with a standard truck hood and Navistar 7.3 diesel. This bus was known as a half size, about 28ft long, and it had a wheelchair lift in the back. We thought the large handicap door would prove useful for getting larger items in and out, and the length seemed just right. I even felt comfortable behind the wheel, as it was so similar to other large trucks I have driven. We negotiated the asking price down to $4200 and promised to return the next weekend with cash in hand.

Unfortunately, we were too slow. The bus we had picked out was sold before we could come back with the money. We were sad, but the hunt continued. Our time was running out, the lease on our house was up at the end of May and we needed to be out. I scoured Craigslist and EBay every evening after work, bidding on a few buses only to be outbid at the last minute. Then one night after I should have been in bed I found our bus. It was listed on the Georgia craigslist, hidden deep in the lists without a proper title. I was dubious but I clicked on the link. I was greeted with the glorious sight of a classic Blue Bird; it’s quad headlights winking at me. I studied the grainy photos in the ad, and fired off an email to the seller. I crossed my fingers, and the next morning I found a reply email waiting. The seller was the football coach at the small private school in Damascus, GA, and while being an incredibly nice guy could hardly tell me anything about the bus. I arranged a meeting for the weekend, and Saturday morning Lindsey and I took off on the 6 hour drive north. We met with the coach and had a look around the bus. We were immediately surprised by the size; it looked smaller in the ad! We measured and found it was indeed a full size 40 foot bus, much more than we had anticipated using. But as we explored further we realized the white factory paint was in pretty good condition still, the interior paint was excellent, and it had the large sliding windows, that seal and latch so much better than regular school bus windows. I also discovered it had a really nice 4 cylinder Yanmar diesel factory mounted midship to run the AC system. We took it out on the little country road for a test drive, it was my first time driving a forward control vehicle like this, and it took a little leap of faith to pull out on the road. The bus was surprisingly easy to drive, and felt good going down the road.

After pulling back in to the school we summoned up the courage and agreed to buy it. The school didn’t know much about it and didn’t really know what to ask, so we tossed a few offers back and forth and finally agreed on $2,000. That’s right, we only paid $2,000 for this giant bus, which was running and driving pretty well. Lindsey and I quickly unloaded some supplies we had brought, checked the oil in the engine and transmission and topped up as necessary, cleaned the mildew off the drivers seat and steering wheel, cleaned all the mirrors and windshield, and chased away some spiders and wasps that were hanging around. We set off on our adventure home, a 6+ hour drive back to Mount Dora. Along the way I got to figure out what all the buttons and knobs did, how to open the air powered door, and of course, how the air horn sounded. It was an uneventful drive back down south with Lindsey leading the way in our Jetta. I am so happy that we found our bus, it is perfect for us. Sometimes it would be nice to have a shorter vehicle but having all the space we do can’t be beat. It is an All American body, but it has factory white paint, and doesn’t have any school bus lights on it. That combined with the interesting seating layout and large sliding windows leads me to believe this was some sort of charter bus when it was new. It makes the perfect base for a bus conversion; we absolutely love all the windows and have no plans to remove any of them.

At the time, I was working for a company that ran a couple of farms in the area (the reason we moved to FL) and my boss kindly agreed to let us park the bus on one of the properties. That is where we dropped it after bringing it down from Georgia, fortunately it was only a 5 minute drive from our house, so it was quick to get back and forth while working on it. There it sat for the next 7 weeks while we worked on stripping the old interior and building it back up. I was fortunate enough to have an understanding boss who let us do the conversion on the property, which really solved a lot of problems for us as our house had a little driveway on a tiny residential street.

One of the main questions we are asked when people hear our story is ”how do you afford it?” and when we explain that we bought the bus for so little, and didn’t spend much more on the conversion then they begin to understand. We built our interior out of mostly second hand lumber and supplies I got from work for free so that really helped cut down on the expenses. We dismantled an old horse corral which provided us with a ton of lumber, and we also collected a few pallets which we broke down into individual pieces. There was a store down the road from our house that sold overstocked building supplies, so we got our slightly beat up laminate flooring and old stainless sink from them at blowout prices. We also had a free place to park it while we worked on the project, which is a huge help.

