NADS (North American Drinking Society)

What An Adventure

2009-06-05T10:03:00.003-05:00

Quick update, we didn't make it to The Barking kudu until just after midnight. The Short Bus blew the water pump and broke a blade on the fan. We figured out what we needed borrowed the Matador from the Hucklebucks who were following. Keep in mind all the people in the matador were from the short bus and all the tools were on the side of the interstate to work on the bus. That's when the matador started having issues. 9 miles away from the bus and a half mile from the parts store.

More on this story later reorganizing to head to bourban Street, as you can tell it's a gem.

Day 3 Newport, TN to Murphy, NC

2009-06-03T11:26:00.004-05:00

Today was the day for Deals Gap and what is called the dragon's tail. 11 miles and 318 turns. Good thing is we were not given a challenge today just told to be safe and if we had any doubts don't even go on it. The organizers also said that this year has more cars with issues than in any previous year. We opted to help out Schwartz and his team with their blown header gasket and skip Deals Gap. Probably wouldn't have been the best thing for the Short Bus to go through anyway. We'll see what this night has in store for our party. Oh yeah we have to get another keg since this one is already floating.

Day 2 Harrisonburg to Newport, TN

2009-06-03T11:08:00.005-05:00

I think by this point we were officially known as a good party spot. Our challenge for the day was getting 3 pictures of buildings with the town name on them from a list the organizers supplied. We decided it was best to drive the least amount of extra miles in this challenge. The mountains proved to be a little bit for the bus. Slowly made it up them without major issues but we had to back down the speed to between 55 and 60 to keep the temperature down. It ended up taking us 13 hours to get to the hotel. Some of that was due to our shopping in truck stops and whatnot but VA is still a long damn state in a short bus. The only thing that helped was drinking. We finished the keg which only had 2 beers left in it, several 40's of Miller Highlife and a 12 pack of Miller Highlife. Oh yeah by the time we hit the hotel paking lot the apple pie shots were almost gone and one of the vodka bottles was nearly gone. Good thing we were able to get a new keg during the end of our trip.

The hotel parking lot in Newport was split between the two sides of the hotel and the cops came by twice. We heard the manager was the one complaining. We were once again the last ones up with beer flowing.

I also hate to report that even though the stripper pole is a hit it still hasn't been used. Before we get any shit, it isn't for lack of trying. At one point we even tried to higher someone to come over and that didn't work. These small towns don't represent well in that area.

Day One Staten Island To Harrisonburg, VA

2009-06-03T10:44:00.005-05:00

We woke up with the proper hangovers for the meeting. I actually heard someone say to a team that just arrived that morning how they would see the Short Bus in action later on in the night. I think people finally realized we know how to drink and have fun. Our challenges were getting pictures of different items. 3 Ford edges, A building with a presidents name on it, a license plate that had 2 words on it spelt out no abbreviations, a Ferrari, 6 different state trooper cars. We decided that since the Short Bus only gets 5 miles a gallon going out of our way for anything wasn't an option. By the end of the trip we only got 2 state trooper cars, nothing on the Ferrari and got lucky on the Ford edges since the Ford dealership picture had 2 parked out front that we didn't know about.

We pulled into the hotel and surprisingly were not the last ones to arrive. Even the girls at the counter commented on the AA Hates Us shirt and asked if we were part of the drinking team because that one was there favorite. We got all set up and started drinking again. More beer and shots. We got our new friend Schwartz all messed up since he is the one who donated the tap system to us. He was cursing all of us the next day when he was trying to fix his exhaust. We found out later he doesn't even remember walking from the parking lot to the hotel but did remember how much he liked the apple pie shots. Once again we were the last ones in the parking lot at the end of the night. We decided that everyone was going to need Red Bull Cola in the morning so we placed 4 cans on every car. The biggest casualty of the night was the Shotski. It slipped off the bus and fell breaking on shot glass and the other 5 fell off.

