Colorado or Bust!

Team Bickham
Tim, LaVerte, Raleigh, Lon, Carolyn, Bick

Recently, my daughter was joking with someone who has been through many medical trials and said it was nice to meet someone else who is on the "struggle bus" that could relate to the daily challenges she and her husband, Lon, face...challenges that most of us will never fully understand. 

The name, "struggle bus", has stuck with me. We are all on a struggle bus of our own. No-one escapes trials in this thing we call life.  But we all have the opportunity to choose how we face our obstacles.  Some days we do better than others.  I could get all philosophial on that subject alone but I'll save it for another blog. However, I think we can all learn a lesson from Lon and Raleigh about focusing on joy.  They are a ray of sunshine to all of those who know them.

It seemed only fitting to name this blog "Adventures on The Struggle Bus" to chronicle our trip out west in their newly acquired handicap school bus converted into an RV  so Lon can go to Raleigh's best friend's wedding.  

After 5 long years of not being able to travel more than a few hours away,  Lon and Raleigh are embarking on a grand adventure and I thought we should record it with a blog.  Lon cannot travel on commercial transportation and when I checked on the price of chartering an airplane we decided that $3,000 per hour (for 8-10 hours) was a little high for a round trip to Colorado where Raleigh's best friend is getting married in July.  So, Raleigh and Lon, following the lead of Raleigh's brother, decided to jump in and buy a handicap school bus and convert it into an RV.  William bought a regular bus this year and has begun its conversion so they are ahead of the learning curve.  Memorial Day weekend we took off for West Virginia where they purchased their bus in Raleigh County.  We thought that was a sign of good things to come! 

There are many people on "Team Bickham" helping to get this thing on the road.  Lon has logged countless hours, and I do mean countless hours, on the internet researching everything from air-conditioning to spare tires.  The UPS man has begun to drop off more than medical supplies and parts for Lon's trucks.  Now there are daily deliveries of bus paraphernalia.  He will never be out of a job if Raleigh and Lon keep this up!  Lon has also been our travel agent and has booked our stays in campsites along the way.  Bick has been instrumental in getting the electricity hooked up so we can have airconditioning, outlets and refrigeration.  He could have used some airconditioning on those hot, humid work days!  Tim has helped implement Raleigh's plans for a murphy bed for Lon, install paneling, pick up a sofa, and generally do whatever Raleigh and Lon ask him to do.  I have helped prep the exterior with sanding and taping in preparation for the necessary paint job. Raleigh has popped rivets to remove the metal paneling...brother William helped with this!  She's changed the oil, had it insulated, scraped, sanded, planned the layout and has been the general contractor along with Lon. Carolyn is making us happy by providing her wonderful chicken salad and pimento cheese for the trip.  We will not starve for sure.  And even their friend, Tracey, is making curtains so that we won't be exposed at night in the campgrounds.  (Or so others won't be exposed to us!!!)  Tim and I will make the trip with them as support crew/drivers.  William will travel with us, driving Lon's handicap van as our emergency vehicle in case the bus breaks down. 

If I can get the hang of blogging, I will add pictures and stories during our travels.  We leave Monday the 27th of June...Colorado or Bust!