I'll always remember the summer of 2010...

A double decker bus is a great concept, but it has to start life as one. Our coaches are just not suitable for two levels due to the structural design.

Legal height limits around the country are 13' 6". take away 12" of ground clearance and divide the difference by 2 and considering the thickness of the floors and roof and the floor to ceiling dimensions are less than 6' 3", more likely 6' or less. Then consider how much of our bay space can be used for living area. It will not be the space for the holding tanks, or the space for fuel, or the space for the generator. Then take away the space required for the axles and the engine.

Pretty soon the result is a double decker with seriously compromised ceiling heights and a minimal gain in floor space due to the need for the stuff listed above. There is a reason why the Neoplan and other double decker concepts have never been embraced by converters. All of a sudden slides make a lot of sense.

Besides, who wants to drive a bus from a position that puts our eyes about even with where our headlights are? I often wonder how a driver of a vehicle with compromised stopping distances likes sitting so low he cannot see ahead so he can anticipate problems.

We just got back from our maiden voyage after having extensive engine and transmission work done and after nearly 4000 miles of driving the consensus is good. The bus hasn't run as smoothly or assertively since we've owned it and the transmission is shifting great. The engine and trans temps are also back down in the comfort zone with none of the dramatic fluctuations we were having before.

That being said, we certainly had a plenty of other excitement as we headed out to Florida to see what was to be one of the last space shuttle launches. My Dad has worked for (what is now) USA Space for over 25 years and prior to this trip, the closest I had come to witnessing a launch first-hand was t-2:00 -- then it got scrubbed. The launch originally scheduled for November 1st was our target so I pulled my 10 year old daughter out of school for a bit, we loaded up the bus and headed to Florida.

Our first evening on the road proved to be eventful. More so for the deer than for us:
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That was where the main impact was and there is some additional cosmetic damage down the passenger side where it would seem hooves and/or antlers rolled down the side, but from the inside there was only a solid "thunk" that both my wife and daughter slept through. We happened to be heading east on I-70 in Kansas at about 11PM. There was no other traffic to speak of around us for nearly two hours, until of course, there were three deer standing in my lane with a car tailgating me and another in the other lane passing me at about 0.5 MPH increments. I certainly wasn't going to make any radical maneuvers. I replaced the bulbs in the headlight and parking light and taped them up with clear and orange tape and after a call to notify the insurance company we were set for the remainder of the trip.

We had made arrangements to stay at The Great Outdoors near Titusville, since my folks live in town and it looked like a nice place -- not to mention a bargain since we were staying for six nights and only paid for four with their current promotion. My wife wanted something with a water view, so I made that request that landed us this nice spot:
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Not long after arriving, a friendly neighbor came over to give us the nature talk. Having seen this little one running around:
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The neighbor thought it would be prudent to warn us of this guy:
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We soon noticed that once we set up camp, he decided he would too and spent quite a bit of time lurking off the bank. The next day a pond maintenance guy came around throwing a line in (probably auditing the fish) and we watched as the gator stalked him as he walked the entire perimeter of the pond. Early the next morning a different guy showed up and asked a few questions about the gator. Not long after -- he dragged the gator out of the pond and apparently initiated its trip to what would likely be Paris to be reincarnated as a medium size ladies handbag:
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...IMG_1946-1.jpg

That was rather exciting seeing a little gator wrangling considering we're from Colorado. Sure we have mountain lions, bobcats, rattlesnakes, etc -- but no gators. The "pest control" guy said after inspecting the gator closely that it was a problem. He could tell by the wear on the claws and the scales on it's back that it spent a fair amount of time getting around through the larger drainpipes and cruising paved/concrete surfaces. It also was apparently not very afraid of people.

My daughter was concerned about being able to go trick or treating since she was away from home, but my dad did a little research to find the most candy-laden neighborhood and after my mom helped her with the requested "hippy" costume. She satisfactorily managed to fulfill the yearly tradition:
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While visiting with my folks their neighbors brought out something unusual that I've never seen before. I call it a funky chicken, they call them "silkies":
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...IMG_0708-1.jpg

All of that was great entertainment while the launch continually got moved back. We spent a day at the beach in Fort Desoto with the wonderful powdered sugar-like sand and then the next day we went to Cocoa Beach to play in the waves and make the stop at the original Ron Jon's. Of course, they have them in quite a few places now, but it has become a traditional to get a t-shirt or something from that one when we are in town.

You'll notice in my picture of our site that I have my awning up. That was the first time that I ever extended it to the nearly horizontal position. Unfortunately, that slipped my mind during one of the heavier downpours and I woke up at 5AM to the sound of a crash outside. I immediately thought I knew what it was and was validated as soon as I peeked out a window and saw only black. Fortunately, the damage was minimal. A couple of support ends broken and the main awning tube was bent, but the fabric was fine and not damage to the coach at the attachment points. I was able to straighten to tube so I could at least re-wind the spring and retract the awning securely for the trip home.

