My bus is a sitcom

And so it continues, the saga that is my 'house'
so it finally got into its appointment at the shop to possibly, probably, knock-on-wood-hopefully repair the gas tank by whatever means appropriate...this was tuesday morning...
and after all this time of 'oh so intentionally' NOT driving the bus, the shop informs me that i MUST empty the holding tank before they can work on it.
one side of my brain is thinking, damn waste of time i've spent not emptying it in order to preserve what has been newly cleaned and fixed...
the other side of me is thinking, fuck i'm sorry guys, that IS shitty...so to speak...oy!
So Tuesday night, very luckily aided oh so kindly by my grand pal Snapper (no, names have NOT been changed to protect the innocent...and not that that would apply anyhow;)
...we picked up the bus on SE Foster and headed along 82nd, along 84 East, and then merged onto the sea of brake lights that was clearly I-5...holy shitballs batman! it was pre-holiday, post-rush hour ridiculous traffic. my favorite. said the girl who doesn't even drive a normal sized vehicle on side streets.

were it not for snapper as co-pilot, my ridiculously dramatic sighs and wheel gripping wouldn't have been nearly as entertaining...

Luckily i had checked for a closer location to empty my home (as previously i have been driving to WA exit 11 just north of vancouver...go free rest area!) so we pulled off I-5 waaaaay sooner than usual at the jantzen beach exit after many passenger assisted lane changes (at approximately 3 miles an hour) thinking, sweeeet, no more of that interstate bullshit, we'll be there in a heartbeat and back into town in no time.

So finding the Rv park only took turning around once or twice and stopping at one convenience mart for directions. not bad ;)

once there, go figure, office closed. huh, no marking of dump site on the map of this lovely large trailer park. curious. can't be so hard to find....she said naively...

after touring the park quite inconspicuously and meticulously, seeing lots of double wides with christmas lights, and finding each unmarked dead end...nada...nothing. so much for this being the closer, easier, less time consuming option i'm thinking, to myself and out loud.

Back toward the entrance (which was also not easy to find as the trailer park is set up akin to Walmart or Ikea where you have to pass everything to quite inefficiently get from point A to point B, basically the antithesis to how the crow flies), we decide to consult with other RV owners as they must surely know where this secret dump station exists.

Snapper bravely knocks on a few RV doors, but alas, none are home to answer questions for weary 'travellers!'

We decided to scavenge (or actually re-scavenge, as i have already done this upon our entrance) each site for personalized dumping...so to speak. Snapper, saving the day once again, spots an RV's dump tube set up and we investigate the scene, reverse the whale and pull into a site (incognito style) and prepare to dump!

So the sites were hidden near a pole in most, but not all sites, partially buried beneath beauty bark (not a bad idea really); i hook it all up, pull the plug, and that lovely WHOOOOSHH sound fills my ears as the waft of ...well, you know...overcomes the smell of beauty bark if only for a moment...

SUCCESS!!!!!!

it was additionally lovely to know that the entire black/gray water tank/pipes/system had not been damaged (atleast to any extent apparent to m e at this time) during the deeeep freeeze that solidified anything and everything in my bus that had any inkling toward water content.

i swear a big grin crossed my face at this time that felt quite sheepish ;)

next, as is customary, i look for a hose with which to clean everything out and off with...no hose in sight, but there is a small spicket just nearby.
I begin to slowly turn it on...nothing...i wait. i can hear it trying. i slowly turn it up and a small trickle begins to crawl from the mouth of the ground level spicket, i turn it up more, more, still a trickle, growing maybe to a steady stream of a few ounces per minute...i crank it more, more, still hoping....
Then i bend down to look and see if anything is blocking it...no just kidding, I didn't do that; that would just be downright cartoonish...
but eventually the water did break through whatever blockage was occurring and explosively covered my shoes and pants with lovely agua...which i then used to clean out the piping, at this point completely carefree about the fact that my feet were wet and my fingers numb. i mean at this stage, it was all comedy, no holds barred!!!

so, with our mission complete, we headed out of the park, a new unintentionally FREE dump site discovered (probably only after 5pm when the office is closed and the park is dark), though at this point it felt like we earned it!

so back we drove, lightning quick it seemed at 45 mph in non-crazy traffic; reparked the bus at Mac's Radiator, and headed into town to the Slammer, to fulfill our Tuesday evening tradition at long last...better late than never.

Besides, at this point, i think i owed Snapper a drink, and needed one myself!
Cheers to whalin' adventures and another step in what is hopefully the right direction ;)

Step Next

carbeurator nirvana has been reached (whether i can spell it or not).
now i need a rust-free gas tank
do you think santa's elves could figure that one out for a lil' non-christian gal?
that's all i want for christmas
...besides, i'm SO over that whole two front teeth bit ;)

On bus conversation

Funny the reactions people have to me living in a motorbus.

*Non-plussed, cuz hell, it's just where you live
*Shocked...because who'd want to live in a bus?
*Concerned, seeing as how i still have a job, i must be needing to save more to feed my secret cocaine addiction
*Excited, because they too have contemplated such things
*Increasingly friendly...because i too am apparently homeless and now belong to a bit of a club

And the most common as of late: you can always crash at my place ;)

Funny how some people avoid my eyes when i'm sitting on the edge of the stoop of the bus, as if to acknowledge me would somehow insinuate they approve, or perhaps i just make them nervous.

And funny how all the different reactions i've received don't necessarily match my prediction for those whose mouths they eminate from

And it never gets old, i am still quite entertained to tell people i live in a 1975 Travco..."a what?"
oh yeah baby ;)

Revised view on cold weather

After one week with decreasing temps, i revise (momentarily) my viewpoint.

When i can't make tea because my water jug is thoroughly solidly frozen...which makes pouring water into the pot rather tricky...

When there is no amount of layers or time in my sleeping bag that erases the aching and burning in my fingers and feet...

When my poor claustrophobic kitty kat is sleeping INSIDE of my sleeping bag with me at night (classically taking up waaaayyy more space than should be legal)....

When my 'kitchen' faucet has an icicle hanging from it though the pipes have been long frozen...

And when i'm nervous to even use my imagination regarding my 'evacuation system'...

Then, now....i'm using mental imagery and placing myself squarely beach side, baking in sun too hot for comfort, feeling my skin almost burning, and knowing that one day an ice cold margarita will once again sound enticing.

cheers to hot toddies and getting that whale moving! come on carbeurator king, bless me with some sweet loving~

PS my heart, empathy, and any spare gloves go out to anyone sleeping outdoors this night and many others to follow

To the nth degree

If this is December, bring it
A healthy dose of sunshine paired with frosty temps is magic for p-town winter weather!
Yesterday morning was the dawn of the day after the full moon and it was brilliant riding across the Hawthorne bridge amidst the pink sunrise bouncing off all the glass paned buildings lining the west side of the river...
And on this crisp frigidly cold morning, as my eyes were drawn towards the moon and the gorgeous colors (and occasionally to the bridge to be sure I wasn't about to plow into anyone), something caught my eye...so common, yet so out of place . There was a runner crossing the bridge wearing only shorts and a Tshirt. Her legs and arms were a ridiculous shade of red that insinuated far more than increased heartrate. And I thought to myself, my god, that girl is insane!
...this from the girl who lives in a whale bus.