Boom! A BGB Fourth!

“Happy Birthday America” shouts Brent “Sheeps” Butler joyously, donning a star-spangled top-hat and sidling into the driver’s seat. It’s morning on the bus, and it’s the Fourth of July.

After a restful night at a picnic area somewhere Deep in the Heart of Texas, we were ready to hit the road and knock out the majority of our drive to Colorado Springs. A quick search on the interwebs pulled up beautiful(?) Lubbock, TX as our evening destination, and we set sail. Some brief engine trouble in Early, TX made us Late, but we soon hit the road again, caffeinated and entertained by Brent’s observations of the kittens, goats, sheeps, and other Texan fauna that crossed our path during the drive.

There’s hardly ever a dull day on the bus, and Independence Day was no exception. From Chris spraying hot vegetable oil all over his leg to a quick chat with the Texas State Troopers – “No, we’re not a commercial vehicle! We’re a motor-home!” – the day was full of surprises. The girls spent much of the day making patriotic (and of course stylish) outfits out of WalMart bed-skirts, and the boys installed the BGB’s newest toy, a CB radio between the bus and the chase car. For the rest of the day jokes, observations, and directions could be heard crackling out between our two whips.

With Lucas “Cash Money” Schulz at the wheel, the Big Green Bus rolled into Lubbock around 8, just in time to get a primo spot for fireworks. Frances and Nate showed up with $40 of our own fireworks, and we enjoyed/survived a bunch of bottle rockets, fireballs, and exploding miniature tanks. Frances proved especially adept at providing near-death experiences, knocking over a launching tube, deciding she would fix it, and promptly kicking it over again – this time pointing directly at the bus. Tall grass and blind luck stopped any horizontal flight, but not before the crew squealed, scattered, and dove for cover. We soon switched gears for the much safer dinner on the roof, a delicious pasta cooked up by Whitney “Iron Chef Alaska” MacFadyen.

We brought cushions onto the roof and sat for a while, enjoying firework displays literally all around us – 360 degrees of store-bought fireworks set off by Texans waiting for the real deal. When the show did start, we “oohed” and “ahhed” and picked our favorites, while Brent made us look in the opposite direction for pictures. After the grand finale, the bussers entertained passersby with a few rousing songs about beautiful Amerka from the roof of the bus while we waited for traffic to clear out, and then we hit the road for a nighttime drive. Without question, a great Fourth of July. Happy Birthday America! Colorado here we come!

The BGB loves America! And fireworks!

Fact-o-the-day: Anything you say becomes funnier when said over a radio. Seriously, try it.

BGB News Story Of The Day: Check out our TV interview on ABC from Houston HERE!