Day 36 ~ The Bus!

Over the years, many of my friends have heard me tell stories of the old school bus that my parents turned into a camper in the early 1970s. And, I have often wondered if some of them did not believe that there was ever such a thing...  This bus was awesome!  My parents pretty much gutted the bus except for the driver's seat and added beds, a booth style table, a cook top and counter, and in the very back was a double size bed.  My sisters and I would ride in the very back on that double bed because it was the most fun way to ride.  Every little bump that my dad drove over was like a giant bounce on that bed.  We owned an old white VW bug and most of the time we would pull that bug behind the bus.  My sisters and I would watch the bug because the steering wheel would move like there was a ghost driving the car.  We would go camping in that bus and we would also travel all over Alabama and the pan handle of Florida in that bus going to CB Radio Jamborees.  (Remember people, this was early 1970s...) We had this bus during the short time we lived in Kentucky, too.  I can't remember if the bus ever made it out to Oklahoma when we visited our family out there.

 I have always described the bus the best I could.  It often reminds people of The Partridge Family bus.  My parents painted it red on the bottom and white on the top and my mother sewed curtains that had red, white, and blue sail boats for every window in that bus.  Have you ever counted how many windows a school bus has???  Well, my sister Elizabeth made my day at church today!  She found a picture of the famous Wardop Bus Camper and brought it to me!!  The picture is from an article from The Brewton Standard (our hometown newspaper in 1973).  My sisters were in a girl scout troop and the troop was leaving in that bus to go to Mobile.  The trip enabled members of the troop to work toward earning their Sign of the Arrow badge. Although I was not in the girl scout troop, I had turned 4 years old the day before this article ran in the paper, I am in the photo!

I am the little one with my hands on my knees in front of the opened door.  My dad is standing behind me and my mom is next to him.  She has the biggest hair in the picture.  My oldest sister Elizabeth is standing in the back row and is fifth from left to right.  My middle sister is squatting in front sixth from left to right. My sisters and I are wearing matching shirts with strawberries on them that my mother had made for us.  I didn't get to go on the trip.  But, I did get to ride with them as far as Atmore where I was dropped off at my uncle's gas station and I stayed with my grandparents.   I sooo wish this picture was in color so that everyone could see how patriotic our old school bus camper was!