Oktoberbus 2005
Oktoberbus 2005
After having missed Buses on the River, our family was quite ready for
another wonderful camp-out. With a few possible destinations we were
quite unsure of exactly where we would go to. A few emails were
exchanged and suddenly our normal camping posse was all going to
Oktoberbus, so we opted for that.
Thursday night was spent taking the twins to a real big top circus for
their birthday, then after getting everyone in bed, we loaded up the bus
with assorted supplies and a large assortment of confectionery treats.
Early Friday morning we threw the kids in the bus and I set the helm
east at warp 9. Before we knew it we were near Knoxville where we added
Slaymaker to our carabus and were off to pick up DocRic in Roan mtn. Oh
did I mention we piddled around for a bit in Knox before leaving?
Anyway, we did eventually make it back on the road and arrived in Roan
mtn to find Ric doing an emergency surgery to some poor animal, so we
all piled out of the bus and let the kids run some pent up energy off.
Before we knew it all three of our buses were motoring down the highway
into North Carolina. As the sun was down and tummies started to growl we
took a break for some dinner. During this time Ric managed to find a
group of college students in a sage green 77 westy that were going
somewhere to camp. We managed to talk them into joining us and boom!
there were four. A short while later (after taking the tour of a few
towns city squares) we turned onto a gravel road and were greeted with a
black cat in front of a castle. Yup, MUD has been here. We quickly found
Brad and picked a spot to set camp.
The rest of the night was spent visiting old friends and setting camp.
After all the kids shut down for the night, we sat around this really
neat elevated fire pit Chris had and told jokes, talked of modern jets
in WWII and general good times. We also took to calling our new collage
age friends “the hostages”, which stuck almost immediately. The weather
could not have been nicer. Crystal clear skies, and a moon that cast a
lovely light over everything it found. Why…it was even said that if
you leave the fire and walk into the moonlight it’s like sun light. Our
new friends the hostages endeared themselves to us by bringing along
marshmallows for everyone. All I can say is they are “sooooo in”
Sometime after 2 I turned in and slept like a log.
Morning came as it has done in the past, and I was forced to leave the
warm comfort of a westy bed to take Chloe to the restroom. After that I
got come coffee brewing and milled around with the camera a bit. Later
than normal MUD got the breakfast burritos going and everyone that was
able pitched in for some great food. I especially liked the bbq chicken
someone brought, that was fantastic!!!!! After breakfast finished up
Jamie Auch showed up and I got a chance to admire his DD first hand. It
will really be something special when it’s all spit shined and has an
interior installed. The hostages left to go hiking that morning and we
all thought they would simply run away from the strange bus people
Saturday was busy for me. I worked especially hard at taking a nap under
the fantastic weather provided just for us. The kids were hard at work
carving pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns for the later contest. The famous
Philip & Catherine were there and I finally got the chance to spend some
time with them. There were nice enough to also play some boci ball with
us. Although with the thick grass it was mostly a pitch and hope kind of
affair with the game.
As the second game wound down it was time to start some dinner. Steph
fixed some great 3-way chili and I got to chomping down on good food.
Before long the sun was nearly down and the trick-or-treating was soon
at hand. We had to rush to get our three Star Wars children ready. They
had a great time moving from bus to bus, gathering lots of candy. Thanks
to everyone that took the time to bring stuff for all the kids. it was
appreciated. After the tour, MUD gathered everyone for the quick
disbursement of prizes. Chloe, Stryder & Wyatt all went away with neat
prizes (as well as our fair share of pumpkin pie).
With the formal festivities over for the night the only thing left to do
was enjoy ourselves. Our three oldest kiddos all hit the bed early and
were retired by 9. Olivia, however didn’t want to rest. I spent a good
amount of the night with her on my back walking from one fire to
another. My hard work finally paid off and she drifted off to dreamland.
I spent the remainder of the night enjoying the company and warming
myself at the fire. It was late into the night when the hostages
returned under their own will, turns out we weren’t that scary and they
came back to hang out and camp.
The next morning was spend like normal Sundays camping by rushing to
break down camp and get packed up. As folks left we said our good byes,
and around 11 we headed down the path home. The trip home was mostly a
normal trip except for one gas station. I was filling up the bus and
arranging the ice box in the trailer. Suddenly I hear what sounds like
water leaking on the ground. I assumed I had bumped the drain plug for
the cooler, but didn’t find any sign of leaking. Then it hit me! I ran
up to the gas pump and found at least a half gallon of gas spilling all
over the ground and gushing out of the filler neck. The stupid pump had
not cut itself off and was pumping as much gas as possible into the
ground. I got that off, and finished my transaction. Chris and I both
decided that starting a vehicle on top of a pool of gas seemed like a
bad idea, so we pushed the bus over to the side and let the gas
evaporate.
Near dinner time we waved goodbye to our last companion on the trip
(Slaymaker) and kept our eyes on the finish line of Mid TN. Around 9:30
we pulled into the driveway and all slept great in our own beds. Thanks
MUD for a great time!
