Of course, no form of insanity can be done well without adequate planning and then failing to come even close to the plan. I suspect that is pretty much what this post is going to turn into. Nevertheless, I HAVE A PLAN! I am sure everybody is wondering, how are you going to make money, what are you going to do exactly, where do you plan to go first. Believe it or not, we actually have a pretty good answer for all of those questions. Now, my disclaimer:

The following plan is based merely on the theoretical notion that  a young couples ideal depiction of future events somehow miraculously falls into order with absolutely no variation or challenge to such plan. In no way does this “plan” have in any way a direct relation to reality nor is it being played out in any realm other than the unrealistically optimistic and darn near youthfully foolish minds of one Karl and one Avira Wenn. We, Karl and Avira Wenn, reserve the right and privilege to retract, redact and/or scrap any or all of the following “plan” without notice.

Ok. So here it goes. 

We are going to buy the double decker bus next Monday and tow it 2 hours to my cousins auto body shop in Visalia. We will stay with my mom through this process. At the time we arrive at the shop, we will dig directly into the engine and see if we can get it started. If it starts, we are still replacing the engine, but we will have the opportunity to test the transmission to see if it needs to be replaced. If the engine will not start, we will just switch it out and test the transmission later and that might prolong our stay with my mommy. 

Once we know what we are into with the engine and transmission, we will have a pretty good idea how much this whole thing will cost us. We will soon after order the engine that we are having imported from Britain and begin parting out the current one. We will sell the current engine because it is a rare engine and parts are in high demand. We are hoping the parts will help pay for part of the new engine. During this time of preparing the bus for the new engine, we will star to tear out all the stuff currently in the bus and get it down to its frame, plumbing and wiring. We will do a very basic layout of the bus such as the framing for walls and insulation but hold finishing that until we complete the electrical and plumbing. Once all the basic electrical and plumbing is done, we will do no more until the bus is running and drivable so if anything happens that we don’t expect that makes it too expensive or difficult for us to do, we can bail out of the project and buy an RV. 

If we get the engine running and all is mechanically ok, we will begin work on the body and put in the insulation, sinks, bath tub, storage tanks, pumps, walls and toilet. In other words, everything to make it livable in the most basic way. How far we go with this depends on how much money we have after the mechanical, electrical and plumbing is done. We are doing it ourselves so it shouldn’t be too expensive but as we are far from wealthy, we will just have to see. Now, we have the ideal that we are shooting for and that doesn’t necessarily mean we are going to achieve it. However, it is noteworthy that we intend to do the bus as green as possible.

• We are converting it to run off used Veggi Oil
• Installing a composting toilet so we will not need a black water tank and leaving more room for white and grey tanks.
• Installing some recycled wood , bamboo and cork flooring
• installing solar panels for boon docking

We are going to look into other means to make it more environmentally friendly. If you have any ideas, please feel free to post them.

The bus will be equipped with an espresso machine. We intend to sell coffee at farmers markets, music festivals and other such events in addition to selling our own brand of hemp/cotton clothing coming soon! We will have a satellite dish for internet and it works just about anywhere in the world. I already purchased internet phone service (VoIP) with voicemail so we will be able to have a “home” number. When we are traveling we can’t use satellite so we will have iphones and have them tethered for internet on the move. I want to install gps so we don’t get lost. Finally, Avira wants to paint the bus a purple color. With all of this, there is so much more we want to do but it is not important to list it all. 

I am planning to have this bus road ready within 3-4 months and our first destination is Portland Oregon once we visit our friends and family on our way out. We might stay a few weeks in a few different places in Oregon but we know we want to spend some time in Portland. At that point, we might head up to Washington or Montana, maybe even Canada for a while. When spring swings back around, we want to spend it in Alaska. We will probably see most if not all of the states in the U.S., however there are a few states we have a lot of interest in seeing. One place we will definitely be spending time is Asheville North Carolina. Definitely going to make it up to Buffalo New York to see Avira’s sister. Going to make it down to Tennessee to visit some of my family and see where we want to go from there. The way it will go will depend on the type of events that we can line up to sell espresso at.

Many people travel around the country from one place to another to get as much experience as they can. We are doing things different. We are truly approaching this like it may be a lifestyle for us for a long time. Noway to tell for sure until we do it and see, but I and Avira both are feeling like we will be one of those families that grew up living that lifestyle. So we want to stay in areas we like for long periods of time. Ya know, really dig into the culture and meet friends. We will get jobs and work like everybody else does and when the wind switches directions, we will know it is time to go. That is what our plan is in a nut shell. 

If you are thinking to yourself, this sounds to good to be possible, your probably right. But there is no way to know for sure until somebody tries it right, and at the very least, we will get an RV and go see the country some before we hop back into the daily grind of the mundane. Either way, we will be happy we did it!

So, the gentleman who owns the bus has contacted the highway patrol to come out and do a “vin verification” which will allow the owner to go to the DMV and write a statement of facts regarding the bus. Once this is done, ellegedly, he will legally own it and can therefor sell it to us. The highway patrol officer is suppose to be coming out next weekend and the owner has scheduled to meet me at the DMV on Monday to complete the purchase. We just might have our bus NEXT WEEK!

Please keep the prayers coming as it doesn’t end until we have legal ownership of the vehicle yet. So anything can happen especially when dealing with the DMV. We are very excited and are seeing the very real possibility of having our vision come true. I will keep y’all posted 0f course.

On another note, our house is looking pretty empty. No washer and dryer, no couch, no entertainment center, no decor hardly, no kitchen table, Elijah”s room is empty except a pile of toys and clothes, my studio is all packed up and we are having a make me an offer sale today and tomorrow to get rid of the rest. Wish us luck!

