The Broken Bus in the Woods

My friend Mark and I had a crazy idea last summer. We decided to go camping, but not in a normal tent. Mark had bought an old green school bus two years ago and spent weekends turning it into a small house on wheels. It had two beds, a tiny stove, and a table.

We packed our food, grabbed two sleeping bags, and drove the camping bus up into the mountain forest. By the time we found a good spot near a river, the sun was already going down.

We parked the camping bus under large pine trees. Everything was quiet except for the wind and the sound of running water. We cooked hot dogs on a small campfire, drank cold sodas, and talked about old high school memories until midnight. It felt like the perfect trip.

Then the weather changed around 2 AM.

A loud crack of thunder woke us up. Rain started pouring down hard against the metal roof of the camping bus. It sounded like hundreds of rocks hitting the vehicle.

Then came the real problem: water began to drip right onto Mark’s face from a crack in the roof.

We jumped out of bed in the dark. Mark grabbed a cooking pot to catch the water, while I used tape to patch up the leaking seam. We were laughing and cursing at the same time, completely soaked from the water coming inside the bus.

By 4 AM, the rain stopped, and we finally fell back asleep. When we woke up the next morning, the sun was bright, the air smelled fresh, and we made fresh coffee on the tiny bus stove.

The camping bus wasn't perfect, and we barely slept, but sitting on top of the roof with our hot coffee that morning was the best part of the whole summer. We are already planning our next trip.