Night Zero In Staten Island, NY

2009-06-03T02:46:00.003-05:00

Sorry for not updating our blog more. Drinking has really been getting in the way.

We finally got over to Staten Island on Sunday. We had issues with with the air lines for the train horn and had to stop at Lowe's to replace the broken line.We picked up the rest of our team and headed to the Staten Island Hotel. When we finally got there everyone cheered and let the train horn scream. Talking to everyone we heard that people wanted to see our Short Bus because they heard so much about it. We got the bus parked by the rest of the party and promptly tapped the half barrel. We had to lock up the tapper after locals and a bum started gathering and just helping themselves. Good thing we split the beer line in Birmingham so we could keep pouring on the inside of the bus. Eventually we out lasted everyone in the parking lot, no big surprise there. After decorating all the BABE Rally vehicles with Miller, Jager and Red Bull we called it a night.

Let's Go To Staten Island

2009-05-31T10:19:00.002-05:00

Got up this morning and getting our stuff together and heading to Staten Island to check in.

For anyone who want to follow we will be updating our twitter site via phones on the road.

www.Twitter.com/TeamNADS

On The Road To Philly

2009-05-30T20:30:00.004-05:00

We finally got all our shit packed and left Birmingham, AL at 10:00 CST Friday morning. The trip started well by exit 5 in GA we needed to stop for our first refill. Then it went down hill at the gas station when we realized one rear tire had a bulge in the sidewall. When Rick looked closer we found out the the inside rear tire was flat. 2 hours later and $471.16 later we were finally driving again. After our 2nd refill we started noticing a knocking in the front end of the short bus. At stop 3 we realized the sway arm mount on one side was broke. We tried to wrap a shirt around it to see if this was the knocking we heard. We soon realized this wasn't the noise. By stop 5 we noticed fluid leaking at the rear end. We stopped at truck stop service center and had the short bus looked at. We were informed that the front ball joints were bad, but as the mechanic said "They be OK for what you are trying to do, they rarely fall totally apart." The rear end look like extra fluid that came out of the rear end. The mechanic looked and the fluid level was still good.

Half way to the next gas stop we realized the alternator belt was loose. When we tightened the bolt it snapped. Luckily Rick had an extra bolt that worked. Our final challenge was somewhere in bumfuck Virginia late at night. We had to change the alternator belt because we couldn't adjust it to tighten anymore.

We finally made it to meet with Ed in Philly at 10:00 EST. 23 hours on the road to get here but we made it. Harper was a machine driving. He got it in his head that we were getting to Philly without stopping to sleep and we did!

We got out of the bus and had our first beer and broke in the shotski. 3 beers and 4 shots, an hour nap and it was off to the strip club. After supporting some students we went to a bar that had amazing cheesesteaks and ate some dinner. Let the fun begin!

Sorry not pictures from The Conshohocken Cultural Center (otherwise known as 7th Heaven or The Ballet.)

Additional Fun With The Shotski

2009-05-27T23:30:00.000-05:00

The Shotski is complete. This little gem is going to be fun.

Fatboy Roadhouse 8222 W. Forest Home Ave. Milwaukee, WI

2009-05-27T14:18:00.003-05:00

Thanks to Fatboy Roadhouse for their sponsorship. If you are in the Milwaukee, WI area go visit them and enjoy a cold beverage. They are located at 84th and Forest Home. Once we have their stuff on the bus we'll post pictures.

Follow Team NADS On Twitter

2009-05-26T16:44:00.004-05:00

We will try to update our progress on Twitter during the trip.

www.twitter.com/TeamNADS

Newest Addition

2009-05-26T16:26:00.003-05:00

We received a new addition for the short bus today.

Testing The Beer Tap

2009-05-25T12:59:00.004-05:00

Memorial Day...why not test the beer tap system? We got a half barrel and took the short bus over to Harper's house and parked on the front lawn. We had a great day of grilling way to much food, drinking beer and shots. Best part is that the tap system works. Only down fall was running out of CO2 but we still managed to kill the keg with a pump tap.

