Author: flamidwyfe

flamidwyfehttp://flamidwyfe.wordpress.comI am a midwife working all over the world. I am from south Florida. I love traveling and catching babies!!

WanderLust Bus Road Trip #1

Today is Day 14 of the WanderLust Bus’ inaugural trip and I’ve been having a blast! My friend Alice, a midwife in north Florida, is with me on this adventure.

I started on September 29th by driving from home to Apopka, FL where I met up with other skoolie friends and had an amazing weekend!

Off I go!

Pulling out of the driveway for my first big adventure!

My View

This was my view for two mornings in a row. So peaceful at John and Sarah’s place!

View from Kitchen

And this was the view from the other side of the bus ❤

Max and BeBe

The dogs and I enjoying the peace and quiet.

Seat Addition

Charlie and Jeremiah installed a seat up front for Alice to sit in, it even has seat belts! I nearly broke Charlie’s toe, trying to set it in the chair rail… he’s such an awesome dude that he worked right through it. Sorry Charlie 😦 And THANK YOU, Charlie and Jeremiah!

Also got to meet Roger from the Biggie Bus and got to see Christopher again.

The CabinBus

This is Jeremiah and Rachel’s skoolie the CabinBus… they have the most awesome, sunken bathtub!

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The Skoolie Gang seeing us off on Sunday! From left: Rachel, Jeremiah, Sean, Roxie, Charlie and Sarah. Good People!

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Alice’s new chair, covered in capulanas that I brought back from Mozambique!

Alice and I left on Sunday, Oct 1 for my mom’s in Gilchrist County. Had dinner with her and a good nights sleep, mom made us breakfast and we headed out from there. Destination…

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SOUTH OF THE BORDER! We made it to the SC/NC line on I-95 and camped in Pedro’s Campground. My first campground overnight in the bus! I was able to hook everything up successfully 😀

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Me and Alice at SOB

On the morning of the 3rd of October we headed out going north and ended up staying at my friend Mary’s house in the woods… what a quiet, peaceful night. Thank you, Mary!!!

The next morning we headed toward New England, through VA, DC, Maryland, Delaware, NJ and skirting NY, we ended up having dinner in Connecticut with a midwife I’ve known for 2 decades via the internet, Andrea. Wonderful time catching up and then back in the bus for the trip to Paige’s house. More tomorrow ❤

Ciao

 

 

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WanderLust Bus after Irma

I know, I know, I’m LONG overdue for an update… I’ll get to that soon, but I did want everyone to have an update of the bus after the storm… it’s 2 a.m. in Jensen Beach, Fl, but Nick, my awesome son, braved the rain to go out and get a pic for me. As I sat here, all the way in Beira, Mozambique, Africa, I began sobbing… I may have confused the poor housekeeper who only speaks Portuguese, but I smiled to let her know I was OK.

I am pouring with relief. Not being there in Florida with my kids, grandkids, mom, neighbors and bus, has been the hardest thing ever. I can’t even imagine what it was like at home! And the north part of my state (or really north of Orlando still) is not out of harm’s way yet… nor is my mother, who stayed in a mobile home with her daughter and son-in-law in the direct path of what is now looking to be just a Cat 1 when it hits… but for the most part, my area, south of the center part of Florida now has to start clean up… watching Jose closely (bastard is going to do a loopy-ti-loop!).

Here’s my bus… the fuel door opened… Nick closed it, she is fine.

Irony… my electric went out here and my wifi, as I was finish typing this… a common occurance here (like nearly daily)… i luckily have a mifi and a charged lap top… Get the lights turned back on at home… I’ll be there soon (Wednesday)!

Ciao!

Sandi

BUS IRMA

WanderLust Bus Update May 12, 2017

Back from quite a bit of traveling since I got home from my trip to the Panhandle. I was in China for 4 weeks assisting a mama with the birth of her wee little guy. This midwife loves traveling to births!

