Meeting & Greeting (michael)

Meeting & Greeting It is a very strange phenomenon living with a bus around you. Not just the fact that you built it to suit you and your needs and with the turn of a key, or flick of a switch in our case, it will take you to all points of this great continent. I am talking about the strange thing that happens every time we park. People, mostly men, stop and just stare at her. Not Christi, the bus! They just stand there looking up and down at her like they have been pulled back into their past or lost in a dream. Then the haze is gone from their eyes and they are at the door asking about her and reminiscing about the good old days driving for some big tour company. Their eyes light up as I take them through the bus. We talk about the past; theirs and ours, and the hours pass like minutes and before you know it, we are just like old friends. Now, can someone tell me what it is about an old bus? It does not seem to matter what year, make or model of bus you have. People seem to love looking and talking about them. We have made some great friends since we built Mrs. Jones and I am sure that we will make many more. It's a crazy life, but we sure feel safe with 15 tons of metal around us. All the Best, Michael & Christi See our other Blog;http://michaelhargisshow.blogspot.com/

I know it has been awhile. (michael)

Hello All, I know it has been awhile. Christi and I have been very, very busy. After building Mrs. Jones, moving out of our house, a 4,500 mile, 9 states tour, we are now in Ramona, CA managing an RV resort for Western Horizon Resorts. While we were in Blue Mesa we were offered the job. Christi and I gave it alot of thought. We love being on the road touring but the "Pass the Hat" plan for our shows could not support the tour. So we took the job. We started on Sept. 21st, 09 and boy are we knee deep in it now. Well, we have done all kinds of jobs in our life time but nothing like this. This is like running a small city. Christi is the General Manager and runs the admin. side of things and is responsable for everything. I am a co-manager and deal with the resort systems and grounds. Thank goodness we have a great staff here to help us. With all this we are still doing shows within 100 miles of here. Every day we learn and then we learn that we need to learn more. One plus is that our son Jared can come down to see us on the weekends. All in all we are having a great time. All the Best, Michael & Christi See our other Blog;http://michaelhargisshow.blogspot.com/

Elk Meadow Lodge Dinner Show

We received an email from some guests at the Elk Meadow Lodge Dinner Show: Michael: "You asked us to send one of the pictures we took to your email. So here ya go. The best one of the group. We sooo enjoyed the show at the Elk Lodge on Aug. 14. We had a great time. Our two birthday girls were thrilled with the Birthday Song. And serenading our mother . . . she absolutely loved it! It made our Mother/Daughter Retreat especially memorable for her. Thank you. We all definately plan on catching your show again. Happy Trails", Jana Gregory...................... We also had a great time! We hope to see all of you again. All the Best, Michael & Christi See our other Blog;http://michaelhargisshow.blogspot.com/

KUDOS to DALLAS (michael)

Hello All, I just want to say "THANK YOU" to a fellow Bus Nut. THANK YOU DALLAS! You helped Christi and I with our conversion of a charter bus into Mrs. Jones. The advice you gave freely to us not only saved us thousands of dollars, your expertise enabled us to complete this task on a "MUST" 90 day time line. Christi and I didn't know a thing about buses when we started, but with the kindness given to us by the people of this website, Nick,Cody,Larry,Tom,bill,Scott Paulx3,BOTN,Sean,HTredneck,mike,Buswarrior, I could go on and all the other "Bus Yodas", you know who you are, we are learning.

A specal heart felt thanks goes to Dallas. You above all helped change our life forever and gave us the confidence to do, what seemed, the impossible. We are proud to call you our friend. There are not many opportunities in ones life to make a profound difference in anothers'. If you are not here, what is the next guy to do? All we know is that we feel we couldn't have done it without Dallas. All the Best to you sir, Michael & Christi Hargis and Mrs. Jones

And Cat, Dallas's wife answered in a Personal Message: I just saw your post and read it to Dallas. He said "cool" which for him is a mouthful. I watched his face as I read and I could tell he was very touched. Thank you for taking the time to post that. It meant a lot to us both. I am really hoping he will be willing to come back to the board soon.Cat

All the Best, Michael & Christi See our other Blog;http://michaelhargisshow.blogspot.com/

I'm a lazy Man (michael)

I'm a lazy Man

What happens when you get on the road? One seems to fall into a routine of sorts. At home, everything is in place. You know all your surroundings. You have your perma-list of responsibilities and you do the grind without hesitation. The Blah Blah everyday life engulfs you.

