The Wheels On The Bus God Round and Round

The wheels on the bus go round and round, but they need a little help to keep going.😂😍

I noticed several weeks ago that I had a slow leak in the wheel bearing seal on the passenger front wheel of the bus. Usually, when a seal starts leaking, you will see gear oil on the ground, but not this time. I would see a little oil on the outside of the wheel after about 600 miles.

The seal was leaking a very small amount on the back of the wheel and then spinning out the holes in the wheel to the front. It was actually leaking very little, but since I was going through Tennessee, I am glad Jeff was able to get me in.

I dropped my trailer when we arrived Monday evening and parked the bus.

They pulled me in first thing Tuesday morning. While replacing the seal they decided the front tires had reached their limit.

I usually run the front tires for about 35,000 miles and then put them on the tag axle for two or three years. Because of other circumstances, these tires spent their whole life on the front. They had been on the bus four years and ten months and 70,358 miles. They were done.

One of the new tires.

I think I mentioned earlier that the bus was about due for a full set of tires. I have never replaced all the tires in the same year, but the tire calendar just fell that way this time. Now we have two changed and the plan is to replace the other six while we are in Africa. 

(To be clear, KJo and I will be in Africa. The bus will be in Tennessee.)🤣

They had the tires and wheel seal completed and ready to go by 11:00ish Tuesday. We gave it a quick test drive, checked the wheel temperatures, hooked up to the tent trailer, settled the bill and left for Bond, Kentucky about 12:30

Thank God for a good running bus and thank God for Jeff Rowe. Thank you for stopping by.

Davy

Odie Broke The Bus

Early this year I reconfigured our 12volt water pump system. I intended to plumb the pex line all the way to the new pump, but found there are no pump to pex fittings readily available. I ran a braided 3/4" hose from the tank to the pump and 1/2" clear tubing from the pump to the water system.

In only a few days I noticed that the 1/2" tubing was a mistake. It needs to be braided. The tube started stretching quickly. I knew I needed to replace it but kept neglecting to do so.

Then, Odie broke the bus.

Odie turned on the water pump Sunday morning a week ago and there was no water in the faucet. When she turned on the pump, the line had split and began pumping all of the water out of the broken line in the water.

Why does Odie get the blame? I am using Odie's own logic when I say Odie broke the bus. She needed water. She pushed the button to turn on the pump. Therefore she broke the bus.

When Odie was little she thought whoever ate the last chip in the bag or the last M&M, ate all the chips or M&Ms. She could eat all the chips but two and then I could eat the last two. Odie would say, "Dad ate ALL the potato chips."

The funny thing is, she was absolutely serious. It has become a running joke in our family. You ate ALL the chips because you ate the LAST one. You drank ALL the Pepsi because you took the LAST swallow. You ate ALL the cookies because you ate the LAST crumb.

Therefore Odie broke the bus because she pushed the pump button when the water line broke. Odie broke the bus. Plus, it was Sunday so Odie pushed the Ox (Bus) in the ditch.

I had not shaved or showered yet so the ox was really in the ditch.

But, KJo and I pulled the ox out of the ditch in a few minutes. She knew where the extra 1/2" tubing was located. She fetched it and I changed it in a few minutes.

Even though the non braided line lasted seven months, I intend to replace this one way before then. Hopefully, Odie will not break the bus before then.😜

Thank you for stopping by.

Davy

Travelogue With Pictures - Vermont to Ohio

The shortest way from Lowell, Vermont to Waynesville Ohio is unpassable in the BoggsMobile. There is no way to do it. The shortest possible route is about 880 miles and we have drove it 2-3 times. It is completely passable road, but it is about 160 miles and 4.5 hours to the interstate in the bus.

It is about 13 miles to I-91. If I go that route it is 100 miles further, but I can go 270 miles in the same time frame if I average 60 MPH on the interstate. That is what I decided to do.

We left the Lowell Bible Church Monday morning.

I told you it was a little steep going in. It is also steep going back out. 12% grade. Wow!

Rain and construction. What a great combination.

As we were making our way toward Albany, NY, the traffic, toll roads and weather conditions convinced me to add 25-30 mile and turn south on I-87 and take I-84 and I-80 across Pennsylvania. 

