Jerry rang. Apparently there was a catastrophic hurricane on the way. “Let’s go and see Givhans Ferry State Park before it gets destroyed together with Charleston”. Having little better to do, I leapt into my recently converted schoolbus and started the drive to Givehans ferry for the weekend.
I started out by visiting Day Star as I’d had an agreement that I could get my bus a full service while I waited. Anyway, I turned up and they had no time but by then my back wheel was smoking and it wasn’t smoking cigars! It transpired after a $260 bill than the brake was binding. That was something I’d already figured given the low top speed I was getting and the slow acceleration. After charging me $260 and spraying the caliper with a $3 can of PB Blaster I was on my way. I figured I’d gamble that the bus would be OK for the trip.
So I went down to Givehans ferry through all the small towns in South Carolina. I have heard tows off the interstate are costly and as I was not 100% convinced that the bus would make it, I had chosen to use back roads.
Some of those towns I went though looked very down at heel. Three guys were walking along the sidewalk as I passed by so I did my usual school bus driver thing and gave them a friendly wave. They looked at the sign in my front window which says “Fort Leavenworth Death Row Express” and started running!
Getting to Givehans Ferry was pretty straightforward it was an 85 mile drive and aside from having to detour around the centre of one small town via the low rent areas, the drive was uncomplicated. I did find that the cockpit was much quieter than I’d anticipated because of the wooden partition behind me. The beaded seat cover I tried did indeed stop my back from sweating but jeans in hot weather on a beaded cover wasn’t a good experience. I needed thinner material. In fact on the drive back I wore thinner pants and used my beaded seat cover. It was a much better experience.
While at Givehans ferry I tried out living in my motorhome for the first time. The experience was good. The bedroom was perfect. The galley was pretty darned good too. The bathroom was good though I needed to work more on the shower as neither of the two shower pumps work brilliantly.
Cooking was great as I found I had electricity available. Thus I could use my microwave. That was a bonus as I was thinking I’d have to use my gas cooker and clean up saucepans. Thus dinner for the first night for myself and my two companions - Jerry and Bernie - was instant mashed potatoes and sardines all washed down with copious quantities of boxed wine.
The rest of the time, food was simpler. I don’t go overboard on fancy recipes. Oatmeal with raisins and soy milk makes a good Muesli breakfast without the fussing about. The most complicated thing I do is to put coffee in a French press and have my breakfast coffee though as work I’m less sophisticated and use sachets of instant coffee.
The park was pretty interesting though I didn’t explore much. Jerry, Bernie and I just spent so much time chatting that we really didn’t do too much. I have to say it was relaxing though (assorted photos of the park are below the text). Jerry couldn’t stay as he hadn’t brought a tent or anything. Thus he went home before the first night. Bernie stayed the night in his bus - he’d brought a bus that was in the beginning stages of conversion to a motorhome. That was interesting to view. I’d completed mine a few weeks before and it was given the stamp of approval.
After Bernie went home, I went for longer walks around the park and just relaxed. Heaven knows how much of the park still exists there having been a hurricane. Eventually it was my time to leave so I did my pre-trip checks and found plenty fluids on the dip sticks, that the tyres and so on were fine. Then I started my journey home.
About 60 miles from home, the revs began to drop. I plugged on and eventually the engine died. Fortunately I was right beside a church and managed to coast into the church turn lane. I have to say that steering a 16 ton bus with no power steering takes some muscles! Immediately having parked (fortunately my bus has hydraulic brakes) I leapt out to check the fluids. No transmission fluid!
I called for a mobile mechanic. I figured there was probably a leak that I’d not seen. They refused to send a mechanic but sent a tow truck instead. That ended up costing more than if they’d just sent a mechanic. So a $525 tow to a truck repair garage and I ended up having them do the entire service that Day Star didn’t have time to do. I also found that the two (free) mechanics I’d had to look at my bus were worth every penny I’d spent on them. It transpired that the idiot that owned the bus before me had probably used a “free” mechanic too. The front was not properly bolted onto the transmission so the oil had leaked past the gasket. The good news was nothing was damaged so all that needed was 5 gallons of transmission fluid. The engine was treated to an oil change also and I had a few things checked out so the bill came to $1143. Whoever said owning a bus was cheap? Add to that an Uber journey from the truck shop via a friend that drives for Uber and a ride back when the bus was ready and that was another $40 added to the total. The park cost me about $45 for the two nights. Thus I can say that my weekend at Givehans cost a total of almost $2,000 without including the fuel used. After returning I needed to put $100 of diesel into the tank. Actually since the diesel in the tank was 3 years old, it was probably time for some fresh.
