So the bus was bought, the repairs were made, and then it was time to drive her 200 miles back to Nacogdoches. No problem right? This is usually the part where the next sentence is “Wrong”, and the sad story of a trying drive home ensues. Sorry to disappoint you, but fortunately for me and my fiancé who followed me in my car, there were no big problems on the trip to Nacogdoches.

The most eventful part of the trip was in Ennis, Texas where we stopped for gas and I forgot to put the gas cap back on. In a modern car that would be no biggie really, but the gas tank on my bus does not have a neck on the opening so the full tank of gas went sloshing right out of the hole and all over the road. It was a good thing I had a follower to call me and ask if there should be tons of fluid pouring out of the bus. No, there shouldn’t.

There was also a tense 20 minutes or so during the last 15 miles of the trip where I wasn’t sure we would make it to Nacogdoches without running out of gas. This resulted in a stop at a scary gas station on the west edge of town that I would not normally go to. If you have ever driven into Nacogdoches on Highway 21 from the west side of town, you know what I am talking about. Turns out the gas was low, but not dangerously so. I think maybe the gas tank is not original to the bus and the gauge is not terribly accurate (it also reads three quarters full when the tank is in fact full).

All told the trip was okay. It normally takes three hours and fifteen minutes in a regular car, but took five hours in the bus (her top speed is about 50 mph). Let me tell you, five hours spent in a less than comfortable seat, nervously driving a 37 year old school bus through the middle of nowhere is rather tiring. On the bright side, we took a route we hadn’t taken before and saw some nice countryside and we made it back in one piece without any mechanical issues so I am happy.