Fran (Sinclair) skoolie

[lornaschinske]

You may need to get the "fat" extra cushy shelf liner. I found some marked down at WalMart a few months back and had enough sense to pick it up. To be honest, I haven't broken a dish/plate/glass while traveling in years. We have some really old Corelle (Gold Butterfly pattern) that I picked up in thrift stores. I've bounced it from TN to VA and back. TN to FL and back, SC to FL and back, well, you get the idea... in our popup. I bought it back around 1990 and still have it. Filled in a few more pieces with the new white (Frost) stuff but it all has held up well. I have a piece of shelf liner on the bottom of my shelves but none in between the stacked dishes. I think you need better plates.

Make sure you all drink plenty of water and don't get dehydrated and overheated. The bus too. You may need to build a mister setup for the radiator for the high temps you are traveling in.

[Dain]

I spend the first 10 minutes of each trip tracing clatter noises lol. We keep our cloth napkins between all our dishes, still have had a few broken ones (I think it's those bumps in South Dakota that threw everything in the rear of the bus two inches in the air... Myself included rofl)

As for Correlle dishes, I grew up with those, and I can attest that under normal circumstances they are almost impossible to break. I do have a warning about them though... if they are hot, and get bumped wrong, or dropped they will explode into a million tiny pieces of razor sharp shrapnel.. I can say that from several experiences lol. Honestly... they scare me after that.

[lornaschinske]

I've used Corelle for years... since 1979. I've had several sets. I have used them in the microwave and the oven. When you fulltime, you tend to gravitate to "double duty" items. You should have seen my Corelle that was in our house that burned. It was all in place, in a million tiny pieces. My Corelle rarely breaks into many tiny pieces. Usulay into a couple and yes, it is sharp.

How to take Care of Corelle The older stuff like mine is different than the newer stuff. I have some pieces of the newer stuff. It is different.

[Seeria]

We're not the hot weather type of people Seems when we pick a location that is in love 70s, head that way, the hot hot weather up and follows us. This 90 crud has to stop. Fran really doesn't like anything 80plus so we've been driving at night when the temps are below 70. Ran WY to Idaho and the hots followed us. Grrr. headed to Utah and same thing. We're now in Oregon running from more 90 temps Finally decided the hell with this and are making a state run to the coast were it is always 60 degrees. HELL WITH HEAT.

More things we've learned. Fran has a beep. Only I can hear it so it seems and she only does it when everyone else is sleeping or outside. Just a beep. Sometimes prolonged. Been happening for two months. I am not crazy. There is no rhyme or reason I can find for it. Comes from the fuse and glove box area. O.O
The rain gutters in Utah can brake an axel and every dish in the bus. Thankfully, it wasn't our axle I saw brake.
New tires can make a huge difference in driving. and brake a savings bank.
Would never ever do this in the summer again without a gen and AC installed.

You are a HIPPIE-- according to some half dozen vagabonds (or are they hippies?) that come up to the bus at the oddest times and places. We've been asked so many times if we're hippies lol I've a gun and I will use it to blow up your tie-dyed t-shirt. So we had this bumper sticker made

[lornaschinske]

Originally Posted by Lenny

... long hair doesn't make one a hippy!

Many of those "hippies" are now... bald!

[Seeria]

Working on getting some plumbing done this month, especially since a lot of private campgrounds and casinos won't touch you unless you're totally self-contained. grrr

We've seen much better responses to the bus over here in Oregon. People seem thrilled to see one, so much so I think I need a sign that says "sorry, we're busy and can't answer questions about the bus right now" just so I can get a moment of rest.

[Seeria]

That would rock!
We're still on the Oregon coast but will be heading over to Eugene area for possible oil/filter changes, maybe tranny fluid/filter changes, money granting. Might have a workamp volunteer job over there, so cross fingers.

Managed to get the holes drilled through the flooring with a cordless drill But find the stores here don't offer the supplies we need to do the black tank plumbing so will have to wait until we get to Eugene area to complete this task. Positioning is such a pain we might have to use a flexible sewer hose to connect the toilet pipe to the tank since various frame bars are in way and frankly, don't have ability to move the toilet. doh.

[Seeria]

After a few pilot holes (yeah, that's what I'm calling them) we did finally get a RV toilet installed with barrels for the black tanks. Works well. Rather than a vent pipe we're using windshielf wiper hose ran up the side. Cheap, less less less work than running a pipe and so far seems to work fine. Not sure it would work with the grey tank, but we don't have that hooked up so far so *shrug* barrels we used

Sitting along the Oregon coast for the winter, noticing the back tires are starting to peel. Figure that's a retread getting ready to blow? Odd seeing how extremely good the tread is on those. grrrr $800 to replace the 4 retreads.


Back then and now

Now without the real cabinets and counters doh getting there but this makes due for now. living in an on going conversion is a BITCHDKJHDKFJh

The beaches we're walking daily

[Seeria]

WOW what fun these wind storms are on the coast!! Here's the tree that landed on the bus. Port employees dragged it away and cut it down to size once we got the bus moved out from under and to a new location. Not even a scratch on the paint. Tree uprooting ripped the waterline.




the snow before the storm. This is in Oregon, up near Florence.

