bus, Bus, BUS!!!

Wow! We've got our bus! Went to a used bus yard in Whitehall, MT today just to *look*, and was offered such a good deal on what we wanted that we couldn't pass it up! She's a 1992 Bluebird with an Allison transmission and Cummins diesel ... and she's turbo-charged! With five external undercarriage storage compartments on each side and roughly an 80 passenger capacity, we've got PLENTY of room to add our fresh water tank, batteries to store solar power, and all the gear we can carry (which can be a LOT!). This will be her second conversion: she was originally a regular ol' school bus and was painted and converted into a transit bus for the Three Forks school system. We plan on re-painting the red stripe (we like green better), but other than that are really satisfied with the external physical appearance. She was the biggest and prettiest on the lot!

Harlow Bus Sales, the company we bought it from, is going to rip out the seats, over head bins, and television cubbies for us. This deal actually helped make the price of the bus a lot cheaper! No telling how long it will take us to convert her, but the first few things we need to do are rip up the floor and put in the floor that we want, lay out insulation, and map out our wiring system. Since it was converted into a transit bus, the whole she-bang is wired for overhead and floor lighting ... which equals a lot less work on the wiring part!

We'll keep y'all posted ... for now she's parked in Whitehall waiting for us to find a place to park her for the spring/summer. We hope to begin the conversion soon!

YAHOOOOOO!!!!

Kelly and Zach

Frozen Nose Hairs

Myy ... nooossse ... haaaiirrrs ... aaarrre ... frrrroozzzzen.

It's at LEAST -18 degrees outside right now; around 50 in our room upstairs.

Good thing I have clean socks.

Kelly

Snow, Santa, and Such

"From here we can see your Tetons"

Our friend Ryan on a backcountry skiing trip in Jackson with Zach

Neighborhood all snowy

Dogs loving it

Black Dog is morphing into White Dog!

14 stockings all in a row (mine and Zach's are the ones on the far right)

Part One of our 17 foot tall Christmas tree

Part Two of our 17 foot tall Christmas tree

Howie and his Christmas morning bone
(he ended up unraveling the rawhide and just eating the good stuff inside)

"Can I PLEASE oh PLEASE take mine outside and bury it? PLEASE?"

A little Christmas morning brew in our favorite pint glasses (Gritty's on the left, Biere de Noel from Bozeman in the middle, Grand Teton Brewing on the right)

Our blurry Christmas picture.

View from our room

Happy New Year!

2008 was quite an adventure. Lots of good memories and things to remember! 2009 will be yet another year of adventure. Zach and I hope to buy and start converting our school bus, and we also plan to get hitched in October! Yeah! We'll continue to keep this blog updated as it all spans out.

Things are slowing down around here after the holidays. Christmas is one of the busiest times here in Big Sky, and the amount of people in the Hungry Moose has multiplied beyond comprehension. I imagine that it will calm down in the next week or so ... January is supposed to be really slow, with things picking up in February and staying steady until the end of the season. We'll find out!

Zach has been plowing a LOT of snow lately. Three inches is the magic number; he has to plow any designated driveway with this much snow in it. Sometimes he's out for 16 hours at a time, sometimes he can bust it out in less. We thought he was going to have to plow Christmas Day, but Mother Nature worked a miracle and held off the snow until that night.

I'm trying to sew as much as I can ... but it's hard! Between working full-time, learning how to ski, and sewing, I'm booked. Speaking of skiing, I got to go up a lift for the first time! I had a BLAST and can't wait to do it again. I also got a pair of cross-country skis from Zach and look forward to using them on the MANY cross-country skiing trails in the area.

Black Dog is a happy dog. She and Howie got more treats for Christmas than we know what to do with! We're rationing the treats and running them in the snow so they don't pack on a lot of extra weight. We're dealing with lots of new snow-related issues ... such as snowballs between the toes and under the belly. They're so tough to get out that last time we had to put Jade in the bathroom to thaw!

Elisa, a friend of Zach's from Maine, stopped by on her way through town and stayed for New Years Eve. It was good to see her and we wish her the best of luck at her new job in Seattle!

We miss all of you and hope you'll come visit ...

Kelly & Zach

Maine to Montana

Leaving the house in Maine, all packed up ...

Notice the rubber ducky stuck to the roof?

Four days and several miracles later, we're home!

Big backyard + big porch = happiness

Right side of fence: field, Left side of fence: side yard

Surrounded by mountains!

View from the upper deck

Another view from the upper deck

Cruisin' around the neighborhood

Tricks in the driveway

Doesn't Nigel look happy?

Doesn't JADE look happy?!

Remember that rubber ducky? He made it all 2600 miles just to get covered in snow.

Sorry this posting is a little late, but things have been a little crazy since we left Maine.

