Life is always changing; it’s something we can count on. Sometimes they’re good changes, and other times bad, but I believe everything happens for a reason, and it’s best to embrace shifts in our path either way because they are part of the journey. They say when bad things happen, they all happen at once, but for me it was the opposite, two big good changes occurred close together.
The first took place on our way to northern Colorado for a Rainbow Gathering. We were driving near Winslow, Arizona, where there was nothing but a combination gas station/laundromat for miles. Mitchell and I figured it would be a good place to stop to sleep for the night.
When we pulled in, we needed to stretch our legs after the long drive, and decided to walk around the parking lot with Maggie. We were walking past the trash compactor when all of a sudden, it seemed to bark. I was startled, confused and then very concerned. I looked at that full trash compactor and thought: “please don’t be inside that thing, I don’t want to dig.” But I knew I would if it had to be done.
The bark was big and loud, and I expected to find a very large dog. I went over and looked underneath the trash compactor, and luckily the dog was under it instead of in it. To my surprise, it was quite a little dog. I could only see its outline and assumed it was a full-grown, small dog. But once I shined the flashlight on it, I realized I was wrong. I yelled to Mitchell, “It’s a puppy! And not just any puppy, but the cutest puppy on earth!”
Now we had the task of removing this tiny, scared puppy from under the trash compactor. We tried calling it and bribing it with food, but it wouldn’t budge. I figured I might have to climb underneath and get it. It was such a tight squeeze I had to army crawl, and it smelled like vomit under there. As I inched towards it, it let out a terrified scream, and went deeper under the trash compactor. I eventually reached a part where I could no longer squeeze through, so I had to go back. Mitchell came up with the idea of throwing dirt and pebbles towards it from one side in order to scare it out the other side. I felt terrible doing it, but it seemed to be the only way. As Mitchell threw the dirt, the terrified puppy ran out. I did my best to grab it, but it let out a horrendous scream and bolted. It was now off to the side of the trash compactor, scared and cornered.
I noticed the puppy had dark brown stuff matted throughout its fur. I was worried that it was blood and it was hurt, especially since the poor pup screamed out any time I attempted to grab it. Eventually I was able to get a grip on it and cradle it close to my body. It turned out that it wasn’t hurt at all, just scared. The brown stuff it was covered in was a combination of its own feces and the foul liquid dripping out of the trash compactor. Between that and how scrawny it was, it must have been under there for several days at least.
First things first, it needed a bath. We brought it into Mitchell’s bus, filled up the sink and started scrubbing. The pup did try repeatedly to jump out of the sink, but otherwise it went surprisingly well. We also discovered “it” was a baby girl. Afterwards I wrapped her up in a towel and she clung to me, snuggling right up under my chin.
We let her rest for a while until she was dry, and then tightened up Maggie’s harness as small as it would go and put it on her so she would get used to it and not escape. She wasn’t fond of it, and was even less fond of the leash.
Even though it was way past our bedtime, we brought her outside. She jumped around frantically trying to figure out what she was attached to. At one point while I was trying to walk her, the leash slipped from my hand because of her antics. She didn’t run from me though–I was already her safe place. She stayed right by me, Mitchell, and the other animals.
I didn’t plan on getting another dog, and had always said I would not get another puppy, but this little girl melted my heart. She was so scared of everything, but she trusted me. I could tell that we were meant to find each other.
Maggie never liked other dogs, but this one was different. Maybe it was because she was tiny and a baby, but Maggie actually hung out with her, and even seemed to enjoy her company.
Thomas The Cat wasn’t so sure. The pup wanted to play with him so badly, and would occasionally chase him around. He did tolerate her, though.
We decided to name her Sophie, and Sophie is a sweet, smart puppy. Her first experience with us was the Rainbow Gathering. She was able to meet people and other dogs, which was great because at first she was terrified of everyone and everything. But with work and patience, she began to understand she was safe and protected.
She also quickly learned her name, and came whenever I called. It wasn’t long before she was walking through the woods without a leash, staying right with us. I was so grateful to find this precious puppy. She was the perfect addition to my little family.
My second big change was a bus. I had been looking for my own home on wheels, whether it be a van or bus, anything that I could live in, because you can’t really live in a car long term with a dog and a cat, and now I had a puppy! It was hard to find one in my price range that had everything I wanted.