Wrapping Things Up

2009-05-24T17:30:00.001-05:00

Today we worked on the short bus for a couple of hours. We were able to get a bunch of the little things done. The keg container is partially insulated, spare tire is mounted under the bus, fixed the fuse on the front power outlet, tools for the trip are loaded, tach and temperature gages are installed and the extra pieces for the bed are cut. We also looked into an alternate route to travel on the way to New York.

Red Bull Gives Us Wings

2009-05-23T14:00:00.005-05:00

Met with our friends at Red Bull today. Between the Red Bull, sugar-free Red Bull and Red Bull Cola we will have 44 cases for our trip. Yeah 44 frickin' cases. That's a lot of Red Bull!

Team NADS Receives Gift

2009-05-21T18:30:00.006-05:00

Team NADS received an amazing gift today. Chris and Matt Langdon at Phoenix Promotional Products gave our team embroidered tshirts, polo shirts and hats. These guys are good friends of our and we appreciate all their support. Go check out their site http://www.langdonbros.com/

Most Important Item Is Working!

2009-05-20T14:34:00.002-05:00

Today Karl was able to get Miller to look over our tap system. Everything is good. They hooked a keg up to it and the beer does flow! Also, Miller, Jager and Red Bull will be doing promotions at The Barking Kudu Thursday June 4th when the BABE Rally event stops in Birmingham over night.

Gutter Guards For The Front Grill

2009-05-18T19:30:00.009-05:00

To protect the radiator from any object we decided a front grill needed to be fabricated. Luckily, Rick had some gutter guards that he never used. Those along with some tie wraps and we now have a chrome grill!

Raffle Winner Has Fun

2009-05-17T20:30:00.007-05:00

Today was the day to take Carla, our raffle winner around Birmingham. The trip started at The Barking Kudu where we picked up Carla, Emily, Matt and Potter. Potter was not feeling well at all on the begining of this trip. Our first stop was at Jackson's. Mimosas with Magic, beer and food. Food is always good at the beginning of a trip like this. Then we were off to Billy's in Liberty Park. Our route took us onto the interstate where Ed hit a new land speed record, for the short bus, at 70 mph. (going downhill of course) While they had drinks at Billy's we realized the alternator belt broke. It took us some time to get it fixed since the first belt was not long enough. By the time we left there Potter had a couple of drinks and some food and was starting to talk. Then we were off to The Barking Kudu. More drinks and Mujtaba was making tacos. More food is always good. Our next stop was to Rouge Tavern, a bar in Birmingham that will be open soon but we were lucky enough to go see the inside. Great looking place! Then we stopped at The Brown Derby. Here we were able to convince more people to join the fun. With 4 more people we went to Metro Bistro. After drinks there we stopped by Dave's. At this point the fun was starting to catch up with people. It was decided that we drop the people back off at The Brown Derby and head back to The Barking Kudu where we started. All in all a great day and I hope everyone had fun. I know we did.

Todd

More Little Things Complete

2009-05-16T13:55:00.007-05:00

I was able to get all but 1 seat belt working and back on top of the seats. All the seats are fastened back down to their frames. The bolts coming through the floor from mounting the train horn are ground off. The front lock system is in place. The air tank for the train horn seems to be filling from my small compressor.But best of all the stripper pole stage is finished and the pole is mounted in the bus again!

Slowly Things Are Getting Done

2009-05-11T12:15:00.004-05:00

Rick and I were able to get some internal aux power put in the short bus yesterday. We now have 2 outlets in the front and 2 in the back. The disco ball has been mounted, the 2 rear speakers are mounted and we got a lock put on the back door. Soon the stripper pole stage will be complete, it is now completely stained and has 1 coat of polyurethane on it.

Unfortunately, it appears that the new alternator that was put in isn't working. Also, we still have to get a lock on the front door, get the beer tap system tuned in and get an easy way to fill the train horn air tank.