But something happens when you hit the road. Things change. The fresh and new sights and sounds stir the adventurer in you. Everything changes. Your senses tune in to a new environment, new people and you have to explore.

I found there are not enough hours in the day. By the time we walk, fish, eat, play poker, golf, sing, shop, meet & greet, show off Mrs. Jones and a hundred other things, it's time for bed. That "honey do" list keeps getting longer and longer and I just get more lazy by the day.

I think it's just that we don't want to miss anything. Why work today when you can put it off until tomorrow? I guess we just joined the procrastinators club.

So what's so bad about that anyway? Why did we hit the road in the 1st place? We wanted to see the great USA and take in all its' wonder. Putting a couple of things off for awhile is not going to hurt anybody! We need some time off.

Then I ask myself," How long is too long?" I don't know. The new has to wear off sometime, right! This can't go on forever. I'm sure boredom is just around the next corner. Then I'll get busy. Yea, that's the ticket, I'll do it then. I'm not lazy at all......Right?

All the Best, Michael & Christi See our other Blog;http://michaelhargisshow.blogspot.com/

Negative into a Positive (michael)

Negative into a Positive We arrived in Greeley, CO, we had a dark day (a day with no shows) so we wanted to be close to the next show and visit our dear friends Ann and Herb that live there. Greely RV Resort did the trick. I drove into the spot, hit the brake, perfect. Level? Check! Bay doors aligned for utilities? Check! Aligned to concrete slab? Close enough! We are good to go. I did the hook up ritual and removed the toad and Christi did her thing inside the bus. In record time we were ready to go to town. Christi handed me some stuff and out to the toad I went. About 30 secs. later it happened. Christi let out a blood curdling scream! She was on the ground and in pain. I rushed to her side and found that she had mis-judged the last step to the concrete slab and caught the edge of it and heard a crack in her foot and went down. OOPS, not close enough! Long story short, server sprain to her left foot. It appears that she tore the cartilage between her metatarsals. That means 4 to 6 weeks of hopping around. We are thankful it did not break a bone. So Christi was on her back and I had to figure out what was best for her and the show. We need to stay put for her foot to heal. We had called Loveland RV Resort a few days earlier and offered them a show, I found a voice mail from them saying they would love us in Loveland! I called back and booked a 2 show stand with them. Mr. and Mrs. Jones met us at the office. Chuck Jones is the manager for the park system, they have 5 or 6 parks. We checked in and I gave them a complimentary album and went to set up. We got settled in and I got called over to the Jone's house to talk about more shows in the other parks. After listening to the album Chuck stated that our show would be perfect for the lodge in Estes Park, CO in the summer season of 2010. We talked a little more and Chuck said we should go up and look at the resort. We did and it was beautiful! The Lodge, the park and the town was indeed "perfect" for our show. We got back and talked terms and Mr. Jones said we should get a final approval by October 1st. We did the 2 shows at the Loveland RV Resort with great reviews. Then we were off (40 miles) to Terry Bison Ranch for our next gig. I did some more calls in the greater Denver area so we could stay in one place. I received a call from Mr. Jones asking for a meeting. The owner of the resorts want to see us in person. We set it up for the following day. The meeting went well, then took an even better turn for us. They offered us an 8 show stand in their lodge in Estes Park, CO for the month of Aug. 2009. That's next month! When the gods offer you something to help, don't ask! Just take it and be grateful for it, and we did. We are very excited and can't wait to start setting up the new stage. I'll post some picks on the next post. All the Best, Michael & Christi See our other Blog;http://michaelhargisshow.blogspot.com/

Jack and Bea Good (Christi)