The first time I saw the bus was in Austin, Texas. I had made friends with a guy named Jon Paul, who was ironically from the same part of NY State as I was. It was his bus, and he had done the build himself.
He had mentioned that he wanted to sell it at some point, and I said I wanted to buy it. At the time, neither one of us fully took the other seriously.
But after I left Austin, I couldn’t stop thinking about that bus and how badly I wanted a place of my own. It also had everything I needed. It came with solar panels, a small fridge, a sink with running water, a bed, a closet, and storage space.
Eventually I contacted Jon Paul and told him I wanted to buy the bus. Luckily for me, he happened to be in Denver Colorado, the exact place I was heading after the Rainbow Gathering. He did want to sell it, but the problem was that he was still living in the bus. He planned on buying a box truck because his bus did not have enough headroom for his tall frame to stand up straight, though it was perfect for me. Converting a box truck would take him time though, and I was only going to be in Denver for three weeks.
Once I got to Denver, we were on a bit of a time crunch. Jon Paul still had to buy his box truck, and start the conversion so it was at least livable. He ended up finding a big, lime-green one.
Jon Paul started working on the box truck while Mitchell and I started working on the bus while Jon Paul was still living in it.
The first task we had to do was change the transmission fluid. There was also a check-engine light on and some tubing had to be changed out.
I had also been trying to figure out what to do with Thomas. I originally was going to take him and Maggie along with me. But now with Sophie in the picture, I wasn’t sure Thomas would be happy traveling with two dogs in such a small space, or if I could handle three animals on the road on my own. But I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving him. Which left us with a new task: where in the world do we put a cat door on the bus!? We eventually came up with the idea of taking out the lower window on the back door, replacing it with plywood, and inserting the cat door into that. The bus itself has a little back platform/porch, so Thomas could easily exit and enter there. Installing that took an entire day, but we got it done and it worked perfectly.
We were now in the home stretch. I had a few days before I had to make the 26 hour, 1,700 mile drive back to New York State to make it to my family reunion. Jon Paul was able to get all of his belongings out, and I had about one day to throw everything from my car and my belongings from Mitchell’s bus into my bus.
When everything was finally loaded, my three animals and I started the long drive home, leaving my car with Mitchell to sell. Before this drive, I had only driven the bus once for about five minutes. I was a little nervous, but felt like the best way to learn would be driving it across the country by myself when I didn’t have a choice but to figure it out.
The trip went nicely, and the animals got along surprisingly well. It wasn’t as terrifying as I thought it would be to drive, although it still blows my mind that I don’t need a special license to drive a small bus. I slept in Walmart parking lots and truck stops. I was thrilled it only took me about three days to make the drive, although the last one was extra long and I finally arrived at 10:50 PM.
Then it was time to make the bus mine! I took everything removable out of it, and my parents helped me clean it from top to bottom. I organized all my belongings, and brought out some of my things that I had in storage.
I was compelled to do a little decorating. I replanted some plants, some of my old ones, and some new ones that I had gotten as bus-warming gifts, and bungeed them in place so they wouldn’t go flying while I was driving. I also painted one of the small walls, an abstract of blues and purple.
Luckily for me I have a father who is great at woodworking. He worked long and hard on alterations I wanted in the bus. It had small cupboards above the windows over the sink and counters, but they were open faced. I wanted them closed in. Not only would it look better, but it would prevent things from falling out while I drove. He figured out a way to do sliding doors, a difficult task since nothing in that bus was straight and true, and he had to attach his improvements to existing crooked shelving against a curved roof. He spent days putting them in.
He also did smaller things around the bus, like putting in a removable sliding panel for the cat door so Thomas could not escape while I was driving, and installing a little cat hole leading into an area that used to be a closed storage space, that I could keep Thomas’s litter box in. He also added shelving to an odd shaped cupboard so I could store more food.
My mom and I went shopping. We got everything I would need that I did not already have for the bus. We got storage bins, space-saving clothes hangers, paint for the walls, new leashes for the dogs, and a bunch of little goodies like cacao and powdered oat coffee creamer.
At the beginning it had felt like I was just living in someone else’s bus, but now it was finally starting to feel like mine! I still have a lot of work to do, but that would have to be continued on the road, because it was time to head to my next destination: Maine.
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