Update Since We've Been Drinking To Much

2009-05-08T11:39:00.004-05:00

OK, we haven't done much, other than drinking lately. The train horn is mounted in the short bus. However, it does need some work on how we can fill it. For some reason the valve connection doesn't let us fill it?

Friday night we realized that the stripper pole stage wasn't high enough. The test run ended with the girl falling into the bench and window, don't worry she didn't break the bench or window.

Saturday night was the drawing for our raffle. The winner is well deserved, Carla must have bought 20 or more tickets. We will be taking her, Sturrock and their friends to a Barron's baseball game for Thirsty Thursday, how appropriate! Also, Saturday night we had to jump the short bus to get it to start again. So the new alternator we put in may not have been the issue.

The other night we charged the battery and disconnected the radio to see if that is where the problem is. It started the next day without any issues. We also got adventurous and took it onto the interstate for a couple of miles and hit a new land speed record, for the short bus, at 60 mph.

Preliminary Horn Hook Up

2009-04-29T11:25:00.003-05:00

Last night we did a preliminary hook up of our "new" horn...and it actually worked! Now we just need to figure out mounting so we can do the final hook up. This one is going to be loud and fun!

The new alternator was installed and seems to be working good. Let's hope the short bus keeps starting.

Crucial Work and Cosmetic Work

2009-04-23T11:25:00.008-05:00

So we got a crucial item fixed, then did some good cosmetic work. Landon and I replaced the broken strap that holds the gas tank on. Then decided it would be nice to have a table up by the front door. We made one on top of the heater. Don't worry it doesn't work so there is not going to be any fires. At least we hope! After that and because it bothered Landon we cleaned the light covers on the inside of the bus. We ended up finishing our day by make the stage to raise the stripper pole. When we put it together we realized it looked like a cheap version of a wooden floor. That's what you get when you make it out of three 2X4. Hey it will look good once it was stained and has some clear coat on it. We wrapped up the day by going for a drink.

When we tried to leave we realized the battery was dead again. We believe the alternator is bad and are going to have that replaced. Hopefully that fixes that problem.

Todd

Keg End Table

2009-04-22T10:00:00.001-05:00

Landon and I boxed in the 55 gallon drum and CO2 tank for the tap system. Which happens to also make a great end table by the bench. Unfortunately when I left for work this morning I noticed something hanging from the rear end. One of the straps that holds the gas tank to the frame broke. Good thing I only put a half a tank of gas in last night.

Todd

Both Benches Are Built

2009-04-16T11:30:00.003-05:00

By the time I got home at 11:30 Rick already had the 55 gallon barrel mounted, the drain hooked up and the bench built. Now it's time to get the tap system tuned in!

Todd

This is AWSOME!

2009-04-15T19:17:00.005-05:00

OK, so I have to admit I love this part. We didn't do much on the bus today but the little we did do is AWSOME! We temporarily got the beer tapper set up. Now we can plan the other bench and have Miller come out to check the regulator and adjust it. Like I said I LOVE this part!

50 mph

2009-04-14T19:30:00.003-05:00

So we finally got the oil changed on the short bus today. Also got the rear running light that we replaced earlier working again and replaced the front running light to get it working too. Also got the front headlight spring fixed that Landon broke so now the headlight at least points somewhat in the right direction. One fun side note we took the short bus to get the new front running light and we got it up to 50 mph on the way back. Yeah not to exciting but I believe that is the fastest we had it going so far.

Todd

BABE Rally Short Bus In The Birmingham Weekly

2009-04-13T21:41:00.002-05:00

We took pictures today for an article that will be in the Birmingham Weekly. The whole NADS team in front of The Barking Kudu and us acting stupid as usual. We had two photographers taking pictures with some very funny results. I will be getting a copy and post some of them later.

