So I am finally  start working on my long-overdue project of renovating the school bus I bought in August 2009.

The Back Story:

In 2009 I was going to be running a a kitchen for about 75 people out at the Burning Man festival in Nevada.  As I had hassles in the past with truck rentals for going to Burning Man, I decided to see if I could find an old schoolbus that could serve as a combination equipment hauler and camper for the trip 9and subsequent trips).   My friend Jim had also talked about being interested in getting a bus for group events and he went in on the bus purchase with me.  I ended up finding a great old  “Shorty” Schoolbus for about the same price as a truck rental would have cost me.

The bus was a 1979 Ford/Carpenter “Shorty” schoolbus…engine in great shape and it had some neat features.  The  previous owners had outfitted it for hauling  rafting gear, and had taken it all across the western US and Canada on rafting trips.  Three of the four friends had moved away from Portland and they no longer used the bus and didn’t want it to waste away, so they were selling it (and wanted someone who would get good use out of it).

So, I bought the bus and took it to Burning Man.  While the bus made it there and back, we did have a few glithes along the way (due to what ended up being  a simple loose wire).  Once we returned, I planned on taking the winter to renovate the bus and get it into tip top shape.

Ahh, the best laid plans.  In late 2009, I was hit with a nasty case of Psoriatic Arthritis that pretty much leveled me for much of 2010.   The bus project fell to the wayside while I focused on getting better.

Now I am better and feeling up to the challenge, so a few weeks ago I began planning for starting up the bus project again.  Over the last year I’ve been following a number of forums for ‘Skoolie’ and other bus conversion owners and have gotten plenty of ideas on how to make my bus a fun vehicle for tailgating, equipment hauling and, eventually, a kind of  portable kitchen for events.   Now all that remains is putting those ideas into a plan and making it happen.

I’m going to try to keep track of my progress both on the Skoolie.net site and here on my blog.

So, stay tuned for more info and images as the work on the bus progresses.

-Chef Juke