Our trip out was long. In four days we covered roughly 2600 miles and passed through 13 states (ME, VT, MA, NY, PA, OH, IN, IL, WI, MN, SD, WY, & MT!). We spent the night in western NY, southern WI, and eastern WY. Saw lots of lakes, windmills, and flat land. Didn't take too many pictures 'cause we didn't do a whole lot of stopping if it wasn't to pee. The car was super loaded down and we didn't get great gas mileage, but gas prices averaged $2.40 the whole way, so we can't complain too much!

On day four, we arrived at our destination in Bozeman, MT. As some of you know, we had found a place to live before we left Maine. We both did our fair share of research on the town and what it had to offer, and it seemed like it was going to be a really good fit. BUT, when we got there, our condo was in the middle of several miles of condos on the commercial side of town. YUCK! Within an hour, we decided to explore other options. Big Sky is only 45 minutes from Bozeman, complete with a ski resort, ski shops, rafting companies, bars, and several other small businesses. The next morning we got up early (it's not like we could have slept in anyway, what with the trucks and cars and people making SO MUCH NOISE) and headed to Big Sky. Within a couple of hours, we had a place to live and job prospects. Two weeks later, we're loving our house, roommates, and extended backyard. We went playing in three feet of snow on Saturday! Things fell into place for us here like it was meant to be or something!

We plan to stay for a while. We want to buy and convert a school bus into our home starting in the spring and don't know how long that will take. This area has a lot to offer both of us and we're both really excited that we came here. Now if only the snow in our yard would quit melting ...

Black Dog says hello and that she's having fun playing with her doggie friend Howie, who is the funniest Boston Terrier you've ever met. She's having a great time in the snow and is happy that we decided not to live in a condo all winter. She's been getting regular hair trimmings to keep the snow from balling up between her toes. It's quite the hilarious process to watch. Jade is staying fit and healthy and we look forward to throwing her into her first snow drift!

I'll mosey on for now ... got an apron I want to work on before I go to work at the Hungry Moose Market and Deli! Zach already left for his first day at his new plowing job. Now we just need to get Black Dog some work and we'll be all set! (Sled dog maybe?)

Kelly

State Bird of Maine

The Breakwater in Rockport Harbor

Me and Zach

Dad and Bridgette

Me and Dad

We don't know these people ...

Bridgette feeling the wind in her hair

"I'm pretty sure the state bird of Maine is a rock." -My dad

Just had to share a couple of shots from this weekend. We had a great time enjoying each other's company and the changing leaves! We ate good food, got our feet wet when the water washed over the breakwater, and hiked up to some beautiful views. Thanks, Dad and Bridgette, for coming to hang out with us!

Kelly

Leaves, Tablecloths, and Cars ... OH MY!

Fall surrounds the Bonny Street pond

52 custom tablecloths ... AHHHHH!

Black Dog's glamor shot

Zach and Nigel spanking it at the Union Rally Cross
(Zach got the fastest overall course time!)

Watching the course drive-through from a comfy seat

We're getting really excited about the move ...
It's happening really soon ...
But not before ...

Right now we're waiting for my dad and Bridgette to get into town ... they flew into Portland from Atlanta this morning and they're stopping at L.L.Bean before they arrive! Zach is making some kick-ass spicy chili and I'm the official taste tester. It's a beautiful day in New England; the leaves are peaking in their autumn colors, there's not a cloud in the sky, and I couldn't be happier to be alive.

Peeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaccccccccccccccccceeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Kelly

Two Weeks Notice

Owl's Head, Maine

Okay folks, two weeks until phase two of our journey around the country. I'm sick of rolling out pizzas, Zach is sick of delivering them, and hell if I can ever eat a pizza again. Check please! But hey, Maine has been good to us and I still can't believe that I've been lucky enough to experience a New England autumn. Zach has rediscovered his love of mountain biking and taught me a few things along the way, I've started sewing again and have some really awesome ideas for this winter, and Black Dog has met new friends and learned how to ride beside a bike without a leash. How can anyone complain?

So here we go, off to explore the wondrous West together with dreams in our heads, passion in our hearts, and a little cash in our pockets. And Black Dog running in circles around us, of course. I've been to the Rockies, but I've always flown and was never there to stay for more than three months. I have to admit that I've been hoping for this opportunity since I got back from NOLS and I'm so happy to be taking advantage of it with the someone I've dreaming of for as long as I can remember. We hope to build the house bus while we're out there, so that we can Furthur grow and explore the little bit of American countryside that is rapidly disappearing.

Thanks to all of you for knowing in your hearts that we can do anything we put our minds to. Thanks to all of you for believing in us and offering your support even when we got some crazy, hair brained idea in our heads. Thanks, to all of you, for accepting us for who we were in the past, are in the present, and will be in the future.

With love and happiness and cheers and high fives and dreams and wishes and hugs and kisses and kindness and heartiness and kindheartedness and care and hope, we toast to this adventure. The next time I post here, the gears will be in motion with no notion of stopping.

Bozeman or bust.

Kelly

"... the bus came by and I got on, that's when it all began ... there was Cowboy Neal at the wheel of a bus to never-ever land ..." -Good 'Ol Grateful Dead