Next Stop West Cleveland Vw Swap Meet.

So with about a week of driving this semi-road worthy bus back and forth to work.  An average of 20 miles per day.  We had deemed it worthy of highway speeds.  We parked the bus in the backyard Wednesday before the swap meet, and decided to try camping out in our bus for the first time.  We set up our laptop to watch a movie, and had a small fire in the chimney  a few feet from the bus.  Luna was playing in the yard, and we had eaten hot dogs and hamburgers that we cooked on our small camp grill, perched atop the table we had received for xmas.  At this point we were sipping coffee from our camp percolator and relaxing in our camp chairs.  Bus open in the back and on the side.

What happens next of course you must have seen this coming on our first night in the bus sleeping ever.  The sky opened up and rain poured down on us.  We quickly jumped up and closed the rear hatch, and then jumped in the bus closing all windows, and doors to keep the rain out. . . . . . HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA that may have been the single most ridiculous thing I ever said.  We layed down on the bed, the wrong way.  heads towards the rear hatch, and instantly our faces and pillows were wet.  Apparently the rear hatch seal is not so great....  So we grabbed our cell phones, for our alarm clocks, because we did have work in the morning.  And we ran for the house, Luna right behind us.  Forgetting 1 important thing..  It had rained about 3 million gallons in the last 25 minutes, and we are parked in the lowest spot of the yard.  Which coincidentally is the only flat spot in the yard.  So when I stepped out the water was about 6 inches deep.  I went in to my ankles. Woooooo. hahah So into the house muddy and wet Luna totally drenched.  Bath time.  ugh and we are only camping in the back yard.....So hopefully Thursday is alittle better.  I do not have to drive to work Thursday so hopefully the bus does not sink in the yard while at work.  Luckily it did not.  When I got home most of the water had dried in the afternoon sun, but it was mud, and I was worried about making ruts through the yard.  So I left ruby there another night.  We did not go to the bus this day tho, we steered clear of the large mudhole.  Instead I collected things in the garage for the swap meet.  Old engine tins, hubcaps, and a few other odds and ends.  So Friday came, and we decided to camp out in the bus, Except this time I moved it to a higher less flat spot in the yard, and we layed with our feet at the hatch.  I have to admit, it was better than I expected.  The mattress was pretty comfy, better than some mattresses I have layed on .  But not the best.  So Saturday came, and we woke up early, loaded the bus and headed out.  We got on the highway very anxiously hoping it would be a not so busy day and we would be able to cruise without causing any traffic issues.  As I shifted through the gears the bus felt great.  It was smooth and nice right through to fourth gear and we were on the highway.  Not a single issue.  We both relaxed a bit.  I put the bluegrass station on with my cell phone and we could faintly hear it.  This was a nice cruise.  We got so many looks, and honks.  It felt good to be driving this bus down the road on a Saturday morning.  And we were going to see other bus owners.  Man this was great.  We arrived no problem.  Pulled in set up our stuff and waited for nothing.  We chatted with a few other owners, but we did not sell a thing, Lynn found a sun visor for her side with the small plastic end still intact so it would click back into place when not being used.  Previously it would hang down and bounce in her face because the plastic end was broken.  A few hours went by and it was ungodly hot, so we decided time to roll.  Packed up, went to fire up and nothing.... Turned key no start.  Just lights on dash.  So with my hammer I went smacking the starter.  Lynn turned the key and vroom running smooth and nice.  We pulled away, honked and waved.  Just two blocks to the highway and 35 mins to home.... I can see the sign for the highway and all the sudden I hear this crunchy squeal. and the rpm drop.  I pulled into the gas station, turned the key off, and the motor stopped dead immediately.  I went to the back and it just smelled like something was on fire.  I grabbed my extinguisher, and opened the hatch.  The spacers on my generator shaft had welded to the generator case and sheared causing the pulley back to hit the generator housing, and seizing.  There was dust everywhere from the generator insides.  I pulled the pulley off, or beat the pulley with a hammer until it because unstuck to the generator.  Dumped water on them to cool off, and tried to turn the generator output shaft.  Nothing.  it was seized.  This is the problem.  My generator bearing blew apart into the dust I now had all over the engine compartment.  So 2 blocks we drove back to the swap meet to purchase a generator.  And upon pulling in I remember that I need to pull the motor to remove and replace the generator. That's not going to happen here today.  So Lynn calls her mothers AAA.  Her mother comes down to wait on the truck, because we are in fact 2 blocks from her house. We sat here, waiting until Lynn's mother arrived sweating amongst the asphalt.

 So AAA tells us 25 minutes....  in the June heat.  Almost 100 actually. So we sit in Lynn's mothers car with the air con on waiting not 25 minutes but 4 hours. 4 hours the bus sat.  We waited.  They finally showed up.  and we got her loaded up on a flatbed for the first time ever!

At this point I am expecting the worst possible that the front will hit and rip a hole in ruby....I was wrong.

Such crazy day.  4 hours in the heat and a broken bus later.  We were back in the yard... with a motor we need to pull and a generator we need to replace... Ultimately a non-running bus.  The generator has two output shafts.  One on the front of the motor, and one on the rear.  The rear has the pulley with the belt coming from the crank pulley.  This spins the generator causing the electric system to charge, and the front output shaft to spin.  On the front output shaft is a fan that pushes air over the cylinders of the motor, maintaining a safe operating system and keeping the engine from failing.  It blows air over the oil cooler, which keeps the engine oil doing its job.  If the oil gets too hot it will not protect the engine and cause it to fail.  In maybe 2 miles or 3 minutes.  Total Engine Failure, and  a very large Repair bill.  With my engine brand new, I was not planning to do this so we parked ruby in the yard so we could live in her for the remainder of our time in Ohio.  The evening after breaking down I received a wonderful job offer in Philadelphia.  Lynn and I discussed it and decided to make the move.  We decided we could park the bus at my parents house because they have a large wooded yard and we can camp out until we find our new apartment.  I mean what is the sense of having a motor home and paying for an apartment I said.  It is summer and we have plenty of room to do it in the yard.  This would take alittle more talking.  But I had put the idea out there.  Anyway we had to be in Philly In July.  So we decided not to work on Ruby until we moved.  We could not afford to fix her at the time with the move, and having to rent a moving truck.  So we put her in the yard to practice living in her and see what we thought.  .....