Fun Work On The Short Bus

2009-04-12T17:00:00.008-05:00

Doesn't that figure, a nice sunny day would have been great for pictures...damn. We didn't get a whole lot done with it being Easter but we did get some work done. I was able to scrap off the old weather stripping on the engine cover and replace it. Hopefully we wont be sucking in to many fumes now. We also got the tap spout mounted on the outside of the bus. Oh yeah a CO2 tap system so we can have a keg of beer on the bus. You got to love that!

Todd

Here are some pictures of Rick and the tap mounted on the ouside of the bus.

More Ups and Downs For The Short Bus

2009-04-11T12:30:00.003-05:00

When the radiator went bad one of the belts also came off which revealed a pulley on the crank shaft that was 75% rusted out in the grooves. Once again, happy we are finding this out now rather than later. We were able to find a new pulley and got it mounted on the bus and replaced the belts. Finally we could get the new radiator in and drive the bus again! Yep once again as it has been so many times we were given the wrong radiator. By the way, this has been a reoccurring theme with getting parts for the bus. I think every person who has gone to get parts for the bus has been given the wrong ones at some point. And keep in mind we are not always going to the same place. The bad part about not getting the radiator in, we cannot take our team pictures for the Birmingham Weekly article.

Here is a picture of the bad pulley.

Todd

Win The Short Bus For A Night

2009-04-10T17:30:00.001-05:00

We finally got our raffle tickets. You can win the NADS Short Bus for a night around Birmingham. We will provide a driver from 8 PM until 1:30 AM. Pick you up at The Barking Kudu and drop you off there. (They have a free taxi to get home) We will be selling tickets until May 2nd. 1 ticket for $5.00 or 5 tickets for $20.00 and you will have to use the short bus before May 17th. Unfortunately we can not guarantee the bus will make it back from the BABE Rally trip. If you would like to buy tickets just ask anyone on our team.

Todd

Small Steps Forward

2009-04-09T16:13:00.004-05:00

We got the new radiator for the bus and also got Rick's mirror ball yesterday. Today the 2 small power inverters arrived. Hopefully after work I can get the other windshield wiper put on.

Good News...Bad News

2009-04-06T17:13:00.008-05:00

So good news/bad news today. Good news, we had the transmission checked out it and the rear end are fine. Apparently the way it's setup we will only be able to do about 55 mph during the trip though. The bad news is the radiator blew bringing it home. Guess it's better that it happens now.

Todd

Trying To Get The Tires On

2009-04-05T16:16:00.010-05:00

Rick found tires on Craigs List. One new and four used. So on Monday we tried to have the tires mounted and balanced for the short bus. We were told that they couldn't put them on because the used tires were to dry rotted and we needed to buy new ones. They mounted the new tires on the front and one used one on the back blown one but wouldn't touch the others because of "insurance reasons". Today we decided to mount them ourselves. They did come off easy enough with a couple of pry bars. Getting the one was just as easy until it came time to fill them with air. Little to my knowledge they weren't so tight to the rim. Makes it hard to fill them with air like that and everything we tried didn't work. Rick and Landon both had heard of a way to get the set on the rim but neither had actually done it before.

Here are the pictures of us changing the tires.

As you can see from the video it reminded me a little of those Fourth of July videos where everything has a high potential to go wrong.

Tires Are Still On But The Beer Will Be Cold

2009-03-29T12:01:00.002-05:00

Rick and I tried to get the four rear tires off today. OK I really just watched and sprayed WD40 on the lug nuts. I would say they are tight when he snapped off the socket from the 1/2 inch breaker bar. We were able to get the hoses that ran from the engine to the rear heater removed. Rick also got a 55 gallon drum for our keg of beer. We cut the top off and washed it out.

Todd

Trying to Finish The Tune Up But Really Build A Bench

2009-03-22T12:01:00.006-05:00

So the tune up isn't fully completed yet but sometimes it's more fun to do the non mechanical work. Rick and I built one of the benches and boxed off the end to install the radio.

