Thread: Need help on bus origins.

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Originally Posted by LIFESTYLZ

Any more updates Inspector Clouseau of Rahotu?

Yeah, sorry Clive; mea culpa.
It's just that since getting home I've been flat-out like a lizard drinking.
Mowing the lawns, trying to get some landscaping done, various runs/events, a broken car...retirement ain't for wimps!
It's astonishingly hard yakka!

I'll quote from my diary:


Wednesday 22nd September.

Out to Billings again to talk to a Mrs McCluskie; an ex teacher at Billings School, and the custodian of one the local museums; the local Doctor's house.
A very interesting and informative lady...a great way to spend a day.
Learned a lot about the once bustling town of Billings.

Thursday 23rd September.

This morning, Thursday, we went to the 'Kumback Diner' for a cuppa; not only was it complementary, but the owner gave us a free 'Kumback Diner' tee shirt, and a copy of today's paper which featured us as front-page news!
(Okay: so we had to sit like a couple of dorks holding the paper while we had our picture taken...again...but we can handle that...we're Kiwis, we're tough...and the cuppa, tee shirt, and paper were free.)
World famous in Perry Oklahoma.

The response has been overwhelming; well and truly over and above what we expected.
Small-town American folk are amazingly generous people.

Friday 24th September.

A local historian, Clyde Speer, had told us to pick him up at the Tourist Information Centre and he would give us a tour of the Perry Museum.
I enjoy museums; they (for the main part,) give you an idea of where, why, and how.
This one is not particularly big, on my own I suppose I would have spent an hour; but with Clyde giving us a tour and commentary we spent over three hours and loved it!

We then shot out to Guthrie, another town in the vicinity; but it didn't seem to have the character and soul of Perry or Billings.

Saturday 25th September,

Back out to Billings for their Wheat Festival, surprisingly well done for such a small community.
Several people approached and talked to us; which prompted me to ask "How do you know who we are?"
"Oh everybody does; behind your back everybody's pointing and saying 'That's them; the people from New Zealand who bought the bus'."
Buddy L.
World famous in Billings too!

Some fella, sorry, I've forgotten his name, piled us into his truck and drove us out to his ranch and gave us a guided tour...very informative and much appreciated...they run one beef animal to five acres; hence the large areas required.
A very different system from ours; no rotational grazing as such, and cows seem to calve any time of the year.
Very different.

Sunday 26th September.

Out to the Baptist Church at Billings (and no, it didn't collapse from a visit from a couple of heathens like ourselves...) where we were welcomed with open arms.
Then, halfway through the service, a picture was flashed up onto the overhead screen.
Buddy L!
It's our bus!
I then had to get up and explain to the about 140 people in the congregation who we were, where we came from, and why we were there.
Very embarrassing.
But they did give us a great lunch!
And for free!

Monday 27th September.

Out to another wee town, Stillwater, where they had a 'Geek Squad' shop, to see if they could salvage anything from my computer.
Had a walk around while we waited for them to see what they could retrieve, and found the first book shop I had seen so far; where I managed to buy a copy of 'Hemmings', a catalogue of car parts.
So that was all good.
But the geeks couldn't find anything on the computer.
Bugger.

Tuesday 28th September.

Drove around Perry saying our goodbyes and thank-yous and headed back to La Quinta Hotel in Oklahoma City.
Sorry to go actually; we've met some very fine people.

Wednesday 29th September.

Out to Oklahoma City Airport. dropped the rental car off, had a last cigarette, and flew out to Los Angeles.
About four hours...then an eight hour wait for our flight to Auckland...boring...then a twelve hour flight to Auckland...which was when I worked out that it should be legal to slaughter any child under the age of five (and some over,) on an inter-continental flight...just dropping off to sleep and one of them would squeal...not cry; cry I can handle...but squeal...no.
And you're awake.
Twenty minutes later, just nodding off, and it would be another one.


Arrived Auckland around 6:30 am Friday 1st October.
A long time without a cigarette!

American people are great; very proud to be American, very friendly, and extremely kind and courteous.
And we're very pleased to have met the ones we did.
Thank-you.

Although there's a major thing we Kiwis could teach them; our toilet bowls are vastly different and far superior...when you sit on ours your dangly bits don't hit the water.
Gross!


Okay, that's about it from us for this month, so “Cheers” until next time, and may whatever Gods you worship smile on you!

johnboy and She Who Must Be Obeyed.


DISCLAIMER: Be aware that the views and opinions expressed by the author of this missive are bloody good ones.

Since then I have been in contact via the interweb with Mrs Waltermire, (a fine lady,) and she has supplied me with one or two anecdotes; so it's all good.
We saw the country our bus travelled over, met some of the kids who'd been on it, and certainly learned a lot about the area.
All good.