So there was this MCI bus parked at the fast food restaurants, driver sitting alone, obviously waiting for his riders to return.

I stopped to chat with him.

I explained that I was headed to Nashville to buy a bus for a family trip, and it was down to MCI, Eagle and Van Hool- "Which bus would you prefer?" Keep in mind he's sitting behind the wheel of a NICE, new MCI coach.

"Van Hool" without a seconds hesitation. Why? I asked. Ride, reliability, 'far better bus that anything else out there'... He...
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Only 70 miles from home, we couldn't NOT take a look at this coach:


It still has the Coke graphics on the outside, which must be removed before selling the bus.

1999 Van Hool 45' with all the basics- shower, private bathroom, ample kitchen (they call it galley) counter space, 9 bunks, rear lounge that could be made into the parents room... It was rough though. To start, it wouldn't. Start, that is. The owner couldn't get it started, or the generator, and the front airbag was low- and it was dir...
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The other day, when Kelly was having a passing wave of sharp honesty, or acute foresight, or she was just travel-worn on the bus hunt-- she abruptly called my attention to the financial impact of buying a bus. What the heck! were we doing looking at these buses when we could get into a travel trailer for 1/3 the price?! She accurately rattled off the numbers involved in this bus-fantasy. She shook me from my dream state for several hours- enough for me to look at options (again). We already h...
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Made it home safe and sound via airplane and van. Someday, I tell myself, we'll be coming home via the highway, and rolling into the driveway with a toot on the mega-blaster air horn... Wake up, Mark.

We spent a few hours discussing more of what the budget will look like, what the schedule will look like, can we get away with a 40' bus?, and most interesting, what will our objective be? We could hop in and go, and do just fine. We could also establish a purpose, or loose set of objectives t...
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I was up early and on the web and phone to discuss aspects of this bus that I didn't understand... Finally called Steve to go over and look at a couple of other things and discuss... the price. Keep in mind, this bus has been for sale for a couple of years.


Steve lifted the back end to look at some mechanical aspects this morning. Quick and easy to lift with the hydraulic levelers.

He wouldn't budge one cent. In fact, he said if we argued about price, they would take $5,000 more. It didn't drop...
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We met the purple bus today, and even drive it South of Marathon, Florida across the Seven Mile Bridge. We opened every door, turned on each switch, tested every door latch, sat in every seat, adjusted all six of the pneumatic seat controls... We spent 9, yes, nine hours looking and mostly listening.


After our drive in the *sparkling* bus.

This one's nice. From home, Kelly was very anxious about the abundant oak cabinets. When she walked in, she smiled and liked it right away. There's no wall b...
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We've arrived in the sunshine state. For the record, when traveling to Marathon from the Ft Lauderdale airport, TAKE THE TOLL ROAD. Don't let Tom-Tom fool you into thinking that you can make it in a few more minutes while saving several dollars. It's a lie. The stoplights are the problem.

Our destination was 'The Purple Bus' in Marathon, Fl. In case you missed the bus info, check it out here (it's the second one on the page). Major benefits of this bus? Sleeping capacity, water storage, engine...
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Today, Kelly and I both made the trip to Denver for film (possibly our last trip to Denver for film!) and on the way home stopped at 3 travel trailer places to (again) explore the possibility of a trailer, and look inside of them. Now, having looked at buses, we seem to be ready to look for something. We have enough information to be dangerous, we are somewhat educated, we are ready to get our hands on something and stop TALKING about it and DO it.

In a nutshell, each of the salesmen were pres...
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