We stopped the first night at a travel center near New Baltimore, NY. We drove in the rain much of the day for a total of 299 miles Monday.

We could not get the generator to cooperate and we are not allowed to idle the bus in New York, so we spent a hot night trying to sleep. Ugh! Does that sound like a complaint? Yeah, I guess I am complaining.😜

The BoggsMobile was running by 6:05 AM Tuesday and we rolled  206 miles to a rest area in Pennsylvania. KJo prepared some of the brisket that I told you about, along with some eggs for breakfast. After a bit of rest, we finished the day at Love's in Brookville, PA.

It was along day at 374 miles and 8+ hours including a little resting time.

Love's has a few travel stops across the country with RV hookups and this was one of them. We paid for a spot and enjoyed the wonderful cool air conditioner of the bus all night long. We actually considered staying a second night, but I slept so well I was ready to go Wednesday morning.

It had been 1000+ miles since we had fueled the bus in New Hampshire so we filled up at Love's before we left Wednesday. We took on 163+ gallons and we were ready to roll for quite a while.

The weather was perfect for traveling. We only stopped once for a 15 minute break after 162 miles. We did see an interesting sight along the way.

Traffic was good around Akron and Columbus and we sailed into home and parked next to the barn after 337 miles.

It is great to be home for the weekend. Thank you for stopping in.

Davy

View Out The Front Window 8/13/23

Sunday Morning Sanity

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe. And I believe God. 

Smith Wigglesworth.

This is a view of the BoggsMobile next to the rented tent in Lowell, Vermont.

I hope you have a super great Sunday.

Davy

Moving Day!

Yesterday was moving day. I mentioned that we were going to have to vacate our space in the campground in Bellingham, Massachusetts on Wednesday. We were wanting to stay here through the weekend because we are less than 200 miles from where we are preaching in NYC Sunday.

However, we knew when we arrived that there were no spots available for us after yesterday morning. Every day or so KJo would check with the office hoping for an opening because our options were not good.

We found a place near Albany New York that would have worked with driving down to the city but was a 150 miles from here and the drive from there to Vermont was worse.

There was also a place in New Hampshire that would be much less expensive and very close to our Vermont destination, but it would have been over five hours to NYC Saturday morning and five hours back Sunday night late. Ugh!

I know that some of you probably think there must be other options, but we could find none. That is why we kept checking with the campground office here.

Tuesday the office lady said she had nothing. But another employee was in the office and asked about the availability of the "emergency spot". Evidently, they have a 50 amp spot they keep in reserve in case another site has a problem with utilities or fallen trees or something.

It is not very level and it takes two cords to reach the electricity, but it was available and they agreed to rent it to us. Yay! They charged us a premium rate, but at least we have utilities and a safe place to leave the bus while we are preaching.

So it was moving day. Our new spot is only about 200' from the original spot, but of course, we had to go around the loop, down the hill and back up the hill to get to it. Plus, it does not matter how far you go, you still have to do all the prep work inside and out.

Thankfully, we did not have to drive a bunch of miles too. Here we are. The next spot down is at least 25-30' away and there is a privacy fence on the other side. Not too bad.

Thank you for stopping by.

Davy

Time To Move Along

We did some moving the last 24 hours for sure.

I mentioned earlier that I could not find a suitable place to park the BoggsMobile in the Boston area with availability until Wednesday. We could have remained parked at the church in Arundel. Pastor Reynolds had made us feel as welcome as can be. 

However, we try diligently not to take advantage of the kindness that churches extend to us and we had already stayed several days after revival had ended in Maine. We appreciate their hospitality but we do not want a church to dread to see us coming next time.

I had made a reservation for a week beginning yesterday south of Boston so Tuesday night after church it was time to set things in motion.

We had checked out of the hotel Tuesday and spent the afternoon at the church. When service was over, we loaded in the Jeep and took off for Arundel, Maine and the bus. We arrived a few minutes after 11:00, but by the time we were unloaded and packed in, it was nearly 1:00 AM.

Wednesday morning, we disconnected the utilities and reversed course. 

It was about 130 miles to the campground on the south side of Boston near Bellingham and I-495. We made a fuel stop in New Hampshire. We really did not need diesel, but truck stops are few and far between and we are trying to be prudent.

