Two Years Ago

Okay, this is the last milestone post, at least for a couple of weeks. :) Two years ago today, Thomas proposed to me. I’ve got the original blog entry, and photo of the handmade ring Thomas made for me on my site.

There are two items that I forgot to include in that post:

First, I had suspected that we were getting close to getting engaged, so I was being an obnoxious girlfriend and suspecting that every fancy dinner or holiday was going to be *it*. I kept getting disappointed when it wasn’t *it*, so when he didn’t propose on our three year anniversary (the day before), I got pretty grumpy. What I didn’t know is that he had planned to, but because I was being a grump, I didn’t want to go for a drive in the VW Bus, which is what he was waiting for to propose. Oops.

Also, when Thomas proposed, he showed the weirdest nervous behavior. His eyebrows started spasming – rapidly twitching up and down. I’ve never seen him do it again, but they wouldn’t stop moving. It was really weird, but kind of cute too. :)

The photo in this entry was one of our engagement photos.

The Big Flip

The Big Flip (Part 1)

The Big Flip (Part 2)

The odometer on the bus flipped over to zero on our way to SC this past weekend. It was a very exciting stretch of empty road and we counted out the numbers as they got closer. Thomas snapped the photos while I drove.

To be fair, I think my bus has had at least 3 odometers, and when this one was installed, it was used and not at zero. Actually, I’ve had the bus for 11 years, but I doubt even in that time that I could have driven it 99,999 miles.

Thomas posted his photos from the VW Bus Campout – he got some great shots. Be sure to check them out:

Five Years Ago

Thomas and Clover by the Falls

Five years ago, I had just met this interesting guy named Thomas who told me about geocaching. On a whim, I invited him to go to a VW Bus campout called Paddy’s Wagens in South Carolina (probably not one of my best moves, but it all worked out). We drove down from Raleigh, chatted the whole way, camped in the rain, and went geocaching. He was a perfect gentleman, and we had a great time. That’s him in the picture on the left at one of the geocaches we found – he found a love potion kit.

This past weekend, Thomas and I went back to South Carolina for the same Bus Campout. We drove up from Atlanta, chatted the whole way, camped in the rain, and went geocaching. Again, we had a great time. That’s him in the picture on the right at the geocache which sadly is no longer there – but I guess the love potion worked.

And, both times we took photos:

I didn’t take that many photos this year, but Thomas will post the rest of his photos later tonight. I’ll link them when they’re up.

Fun Monday: The Faces of the Bus

I’m participating in my first ever Fun Monday. The task was to post an entry showing your car.

It can be your current car, the first car you ever had, maybe your first new car with that new-car smell, a car you wrecked once, or even the dream car you would drive – given all the money in the world! Oh – and if you have a truck, SUV, lawnmower, whatever the local authorities allow you to drive, let’s see it!

Of course, I had to post my 1971 VW Bus. It is my first car, my current car, my weekender, my camping car, and the car that was there throughout my relationship with Thomas, from our first camping trip together, to the proposal, to the getaway car at our wedding. And it’s not even a car…it’s a bus! (This photo was one of our engagement photos.)

I got my bus for my 17th birthday (that event is another long story for another post). This post is focused on the many faces of my bus. When I got it, it was shiny chocolate brown. It wasn’t the most exciting paint job, but it hadn’t shown it’s true personality to me yet. Actually, I still have never given it an official name, or determined an official gender – very uncommon for a bus like this.

Brown Bus

In high school, my friends came over one day and helped me paint the bus with house paint. We each took a panel and painted our own design – there was rainbows, sunsets, flowers, handprints, a giant fish, a brick wall, and a bullseye target (very funny Chris). Unfortunately, this is the only photo I can find of it – a paper printout of a photo I’ve misplaced. I loved the bus this way. People always honked and waved, and I was known at high school as the girl with the bus.

Hippie Bus

Then, when the house paint started to fade, I had it painted professionally. It was going to be sky blue with clouds fading into dark blue with stars, but I never got the clouds and stars added (that’s another long post). This is how it looks today. The blue is very pretty, though most people don’t notice the fade, and I really don’t get the honks and waves anymore.

So, if I were to ever paint it again, what would it be? I think I’d like to do something with a more playful design, something that will get the honks and waves again, like giant blades of grass and flowers. But there’s no rush on that project – I don’t think I’d be able to bring myself to ruining the nice paint job that it currently has anytime soon.

Note: The bus is mostly used on weekends and for camping now days. My everyday driver is a Honda Accord – here’s a photo from the day I got it.

And if you’d like to see what others posted for this Fun Monday, Tiggerlane has a list of participants.

Bus Stuff Collection

I hung this old mantle up over the couch in our Rec Room to display some of my favorite buses in my bus stuff collection. The items on it include:

  • Model buses
  • Tin sign
  • Micro machine
  • Christmas tree ornament
  • VW Bug hood ornament
  • Expired license plate
  • Toy bus
  • Candle holders
  • Foreign advertisement

Click on the image to view it in Flickr, where you can see more information about the items in the photo notes.