After two months in the shop, we were told we could pick up our bus on Friday. We were so excited we left the house early, around 9:30 AM, and headed to Slidell. When we arrived we were told they were finishing up and would be a couple hours. So we loaded the kids back in the van and headed for the mall. We stopped at Target, Ross, Academy, and the pet store. We called the mechanic and were told they were waiting for a belt and still were going to be a couple hours. They would call us. We went and ate at Cane's and headed to the Heritage Park splash pad. At 2 PM we still hadn't heard back so we went ahead and drove back to Crescent City Fleet. They were almost done. An hour later we paid and they pulled our bus around to the front.
As we were about to leave I asked Scott, our mechanic, to give me a few pointers on driving it. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention neither Ricky nor I have ever driven the bus? I said I would drive since I was at least familiar with driving a manual. Scott informed us that this was no regular manual transmission. Apparently, you only have to clutch for first gear and then slightly press the accelerator when going from 2nd to 4th. With no gauges, how would I know when to shift? Scott told me to "just listen to the engine. " He said there is a quick transition to second and then the engine will hum when it's ready for third and fourth. Um...OK. Downshifting was a whole other story. He gave me a quick explanation of double clutching and then said "you might just want to stop completely and start over in first if you have to slow down."
He must have seen the absolute fear in my eyes because he offered to drive it to the empty mall parking lot for some practice. I wanted to hug him right there! I watched him like a hawk while he drove to the mall. One of his employees followed him and they drove off as soon as we got there. It was time to bite the bullet. I made a couple loops around and tried stopping and going.
Time to hit the road. With no way to know how much fuel we had, first stop would be the gas station. White knuckled, knees shaking, I eased the bus onto the road. We picked a station a quarter mile down the road because it was a straight shot and seem to be the easiest to pull into. Gears grinding and Ricky in the van behind me, I made it to the station, but as I started to pull in I noticed something was wrong. The wheel would not turn! The engine had shut off, and I was stuck in the entrance. On the verge of tears, I pulled the E-brake and exited the bus. Ricky called mechanic and told him what happened, then he ran inside to inform the clerk. Lydia had fallen asleep, and the rest of the kids watched a movie while we waited. Scott arrived and checked the bus. We had run out of fuel. He had to prime the engine to get the air out of the lines. We put a couple gallons in so that he could pull it up to the pump. Scott made sure everything was running again and then was off.
Honestly, I wanted to beg him to drive the bus home for me. I was terrified to get back in the driver seat, but he had already gone above and beyond, and I knew I was going to have to learn to drive it if we were ever going to go camping. What good is a bus if we can't drive it? So I got back in and Ricky pulled in behind me.
We decided to take Highway 11 home because the bus will only go up to 60 mph, but I still had to get on the interstate to make it there. I don't remember much other than being hot, scared, and the sound of the gears grinding. The wheel has a lot of give so I was constantly moving it back-and-forth to stay in my lane. I have no rearview mirror but I don't think I would have dared to take my eyes off the road in front of me anyway.
Ricky and I had talked about taking the bus to McLeod park and as I passed over into Mississippi I thought... if I don't go there now we may never go, because I wasn't sure if I'd be brave enough to drive it again. I took the exit and headed toward the camp rather than home. It was a straight shot with wide lanes and not many vehicles so I had a chance to relax just a bit.
We pulled in at 5:10. The office closed at five. Being first timers we were unsure of the rules. We didn't know how or where to set up and Ricky was anxious to get home. He told me I had been doing great which gave my confidence a boost. So we set back out to go home. I must have gotten too confident because on the way out I turned too sharp and scraped the whole side of the bus across the stop sign. No permanent damage but it reminded me that we weren't home yet.
I backtracked all the way to Highway 11 and slowed it down to head through town. Every time I tried to downshift the gears would grind and refused to shift so I tried to keep it in third. If I had to slow down too much I would stop and start over in first. It seemed to take forever but I made it through all the stoplights and honked the horn as I passed my moms house.
We finally made it home at around 6:30 PM. When I got out of the bus I fell to the ground. My arms and legs felt like noodles, and my hair and shirt were soaked with sweat. The kids were laughing at me, and Ricky went inside to get me some ice water. When he handed it to me he had this look on his face… I don't think he's ever been more proud (even after I had given birth) then he was at that moment.
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