Once we decided that we wanted to move back to Oregon we knew that we wanted to spend the summer traveling the country. We were already good about saving money, and we were (and still are) living debt free so there wasn’t anything to eat into our savings. We increased our savings in preparation for the trip, and started selling off anything we didn’t need. Furniture and household things were sold until the house was empty. Our cars and my dirt bikes got sold off to add to the savings pot. Now our only vehicle is this giant antique bus and our little dual sport. We sat down together and worked out a budget, which is mostly for fuel. We included a large allowance for brewery and restaurant visits, as that is one of the things that make us happy in life. What is the point of living if you aren’t happy? Our biggest expense is obviously fuel, our bus will get anywhere from 7 – 10 MPG depending on speed, terrain, and wind so it isn’t the most economical vehicle, but it isn’t bad for a house on wheels. While we were working out our budget I estimated that we would be driving about 10,000 miles on this trip, so we planned accordingly.

Finding free camping and parking has been another huge asset to this trip. Beyond the standard free overnight Wal-Mart parking, we have been using a couple websites to find free places to stay with great success. The first is www.boondockerswelcome.com, which is a great website that links fellow RV travelers together who offer free parking on their properties, and the other is www.harvesthosts.com, where agricultural businesses offer free parking at their farm, winery, produce store, etc. These sites have helped us stay on budget, and have introduced us to some really amazing people and places. If you are traveling by any sort of RV or bus I highly recommend checking these sites out.

I also get asked frequently about needing a special license to drive the bus, the short answer is no. If it was still a commercial vehicle I would be required by law to have a class B license but we were able to change the title in Florida to a motor home title, so anyone with a standard drivers license can operate it. It does take a lot of getting used to, remembering how much room is between the axles and how far the back hangs out. We are also able to insure it as a motor home, although it can be a struggle to find a cooperative insurance agency.

Bottom line is, if you have a crazy idea to do something like move into an old bus, it isn’t hard. There are a few difficulties to overcome but nothing worth getting worked up about. We have seen families online with 3-4 kids who still manage to live comfortably in a bus the same size as ours. If you have the motivation, saving money is pretty simple. Cutting back on expenses in order to save for a trip is easy to get the hang of. We plan on keeping our bus for a long time to come. We have big plans to remodel the interior into a more permanent living space, including a large solar array, real plumbing, and a wood burning stove. Home is where we park it!

RANDALL, KS

July 23, 2014July 23, 2014 / Lindsey&Steven / 3 Comments

Leaving Michigan was difficult, but we have a long ways to go until we are back in Oregon. After spending several days exploring the areas around Holland and Grand Rapids we have grown to love the state, it is full of delicious craft beer and beautiful scenery. Saying goodbye to Allison and her wonderful family we hit the road again, with Colorado in our sights.

This next leg of the trip was going to be interesting; we had a lot of prairie to cross and we didn’t know what to expect. When we would tell people of our plans, most everyone told us that the drive through the Midwest would be the most boring and desolate part of the trip. And while it is definitely a change from being in the mountains we found ourselves enjoying the drive, there is a lot of beauty in the patchwork of farmland that makes up the heartland of America. Leaving Holland on Friday morning we quickly found ourselves cruising through Indiana and Illinois, once we got out of the Chicago area we drove on through countless miles of corn and soybeans.

Our stopping place for the night was another Wal-Mart parking lot, in Hannibal, Missouri. We discovered that Hannibal is where Mark Twain grew up; there were a lot of buildings and stores in the area with Tom Sawyer themed names. Unfortunately by the time we arrived there wasn’t much time left in the day to explore the area, so we contented ourselves by making some dinner and watching a movie on the computer. Parking overnight at Wal-Mart sure isn’t the most romantic place to camp, but they actually work out pretty well. We haven’t been bothered by anyone yet, and there’s always a quiet corner of the lot to park in.

Getting back on the road in the morning we headed across Missouri, the big straight highways inspired Lindsey to take a turn at the wheel, the first time she has driven the bus so far. She did a great job, and drove for almost 2 hours while I got to lounge around and relax. It is an interesting experience to hangout in the bus while it is in motion, it was pretty fun to sit at the table and work on the computer while she drove. I was also able to pay more attention to the funny looks we get from other people on the road, it is interesting to see all the different expressions on peoples faces when they pass us.

Crossing into Kansas we noticed more wheat fields along the road, and lots of interesting old farm buildings. We pulled off the highway onto a dusty county road in Randall and followed directions out into the prairie, where we found Roger and Jan’s house and shop, where we would be spending the night. Once we had the bus settled and plugged into the barn, we sat and talked with the couple for a while. They live in a buried concrete home they built themselves in the early 80’s, the entire roof, sides, and back side of the house are buried under a large dirt hill with grass growing and vent pipes sticking up. Their reasoning behind the interesting construction was to keep it extremely energy efficient, and to provide a safe shelter from the occasional tornado that comes through the area. The foot thick concrete walls and several feet or earth really make for a good insulator, we walked in from the oppressive summer heat to find the house cool and comfortable.

