This is Drew in 1978 in front of our "green bus"
Recently - several students recalled our taking them on trips in my green bus. But what many do not recall is the second bus we owned. The green bus was a resounding success - the yellow bus a dismal failure.
Let's start out with the good story.
From 1975 to 1977 - Lulu and I founded and published a newspaper call The Tamaqua Paper. We worked very hard for two years and the paper made money. But when our kids came along - we (meaning Lulu) did not have the time to do both. We sold the newspaper to Russ Funk - used some money to pay for our home - and used the rest to buy a new car and trailer. In 1977 - with Drew just 6 months old - we embarked on a 30 day trip to circle the USA. We liked it so much - we decided to buy a bus to take people along.
We ordered a brand new 1978 Thomas Bus on a Chevrolet C30 Chassis. It took over 6 months to be delivered. It cost $10,300 - a gigantic sum back them.
This is my legendary "green bus" - the 1978 Thomas Chevrolet. I loved that bus.
The bus arrived in April just in time for Phillies baseball. We bought Sunday/Season tickets and had 20 great seats behind the Phillies dugout in Veterans Stadium. The Phillies were champions and we had the hottest tickets in Tamaqua. In 1978 and 1979 - we spent 30 Sundays in beautiful downtown Philadelphia.
We piloted that bus to Washington DC for weekends - New York City - New England - Lancaster - you name it. But the green bus earned its infamy by taking my students to Cape Canaveral and Disneyworld. We made countless one week trips from Pennsylvania to Florida - Lulu and I driving all night while my students slept on bunk beds in the back.
In 1980 - we decided to live in Orlando for a year while Lulu got her master's degree at the University of Central Florida. So - we put an ad in the local newspaper to sell the bus that had over 70,000 miles on it in two years. A company called Interstate Dress Carriers needed a bus fast and they paid us $11,000 for it! Yes - this was one of my first efforts at "wheeling and dealing" and we came out okay. We later found out - the trucking company used the bus to "haul in scabs" to break a strike. They used it for a couple months - then it sat in a field in Mahoning Township for the rest of its life. Every now and then we would visit it - like carrying flowers to a cemetery.
In 1985 - we tried to make lightning strike twice. We bought a 10 year old school bus and converted it into a camper. We put beds and a bathroom in it. We had the International engine in it rebuilt. The bus cost $1000 and it cost about $2000 to convert it - including the engine work.
This is the "yellow bus" from hell - 10 year old International School Bus. We were camped at Fort Wilderness in Disneyworld. Note Lulu's rental Dodge 600 convertible on the left.
In June of 1985 - we embarked on that bus's one fateful trip. We were going to Disneyworld. Funny how the more senile we get - we forget details - but I could rattle off the full name of each student that went on this trip. We were going to be staying at Fort Wilderness - Disney's onsite campground.
The Disney stay was excellent. On the way home we would go to Cape Canaveral and see the Space Shuttle. This was just a couple years before one teacher-in-space had a disaster just overhead at liftoff. After pulling out of the Cape - this "teacher-in-space" had his Waterloo. I died a much slower - more painful death.
We were cruising up Interstate 95. It was hot out and the bus did not have air conditioning - so all the windows were open. Lulu - for the first time - curled up on one of the beds in the back with a book. That was the first time I saw her reading on the road. Everything was so cozy - just 16 more hours or so and we would be home. A beautiful calmness had settled over the coach. Everyone was happy. Sainthood was on the horizon.
All of a sudden - "bang - bang - bang - bang" came out of the engine compartment. I quickly pulled over - getting everyone to safety. This was before cell phones - so while Lulu watched the kids - I walked about a mile to the exit and a gas station. An hour later they were towing the entire bus - students inside - back to safety. At the station they confirmed - a blown engine.
I got by with a little help from my friends. We spent the night in a cheap motel along side the highway near Daytona. The kids enjoyed swimming even though the mosquitos would pick you up out of the water every now and then.
Lulu thought to call our friends - Jim Handler and Rod Laval - in Orlando. They both had vans and cheerfully came to the rescue. We took the kids to Jim's and Rod's homes in Orlando - while Rod had the bus towed to his service garage. Rod is a car expert - and he offered to have the bus repaired.
Meanwhile - it was my job to get these kids home safely. My first thought was to throw them in the back of a Uhaul truck - but I could see the headline now, "Teacher suffocates 20 kids in truck while riding in AC comfort." Lulu was calling all over. Finally she struck a deal with Greyhound. For $45 a kid (my money) - they would get us home.
The next day - after a big bon voyage party in Jim's one bedroom apartment - we boarded the Greyhound home. It took 24 hours - including stops at every city on the east coast - a long walk in Philadelphia between stations with the kids carrying all their stuff - to catch a bus to Pottsville. Finally - late at night - we pulled into the Pottsville Bus Depot to rendez-vous with some very anxious parents.
The yellow bus spent the next year in Orlando. Rod replaced the engine. We flew another group of kids down to Disneyworld to pick up the bus. We spent the week in the bus in Disney - but the engine failed again. This time we were veterans. Lulu got train tickets home on Amtrak. This time the parents were waiting in the Philadelphia Train Station.
Our "group travel adventures" were over. Two years later - we spent a year in Tallahassee where Lulu got her PhD. Now 25 years later - every summer - she takes a group of 20 students to London and Paris. History repeating itself.