My son has been helping me tremendously on the bus this week and we’ve made some changes to the bathroom (I know, I know… I’m so indecisive!), but things have kicked into high gear and my boy has been busting his butt getting it done. Thanks, Nick!!!!

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So I felt like I wanted the toilet area’s floor space to be a little more spacious, and I wanted the toilet area and the shower to be all once space. So we took out the bench, (you can see it in the bottom left of this pic), took out the wall that was separating the two areas and built a platform a bit bigger than what was there. 

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We then built up the step in area to the shower and started framing out the walls. We will also build a smaller box for the toilet bench, so there appears to be even more room in the space. 

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The hole for the shower drain. Perfect fit. The floor will be covered, of course, with the shower base and then Nick will tile it. I will pick out tile tomorrow. Super excited!

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And the hardware for the shower head has been started… Woot!! Super excited about that!

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Drill bit injury… 😦 Looking for a pity party, my son was having none of that! LOL

So that’s the update for today. I think there will be more to show you on Monday! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Ciao!

Bus Update & a video!

So there’s been a lot of progress on the bus! I drove it up to the Panhandle of Florida to get some work done with a fellow Skoolie who was generous enough to put some time into helping me get bathroom walls up, water tanks hung and some plumbing run! He also put together a fun video that I’ll post a link to at the bottom of this post.

The drive up was a bit chaotic! When you move an RV, everything has to be secure. My amazing daughter, Tiffany, spent 6 hours with me getting the bus ready to hit the road. LOL.

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Putting the mattress back on the bed after prepping bus for trip. Tiff is under there somewhere!

And the batteries had sat too long, so the first thing I spent money on was 3 brand new batteries 😦 I took pics of the old ones, so I could figure out how to get the new ones in…

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Got the bus fired up and started out…

Oh the things you learn when you take the first sharp curve 😀 😀 😀 So it was an eventful trip, with many stops to secure yet another thing that went flying, but I finally made it up “to the middle of nowhere”!

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The Florida Turnpike at sunset… gorgeous!

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Backroads of north Florida !

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The first studs are up!

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My spoiled chihuahuas really loved being yard dogs! 

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Sanding the bathroom wall panels.

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I stained them, as well. Classic oak. Came out pretty.

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Got a super bargain on my 41 gallon fresh water tank!

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I cut a hole for my electric box and secured my IKEA kitchen to the bus. It doesn’t move 🙂

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Toilet room done. Not sure if I’m going to paint or stain.

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I also secured my office desk and bookcase to the bus, as well. The bookcase is a family piece and I wanted to figure out how to use it on the bus. I turned it vertical and will custom cut shelving for it. When I look at it, I still see our 1968 World Book Encyclopedias on the bottom shelf ❤ 

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Everything is either attached to the bus or bungee corded down. I put velcro on the kitchen drawers (it held them closed!). 

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Close up of the bookshelf. And yes, I left the legs on top. I’ll hang something cool from there.

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Panoramic view.

The trip home was WAY less chaotic. In fact, it was stress free. Nothing moved. I didn’t have to stop to fix things. It was awesome! I stopped off in Tallahassee for dinner with some midwife friends and to show off the bus and got into my mom’s after 130 am! Worth it to spend sometime with the tribe!

Then home on Wednesday, a 5.5 hour stress free drive. I like that the bus is set at top speed of 65 mph. It forces me to take my time and ride the right lane and relax.

Today Tiff helped me get my office back together and now I’m off to bed. Lots of work to catch up on tomorrow!

Here’s the promised video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYmZ40bKj3M

Thanks DON!!! For helping me with the bus, putting up with my mania (lol), for seemingly enjoying the meals I cooked and for all the work you did on the Wanderlust Bus!

Ciao!

Lots of progress made!

Oh my goodness, I have not done a good job keeping up on this blog. I have been crazy busy with getting use to life on the bus, running my internet based business, holidays and lots of other things. But here’s a lovely update for you!