Jack And Bea Good (Christi) We've fallen behind in our blogging since we haven't had internet access for about a week. Our experience this past few days, and lack of TV, has inspired me to sit down and blog. We spent the last three days in Denver with our dear friends Jack and Bea Good. (I love her name.) Michael has known them for many years. I've only visited with them about three times in the last five years. The story of Jack and Bea's friendship with Michael started many years ago when Michael was working as the general contractor for Western Horizon Resorts. Michael was working up on a roof and singing, as he often does. A lady came by with her little blind dog and stood listening. When he finished the song he was singing, she asked him if he knew anything by Ray Price. He did and started singing again. This went on for a quite some time. After awhile, the lady said she was on her way to the ice cream social, but if it was OK she would come back later and bring some of her friends to hear him sing. Well, what could he say? Before long she was talking to the Activities Director and he was doing shows in the clubhouse. The Michael Hargis Show was born, thanks to mama Bea Good. I met Jack and Bea about 5 years ago in Puerto Penasco, Mexico. Michael and I had been married only a short time and there was a whole group of his friends meeting down there, so we joined them. We only stayed a few days but had a great time. If you watch Michael and Bea together, you see their connection clearly. These are two souls who love each other dearly. Jack calls it their love affair. She's his biggest fan and he adores her. We learned at this time that Bea had just been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Since then we have seen them twice and have witnessed the slow destructiveness of this disease. We just spent three days with them in Denver. Bea's face lit up when Michael walked into the room and he told her he was going to do a show in her honor. She still tells how she got him that job singing at Blue Mesa so many years ago. As I spent some time with her while Michael and Jack ran errands, I realized how far advanced the disease had gotten since we last saw them. We talked about her grown children as if they were still running around the house making a mess with their toys. She told me about people and places and things that must have happened thirty or forty years ago, but to her it was yesterday. At times she just seems to stare into space. Michael's show was at Jack and Bea's church. We didn't know what to expect, we've never done a show in the part of the church where they actually hold services. Jack wasn't sure if anyone would even show up. About 60 people attended, many of them walking up to Bea, giving her hugs and reintroducing themselves. It truly was a sight to behold. Michael dedicated every song to her, which got pretty funny after awhile. The show was mostly upbeat and at times thoughtful. It spoke to the heart. From where I ran the music, I was able to see Bea's smiles. As I watched Jack lovingly care for Bea, I can't imagine what it must be like to watch the woman he has spent 58 years of his life with just slip away. He takes care of her day in and day out by himself and worries that if he had to put her in a home, it would kill her. That kind of love is rare these days. When you look at the big picture and see what millions of people like Jack and Bea deal with everyday, you realize that truly, you just can't sweat the small stuff. It really is small stuff. No TV? No internet? So what! Michael and I have each other and we are both in good health. We are travelling in the bus we built together. We are seeing beautiful places and Michael is singing and making people smile; if just for an hour. We are visiting old friends and making new ones. We are truly blessed for all that we have and for knowing Jack and Bea Good. We love you Jack and Bea. All the best and don't sweat the small stuff, Michael & Christi See our other Blog;http://michaelhargisshow.blogspot.com/

Wonderful Blue Mesa (michael)

Wonderful Blue Mesa

A whole week has passed.

Fishing, Swimming, hiking, eating...

I could learn to like this!

All the Best, Michael & Christi See our other Blog;http://michaelhargisshow.blogspot.com/

Hiking the Blue Mesa (michael)

Hiking the Blue Mesa Christi and I went for our 1st hike this morning and what a place to start! Hiking the Blue Mesa has got to be one of the best in the USA to walk around. It can be as challenging as you wish or as easy as you please. We did the one in the middle, about an hours worth of walking. I told Christi that she could set the work out schedule when we start our new life or I turn fifty. Yes 50 years old! We did pretty good for a couple of almost old farts. LOL. P.S. from Christi: Michael will be 50 this Tuesday, the 7th. Yes, he's already getting mail from AARP! LOL (He laughed at me when I started getting those letters, since I'm older) All the Best, Michael & Christi See our other Blog;http://michaelhargisshow.blogspot.com/

Blue Mesa, CO (michael)

Blue Mesa, CO 240 miles We woke up late, that mountain air is like a drug. We said our good-byes to Bob and off to the GAS STATION we went. Now we were told that the bus got 7.9 mpg. It turns out to be about 6! When we get to some rallies, I'll ask a bus nut to look at it. For now we have to feed the beast! Monarch Pass in CO is a nail biting way to go in a 102 x 40' bus. I don't think I relaxed my stomach until we arrived in Gunnison, CO. On a good note, Christi ooh'ed and ah'ed the whole way through the pass. It was cloudy for most of the trip and rained a little. Our bus is very dirty now. So much for the grand entrance. The toad looks more like a turd. We arrived in WHR Blue Mesa around 4pm. The lake is high and beautiful. The resort is like an old friend. I missed it. I helped build some of the park. We got a great space next to the clubhouse and with a shade tree. Very nice. We are seeing lots of friends. We are home, for 2 weeks anyway then we find another home. Isn’t having a bus fun?All the Best, Michael & Christi See our other Blog;http://michaelhargisshow.blogspot.com/

