Another name for a Toad!

As some of you might know, I call our son Carson, "Toad". Always have.

Well, in the RV world, your "toad" is the vehicle that is being "towed".

When we bought the bus, I never thought about how we were going to get around once it was parked. Last summer, we had a trailer. We would unhitch it, and use the truck to drive wherever we went.

When we ventured out at Christmas, we figured we would make due without a car. However, know that we have had the extra time to prepare (and research), we figured we needed a Toad.

My husband started looking. We had a few criterion. One, had to be light, Two, had to be somewhat "fun", and Three, it had to be affordable. What that means is, after all of our investments in the bus and maintenance, we didn't want to spend even more money on the Toad. Plus, being towed all the time meant a good chance of rock chips, etc.

Adam's family had a motorhome and had a few different Toads, so we had an idea of what type of vehicle would be good. We started looking on kijiji. We also found a few Toads that had the towing part attached (a plus), but nothing that was in decent shape, local and for a decent price.

Then, one day Adam found one. He called me and we went up right after work. It's perfect.

Ok, it's far from perfect. It is a Tracker. It has a hard top.

It needed new brakes, a rear taillight. And a paintjob.

Thankfully, Adam can do all of that, and he likes working away at it, when he has time. The Tracker looked like this:

And now, it looks like this:

So obviously, it is a work in progress!

However, it will be painted "Wild Raspberry", which is a close match to the bus. (Might as well match if we were re-painting it anyway).

I will post more photos. Adam has about 12 days to get it done. I am also interested in seeing how it hooks up to be towed by the bus.

Can't wait!

After Shots (Part 2)

Well, I never really got around to posting this second set of photos. Sorry about that!

I have a few other posts in the making, and I will try to get them out in a timely fashion. One is a report on our Boxing Day trip, one is about a new accessory for the bus, and one will be about our upcoming trip on March Break.

Ok, back to the bus. So, the last post we started at the front and made our way back. I'll try to pick up where I left off.

Remember this view from the front?

On the left we have the dinette. I have since added a black tablecloth here. It's quite cozy. We purchased two ottomans for storage. They also double as a seat on the end here for Toad. This folds down easy into a single bed.

 And on the right, my ABSOLUTELY favourite part of the bus! My kitchen. So nice and big, tons of counter space and everything I could possibly need (although we will probably cook most things outside).

Love this kitchen. Lots of oak cupboards, big fridge and freezer, stove, oven, microwave- what more could  I possibly need?

Just love this.

A nice shot of my ikea spice rack, rail and cutlery bucket.

 Alot of people ask us about what is under the "sink". This is the propane furnace, and it pumps the heat when the bus is not running. (When the bus is running we have vents like in a house, really warm!)

The propane furnace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The hall.

 The photo above shows the "hall". This is a really hard part of the bus to photograph. The fire extinguisher has been re-located. The armoires on the left have hanging space, and shelves, you can see a door on the right, that closes off the back of the bus (bathroom and bedroom). The door closed at the very back is to the bedroom. It is a very long bus!

Here is the bathroom with the forward door closed.

Another bathroom shot. There is a shower and a smallish tub.

Standing with the furthest door open, you see the bedroom, with a queen bed. On the left (behind the curtain) is the original bus bathroom, which is now a closet. On the right-- a very unique touch- a few of the original seats from the bus.

The bedroom.

 I haven't mentioned the curtains before, but this is a good shot of them. Although not exactly my style, they are all custom-- and have a track at the top and the bottom. The bus has most of its windows open, which makes for a really bright inside-- but the curtains are great for some privacy at night.

A weird bed shot. There are tables on either side of the bed with storage underneath. The bed is also on hinges, with tons of storage below.

More storage!

And finally, a look standing in front of the bed, all the way up to the front of the bus!

Well, I hope you enjoyed the tour, from front to back!!!