Living in the Blue Bus

A lot of the people we met on vacation were curious about our home. We bought the Blue Bus in 2008. It has 38,000 miles on it. Some people call these things RVs. Others call them motor homes. This one weighs 20,000 pounds. It has a 6.8 liter Ford V-10 engine that gets about 7.5 MPG with a 75 gallon gas tank. We live here all the time except when we go on vacation  and have no plans to return to an immobile home.

Inside, the sofa makes into a double bed for visiting grandchildren. We also have a blowup bed for the floor and the dining table makes into another bed. The driver's seat and passenger's seat swivel around when we're parked.

The bus is 35 feet long. The passenger side has an electric awning and a slide room in the bedroom to provide some extra living space when parked. The awning can be set to retract automatically at various wind speeds. The drivers side has a bigger "slide room" that contains the sofa, dining table and refrigerator. The slide rooms go in and out with a push of a button.  Since these pictures were taken, we have removed the carpet and vinyl floor from the living area and put in a vinyl floor that looks like wood.  So much easier to maintain.

This is a view of the kitchen sink and a propane stove and oven. A smaller oven above is electric and is both microwave and conventional. A propane heater is below the sink.

There are two HD TV sets, one over the dashboard and another in the bedroom. They run on cable, satellite, antenna and a DVD player. Sometimes we get 500 channels with nothing to watch. The Rv has three video cameras for viewing traffic on the sides and back. The back camera also has a speaker so Mrs. Phred can talk to me when we are backing into a new home.

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The refrigerator has an ice maker. It also has a computer that tells it to operate on propane or alternating current, depending on what's available.

Bedroom.

Italian washer/dryer.

Four hydraulic jacks level the RV when parked.

An automatic satellite dish on the roof finds the satellite when you turn it on.

Two roof air conditioners also are heat pumps as an alternative to using propane for heat.

The tow bar for the Toyota.

Here is where you plug in sewer, electric and fresh water when parked. If these are not available, you can function on battery power, generator power and the fresh water, gray water and black water holding tanks for a week or so before finding a place to dump. There are two six volt batteries and a 50 amp generator.

The "toad". The RV is 13 feet,  six inches tall. Some bridges aren't. The whole package is 55 feet in length.

I cook most meals outdoors. This goes in the Toyota trunk for travel.

My bathroom.

Mrs. Phred's bathroom.

 

Home is where the wheels are.