Trinidad, CO (michael)

Trinidad, CO 240 miles Spent 2 nights in Trinidad, CO. We stopped here to visit Christi’s brother Bobby who lives there. Our 1st night (June 30th) was spent at Wally World’s parking lot. The 2nd night (July 1st) we spent at Lake Trinidad State Park. Very nice setting. Cost $30.00 total ($18 for the space then $6 for each vehicle X 2= $12) Kind of pricey. Bobby treated us to the night off the road. Thanks Bob. It was a 240 mile trip that went without a mishap. Mrs. Jones is one hell of a bus. After 700 miles, she lost no oil at all and no coolant. I did find the driver side radiator screen was missing 3 screws. Quick fix. We are off to Blue Mesa, CO in the morning. All the Best, Michael & Christi See our other Blog;http://michaelhargisshow.blogspot.com/

Our 1st 450 Miles (michael)

Our first 450 miles are behind us. We are sitting at the Hollywood casino in San Felipe, New Mexico. Nex to the casino is a campground that Hilda & Randy Smith told us about for $10.00 per night. It has electric only with a dump station. We signed up for a card in the casino and got $5 free play each, so it panned out. This was our first long trip with Mrs. Jones and it went OK save some minor mishaps. About 30 miles down the road the sewer smell filled the rig. We put in some deodorizer to make the place livable. I will have to flush the tanks instead of just dumping them! As you know by reading our blog, all the glass was broken out of the bus when we got it. Trevor, the person we bought it from, had replaced the windshields and also replaced the small side glass with clear plastic. Well this didn't hold up very well at 70mph. The driver side popped out but I grabbed it in time to save it and Christi held it until I pulled over. We temporarily fixed it and moved on. Then the other side started to whistle! We need to find some windows bad!!! Lets see, what else, oh the brake lights would not work on the toad. Found a lose wire. I forgot to hook up the water pump to the batteries. “OOPS”. Had lunch in Lordsburg, NM. Then the “NOT GEN” light came on??? Then it went off, then it came on again. Then it blinked on and off for a minute and now its off!?! I am looking for it in the E-Manual that Dallas gave me but no joy yet. Going up Texas Canyon the engine temp. got up to 210 but she pulled the hill real nice. The whole trip Christi was finding all the things that were rattling, banging and falling and securing them. Oh and the Genny ran out of gas so, no air for a very short time. Christi likes her air conditioning. All the Best, Michael & Christi See our other Blog;http://michaelhargisshow.blogspot.com/

We're Are Off Into The Sunset (michael)

We're Are Off Into The Sunset

Well, all the planning and all of the work is done. The time is at hand. Shake down is done. The good-byes are said. We hit the road in the morning. My confidence level is about 95% on the bus and 100% on the tour. The 5% is the unknown about a bus on the road. It was all almost overwhelming for me. I stand back and gaze upon the fruits of our labor. I think of all the great people that helped us get to this point and we thank them. Mrs. Jones is in good shape and we have enjoyed the last 3 weeks living in her. I feel a strange bond growing with the ol' girl. I have heard other bus nuts talk of this bond before. It is kinda like getting your 1st car feeling. It is very strange indeed! I have gotten rid of even more stuff. I have a little space opening up in the bays, well one anyway. Now it's off into the wild blue yonder. Next stop, Santa Fe, NM.

All the Best, Michael & Christi

PS: Hi Mom. See our other Blog;http://michaelhargisshow.blogspot.com/

Stuffed Bus (michael)

Stuffed Bus We lit out of our house in Tombstone on the 1st day of June. Our house was sold and we packed Mrs. Jones to the gills and headed off to St. David for the Shake Down. Then a strange thing happened. As we were parked, it seemed as if Mrs. Jones "Burped" all the stuff all over the camp site. Now that our 2 week stay has come to a end, all that stuff has to go back in! Fortunately I started re-organizing the bins and it looks like it will all fit. It has to fit. It came out of there. I ask myself, "Do we need all this stuff?" We have already gotten rid of so much. Do we have to leave more behind? Can we? At times life does not seem fair, but on the other hand, life is good. Its a good trade. We will give up the grind and some stuff for a new life style in a bus. Wow, Sounds like a win to me! I need this. Honey, is there any room under the bed??? All the Best, Michael & Christi See our other Blog;http://michaelhargisshow.blogspot.com/

