Out of the frying pan and into the fire.................

Picking up where we left off, Moss and I were able to conjure up a bit more money, just enough to finish up a few things and pay for insurance and registration.

We eagerly set upon our tasks, motivated by the possibility that finally we would be able to drive away from this forsaken state.

However, In order to register the bus we needed to have an officer check the vin.This is due to the fact that the bus was originaly from New York .

No problem,we thought and imediately called to have someone come down and check.Within a half hour a police car pulled up , two heavy set men got out , gave us a quick look over, and asked if we had called for a vin check.

"Yes officer,right this way", I said leading him through the gate and into the backyard where our bus set.

We lead him down and into the bus..They asked where the vin number was and I pointed to a small sticker above the drivers window. Taking the tiltle in his hand he walked over the the sticker and proceeded to compare numbers.

After a few minutes he looked up and informed us that the numbers did not match.
What, that could not be we told him,we bought this bus fair and square !

Moss and I franticly began looking all around the bus for any trace of another vin number,even the officers helped,but to no avail.We found no trace of any other vin number.

We called the place where the bus originaly came from in new york and they assured us that they had given us the corect title,they only ever had one bus with that make and year,and that they had registred it in new york for many years now.

Next we called the International dealership to see if they had any other ideas where the vin could be.They did not.

After a bit of digging around discovered that, aparently somewhere down the line a few numbers got skewed and no one ever caught it.

We called the DMV in New York and the lady informed us of the long ,excructiating process involved in procuring a new title. It would take up to two months.

No way, we have to get out of here, we thought.We have to get to C.A where we have work and can make some money to finish this bus.

There had to be another way.

To make a long story short, we eventualy discovered a way where we can get a temp 30 day tag ,enough time to get us to c.a . Once there, we can go through whatever process is needed to correct the title.

O.K then, we thought, breathing a huge collective sigh of relief. Now we can get back to work and hopefully get out of here on time.

Wrong.

Today we discovered that the key to the bus is missing. O.k, worst case sceario we pay 100 bucks to get a new one made.

Nope.

Since the title is not right we do not ,techincally own this bus. In fact we probably own some bus in a junkyard in brooklyn.

Anyway, that is about where we stand now. We have a few more places to look before we really start panicking.

Whatever the case though,there is always a solution,and it is all in how you look at it. I am really starting to get that lately., whatever the problem,there is ALWAYS a satisfactory solution. The fun part is figuring it out.To do that one needs only to keep their minds and hearts open to all the possibilities available.

Isn't life exciting ?? I often feel as though my life is a novel and I can hardly wait to see what comes next ? Whats around the bend ?? Where will I be in a month, a week, a year ??

When I was younger and hitchhiking around I used to sometimes just close my eyes, point my finger and turn in a circle. When I opened my eyes,whatever direction I was facing that is where I would start hitchiking.

Another old favorite is to close my eyes and throw a small cystal or some other special stone on a map,wherever it lands that is where I would go.

I think it would be fun to someday do that with a world map !

Anyway, as far as the conversion process goes, we have made some big progress. The T&G floor is going down,we built a bookcase and bought all the rest of the parts for the veggie conversion.

Before we go we need to paint it and finish the conversion,then off to C.A we go, probably in about a week or so.

We'll see how it goes......................