[lornaschinske]

Brrr!

I'm told our "winter" is over. Rest of this week is in the 70's until Monday when it drops down to the 60's for a few days. Unfortunately still close to freezing at night since we are in the dessert. Roswell is slightly warmer than Socorro.

[Seeria]

I enjoy Fran but holy crapola I'm tired of the attention a skoolie pulls. Twice now we've been investigated by the police while doing NOTHING but normal campground activities--camping, hiking, roasting marshmellows over campfires. Of course they never come up with anything. We're squeeky clean, law abiding, tax paying citizens. We don't look like hippies. We don't do drugs of any sort. Hell, I don't even have a traffic ticket on record. This bus just draws them to us. They run our plates, ask other campers and park rangers about us and once I caught one sneaking a look around the back of the bus, guess he thought we weren't home. Creepy. grrrr

Are we the only people that get this harrassment?! Seriously, considering selling her off and buying a traditional RV.

[lornaschinske]

We've not had any interest by the cops. We drove the bus from NC to NM without tags. Spent every night in a parking lot except for three nights (2 in Benbrook TX COE , 1 NM public park). Drove from Socorro to Roswell (about 125 miles) spent the night on the side of the road in front of a closed down store. We did that because our lights weren't working and we traveled a couple miles in the dusk/dark desperately looking for a spot on the side of the road to park. In our current location, we can be easily seen from the road. previous site we were easily seen but off the road. Now the bus is backed up to the road (wood fence between us & the road). As we passed thru Tatum (nm) on our way out here, David was in the lead in the bus towing the Jeep, I was behind him in the old Class C and Stacey was hot on my bumper in her Jeep towing the bright yellow food cart (covered with a bright yellow tarp) and Stacey blew thru a red light right if front of a cop. He just watched us and drove off down the road. We looked like modern day refugees from the "Grapes of Wrath". No interest at all.

[lornaschinske]

I was always under the impression that Oregon was a somewhat laid back place and accepting of alternative ideas. Not to the extremes of California but something like a skoolie for an RV wouldn't make them batt an eye.

Anyway here's my theory....
Is this happening in a fairly local area? It could be that the state/local law enforcement has an eye out for a similar skoolie with a bad person in it. I know years ago we were stopped once by cops in GA simply because we were in a white pickup truck. They were looking for a person who was in a white pick up truck.

I was pulled over in 2007 while driving our old Class C on a back road in GA that was a main backroute to FL. Seems drug runners were using older cheap to buy RVs to transport drug, If they got chased, the drug runners simply dumped the RV.

[chev49]

police depends on whether it is the county or the state police. after all, you can call the office and complain or visit. i also think there is adequate plumbing supplies at least in coos bay or newport, as i have bought lots of stuff while working on apartments, mobile homes, etc.
florence isnt the best place for purchases, but even eugene isnt very far,just go to the light.. turn left... if your n of town.. otherwise in a few blocks u will get a bit wet.

[TygerCub]

I'm with Chev49 on this one... talk directly to the local branch of law enforcement that visited you and ask what's up. Very politely explain that after being 'investigated' twice, you are concerned there is something you should know. Is it the bus? Is it local ordinance? Should you be concerned that someone may solicit you for illegal purposes, and if they do, should you be concerned for your safety?

It's one thing if it's just local cops being nosey and using their authority to poke around. It's another if there is a real reason they are being snoopy and you should be concerned.

[Seeria]

I haven't had much in response so far but we are daily-friendly with the rangers and camps where we visit in hopes to eventually camp host. Only response we've had so far is from one of the camp host saying the state trooper was bored and our plates "ran wrong" -- What? I'm perfectly legal, even have extra insurance geeeeeeezzze. grr Not sure I'll go that side of Oregon in a skoolie ever again. (Klamath-Chiloquin)

Lorna, we had problems after a month in the Chiloquin area with state trooper running plate and earlier this year in the Florence area with volunteer police patrol.

Had NO problems with two weeks in Eugene, even stayed at the mall there, shopped, spent too much money, saw a movie, enjoyed our time.

[lornaschinske]

Maybe your plate is one digit off or similar to a another plate? I don't get it. We've not had any problems. That's not to say we won't. Could be we've been lucky so far. Just like we've had no problems getting the bus into private campgrounds. No one has said anything to us.

[chev49]

oregon is famous for having numbers wrong at the dmv. My bus was put in the system with one letter of the vin missing. and until i was age 64, they had my birthdate wrong from when i got my first license. as far as i am concerned, they are a bunch of idiots... and i have a couple relatives and several church friends that work for the dmv here...

[ol trunt]

Lets see---what are the requirements to work at dmv? Oh yea, now I remember

[Seeria]

Got sick of the "prison bus" attention, especially from law enforcement. I hauled out the silver rustoleum paint and did huge bars of silver down the side and on the back, might do the front eventually.
Definitely never go dark green on a school bus. Every damn state seems to have that as a prison bus and Arizona uses it on theirs to transport illegal aliens.