Bradley Southern is holding up one of Karma’s original shocks made in 1988, and a new one that took two tries to get … which is good considering it’s difficult to find parts for a vehicle this old. They replaced a hose, a cap and diagnosed the finicky fan as having a short in it. Seems that’s a problem with the fans on other old busses on the property, except for one he switched out.  

Brad and his crew at Semi-Auto & Equipment Repair in Ludowici GA is one of three places that I trust to take care of Karma and me. Another is in Connecticut and the third in New Hampshire. The ones I won’t return to are up and down the East Coast. No, wait, there was a good one my first month out, when I got towed. I remember, it was 11/12 and that bill came to $1112.13. 

The new shocks are amazing. Shocking even! LoL.

Stopping for lunch, Dennis and his friend noticed me walking across the parking lot and asked if that was my bus. Turns out he converted a bus in the ‘70s and drove it all over the country, including Alaska for more than 10 years. It was 40’ long with a real bathroom and kitchen. Of course I invited them aboard and we swapped stories.

When I get back to the homestead there’s laundry to do and a walk around to say good-bye. Happily many of them will be at the Skoolie Swarm in February. 

Trepidation is mixed with excitement as the hours tick down to leaving this most wonderful community and returning to solo travel, headed to Florida destinations both known and unknown. It was the quote I put up in the last post that gave me a kick, the one that read “A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.” Same thing goes for the skoolie.