A Dozen Days (michael)

A Dozen Days Mrs. Jones has been in service for 12 days now and she is doing famously. We have had some leaks, the kitchen sink strainer basket and drain line. They were a quick fix. I have to shorten a drain line because it rubs a bay door and I moved the incoming fresh water line 3/4 inches to miss a bay door support among other things. We kept popping an electric breaker on the park pedestal but, we moved to a new spot and it stopped. We still have some trim to do, grout the kitchen floor and organize the bays a little better. No Joy on the 2 side windows Larry Hall had in his toy box, they were out of an MC9 and are shorter then ones from a A3. We have to keep looking. Did get some cabinet doors though. We are having a blast full-timing. What a life style. Of course it can't always be like this, could it? All the Best, Michael & Christi See our other Blog;http://michaelhargisshow.blogspot.com/

Ants (michael)

Ants Can't live with them and we can't live without them. I am finding that the ants that live in and around RV resorts seem to be smarter than regular neighborhood ants. They seem to lie in wait until you pull into your site and hook up your lines. As soon as you go inside they attack. Within an hour they are in your rig sweeping your floor. Two hours and they have found your counter tops and sugar bowl. Left alone they will be into everything you own. I found them using the TV cable as a supper HWY to our food stores. They crossed over to the water piping and found the kitchen sink. From there they split off in all directions. I sprayed all the lines and tires. Christi vacuumed up the little nasties and we were enjoying the resort life until I was out in the bays and placed a set of golf clubs up against the bus. That evening, the floor was moving, again! I went out and found their new route in and removed it. Now we are more attuned to resort living and "dem dar ants"! All the Best, Michael & Christi See our other Blog;http://michaelhargisshow.blogspot.com/

Mrs. Jones and a Busnut (michael)

Mrs. Jones and a Busnut Mrs. Jones had her 1st visit from a true Busnut yesterday. Larry & Carol Hall made a special trip down to St. David, AZ to see her. I have to say I was quite excited to have them come over to see our labor of love. Larry said his hellos then sat down in the driver's seat. With a touch of a switch, our baby roared to life. I kept looking for a sign of approval from Larry but he was giving me nothing. He shut her down and immediately dove into the engine compartment. He was poking and prodding like a doctor giving a 50 year old a physical. Still nothing. I think he was staying somber on purpose! He brought her to life again via the rear panel. He was playing her like a fine tuned instrument; listening, raving, a concerned look only to glance off to something else. I felt like I was in the waiting room awaiting news of a birth! After enduring 20-25 minutes of agony Larry finally blurted out...I'M IMPRESSED! The horns went off with fireworks, HALLELUJAH the choir sang. Then Larry said, "This coach keeps impressing me". Mrs. Jones has her 1st stamp of approval from a guru of the bus world. Thank you Larry, for your time and the nod of approval. It means alot to us. All the Best, Michael & Christi See our other Blog;http://michaelhargisshow.blogspot.com/

Water Will Find A Way In (michael)

Water Will Find A Way In A big part about a bus conversion or an RV for that matter is water. We need to deal with the H2O factor. Water is an odd little beast that has a mind of its own. It can be very helpful at times and it can be very damaging if not kept in check. In the most extreme, water in large volumes can be very bad for your bus. Parked on the beach, a storm blows in and the waves have their way with your baby. Bad brakes at the lake and all of a sudden you own a very expensive boat anchor. Tsunamis, tornadoes and hurricanes are also very bad for buses. Other assaults by water the we need to consider are ice. Ice comes in many forms and conditions that can be very bad for a bus like black ice, snow, micro bursts and ice storms. We bus nuts have learned to avoid some of these conditions by putting the bus in gear and moving to better pastures. For those who didn't or couldn't move, our buses were built to shed water. The seams, doors and windows are water resistant. Paint and other coatings keep the rust at bay, for a time. There are other issues with water. We run elaborate piping systems all through our buses to bring us water on demand and discard it at will. We install tanks to hold our water in different forms like black, gray and fresh. We place water in sinks, buckets, pitchers and toilets. All is fine and well until a weak link develops that allows the beast to get out. In most cases you notice the leak and fix it in good time. But it is when a leak goes unnoticed that the real damage is done. I know, BLAH BLAH BLAH! Here's what happened that started this water rant. Day 4 we moved to a new site with shade. Beautiful cottonwoods sway over our new parking place with a great view of the lake, pool and clubhouse. We had the roof air on when a cloud bank moved over us. Then it started to rain, not outside, but inside the bus. Condensation had formed on/in the air conditioner and found its' way into our living space. It is just a clogged weep hole but it got me thinking. If that water did not drip straight down it could have found its way into the sub roof. Now that got me thinking of other drips that could happen at any time in a house on wheels. The bending, rattling and moving of a bus has and will place a never ending strain on all the systems. What else could I be missing? I need a bi-monthly inspection check list of all the bus systems that will/could help prevent water damage to our home. I will start putting together a list asap and post it. Until then I will ask the MAK board for their insight on this. My dad told me "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure". I'm starting to sound like my dad? All the Best, Michael & Christi See our other Blog;http://michaelhargisshow.blogspot.com/

