Let me first insert the rationale behind this enterprise...Our favorite forms of recreation are fishing, hunting, and camping. We've pursued these endeavors at every opportunity during our almost 3 decades of marriage and child rearing. We began with tent camping, progressed to a camper, and then on to a travel trailer....the ground kept getting harder as we aged, the camper got too small (and worn out!), and the trailer was on it's last "legs" and we couldn't pull our boat and the trailer too....or for hunting season, our Scout...

We had looked around at RV shows and sales lots and at the Sportsman's Show and decided that what we really needed/wanted was a motorhome, but we were very disappointed in what was available on the retail market...Everything looked really nice, but was built very flimsy and not up to the abuse we tend to heap on our recreational vehicles. And they are VERY expensive! Now the bus-to-motorhome conversions were a different matter....they tend to be much better constructed for the same amount of money...However, most are converted transit type buses (greyhound, city buses, etc.) and are quite low to the ground.

We are "outdoorsy" folk, and tend to take any goat path that we come across in our many recreational pursuits! Thus adequate ground clearance and overall length and body/chassis strength was definitely a high priority for us. So after much consideration and comparison, we decided that a school bus would give us the "best bang" for our bucks.

What we ended up with is: A 1971 International (originally a 48 passenger---so it's smaller than a standard school bus, but considerably larger than a minibus) with a gas motor, 4-speed manual transmission and a 2-speed rear end. The only thing that had been done to it before we aquired it, was that the 8-way lights had been removed along with the stop board, hasps and padlocks had been added to the rear emergency and front loading doors, and the exterior had been painted white. Thank goodness it wasn't still yellow!! [I drove school bus for 7 years while my children were still in school and to this day I still do NOT like school bus yellow!!]

The first thing was removal of all of the passenger seats and seatbelts. (anybody need some iron framed, dark green vinyl benches?....hehehe) Next was to measure the "naked" interior and then sit down and make our floor plan. Then Phil began "gutting" our old camper and travel trailer for what could be salvaged to build our motorhome. What was reuseable was: the water tank, water heater, range, hood, propane lights, most of the wiring and plumbing and circuit breaker box, double sinks and cabinets and the 2 vans seats from the camper. The refrigerators had both died, so to begin with we used 2 DC powered ice chests....We just this year bought a new refrigerator. (A lot more convenient and less floor space than the ice chests.)

The walls, closets, and shower were built using 1/4" plywood. The cupboards are made of 1/8" paneling (painted). For the full-size shower, Phil used 1/4" plywood for the walls and floor frame and covered it all with roll-type flooring vinyl.....It turned out really great! much better than we expected and definitely better than it sounds!! LOL

Our bus has a "front" living area-kitchen, middle bedroom (because of the placement of the wheel wells), and a rear bathroom. The clothes closet and floor-to-ceiling storage closet are in the bathroom. When Phil built the beds, he made them with built-in storage headboards. They each have a shelf with a storage cubbyhole below. Just the right size to hold the power inverter and the large cutting board we use to clean and fillet the fish on...and any other "for now" stuff we need to stow. The bedroom also has overhead clothes cupboards that run the length of the beds. Underneath one bed is the fresh water tank and we hope to get another one this year and put it under the other bed. This also leaves a fair amount of storage space over the wheel wells.

The kitchen is on the driver's side of the bus. The kitchen area has a full-size 2-way refrigerator/freezer (54"high), overhead cupboards running the length of the kitchen, as well as a double sink, lower cupboards and drawers, range and hood. The water heater and water pump are both under the kitchen sink.

The dining area is on the loading door side of the bus and has a deep, floor cupboard on which the TV/VCR sits, 2 swivel van chairs, a "hideaway" table cabinet (custom made as a gift for us by my father-in-law. Thanks, Pop!!), and a cedar over-the-windows pocket/sorta, but not really, shelf (sorry, I don't know how else to describe it) to hold our sturgeon fishing rods and reels.

On the upper front panel above the windshield is mounted a rod-rack for our smaller fishing rods and reels. We have replaced the original driver's seat with an air-ride commercial truck seat and have left the cockpit console intact, as it's an extremely handy place to put a cup of coffee, maps, snacks, etc. for the driver!

Originally we had acquired, and were going to install a headliner (ceiling carpet!) but have since decided against it and I am painting instead. We also installed a CB radio, as well as a car stereo radio & cassette player in the "dashboard". Phil also built and installed 2 covered ceiling vents; one in the kitchen and one in the bathroom. Eventually it is our intention to install an air conditioner on the roof over the bedroom ceiling.

Also originally, Phil had built a cedar enclosed deck that ran the width of the back of the bus. This housed our propane tanks, batteries, gas can, generator, and anything else we then wanted to ride outside. It worked and looked very nice, but we couldn't lock it. This has since been replaced with "jockey boxes" (the ones they make for the "big rigs") both behind and underneath the bus. Of the 2 mounted underneath, one houses the generator, the batteries, power cord, jumper cables, battery charger & etc. and the other holds the leveling blocks, small BBQ and supplies, gas can, tire tools, jack,& etc. The two large ones are mounted on the back on either side of the emergency door with a small wooden deck built between them that we use to bait and rig up our fishin' rods. One holds the propane tanks and the other all of our fishing tackle (lures, weights, etc.).

We are not finished with it yet, by any means, but it's been comfortable, useable, and not too bad to look at for a little over 2 years now....and we are continuing to add to, modify and refine as time and money permit. Both being 3rd generation "tightwads", our goal has been to make it as nice as we can without spending a small (or large) fortune! So far we have been very successful in this endeavor! To date, we have spent approximately $3,000....and that includes the original purchase price. Our best friends and fishin' buddies liked ours so much that they felt the overwhelming need to also purchase a bus to convert! Phil did most of the interior work on their bus as well...and you can read about their conversion trials and tribulations at Judy's website. Suffice it to say that they have spent considerably more on their's than we have...but then that's why their's is "The Palace" and ours is "the Fishin'Bus"! Just shows that you can be as frugal or as lavish as you want and still have a very nice motorhome!

Still in our future is a new (diesel) motor, completion of an in-floor heating system, another fresh water tank, and a new holding tank for our "gray" water....Currently, we are using an old car's gas tank for our "gray" water. Being metal, it is rusting and was only meant to be temporary to begin with! We'd also like to get the exterior repainted.

Of all the lessons we've learned during our "learn-as-you-go" project, it's that you're never really finished! There always seems to be something else you want to add or modify or refine. Seems like everytime we take it out, we think of something else!

On a final note: there are a lot of really useful and helpful and interesting sites on the internet to help you out if you decide that you want to convert a bus yourself. We are glad, however, that we didn't know about them before we started....or we would never have attempted this. When we first began exploring these sites, we found it very discouraging...All that we found, suggested that it was impossible to buy and convert a bus for less than $10-15,000....which was way over our budget. Having our experience, we are here to tell you that it is quite possible to build a very nice conversion for a lot less....We scavanged, we made ourselves, we traded, and we haunted the salvage yard....used is every bit as good as new, if you pay attention to the quality of what you're using.

If you are considering a similar endeavor, good luck! You're gonna have so much fun!! Happy travels...and if you're ever in the Washington or Oregon area and see this white fishin' bus coming down the road (or parked beside the road---we're fishin') be sure to smile and honk and wave!...'cause we're havin' a good time!

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