The Bus makes a break for it

Really, the defining moment of our stay in Oregon was the moment we drove back up Alan and Michelle's street after the second day of Theresa's class reunion.  The bus had been tempermental in the morning and we were driving Alan and Michelle's second vehicle.  They were in their minivan in front of us and pulled into their garage.  As they met us in the driveway, all four of us said somewhat in unison, "Where is the bus?" 

Let's get two things straight.  The bus is not the sort of vehicle car thieves seek out.  The wayward car thief that decided to steal the bus that day would have needed to give it a monumental tune up to get away.  After staring at the spot where the bus had been for a minute or two, someone found the Newburg Police Department card in the front door.  The card had a hand written message informing us that the bus had, in fact, rolled out the driveway, across the street, and into to the neighbors yard prior to being towed away.  We looked across the street to see a greatly reduced tree and a trail of leaves.  The bus had apparently sat still from noon until about 10:30pm before heading off on it's own.  Theresa extended her apt geriatric analogy from the Florida Keys, reasoning that the bus had feigned illness in the morning, waited until it knew the coast was clear, and attempted to escape the unrealistic expectations being placed on it as things got dark.  However, being elderly and not too agile, it ran into the tree in it's escape attempt and broke it's hip.  A sad story.

In the real world, the emergency brake failed for whatever reason and, because we had collision coverage on the Bus, the subsequent repairs, body work, and rental vehicle were covered minus a hundred dollar deductable.  However, this event, and the awareness that the bus needed new brakes and a clutch before heading up the Alaskan Highway, began our search for alternate transportation home.  Almost whole (still waiting for a new rear bumper), the bus is now resting comfortably in the shop at Brian's family farm in Salem.  Brian and Theresa are excited about the prospect of taking the bus out to play on vacation after a short flight to Portland and are already talking about next summer's agenda.  You might not want to tell the bus just yet...
 
 The bus waiting patiently to make it's escape
 So what is missing from the next day's  picture? 
 The evidence that something has gone terribly wrong...
  More evidence
Sorry about that tree and light pole!
  Yeah, Michelle and Alan are really good people...


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