New Years Eve 2007/2008 In keeping with the tradition of camping for the New Years, I volunteered my Axel Lane property as a place for us to go. It's just as dark and quiet out there as any of the real camping places we'd go to, only it's much closer to town. A number of people came and went throughout the night, but a small group of us actually camped out on the property. Crockett, Eric, and Emerson brought some BB guns out there and we set up a shooting range of sorts with aluminum cans and glass bottles. Later in the night, after much heavy drinking, Dave Krewet let us (mostly Klaus and Amy) take turns driving his large F-350 around the property. I told them that I would welcome them knocking down and otherwise killing all of the china berry trees. They did.

The New Bus So I ve been interested in getting a bus of some sort ever since I toured New Zealand in a a href http www kevinludlow com photos Auckland 102 3529 camper van a back in 2003 It was just such a great time that I have always wanted to do a conversion myself The dream has always been alive but has just never come into full fruition until now Caroline and I started chatting about the idea of having a bus and so after tons of research and a lot of poking around I found a relatively inexpensive Ford Econoline E 350 Private Bus She s definitely a sight of some kind but I think with some hard work and some fresh paint we can definitely convert her into a cool little toy photo 258041 258221 0 center A first look at the bus in my driveway photo photo 258038 258221 0 center The original back of the bus the front rows of seats are just behind me in the shot You wouldn t know it from looking at it but all of that rubber on the ground probably weighs almost 200 pounds photo photo 258028 258221 0 center Caroline removing one of the passenger seats They were quite a bit harder to remove than one might imagine Not to mention the steel frames they sit upon are heavy as all can be photo photo 258162 258221 0 center There were some pretty old wires in the engine compartment so I started replacing them one by one This is the new terminal lead I installed today photo photo 258168 258221 0 center The inside of the bus after completely stripping it down to its 3 4 plywood shell photo br style clear both As I was finishing removing an old kitchen exhaust fan this evening I disconnected a rubber hose from one of its two vents I assumed that the hose was just for air exhaust but evidently it collected water as well As soon as I pulled the hose off the dirtiest water I have ever seen started gushing from the spout I managed to redirect most of it outside but I can t imagine the parasites that entered my body through the initial 20 seconds or so of trying to stop it from squirting