Waiting to Exhale (michael)

Waiting to Exhale We left our home in Tombstone for the last time... Just 20 miles from there seems like 2 hundred. We arrived at Western Horizons Resort St. David and was greeted by a friendly face at the front gate. A little paperwork and we were headed to our site. I am only 2 mins from parking and the rush goes through me. Wow, we built a home on wheels in 3 months. Will everything work? Well, leading up to this point our friendly neighborhood plumber changed our deal and said he would finish for $255.00 more. Well, spit on that. I don't know what is wrong with that town! Is it me? To me, a deal is a deal. How can one sleep at night when they say they will work for an agreed upon fee only to hold your dreams or life hostage. Well, again I say SPIT on THAT! It's like I can't breath. There it is, our moment of truth. A simple 40' long strip of gravel, a power plug, a hose bib, cable and sewer hole. It's only a standard RV site but to us, it is the moment of truth. It's shake down time. Mrs. Jones glided into the spot and I shut her down. Christi yells out the door, "I need more power captain!" I plug the ole girl in and hit the breaker. The electricity flowed through her veins and no breakers popped. I hooked up the water and the water flowed at our will. The cable came in loud and clear. We still have to get propane and a 3 inch spline to hook up the sewer. I'll do that tomorrow. That king size bed is gonna feel good. AAAAHhhhhhhhh!!!! Goodnight Bob (BOTN) All the Best, Michael & Christi P.S. Camera is still dead......Soon. See our other Blog;http://michaelhargisshow.blogspot.com/

One More Day (michael)

One More Day! No pictures. Some how the camera stopped working. O well. Lets see, the battery pak is wired and the inverter is installed, part or the 12v lights are in and working, all the plumbing is done, our personal goods are getting into their new home along with the TV and food. Tomorrow is the day. We will finish packing with one more trip to the thrift store. Wow, one more day. All the Best, Michael & Christi See our other Blog;http://michaelhargisshow.blogspot.com/

The Big Stuff Goes Through The Window (michael)

The Big Stuff Goes Through The Window Thank goodness for friends. Brother Larry Bowers, Ray, Jeff and Loyd came over to load the big stuff. I prepped the Ole' girl early. Took out the side window and removed the front door to the house. The guys showed up and took all of 20 mins to get the couch and the refrigerator through the window and in place.

Just fit.

Nice fit.

Tight fit.

Its all working out.

2 days left. Christi started nesting. Long day comming on Sunday.

All the Best, Michael & Christi See our other Blog;http://michaelhargisshow.blogspot.com/

Roof Air (michael)

Roof Air I was going to wait on the roof air for a week or so But, I took Christi on a "show off" drive and she said that the air had to be next. So I said to myself, Why don't I install the roof air next! And I did.

I didn't know what I was doing. I never installed one before.

I just solved one problem and took it one step at a time. It took about 4 hours in all. The cold air flowed on the 1st try. A little trim and paint then on to the next task.

Here is the Batt. bank and inverter that I have yet to hook up. Still reading on this one.

And the 20 gal. elec. water heater.

My $20.00 yard sale tool box. I can unmount the box, put the wheels and have a roll around work table.

My good friend and brother Mason Larry Bowers gave us a 33 gal. air compressor. Very nice. Thank you Bear.

Look what we've done to our bathroom. Our singing land cruiser is coming to life.

Another view.

More plumbing

A little table to travel with.

Christi still caulking and painting.

Only 4 days left till we move in and go to our 1st park.

