Rebecca and I have attended the Big Bear Bike Bash several times over the past few years - usually in ground-mounted tents and once in our rooftop tent.
This year, however, Rebecca suggested we experience the event in first-class-luxury while taking the bus on its second trip!
Although the conversion is 90% complete, the AC system was one of the last items to fully finish. During its install, I attempted to shorten the lineset going from the air handler to the outside unit. It was rather unfortunate, but my efforts were wasted as the unit requires a certain length of coil to contain the proper volume of refridgerant. At the eleventh hour, I sweated the lines back together and got them remounted and charged. Just before hitting the road, the AC was fully functional and blowing cold air into our bedroom!
First, we headed to Winchester on Monday after work. Rebecca left town first and I followed later that night (after getting the AC going!).
The next day Rebecca worked from her mom's house while I washed the solar panels and performed some organization to the interior of the bus. That night we celebrated her mother's 80th birthday with dinner, along with two of her siblings.
On Wednesday I rode the KTM to Green Ridge State Forest in Maryland while Rebecca put in another day at work.
On Thursday I packed up the bus and headed to Cacapon Resort State Park to check out their trail network.
I rode a trail I'd heard quite a bit about - Thunderstruck. It was a rocky mess! Every bit as challenging as I'd hoped!
Back at the bus, Rebecca arrived shortly after I descended Thunderstruck. I gave her the lowdown and we decided to try on of the other trails together - Giddy Up! It was a twisty route with plenty of tabletop jumps to keep us grinning from ear-to-ear!
After our ride we continued to the Big Bear Camplands, carefully navigating the last bit of our drive before settling into camp and preparing a late dinner.
After dinner, Rebecca and I enjoyed our first overnight in the bus! The AC kept us comfortable and the memory foam mattress was up to our discerning standards. The next morning we lounged around for a bit, made breakfast, and generally got a slow start to the day - departing for a ride around noon.
After our ride, we decided to post up at our campsite for the remainder of the day, watching the parade of bikers pass by with the dogs splayed out at our feet.
That night, Rebecca made us margaritas to go along with a taco dinner as the rain clouds began to accumulate around us.
The next morning featured intermittent rain, so we attempted to time our departure around the bands of rain clouds in the radar forecast.
Although the ride began smoothly, soon enough the rain returned and drenched us thouroughly. We pushed through, and eventually emerged from the trail to catch the shuttle back to the airstrip.
On our final day, the sun returned and we chose to head out on the trails relatively early.
We decided to visit the Pines - and overlook marked by a row of evenly-spaced trees just about three miles from camp.
The ride there and back featured some more rocky, technical challenges.
Soon after our ride, Rebecca loaded up her car and headed home.
Once she was en route, I decided to perform a bit of work on the bus - installing the final two drawer locks (a design I created) on the kitchen cabinets.
After completing that task, I decided to go out on the motorcycle once more before loading it onto the bus. I found several gravel roads and even a powerline trail to explore.
I returned to the campsite to finish loading the bus and soon departed for home. Another great trip in the books!
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