Was my trip a success? Heck, yes. I now have a fully serviced bus. I know the engine and transmission are pretty well bulletproof and I had a great time.
I started out by visiting Day Star as I’d had an agreement that I could get my bus a full service while I waited. Anyway, I turned up and they had no time but by then my back wheel was smoking and it wasn’t smoking cigars! It transpired after a $260 bill than the brake was binding. That was something I’d already figured given the low top speed I was getting and the slow acceleration. After charging me $260 and spraying the caliper with a $3 can of PB Blaster I was on my way. I figured I’d gamble that the bus would be OK for the trip.
So I went down to Givehans ferry through all the small towns in South Carolina. I have heard tows off the interstate are costly and as I was not 100% convinced that the bus would make it, I had chosen to use back roads.
Some of those towns I went though looked very down at heel. Three guys were walking along the sidewalk as I passed by so I did my usual school bus driver thing and gave them a friendly wave. They looked at the sign in my front window which says “Fort Leavenworth Death Row Express” and started running!
Getting to Givehans Ferry was pretty straightforward it was an 85 mile drive and aside from having to detour around the centre of one small town via the low rent areas, the drive was uncomplicated. I did find that the cockpit was much quieter than I’d anticipated because of the wooden partition behind me. The beaded seat cover I tried did indeed stop my back from sweating but jeans in hot weather on a beaded cover wasn’t a good experience. I needed thinner material. In fact on the drive back I wore thinner pants and used my beaded seat cover. It was a much better experience.
While at Givehans ferry I tried out living in my motorhome for the first time. The experience was good. The bedroom was perfect. The galley was pretty darned good too. The bathroom was good though I needed to work more on the shower as neither of the two shower pumps work brilliantly.
Cooking was great as I found I had electricity available. Thus I could use my microwave. That was a bonus as I was thinking I’d have to use my gas cooker and clean up saucepans. Thus dinner for the first night for myself and my two companions - Jerry and Bernie - was instant mashed potatoes and sardines all washed down with copious quantities of boxed wine.
The rest of the time, food was simpler. I don’t go overboard on fancy recipes. Oatmeal with raisins and soy milk makes a good Muesli breakfast without the fussing about. The most complicated thing I do is to put coffee in a French press and have my breakfast coffee though as work I’m less sophisticated and use sachets of instant coffee.
The park was pretty interesting though I didn’t explore much. Jerry, Bernie and I just spent so much time chatting that we really didn’t do too much. I have to say it was relaxing though (assorted photos of the park are below the text). Jerry couldn’t stay as he hadn’t brought a tent or anything. Thus he went home before the first night. Bernie stayed the night in his bus - he’d brought a bus that was in the beginning stages of conversion to a motorhome. That was interesting to view. I’d completed mine a few weeks before and it was given the stamp of approval.
After Bernie went home, I went for longer walks around the park and just relaxed. Heaven knows how much of the park still exists there having been a hurricane. Eventually it was my time to leave so I did my pre-trip checks and found plenty fluids on the dip sticks, that the tyres and so on were fine. Then I started my journey home.
About 60 miles from home, the revs began to drop. I plugged on and eventually the engine died. Fortunately I was right beside a church and managed to coast into the church turn lane. I have to say that steering a 16 ton bus with no power steering takes some muscles! Immediately having parked (fortunately my bus has hydraulic brakes) I leapt out to check the fluids. No transmission fluid!
I called for a mobile mechanic. I figured there was probably a leak that I’d not seen. They refused to send a mechanic but sent a tow truck instead. That ended up costing more than if they’d just sent a mechanic. So a $525 tow to a truck repair garage and I ended up having them do the entire service that Day Star didn’t have time to do. I also found that the two (free) mechanics I’d had to look at my bus were worth every penny I’d spent on them. It transpired that the idiot that owned the bus before me had probably used a “free” mechanic too. The front was not properly bolted onto the transmission so the oil had leaked past the gasket. The good news was nothing was damaged so all that needed was 5 gallons of transmission fluid. The engine was treated to an oil change also and I had a few things checked out so the bill came to $1143. Whoever said owning a bus was cheap? Add to that an Uber journey from the truck shop via a friend that drives for Uber and a ride back when the bus was ready and that was another $40 added to the total. The park cost me about $45 for the two nights. Thus I can say that my weekend at Givehans cost a total of almost $2,000 without including the fuel used. After returning I needed to put $100 of diesel into the tank. Actually since the diesel in the tank was 3 years old, it was probably time for some fresh.
Was my trip a success? Heck, yes. I now have a fully serviced bus. I know the engine and transmission are pretty well bulletproof and I had a great time.
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