All the Best, Michael & Christi See our other Blog;http://michaelhargisshow.blogspot.com/

Mrs. Jones is Now a RV (michael)

Mrs. Jones is Now an RV Me and Mrs. Jones had a thing going on today. We went to town, just her and I. We danced down the byways of Tombstone to Sierra Vista. I took her to get some new class, well classification that is. We went to the Motor Vehicle Division of AZ to get her inspection. It was great. The inspector and the manager came out for the grand tour. Oohs's & Aah's. I was so proud of her. She passed with no problems. Then the inspector told me that she was not registered and I needed to get her a tag before I hit the road. $83 bucks later (cheap date) we were a legal Bus Conversion and/or RV. Then I took her to Wally World to buy her something nice. OK, it was white water hose and sewer pipe. Hey, when you got to go, you got to go and we got to GO! All the Best, Michael & Christi See our other Blog;http://michaelhargisshow.blogspot.com/

Chunch Time (michael)

Crunch Time

So many things to do and we are running out of time. The house is sold, more like, passed on. Down to 1 car. 1 more trip left to the thrift store. 1 to the recycling center. Yard sales are over. Conversion inspection on Weds. Mean while, the plumber is plumbing, we are trimming, painting, fabricating, wiring, installing, tiling, flooring and well, you get the picture. There is a lot that we know how to do and we are finding that there is a lot we don't know. But on the bright side, we are learning more with every passing day. Oh, the passing day thing, we are down to just 8 days before "Shake Down". Things are coming along well. I would like to have a little more done like the roof airs. But, all in all things are well. A good thing is we have a 30 day shake down. The whole month of June to tweak Mrs. Jones. We will need it.

All the Best, Michael & Christi See our other Blog;http://michaelhargisshow.blogspot.com/

Got Windows? FedX Opps! (michael)

Got Windows? FedX Opps! Mrs. Jones got a big pak of windows on Thursday. Doug Olson of Langley, OK is converting his 1992 MCI 102C3, 6V92, HT740 and was kind to donated 5 side windows so Mrs. Jones can get her grove back. I could not wait to put them in. We picked them up from Tombstone Hardware & Feed. They have a forklift to unload the 350 lbs required by the handler. Mr. West, owner of the hardware store stated the FedX lady was mis-handling the package while putting it on a pallet. Doug did a great job of packing But, I could see that the bottom frame was out of place. We got them home and I got after it. Unpacked the 1st window, Perfect! Fit like a glove. Mrs. Jones cried for more. 2nd & 3rd were very nice too. Then came the bad news, windows 4 & 5 are broken! Rats! Ok, so there was wood sheeting on top and bottom, shrink wrap in over kill mode, windows were in their frames and signs that clearly stated "Glass, Handle with care". I guess some people just don't like glass! Well the cracked windows are better then nothing so I put them in also. I put the good ones on the drivers side so at least one side of the bus looks good. Christi call the FedX claims dept. and they sent forms fill out and hoops to jump through. After 49 years I still don't understand why we get punished for other peoples mistakes? Somethings never change. Christi, I & Mrs. Jones want to thank the Olsons for all their help and kindness. We owe them a big one.

In with good and out with the bad.

My balancing act.

A little to the right.

Ha!

Now thats a nice view!

All the Best, Michael & Christi See our other Blog;http://michaelhargisshow.blogspot.com/

Start Modifications for Roof Airs (michael)

Start Modifications for Roof Airs Phil stopped by on Sat. He said he had some pressing things to do so he could not help out today. But he did bring a new face to play with Mrs. Jones. Pat Mulvena is a gen. contractor in Tucson, AZ. Phil told him that if he could come down and work with us, we would have a barbecue or a picnic or something. Phil dumped Pat off and sped off like we had the swine flu. I asked Pat what he would like to do and he said "Lets start modifications for the roof airs". So we got into it. The roof airs are used, but they are all that was in the budget. We had some problem solving to do. I have never installed a roof air before and by the end of the day, I still haven't. Pat did a great job converting the emergency hatches to hold the airs. We cut holes for the air flow. Removed the fiberglass insulation and the locking mechanism. Then we filled the void with foam. We put them back in place and we will install the airs on another day. We also installed new motor mounts on the temp. Coleman genny. Thank you Pat for all your help. I would work with you anytime. Sorry about the barbecue.

All the Best, Michael & Christi See our other Blog;http://michaelhargisshow.blogspot.com/