So, I don't know if any of you were following along on our Instagram stories, but things got a little nutty before we shoved off on this little adventure. Despite the interior reno having been completed in just 5 days a month prior, our dear old bus had been sitting outside at an auto body shop in south ATL, waiting to be painted for 3+ weeks. The problem was, it had been rained every. single. day. within that three week period. So the professional paint job was never able to commence. With our departure looming and the weather forecast looking bleak, we pulled the bus from the shop, scrambled to find an indoor hanger space to park the bus, and decided that we needed to go ahead and pain this bad boy ourselves.
With a location locked down and the bus relocated by Thursday afternoon, we were ready to go rolling.
The good news was, the boys had a wedding in Jacksonville that weekend. Oh sorry, did I say good news? MY B. Haha. So there I was. Managing the 'We have 3 days to get this bus sanded, painted & ready to roll' project. Did I mention that we also had to install curtains, rods & lights, sand and clean the tables, etc, etc.? Good thing I had copious experience with renos, painting, automobiles and handy-work in general.... (Does my sarcasm come through via blog copy?)
THANK GOODNESS for our main man Edwin the painter, our GGGG auto-expert friend Joe, my HGTV-status rents & our badass intern, Katie Barb, because otherwise I would've been even more of a little chicken with my head cut off than I already was (Also, thank G for Charlie's crack of dawn return flight Sunday AM). Shoutout to adrenaline, as well, for tricking my body into thinking that I was actually getting any sleep.
So, long story long - we somehow managed to wrap up the bus on Monday at 7pm, jetted off to run errands and pack and actually prepare to depart on a bus for 40 days, slept for maybe 2 hours, and shot off for our first top, Austin, TX, at 5am on Tuesday morning.
The gang was WIPED to say the least, and our originally scheduled, halfway-there pitstop in New Orleans was no longer an option. We were sponsoring an awesome Event in Austin at 5:30am on Wednesday, and didn't want to miss this awesome opportunity to kick off our RoadShow with a bang.
After Sam saw the size of the Bus and really took it all in, he quickly re-negged on his offer to split the driving, and our Cap-i-tan Charlie was left driving the Tribe for nearly 24 hours straight ((Champion.) PS. If you're doing the math, fun fact: The Wipemobile tops out at 65mph, and we believe there was also some sort of time warp that mysteriously extended the stretch. Of course, it could've also been the tiny bladders & multiple pit stops for food. We did also stop for a solid 90 minute nap in waco at 2am. #LivingTheDream #SleepWhenWereDead?)
Despite the struggles and possible sleep deprivation mirages, we rolled into Austin and right up to the event, DAYBREAKER (very aptly named, right?) at a casual 5:28am. Like I said, thank goodness for adrenaline. And coffee, lotsss of coffee. Chameleon Cold Brew, an awesome Austin-based company that's dominating nationwide, was actually a co-sponsor at the event. #BLESSED. Of course, most thankful for the energy of the people and everything going down at Daybreaker. Exuberant dancing, beautiful music, free expression, inspirational talks, genuine interactions, great companies and all of the best vibes. Definitely the perfect way to kick off our trip!!
And then, we slepttttt. =)
More adventures coming up! Stay tuned!!
xx
THE GOOD VIBE TRIBE