The campground entrance and the spot available were tight, but we made it in just fine. This campground had good reviews and feels safe. One of the parks that had available spaces had horrible reviews and we try to watch that closely. The last place I need to park is a campground that is unsafe for us or the bus or the sound equipment. 

Once we arrived, checked in, parked and set up, I was done in. I reckon Tuesday night and the drive Wednesday piled up on me. I felt better later and all three of us were able to do our duties for the evening. Thank God for His help.

Tomorrow we will try to post Revival In Pictures. See you then.

Davy

A Mid-Week Drive

Wednesday was a big driving day for us. The day was 10.5 hours long after dumping the holding tanks and getting ready to roll in the morning. 

We stopped for diesel at the last Love's going this direction. It had been about 900 miles since our last fill-up in Indiana.

The 10.5 hours included nearly three hours parked in a truck stop while we were eating and resting. That was a big help after the first 277 miles.

The Wednesday drive included eastern Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts and into New Hampshire for a total of 400 miles. That used to be an easy day for us but time is making a change.

We had only one really bad traffic spell losing about 25 minutes in four miles in Massachusetts. We never did see the reason.

I will try to post pictures from the week tomorrow. Thank you for stopping in.

Davy

The Weekend Dispatch 7/10/23

As I mentioned Friday, we planned to leave home Friday and make it into the NYC area by Saturday evening so that we could be in churches Sunday. However, we could not leave without an important package that was not delivered on time.

While the sun was shining Friday, we decided to make some hay or at least some grass clippings. 

In 2018 the county required us to put in a drainage tile on the house lot in order to drain the groundwater and enable the septic to be more effective. It seemed like an unnecessary expense when we were building the house, but it has proven its worth.

It is amazing how dry the ground was on both lots even after extremely heavy rains over the previous two days.

We turned the bus around and hooked up the Jeep Friday evening so we could be ready to roll Saturday morning.

There is no way I could drive to NYC in one day in my current condition, so our Sunday plans had to be canceled. We figured a new plan would raise its head and it did.

We took I-71 to I-76 through Akron, Ohio to I-80 into Pennsylvania. I had planned to try to make it to a Flying J near Brookville for the night, but discovered a new Love's one exit down. 

It is one of the new Love's that has a few RV spots with utilities. Since we are unsure of the generator, we parked there. $37 is worth the assurance that we would have AC overnight. It worked out great except for the torrential rain in the morning.😜

Sunday was spent for rest and worship and we enjoyed the day very much. Thank God the rain brought a little cooler weather.

We have about 645 miles to go and we want to arrive in Arundel, Maine Thursday. That gives us a comfortable margin. We plan to drive 2-300 miles today, visit a special site Tuesday and then finish the drive Wednesday and Thursday.

We may tell you about the Tuesday activities later. Thank you for stopping by today.

Davy

A Few Pictures From The Week

This week was mostly spent getting the bus ready to ride and the house and barn ready to leave behind. It does not seem to matter how little time we have been home or how little time we will be gone, there is always more to get done than we can accomplish in the time allotted.😜

Plus, we had a few special occasions to celebrate. Monday was KJo's day all day long.

55 and beautiful!

Odie went with friends to celebrate the 4th of July. She will probably tell you more about that Saturday.

KJo's parents came over for a few minutes one day. We always enjoy that.

A

While KJo prepared the bus inside this week, I was working on the outside. I shuffled some equipment between the bus and the barn, changed the oil in the generator, diluted three gallons of coolant, worked on the lawn mower and several other odds and ends.

I also wrote, recorded and edited a few videos for A Word For Wednesday. Having those done in advance will help on travel weeks for sure. There are also times when I do not have enough signal to upload a video. Having one preloaded will save the day.

We had planned on leaving early this morning and spending all of today and tomorrow making our way toward New York City. We intended to be there for services Sunday. However, we are waiting on an important package that was supposed to arrive Wednesday. As of Thursday evening, it had not arrived.

If it does not come first thing today (Friday) we will not leave today. I can not make the trip to NYC in one day. I reckon we will wait on the package and leave Sunday or Monday. I need to be in Maine, about 1000 miles, by Thursday.

God has it all in control!

Thank you for stopping by today.

Davy