Todd

Tuning Up The Short Bus 2

2009-03-21T12:01:00.003-05:00

So after work we were able to replace the belts, fill the radiator, replaced the radiator cap and replaced the breather filter. We tried to look at why the ignition is creating a short in the electrical system but lost energy soon after getting the cover off the dash. I decided it would be a good time to remove the rear heater since the lines were disconnected. Later in the day Karl came over and we mounted the front round mirrors. Once again we had to use the sawzall to remove the broken ones. Then came the challenge of finding new mirrors. All the auto stores had cheap small versions. Finally by the fourth stop we ended finding the mirrors at a truck stop.

Todd

Tuning Up The Short Bus

2009-03-16T12:01:00.004-05:00

So we started the tune up on the short bus. By that I mean Rick did most of the work while we handed tools...again. We changed the fuel filters, air filter, spark plugs, spark plug wires, cap, vacuum lines, disconnected the rear heater from the radiator, replaced the upper and lower radiator hoses, replaced the hoses to the front heater. While we waited for Landon to come back with supplies from the auto store. Rick and I fastened the mount for the stripper pole! All in all a pretty productive day.

Didn't take many pictures just these two.

Todd

The BABE Rally Short Bus In The St. Pat's Parade

2009-03-14T10:01:00.005-05:00

After drinking on a Friday night and into Saturday morning, and being the drinking team we are, we realized at 4 AM that the St. Patrick's Parade in Birmingham was open to the public. Why wouldn't we get the short bus in that? So we had a couple more drinks went home at 5 AM and reconvened at The Barking Kudu at 10:00 AM. Gave the organizer a call to make sure we could be in. We got gas and decorations together and Karl, Steff and myself made our way to the parade line where we met up with Ed and his son Conner. In true fashion of Team NADS we were the very last vehicle to show up which was perfect, last in the line. We got a lot of looks while trying decorating before the parade started, but that was OK since we quit drinking several hours prior. We couldn't stop laughing the whole parade route. People laughing, waving and just looking confused. Maybe it was because we threw out suckers and Jagermiester beads to the crowd. There is definitely something funny about a little kid throwing Jager beads that still makes me laugh. And the cops on their speaker in the car behind us "This is the end of the parade clear the street" is funny too. The good thing about this spontaneous trip, we realized the battery wasn't charging. We couldn't even start the short bus after eating lunch at The Garage.

Here are the pictures from the parade.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36517929@N05/sets/72157615557011335/

Todd

BABE Rally Short Bus Is Registered

2009-02-24T12:01:00.001-06:00

Harper got the short bus registered today. That means we can legally drive it around town now.

Todd

STOP!

2009-02-15T23:26:00.003-06:00

After work today we got the stop sign mounted back on the short bus and the lights on it working. Unfortunately it doesn't come out when you open the door. At least the driver can swing it out from the sliding window. Landon also installed a musical horn before he called it a night.

Fixing The Lights

2009-02-14T12:01:00.007-06:00

Now that the brake lines were replaced. We thought it would be good to get the necessary lights working so we could register the vehicle and drive it legally. Landon and I spent a couple of hours replacing bulbs and some lights all together. We even had to steal one of the headlights from Landon's 1970 Nova. It's not running so he didn't really need it anyway. By the end of the day we had running lights, brake lights, blinkers and headlights. The flashing yellow and red lights that work with the door didn't need any work at all!

Here are a couple of pictures.

Todd

Working With A Hangover....Again

2009-02-07T12:01:00.003-06:00

Ed and Conner came over today. I got the grinder out and removed the metal plates from removing the seats. Conner tried to help as you can see from the pictures.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36517929@N05/sets/72157616361691165/

Todd

Fixing The Brake Lines

2009-01-31T12:01:00.004-06:00

So Rick figured out that the wheels locking up were because the brake lines were bad and needed replacing. Harper and I offered to help Rick fix them. What this really meant is Harper and I would drink beer and hand tools to Rick. Which then turned into drinking beer, grilling out, drinking beer and handing tools to Rick while drinking beer. After a couple of hours of using a grinder and a sawzall, Rick was able to successfully get them replaced. Harper, myself and H2 decided to see how the bus looked with us wearing helmets.