We ended up getting skunked on the launch as they finally scrubbed it on Friday. We were scheduled to leave that day, but waited to hear that morning to see if there was any chance of it happening. If so, we would wait it out in town at the mall parking lot, if not, we would hit the road...so off to the open road.

On the way home we decided to make a stop in Chattanooga to check out Ruby Falls. We had seen signs on the way down, but didn't really know what it was. A little bit of quick internet research yielded that it was worth the stop. The only thing that the internet didn't reveal was that driving a 40ft bus towing a mid-size SUV up there was not a great idea. I specifically looked for parking info, but didn't see anything. So we went for it, and managed to escape unscathed, although I had to unhook the toad to get turned around and back down the mountain. It was worth it though:
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The rest of the trip home was uneventful -- now to find a good repair shop! If you made it through all of that I hope you enjoyed the story. We're already looking forward to the next trip!

Yes i did enjoy reading about your journey. Life doesn't get much better than that. Oh the bus thats just minor in the overhaul picture of life. Just wondering about deer whistles that I,ve seen attached to the mirrors if they work or just another gimmic? My brother has them but gave me a smart ass answer "I haven't hit a deer since i put them on" end of story.

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Originally Posted by Sid Tuls

Yes i did enjoy reading about your journey. Life doesn't get much better than that. Oh the bus thats just minor in the overhaul picture of life. Just wondering about deer whistles that I,ve seen attached to the mirrors if they work or just another gimmic? My brother has them but gave me a smart ass answer "I haven't hit a deer since i put them on" end of story.

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Sid, glad you enjoyed it. I enjoyed thinking about the small things as I wrote it. I've had the same response about deer whistles. In fact, on this past trip as a guy was looking at the damage he asked me if I had considered them and when I inquired if they work, he answered exactly as your brother did. This was the first time that I had ever hit a deer (or large animal) and I've driven quite a lot of miles -- even drove a truck criss-crossing the country following races for a few years with a lot of night time driving. I'm just glad that we were in the bus vs. one of our regular cars. The outcome might have been alot different.

FWIW

We just drove from Maine though NH, MA,NY, PA, VA, WV,TN,NC,SC,GA and FL - Joanie counted 39 deer road kills before she stopped counting.

Hunting law limits should certainly be relaxed.

We finally got our estimate for the damage from the deer incident completed. Keep in mind that the damage is all cosmetic (we've used and driven the bus nearly 5000 miles since the incident). It came in right at $20K :eek: !

I sent the estimate along with some pics I took to our adjuster (he's located in Florida) and after a quick review he said that the pics support the estimate and things are now in process for the repair.

Of course, it's going to take about two weeks for the parts as a couple need to be fabricated and then another week for polishing the panels....the great thing, though, is that the company doing the repair doesn't even want the bus until he has all of the parts in hand and ready to do the work, so it doesn't have just sit waiting on parts.

Can't wait to have everything all pretty again!

Devin, who is doing your repair? Just future information since I have burned my bridges at Prevost Ft Worth.
Hey, I think I saw you guys heading west on I-70 going up Mt Vernon Canyon a few weeks ago.

We're using Sameday RV Body & Paint Repair ( http://samedayinc.com/ ).

I started this process by asking the outfit that does the bulk of my engine and chassis stuff who he would recommend and he gave me two places out of Denver. I called the first, Divine Coach, and I wasn't particularly impressed with the demeanor of the guy on the phone. He seemed to be under the impression that he is the only one around that fixes buses and he said so. He also seemed to be unable to describe any repairs in specific detail as far as how they were done. He made a lot of MCI references, which as a Prevost owner, really meant nothing to me. The second place was Colorado Coach (I believe). I called them twice, an operator took my number and message twice, and I never got a call back.

I found Sameday on the interwebs. In fact, they were the only ones to come up with a site specific to repair when I did a search for local resources. I sent them a message through the website and got a response within a few hours. I spoke to Ian on the phone and he was able to provide details on how the work was done and the things to be aware of and since he happens to live in Ft Collins (his shop is in Johnstown) he actually came to my house to make the estimate. When he saw the coach I explained my concerns about having the job done well and he said two things that made me feel a little better: 1) based on what he saw, since there was no structural damage, any place experienced in buses should be able to do a decent job (we need just a little paint done on the entry door), but more importantly 2) he said you don't pay until you're satisfied with the outcome.

He is a smaller outfit, but he apparently does warranty work for several coach companies, Vantare in particular. He seemed to know most of the Prevost buses in Northern, CO. I'll let you know the outcome.

You probably did see us heading out to CA. I spent a week working out there and I typically take the bus, wife, dogs and camp out in Newport.

How the bus shopping going for you?