Roger then took us out on a little tour of their farm, his family has been farming the same area since the late 1800’s, although now they have 2000 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat, and milo, instead of the ~160 they started with. We got to see the original homestead, with the home built in 1878 still in use by Roger’s son. Listening to Roger made us realize how adaptive you must be to stay in farming for so long. His family used to make their money hog farming, until Tyson came in and monopolized the industry. Changes like that, as well as massive changes in technology keep farmers on their toes. It’s a constantly evolving environment.

Also on their property are several abandoned buildings and homesteads, the most interesting one is an old school house, built in the late 1800’s and used into the 1950’s. It is still standing, although very run down. Roger’s mother actually used to teach there, and he himself had some schooling in it. He said that back in the day, all the kids lived within 2.5 miles and would walk or ride their horses to school. Grades 1 through 8 were taught at the same time, with about 20 students total. It was an amazing time capsule to walk through, making sure to avoid the rotten floorboards and rusty metal. This building would make such an interesting bar or restaurant, our minds were full of ideas.

To cap off the day, Lindsey and I climbed up to the top of the 120ft tall grain leg, a giant grain-sorting tower. It provided some spectacular views, it was a clear day and the land is so flat that you could see for miles. It was a great place to take photos from while the wind pushed us around. We enjoyed a peaceful night sleeping next to the wheat fields, after a quick breakfast we were back on the road, headed for Colorado.

HOLLAND, MI

July 22, 2014 / Lindsey&Steven / 1 Comment

We stayed 8 days Michigan, and when we weren’t exploring the UP, we had the pleasure of camping out at our friend Allison’s house on the edge of town. Our stay with Allison and her family was a great time that felt like a vacation from our vacation. It was a lot more than just a place to park; they really took care of us and made us feel at home. It was great to catch up with a good friend, and her parents, Keith and Pat, went out of their way to make our stay comfortable. Our time in Holland and the surrounding area also involved much fine food and drink, as you might expect!

But first, a little bit about the town of Holland. Holland is in the southwest region of the state, and sits along Lake Michigan. As the name suggests, it’s a Dutch town and proud of it. Windmills are prevalent, as are tulips when the season is right. Unfortunately we missed Tulip Time, which is a celebration of Dutch culture that takes place every May. If you are looking for skyscrapers, you’ll have to drive 20 minutes east to Grand Rapids. But there is a nice view from the 6^th floor of the Seminary Library, where Allison works, as it’s the highest point in town. The dunes on the lakeshore can be seen out to the west. The surrounding area is mostly farmland and small towns.

We visited two breweries with Allison downtown, the most popular being New Holland Brewing, which is very big and has a full restaurant. The other, Our Brewery, is still new but seems to do well for itself. A third brewing company, Big Lake Brewing, is in a different part of town that isn’t as quaint but their beer holds its own. Our Brewery caught my attention with their unusual selection. Our flight consisted of a Burnt Caramel Quad, Ginger Beard (perfect for Steven!), Careless Whisper IPA, Chocolate Vienna Lager, Vanilla Milk Stout, and a Curry(!) Cider. While slightly skeptical (there were a lot of creative options to choose from), we were very pleasantly surprised. Especially by the Chocolate Lager, which had the depth of a stout.

Our taster was followed up with dinner down the street at New Holland Brewing. They make excellent beer and food and have something for everyone. They have a selection of beers called the Hatter Series, which includes many beer styles, all with a different mad hatter on the bottle. Steven is partial to the White Hatter, the white Belgian style wit bier. Besides the hatters are many other fine options, as well as their own distilled spirits, but it’s hard to leave room for that when there are such nice beers to be had. We made good use of the patio seating while we were there.

One day while Allison and Keith were at work, Pat took Steven and I on a little field trip. She took us in her car to see the Saugatuck Dunes on Lake Michigan. You have to walk a little ways through the forest to get to the beach, so we had a nice mini hike out there. Afterwards we got a driving tour of a couple little tourist towns and a stop for lunch at Saugatuck Brewing. What makes Saugatuck really unique is that they offer brewing workshops where you can come and learn to make your own batch of beer, leave it there for a week or so to ferment, and come back when it’s time to be bottled and taken home.

