Our Pre-journey
I would like to give you some background history of what transpired right before we embarked of this trip. Jess and I both walked out of our last day of teaching in Maine on Monday June 20th. We were still unsure how we were going to get to Alaska, but had discovered a bus we might like to purchase the Friday before, only a town away. Why a bus. Well we have 5 cats and two dogs. After researching all the different ways you could get both us, our belongings and our animals to Alaska this was by far the cheapest way to go but the best for the animals. There was fear that with the heat in New England at the time they (airlines) might not even let the animals fly. We were on a major deadline, because we were planning to leave on a long planned canoe trip early Wednesday morning. We were going to paddle the Allagash River in northern Maine and planned on being away for at least 13 nights. We also knew that no matter what we chose to do Jess needed to be at her new job in Alaska on August 4th. The night before leaving we bought the bus at around 6:30 in the evening, and drove it home and parked it in the yard. We had so many unanswered questions about the bus, but we left at 3 a.m. on our canoe trip leaving all the unanswered questions. When we got back from our trip. It was difficult to get all we needed done, not enough time to do all that was needed with the bus. I quickly cut out all the seats with a grinder. It really wasn't that quick. Next I needed to build a cage for our 5 cats so they could at least travel in some style. It’s a long way from coast to coast. We needed to paint the bus, which was law in some states we passed through. There were also some other littler things needing to be built in the bus that were less time consuming to figure out thanks to some friends. Jess at the same time was getting animals to vets, closing up and trying to sell a house in Befast, along with both of us packing and sorting through our lives deciding what was most important to bring. It was a crazy time and not everything we needed done got done. Off we went. This Blog describes our best recollections of the journey.
Day 1
Day 1
We had planned to leave at or around 9 (at least Jess) but with so much to do we didn’t get the bus going down the road until noon. We were still putting the last items on the bus at around 11:59. Jess was extremely stressed about the tires (there were large cracks in the sidewalls of both tires) yet holding it in quite well at the time, and both of us were nervous and excited about what lay ahead. Neither Jess or I had ever driven a school bus before, never mind one full of all out furniture, antiques, two dogs and five cats. Basically all we owned that carried importance to us. None the less we couldn’t drag it out any more and we were off down the road, Jess going home and me leaving mine and both of us saying to each other regularly "this is crazy."
Our first destination was diesel at Troy general store. We knew it already but for me it hit home here how expensive this trip was going to be. Gas tank filled, drinks in the cooler, snacks in the compartment above the driver we were off down the road. The first night destination was Jess’s Uncle Brian’s house in New York. I had heard so many stories about Jesse’s Grans house and the waterfalls out behind the house. I think that is what got me through that first brutally hot day, daydreaming of the waterfalls and possibly getting to cool myself off in the falls. Most of the first day was uneventful except the darn heat. The only air in the bus in the windows, which were streaming steamy air right at us, which was far better than no air. Whoever was driving had it by far the worst every time the engine fan kicked on hot air steamed up from under the steering wheel. At times it was unbearable. Jess and I were very concerned for the cats that first day. Not only did they also have to deal with the heat but also they were extremely stressed and had no idea what was going on. When the bus stopped we let the dog'’ out with us to stretch and cool down but the cats were trapped. It bothered both of us watching them pant and they was concern that with the stress they weren’t drinking.
The most difficult driving that first day was in the Birckshires in western Mass. This is where we got our first glimpse of how the bus would travel up hills. We knew that if this went poorly we were surely done with the continental divide to cross later in the trip. It turned out we climbed the hills at a steady 45 miles per hour and with both the hills and unbearable heat we felt this was a great first test for the bus which we soon after the hills named the Time Machine. We named it Time Machine because we felt that during some of the climbs and hills ahead time might stand still. We drove about 11 hours that first day and arrived at Brian’s at around 11-11:30. Brian greeted us at the driveway of Jess’s Grams house very glad to see we made it safely. Jess and I were both ecstatic we had made it that far. There was a lot of stress that first day on how the bus would travel and hold up, but so far so good. A couple of cold beverages and snacks Brian had ready for us and some good conversation and we were ready for bed. Brian went back to his house planning to return in the morning for breakfast with his partner Andrea. (Bedtime 1:00)
Our first destination was diesel at Troy general store. We knew it already but for me it hit home here how expensive this trip was going to be. Gas tank filled, drinks in the cooler, snacks in the compartment above the driver we were off down the road. The first night destination was Jess’s Uncle Brian’s house in New York. I had heard so many stories about Jesse’s Grans house and the waterfalls out behind the house. I think that is what got me through that first brutally hot day, daydreaming of the waterfalls and possibly getting to cool myself off in the falls. Most of the first day was uneventful except the darn heat. The only air in the bus in the windows, which were streaming steamy air right at us, which was far better than no air. Whoever was driving had it by far the worst every time the engine fan kicked on hot air steamed up from under the steering wheel. At times it was unbearable. Jess and I were very concerned for the cats that first day. Not only did they also have to deal with the heat but also they were extremely stressed and had no idea what was going on. When the bus stopped we let the dog'’ out with us to stretch and cool down but the cats were trapped. It bothered both of us watching them pant and they was concern that with the stress they weren’t drinking.
The most difficult driving that first day was in the Birckshires in western Mass. This is where we got our first glimpse of how the bus would travel up hills. We knew that if this went poorly we were surely done with the continental divide to cross later in the trip. It turned out we climbed the hills at a steady 45 miles per hour and with both the hills and unbearable heat we felt this was a great first test for the bus which we soon after the hills named the Time Machine. We named it Time Machine because we felt that during some of the climbs and hills ahead time might stand still. We drove about 11 hours that first day and arrived at Brian’s at around 11-11:30. Brian greeted us at the driveway of Jess’s Grams house very glad to see we made it safely. Jess and I were both ecstatic we had made it that far. There was a lot of stress that first day on how the bus would travel and hold up, but so far so good. A couple of cold beverages and snacks Brian had ready for us and some good conversation and we were ready for bed. Brian went back to his house planning to return in the morning for breakfast with his partner Andrea. (Bedtime 1:00)
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