Finally, we have removed all of the ceiling panels out of our school bus!  Over 3,000 rivets have been drilled and chiseled out… we thought this day would never come.

Initially, Justin and I were going to try and insulate in the space behind the ceiling panels, then put the metal panels back up.  After we got the panels down however, we realized that replacing the ceiling with wood might be a better option.  Wood will be easier to put up than the metal panels,  it will add more insulation, and it would look nicer.  Having a wood ceiling is what Justin wanted all along. 🙂
The final decision was made at Home Depot, where we saw some beautiful blue pine (beetle-kill) panels.  We sifted through their selection, and were able to find almost enough straight pieces to cover the whole ceiling.  I was sold on the wood ceiling when I saw these beautiful pieces of wood.

Fort Collins also got a bunch of rain over the last few days, and our bus leaked!  We leveled it and began caulking the outside windows, and anywhere that could let water in.  We found that the small vent in the ceiling had horrible weatherstripping, so Justin fixed it!

We have also been busy acquiring items for our bus!
A few days ago, we decided to visit the local Restore.  We were a little bummed that they didn’t have anything we needed… until we discovered that they had an outside yard!  We briskly browsed through their outside yard, as they were closing in five minutes.  I saw from across the yard, a portable tiny washing machine!  I had been researching these quite a bit and was absolutely ecstatic that I had found one!  Upon getting closer to the tiny appliance, I noticed it read RECYCLE in permanent marker on the lid, and the power line was cut.  We asked a store worker if we could buy it even if it was broken, and they ended up giving it to us for FREE!  A quick power cord replacement and an air line hose reconnection, and the washer worked like a tiny charm!!

Our awesome neighbor also gave us a wood stove in the beginning of our conversion.  We took photos of the beautiful stove into a shop that specializes in hearths, and they said the stove was actually a fireplace insert, and would be unsafe in our small bus.  We spoke to our neighbor again after getting the bad news, and she said that we could sell the stove and use the money to get a different and smaller wood stove.  How generous of her?!  We are super thankful!

We also got a stock tank for our bathtub from the local farm store.  It will be perfect for a shower/ bath!  Maggie even likes it!

Lastly, we put an ad on Craigslist, because we were having such a hard time finding RV parts. We asked if anyone had any RV parts and a guy responded saying that he had three RV’s which were destined to be used in a Demolition Derby, and that we could have any parts that we needed… for FREE!  We found a gold mine!  We go back there this weekend to pull anything we would ever need.  How lucky are we?!?  Thanks universe!

Everything is coming together like it’s meant to be, and we couldn’t be more happy!