Well, we were going to have a fun day today, and had a few things in mind, when a brainwave had us changing things around. We live only about 1hr from Mt Graham which reaches some 12,000ft towards the sky. With temperatures by us at around 100 degrees, any respite is to be welcomed. So, we packed some food and plenty of liquid, dived into the truck and headed off for cooler places. The road goes pretty much to the top, but it's a long way uphill - some 29 miles. We stopped off at different campgrounds that we came across (just to assess whether we could / would bring our own caravan (RV) along one day. As we were going along, we were seeing signs for Riggs Lake, and sure enough, at the end of the road was a beautiful lake. It was so inviting that we got out the folding chairs and set them down beside the lake and ate our food. With a temperature of 71 degrees, it was extremely comfortable (the temperature had been 100 degrees at the bottom).

Even in a modern truck on good roads for at least two-thirds of the way, it is hard work to get up there, and yet we find that over 100 yrs ago there was quite a sizeable community existing on top of the mountain. They grew potatoes, worked the lumber, had sawmills, kept milk cows, and made cream. It would have been a very pleasant life during the hot summers, but the winter would have been a different story. At the end of March, my wife and I flew over Mt Graham whilst travelling from Dallas to Tucson, and we could clearly see an awful lot of snow still there even then, and if anything, it would have been harder still 100 yrs ago.

Still, we have found, and noted a very beautiful hot weather haven to which we hope to return to often.

Well, the good news for today is that the inspectors came and 'green tagged' the electric line into the house. This means that the local electric company will turn on the electric to us, which in turn means that the air conditioning guy can connect up the air conditioning - which given the nearly 100 degree heat will make us VERY happy.

Now it's just the gas and water to go..........

But, it's independence celebrations on Sunday, so no-one wants to work until Tuesday, so, we're waiting again!

The good news is that the monsoons are holding off - so there's no mud around to make everything messy.

Well, if nobody else is working, we've decided to take a relaxing day travelling the back-roads of this 'high desert' country, and enjoy the sights for the day.

Back again

Well, it's been a long time since my last post on here. Many things have happened in the mean time. We have bought 5 acres of land about 10 miles away, and we have just recently moved the house there. It's been in place for about 10 days now, and all of the work is nearly completed to connect up to the utilities. It has been a very frustrating couple of months trying to get all the paperwork done correctly, then getting the contractors moving. We had hoped to have the house moved during the last week of May, which would give us some 10 weeks to work on all the projects that we had lined up - oh well, we'll just have to deal with it!!

This whole idea of putting a house on wheels and moving it was completely new to me when I came to the US, but it seems a very common thing out here.

The good thing is that in August, the new school year is going to be a 4-day week, so I will have plenty of time to work on the 'honeydo' list.

I'm unsure what will happen driving-wise next year. Several drivers are retiring or departing, so I may end up doing more driving to cover the gaps - we shall see!

Long time since I have posted, what with Xmas and the New Year, and the fact that we have to find some land to buy. Anyway, last week-end was the one that I wait for during most of the year. The nearest town (about 30 miles away), and the one where I work has a big birding festival each year when lots of people come into town from all over the US. They have tours scheduled over three days, and this is where we come in. The local Chamber of Commerce hire in buses from the school where I work. Then all the driver's names go into a pot and are drawn to drive. This year I got a geology tour taking in some really beautiful country, and an early morning visit to see thousands of Sandhill Cranes taking off for there morning flight. This one involves picking up the passengers at 6am, so maybe I wasn't so worried when I got an e-mail to tell me that the organisers only wanted one bus instead of two.

Memories #2

Thoughts have been going through my head lately when I look at some of the vehicles that I have to drive now, and I think back to my early days with London Country when it still had plenty of RT and RF vehicles. I can recall occasions when vehicle shortage meant that I was given an RF like the one pictured above, to go and do a full duty on the Green Line. It was a pleasure to drive them after the more modern, but appalling Leyland Nationals. I wasn't the only one who felt like this - regular riders seeing an RF pull up for them would unfailingly express their thankfulness to the driver for bringing a REAL Green Line. To be honest, if I could find anything wrong with a National which would take it off the road, and there was an RF sitting in the yard, I would find it!! The pre-select gearbox was a pleasure to use in London, and if the engineers had kept up with the greasing, the steering was no heavier than power assistance.
Some years after the 708 had disappeared in the wake of the all-conquering 758, I had the privilege of driving an RF over the old 708 route for a group of enthusiasts going to a 'Running Day' at East Grinstead. With their thick seat cushions it was still a comfy ride for such a long distance. It's worth noting that even though the driver's seats on both the RT and RF were 'basic', I never suffered the back problems on the long run to EG that started appearing once the 'all-singing and dancing' suspension seats, and 'ergonomic' designs began to be fitted to buses and coaches.
Looking at the boneshakers that I drive now, I wish I was back on a good old Regal IV!!!

Memories.

Came across the blog of an old colleague a couple of days. I've been reading through some of his entries from the days when we worked together driving the Green Line Coaches, he driving the 706/7 to Chelsham, and I on the 708 to East Grinstead. I lived half-way between Tring and Hemel garages, and could travel in to work at Hemel on the 706, sign-on and take the following 708. Getting back to Hemel at the end of the day, it was a quick pay-in ( I would be cashed up by Watford ), and get out on the stop to travel home on the following 706. This certainly saved a lot of money - which could be conveniently spent in the George and Dragon at Northchurch when the 706 dropped me off - strangely, the coach always seemed to roll just past home before the brakes eventually bit just outside the pub!!!

For an insight into how things used to be on the buses, check out Dave's blog at http://40yearsonthebuses.blogspot.com