This morning I got a call from the guy who owns the bus. It sounds like he finally figured out what he has to do and has contacted the appropriate people to make it happen. So, if all goes according to plan, we should own the bus in about 2 weeks. I will keep you posted. If you are inclined, help us beg God that everything will flow smoothly.

I broke down a few days ago and got in contact with the purple bus owners mom and left a message. Today, he called me. So now I am in contact with him and got his new number. He said he had not made any progress but I explained that I have identified a vin number and sent a form into California’s DMV for their records on the bus so we can conduct the lien sale. We will see what we get back from them, but thing are looking slightly better THANK GOD! I will keep you informed as the double decker bus drama unfolds. This is edge or your seat excitement at it’s best.

hahahahaha

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! (pulls hair out of head).

Ok, enough of that. Let me explain why I am losing it here. Two weeks ago when the owner of the purple bus explained to me that he was going to sell us the bus, he also explained that he had to do some paperwork first so that I would be able to claim ownership at DMV. Ya see, the owner of this bus, bought this bus from a guy, who got ownership of it because it was abandoned on his property so many years ago. Since the gentleman who owned it never came back to get the bus, he thought it was his. Perhaps that may be in some peoples minds but not the states. There is a procedure that should have been followed at that time that was not. He should have levied a charge against the owner of the bus for “storing it”. He should have filed what is called a “lien sale” with the DMV and went through the legal practice of obtaining ownership. Obviously, he did not. So I know what your thinking, why not do it now? WELL, now there is no way to identify the bus. No plates, no vin, no nothing. One of the requirements of a lien sale is to send the last 5 owners of the vehicle a letter telling them the have so many days to object and pay up the determined sum of money based on the appraised value of the vehicle. Anyways, it is complicated and very time consuming. Time is something we don’t have. So, there is still a process that could, maybe get us the bus legally. It involves me begging with my life to the highway patrol to put a new vin on it.

Now, as if that isn’t enough. I called to check in with the progress of the bus with the bus’s current owner and found that his phone is DISCONNECTED AGAIN!!!! This is the 3rd phone he has had disconnected. WHAT IS THAT!!! I searched for him for a month and when I found him I thought it was in the bag. Grrrr.

So now, I have a slim chance of getting the highway patrol to help us out, an even slimmer chance of getting the DMV to process the lien request without knowing who’s buss it was and on top of all that, the owner is no longer reachable. What a world, what a world.

We are currently talking with the other bus owner about striking a deal with him. He said that he is very open minded and willing to wiggle to accommodate us if we can trade him something. Well, as you know we don’t have much right now as we are selling everything we own. We named our items to him and nothing seemed like something he wanted to go for. Sooo, he said to be creative and keep in contact. My wife and I were thinking all the things we could do and it got pretty ridiculous but I thought we should share.

Things we could do for a bus!
- we can give a back or foot massage
- Advertise his business by dancing with a sign on a street corner
- Dance a Jig
- write a letter to everybody I know telling them what a swell guy he is
- Clean his house
- Tattoo his name on my forehead
- Wash his clothes
- Interpretive dance performance about a guy who gives a young couple a bus
- Sing to him and his wife over dinner
- break the world record in eating hotdogs and thanking God and him
- Drive him around town
- paint him a picture
- Be a door person
- Say “You are the best person in the world” in all 6,500 known languages
- Cook his food
- End every sentence I say for a year with his name.
- Random handy work
- Widdle some wood furniture for him
- Computer work
- Write a movie script about man who gives couple bus
- Build him a website
- Polish his silver
- Read him to sleep

Um, Think that is all I got for now. Keep your eyes peeled for updates but right now, bus is not seeming very likely and it makes us very sad.

I think it’s about time I posted something. You know, I feel the need to come clean and be honest, and share how scary this whole process is. Even though I know in my heart that we are doing the right thing, it’s as if everything on the outside is in shock because it literally feels like we are going backwards in life. A main purpose of our existance for the last 7 years has been to grow materially, to aquire more and better things, bigger and better residences, more stable and secure jobs, and in the last two weeks we have started shifting the gears to go in the total  opposite direction, to start the process of winding down this momentum that we had going in that direction, and eliminating physical things and cutting our financial ties here. It is so incredibly nerve wracking. It feels as if you’re throwing security out the window. And the hardest part is not knowing where we will be in a month. Even though I know we will have food clothes and shelter, it’s so crazy to not know what your circumstances will be or what you will be doing in 30 days time! In a way it feels like jumping off a cliff, and in a way I think that’s exactly what we’re doing. They say change and success doesn’t happen if you don’t take risks, and maybe that applies here. Well I thought I’d just be transparent here and say “yikes, this is scary!” to document this time and reveal this process. There is so much I know we will gain from this experience though, and there’s a 1000 feelings going on inside and all clashing togther at the moment. I’m also proud of us for finally doing this, and also really excited for great changes to take place and for great memories to be made with my family. I pray that we grow tighter as a family, and learn to live a deeper, more satesfying life and grow immensely as people throught this…. and in my heart, I know we will.

That’s right! The Wenn Family is having a fire sale and it all MUST GOOOOO! This week and this week only (unless there is anything left then it will go longer) we are sla sla slashing prices on our merchandise. Get a bunch of used crap at unbeatable prices all while donating to a worthy cause. Buy now, before it is too late!

WWW. GONEWITHTHEWENNS.COM/EVERTHINGMUSTGO

Here it is, our project bus. I know, I know; it needs work. Well, you have to be visionary like us. We think it is going to be a beautiful home when we are done. Hope this all pans out cuz we are really excited to get it. We will probably own it by the end of the week. Enjoy the video!