We drove through some scenic country until we came to Virtue Cider in Fennville. They are a relatively new company brewing many kinds of craft cider with almost all local apples. The owner is the former owner of Goose Island Beer Company in Chicago, so he brings quite a bit of brewing experience to the cidery. We got a chance to taste everything they have bottled currently, and our favorite was The Mitten, a bourbon barrel aged cider. It has sparked some inspiration in us for future homebrew ambitions. One of the guys there saw Steven taking photos of the place and offered to show us the “cellar” where they hold all the fermenting tanks. It was pretty cool to see! The building is mostly underground to keep everything at an optimal temperature.

We washed that all down with some good old-fashioned fresh pressed apple juice at Crane’s Pie Pantry on the way home. Pat took us the back way on the return trip so we got to do some more sightseeing. I loved seeing all the old farmhouses and little cottages, to the point of Steven’s chagrin I think. It sure felt special to be chauffeured around for a day.

Tuesday found us relaxing at the house and working on the blog until evening came around and we all went out to Big Lake Brewing. We sampled some beers there and ordered a pizza from next door. They had a lot of darker beers, which was a change of pace from all the summer beers we’ve been drinking. After dinner, we headed down to the Holland State Park on Lake Michigan to catch the sunset. There’s a beach there, with a lighthouse and a pier. We had a funny experience as we walked out onto the concrete pier and found ourselves in the midst of a surprise proposal. The term “surprise” is relative I guess because it was pretty obvious what was going on. It was a very young couple and it was pretty cheesy, but it was fun to see her family trying to hide out of sight while she walked past us and of course said yes with a million eyes burning into the back of her head. Awkward! Even though it was a cloudy sky, the sunset cast a beautiful pastel light on everything and once again, Michigan proved to us how wonderful it’s summers are.

On Wednesday, Steven, Keith, Pat and I took a trip to the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners. It was a huge place with several large barns full of classic cars, motorcycles, and even some campers! We also found a double decker bus, and immediately saw the possibilities for a conversion. That would be a fun project for a little house. There were so many cars and things to see, it was an impressive collection. I think Steven and Keith each took hundreds of pictures. Allison had to work, but she didn’t mind missing the museum so much. She was more interested in our next stop, Bell’s Brewing in Kalamazoo.

Steven and I were introduced to Bell’s when we moved to Florida, as we learned about all kinds of craft beer west of the Mississippi that doesn’t make it out to the Northwest. We were looking forward to trying some more of their beer with lunch, and were really blown away. We had a flight of six samples, and loved each of them. They have a really wide range of offerings, everything from their flagship summer wheat beer to a couple Belgian styles, a sour, darker high gravity beers, and IPA’s, to name just a few. When we finished lunch we stopped in at their store for some goodies. It’s pretty neat that they sell home brewing equipment there too.

But the fun didn’t stop in Kalamazoo! Keith had something planned for us that evening, a little thing he likes to call a Bike and Brew. We went back to the house to pick up Allison and load up our bikes, and we set off for Grand Rapids. Our destinations were Founders Brewing and Hopcat. There was a nice paved bike path from a park into the city, so the 8 miles in didn’t feel bad. Founders is becoming an expansive brewery, I’ll be curious to see if we find it back home. They are known for their extremely drinkable All Day IPA and the Breakfast Stout. After a quick taste there we continued on a couple blocks to Hopcat. Hopcat is a cool hangout with lots of taps and a couple of their own brews. We all had burgers and the aptly named and very addictive “crack fries”. As we finished up, we couldn’t help but notice the sun dipping lower and lower, and we still had another 8 miles to get back to the car. So with no excuses to lag behind, we kept up the pace on the way back. I may have taken the liberty of exercising my vocal cords as well as my legs, just to keep myself going. Sorry, guys… We had a great time, and Steven and I have decided to try to make biking to breweries a habit. It feels good to work for your beer a little bit.

We enjoyed one more day at the house on Thursday getting the bus cleaned and reorganized, ready to get back on the road. Allison took us downtown one more time that evening, and then we had a delicious meal of homemade pizza. Michigan was such a great time, and we are so grateful for everything the Van Liere’s provided. It feels like I gained an extra set of parents over the week. I’d love to go back and experience another summer camping trip on those incredible lakes. We were sad to leave it behind us, but it was time to trade out sand dunes for mountains out West. Michigan, we’ll miss you! Until next time.

New Oregon Trail

Taking The Long Way Home

Tiny House