Moved on to the bus November 6th. Moved the bus from my friend Nicole’s property (who I can’t thank enough! So, so grateful for the 5 weeks I parked the bus there to get the thing gutted and the floor and bed in!) and moved it to my friend Cyndi’s place. In a very eclectic and awesome neighborhood! I also got BeBe, Max and Dax back from the amazing friends and family that were keeping them for me. Kodie, my shepherd/cur mix, is going to stay on with Cyndi, but the cool thing is, she’s 20 feet from the bus 🙂

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Dax loves sitting on my desk!

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Up until two weeks ago, this is what it looked like. Bed in the back, desk to the right, temp kitchen to the left.

2 weekends ago Joey and Tiffany came to help put the last 11 pieces of Pergo down and to paint some trim and build the IKEA kitchen. And Gabe came by to take some photos.

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Tiffany cutting in the trim

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Joey measuring out the Pergo

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Joey

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Love my WanderLust Bus

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Goodies from around the world.

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Floor nearly done!

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❤ 

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Tiff and Me

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Tiff, Me and Joey

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Electrical outlets throughout

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I have 6 outlet boxes throughout the bus.

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Colors

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Kitchen

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Inside the one cabinet. The silverware drawer is inside the dish drawer.

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The pups have a bed under my bed ❤ 

Well there is my update for January!

The Bed’s Done!

I keep posting on my old blog, lol… old habits are hard to break 🙂

Flamidwyfe's Blog

Steady progress for the week. The bed is now completed. Joey & I designed it so that the entire middle can be taken out. You can move the mattress, lift the plywood base and then remove the three middle rectangles. This will allow us to bring in larger pieces of furniture or appliances like the fridge.

We also almost have the flooring completed I’m short one box. Oh! And the electrical is done. My bonus child Ashley’s husband Evan came and did all the electrical wiring in about four hours yesterday! And my BIL, Rick, stopped in to give us a hand today. Tiffany and I finished the painting on the lower 2/3 of the bus, too.

Here are some pictures of the progress…


Productive weekend!

Ciao 😊

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Steady Progress

Since we all work during the week, weekends are when most of the work gets done, but we did squeak in some cleaning mid-week with the help of my friend Catherine and my daughter Tiffany 🙂

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Catherine & Tiffany helping scrub down the walls!

This morning I went up to Lowe’s and picked up a quart of paint to cover the back 1/4 of the bus, since the plan is to have the floor in back there and the bed platform built tomorrow. So I wanted to have the walls painted before hand.

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Water Drops by Benjamin Moore

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I spent a couple of hours on prep & painting in solitude. And a perfect 70 degree day to boot!

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Will do the edges before the crew gets there in the morning. Also taped off the bed space!

So a new update tomorrow or Monday. I am also working on doing an expense post, since so many people have asked me. I hope everyone else is having as fabulous a weekend as I am!

Ciao!

Introducing The WanderLust Bus

I woke up after a wonderful sleep in an Airbnb house this morning. And called Mr. Walsh at the Culpeper school transportation depot and he came and picked me up.

The bus had been serviced and filled up. And after we did our paperwork he took me out and walked me through some of the special things on the bus. She looks fantastic! Besides four spots that need to be puttied up her body is in excellent condition. He gave me a quick lesson in how to use the airbrakes and then have me demonstrate that I knew how to use them. 

I got on the road and headed east towards I 95. And met a friend of mine, Mary, who I’ve known via the Internet for more than 15 years. And then I got on I 95 south in Virginia and headed home. 

I stopped for a complete fill up before leaving Virginia because the gas was so much cheaper than North Carolina. The truckers at the truckstop were really awesome helping me figure out the diesel pump and I checked the fluids and all were OK.

I’ve made it as far is Selma, North Carolina. I’ll get up early in the morning and continue my journey home.

Here’s some photos from day one: