Van called me from B&B Coach Works in Las Vegas and asked if I'd be willing to go pick up a bus for Gary, the owner. Seems like he needed to get the coach ASAP, as someone was interested in using it's powertrain for a repower project, but the shop was so busy, nobody could break free to go get it. Was I interested?
"Depends, where's the coach, and when does it have to be in Vegas?"
"In Eureka, and by Monday. Oh, and it's a Gillig Phantom, btw. . ."
Great, 13 hours driving time in a transit bus that maxes out at 57 mph? Sure, why not? I'm up for a little masochistic bus humor. . .
"Did I mention that Gary will pay you to help out?"
Ahhhh. . . Extra incentive to put myself through torture, and pay the summer A/C bill - I like that!
And so the adventure began. . .
First up was to figure out the logistics of getting from Fresno to Eureka and then back to Fresno after dropping the bus off in Las Vegas. But that had to be figured out after making sure I took care of all my customers before I left on Friday the 25th. Plus packing some clothes, a pillow, a few hand tools - including duct tape - and most importantly, the charger for my cell phone.
After perusing several rental car agency websites, Hertz came through with this little bus to go fetch the big bus, and they didn't even charge me extra for the front fender dent!
This Chevy Sonic was an interesting vehicle, a little twitchy, somewhat underpowered, and hardly enough room in the trunk for a standard airline carry-on suitcase. But it got decent fuel mileage (34+) and had a Sirius XM radio. Might make a nice toad. . .
Departed Friday after work, headed for Ukiah, roughly half-way between Fresno and Eureka. Naturally didn't make it out of Dodge at the originally-planned time, a common occurrence when utilizing rental equipment, it seems. However, the little Sonic just purred along and before I fell asleep at the wheel, there was the Ukiah Quality Inn, thus half of the first leg finished and time for sleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment