Gaia relaxes in the lake outback. 

Ready to go guys !! 

Our sub floor complete !!

Our Floor Arrived !!!

Our floor and ceiling wood has arrived !!! It's so beautiful !!!

We shoped around quite a bit to find the right wood and prices . Amazingly we were able to find 1x6x16 tounge and groove hard pine for nine dollars a board. That price is SO good. We were assured from the compny that it is tree farm wood, as we do not believe in disrupting natural forest eco sysyems to obtain lumber. Let "em plant tree farms !!! Hopefully, they were telling us the truth.

For the ceiling we will use 1x8x16 tounge and groove,we just need to find a way to secure it to the ceiling.So,..if anyone has any ideas.......... We will probably need to bolt it through the roof.

Today we are working on the floor insulation,then we'll do the plywood. Greg had drive up North to pick up a school bus and deliver one to another place. He all over the country to buy buses then fixes them up and re sells them. He'll be gone for a few days, but we have plenty to do until he returns. Hopefully he'll be here for the electrical stuff.

It feels so good to be learning as much as we are. Moss and I actually have very little experience with construction related things, so this is a big education for us. One great thing is that when we are done we will know how to fix everything and where it all is.

The weather is still nice and cool, but the mosquitos are HELL ! I worry so much about the birds getting West Nile. Right now they are outside in their big cages during the day and in the car at night in their small cages. I will be releived when we can get them inside for good.

Gotta get bck to work now,......................

Our beautiful, hard pine, tounge and groove flooring !! 

Moss working hard on the insulation for the floor.

Still going strong......

The last few days have found us real busy, we have accomplished quite bit.

We had taken off the side panels a few days ago, and now have installed a layer of R5 foam insulation. Later we will add yet another layer, as well as insulation for the floor and ceiling. We then set about building the sub floor. First we bolted a series of 1x2 studs to the floor, then we tarred the whole thing with roofing tar.

School buses are known to have serious condensation problems, so taring the floor was real important in keeping out water and helping to create a vapor barrier.

The weather has been a bit cooler, which has made it so much nicer to work and sleep in. Our days usually begin around 7:00 am. We emerge from our van, enjoy a cup of Yerba Mate while listening to Air America on our XM satellite radio. We then set to work,often putting on some good tunes to move us along. Bluegrass is a fovorite, usually Bill Monroe or the Osbourne Brothers . Donovan, of course is also a favorite as well as Moody Blues,radiohead or Grateful Dead . Yes, music is a huge part of our working on the bus, and we have a lot to chose from.

We stop for dinner around 5:00 and often go back to work, or will visit with Elaine, Gregs wife and chat a bit. She is so sweet and will often bring us over homemade mac and cheese for lunch. She also has offered to let us take showers in her house,which has been SO great. It is amazing how filthy we get in just one day of work.

Bedtime is around 10:00, which is bout now, so I'll be signing off. Night..........

Moss instaling the 1x2 framework for the floor.

Here is a pic of the tared floor and insulated side walls.

Back in the swing of things.......

After several days now of depression and hopelessness ( I had to convince Moss it was NOT a good idea to move to Canada, LOL) we are back in the swing of things. We are trying to look at the bright side, and how at the very least folks will now be really ready to pull together and mobilize. I predict massive demonstrations and civil disobedience in the coming years and that we will become stronger for this in the long run.


I only hope that some of the wild, untouched places still remain in a few years....


We have gotten quite a bit done on the bus. After pulling out all the wood we found what we dreaded, ... more rust. As expected the whole floor needed to be sanded down and rust converter applied. We also reinforced a few areas with new steel and underside supports. Doesn't sound like much, but it shure takes time. Stay tuned........

Here you can see where we had to cut and bolt a new sheet of steel in place.

Me sanding the rusty floor.

Moss working on getting the last piece of plywood off the floor.

A sad day for earth,......

Indeed, Moss and I are devestated, mortified, and in shock. I cried today. Cried for our soliders that died, for those that will die, for the innocent Iraqis and all the other nations our insane president will declare war on. I cried for mother earth too, all the beautiful wild animals that share this land with us, some on the verge of extinction whose existence will now be even more precarious. I thought of my beloved ancient forests in the Pacific northwest, the tall old growth trees, the strong flowing streams, some still containing salmon.



I thought of our rights as citizens, how imortant is our constitution and civil liberties, all threatened now. A womans right to chose,freeom of religion, the rights of some folks to marry and the war that will be waged on this countries poor and middle class. We can kiss it all goodbye,thanks to the re election of George W Bush.



Needless to say, we did not acomplish much today.........

He really is an idiot..

Election Day !!

Not a whole lot to say today, just chipping away at that floor and listening intently to the election results via our XM satellite radio.

Get out and vote today !!!!

Kerry/Edwards all the way !!!

Moving right Along.....

Moss and I have finally gotten all the seats out, only to discover that the wood floor is seriously rotted, and the metal beneath is rusted through in some spots. So, we will have to rip up all the plywood, sand the entire floor and apply rust converter. Then we'll need to reinforce some rusted out areas with new metal. Whew..... we have our work cut out for us.



Tomorow is the election, we both are strong supporters of John Kerry.This world cannot stand another four years of Bush, neither can our nations ecosystems. George Bush has done more damage to this nations forests, wildlife, waters and air then any other president in U.S history



http://www.dailygusto.com/news/august/bush-082003.html



With his hand in the pockets of the timber,mining and oil industries, he cares little for the ecosystem of this beautiful country and believes it is not the job of the u.s goverment to go out of their way to protect it. I disagree strongly.Private industry and citizens clearly may not always have the welfare of the local eco sytems at heart, nor the knowledge and understanding of how it works. They cannot and should not be entrusted with this very important responsibility.



So please go out and vote for Kerry/Edwards tomorow, for the above reasons,and many,many more. Educate yourself on the issues at hand, dont just believe whatever crap they shovel you.

This is what we found when we took out the seats.The wood was rotted through and the metal badly rusted.

A sea of seats.