Here is a video of the grinder and sawzall to fix the brake lines.

Here is a link to the pictures from that day.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36517929@N05/sets/72157616433663568/

Todd

The First Day Working On The Short Bus

2009-01-11T12:01:00.006-06:00

So now that we have the short bus we decided that we better start making use of our weekends. Little side note here, most of the team is not mechanically inclined. We did a little research earlier and discovered if the vehicle could seat more than 15 people we would need to get a CDL licence. That was not going to happen so we figured the next best thing would be to take seats out. Harper and Karl started removing the last 3 rows of seats. They came out but it did take a little negotiating with a hammer. Now it no longer seats 22, more like 11 uncomfortably. In the mean time I started to look at the lights. Thinking we need to have them going to get the short bus registered. I soon realized that they were not coming off so easy. Although, I was getting good at stripping the screw heads to the point of only a round screw driver working. Harper and Karl got the seats out and thought it would be good to hose down the inside and see if we could get the dirt, leaves, twigs and dog shit out. Finally before we wrapped up the night why not look at the horn. It's an important piece and we need to be able to attract more attention. Well the horn does work if you wire it directly to the battery to test. The wire, which I think was going to it, didn't seem to work. That was enough to call it a night.

Here is a link to a couple of pictures.

Todd

Team NADS Falls In Love With A Short Bus.

2009-01-10T12:01:00.011-06:00

One week later we picked up our BABE Rally vehicle for 2009. We moved it to wash the windows before it hit the road and of course it wouldn't start again. We had to replace the "new" battery the guy put in, buy a windshield wiper and a headlight. Once we got the new battery in place it started right up and we tried to leave. Once again the front wheels locked up. We were able to bleed the brake lines to release enough pressure to get the wheels to turn. We were finally on our way home with our new purchase. We started down the road and blew the tire that lost the tread a week earlier. We pulled over to make sure there was no damage. All looked good so back on the road once again. A short while later Harper started to feel something vibrating. We pulled over a second time to find out what might be wrong. The guy must have taken the front tire off to work on it and never tightened the lug nuts. Good thing we brought a floor jack and some tools. We finally got back on the road and limped to The Barking Kudu to show off our new prized possession. Then next day when we tried to move it to Harper's house the tires were once again locked up. We were able to bleed the brake lines enough to get it moving again.

Here is the video of the first time the bus moved and all 6 tires turned.

Here is a link to pictures of us cleaning the bus up to bring it home.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36517929@N05/sets/72157616429998098/

Todd

Looking For A BABE Rally Vehicle

2009-01-03T12:01:00.003-06:00

OK, we started this blog a little late so here is a quick catch up. In January we began looking for a BABE Rally vehicle. The rules state it cannot cost more than $500.00 when you purchase the vehicle. During the original search we began looking for a motor home, but there was also talk of trying to get an old ambulance or hearse. All of which would be fun. Then we found an old conversion van. It would be perfect for the 6 of us. It even had an electric bench seat in back that folded down. We figured the most hung over would get that. Unfortunately we couldn't get the price down to $500 even though it didn't run. Then we came across a miracle, a 1980 Blue Bird Short Bus. Perfect for 6 idiots! It was like gleaming sex in the window when we pulled up. It looked perfect, started, had dog shit inside, mold on the ceiling, the stop sign was inside and the front tires didn't turn. Although, the tires not turning didn't stop Harper from taking it for a test ride in the drive way. Yep, dragged it about 100 feet and back. When he first gave it gas the tread from one of the rear tires came off. Keep in mind the listing said it had "good tires". Who cares, we were like kids in Santa's workshop. We told the guy that the front wheels had to turn for us to buy it. Unfortunately, we forgot to take pictures with all the excitement.

Todd