I think this is cause for celebration, maybe it doesn’t look like a big step but when Michael Dell sold his first computer I bet it didn’t seem like a big deal at that time either. I just wanted to let everyone know that the selling of ads has begun, the buying system though not perfect is in place and fully functional. So thanks to everyone who is reading this and who has told somebody else about this venture, your time and efforts are producing results. I guess I hope it’s not an effort for you, I hope you enjoy reading about our stories and looking at our pictures, but I’m not really sure your motivation. But nonetheless I appreciate your support. The first few ads are always the hardest, but we have made the leap and we hope to get the snow ball rolling from here. Please check out the homepage and investigate our sponsors if you desire.

Thanks again,

- Carson

Last weekend I was fortunate enough to spend quality time with a great group of people in one of the most amazing natural wonders in the country known as Yosemite National Park. I don’t mean to sound cheesy it really was awesome. The pictures just give you a glimpse of what it was like, but to be at the foot of the largest exposed rock in the world or to see a 360 degree view of the park is something you have to experience. The biggest piece of exposed granite on the globe is known as El Capitan, it takes an average rock climber a few days to climb. A few days to climb a vertical wall? Yes, they do sleep hanging from a basket attached to the rock, pretty crazy isn’t it? El Capitan is just one of the many amazing granite structures, there is another peak known as Half Dome that I hope to one day hike to the top of in order to look down on the valley from a high. One of the coolest places I was fortunate enough to go to was Sentinel Dome at sunset, it was an unbelievable sight. From atop Sentinel Dome we had a complete 360 degree view of the park and the surrounding area. We also were able to go on a quick hike to Vernal falls which was incredible. It wasn’t a long hike, but it was a pretty steep (over 600 colossal steps), but once we made it to the top it was all worth it. We swam in the small lake that formed right above the falls. It probably was the coldest water I’ve ever swam in, but it felt so good after that hot and rough hike. The swimming was probably my favorite part, the experience was surreal because the setting was so picturesque. We also went to see the giant sequoia trees in Mariposa Grove. Remember the photos of the cars driving through the base of the tree? Yeah that’s in Yosemite too, and the trees were pretty incredible. The sequoias grow for thousands of years it so amazing to see them still growing today as they have been for so long. We also saw some fun wildlife from deer to mice to caterpillars, but no bears (fortunate maybe, but I really wanted to see one). I really can’t explain the park enough, it was great and it was so wonderful to be outdoors and enjoying what nature had to offer.

But, what made the experience so much better than just enjoying the park was being able to enjoy it in such great company. Unfortunately Luke wasn’t able to come on this trip but the other fine members of the camping team were: Ashley, Whitney, CT, Adeline, Lindsey, Justin, Paul, Bella, and myself. The group was lead by the two experienced campers CT and Paul, and most of the camping gear was provided by CT so many thanks to her for all of that. Most of the food that was brought was provided by Lindsey and Justin and the rest of the purchased food was provided by CT, Adeline, and Paul. Basically everything was taken care of for me which I feel really bad about but nonetheless made the experience carefree and too easy for me. Also all the transportation was taken care of for me, they were all far too accommodating, but I appreciate every bit of it. Hopefully one day I will have an opportunity to repay them all for everything they have done for me. Anyway the group was an amazing bunch and we had many laughs and good times together.

Please check out the photo album of Yosemite to get an idea of how great the park is and to see the adventure team in their element.

- Carson

P.S. More photos, even more photos, still more photos

After fixing Luke’s Jeep last Friday evening we quickly headed out on our adventure to help Ashley move in to her new house in San Diego. But first we had to get her bed which was actually the bed I used last year at the Malibu Pink House. I had been storing the bed at Rhonda’s (Luke’s mom) house in Port Hueneme which is about 40 miles north from Malibu. After eating our KFC we headed up there to get the mattress. We pilled the mattress, box spring, and frame onto Luke’s Jeep. We strapped it all down with some packing ribbon provided by Rhonda. Check out the picture to get an idea of how ridiculous this was.

After leaving Rhonda’s we had about 200 miles to cover with a sail up before we would reach Ashley’s house in San Diego. The beginning was rough because we were nervous about our magical ribbons breaking and the mattress flying into the cars behind us. Eventually the fear subsided and we began singing songs and cruising similar to any other road trip. After a few hours, at about 2 in the AM we made it, brought the bed in and passed out.

Saturday was supposed to be the big move in day, but we only made one trip to and from the storage. Instead we decided to fill the rest of the day with entertainment. We went to the Del Mar racetrack and bet on horse races. I had never been to a racetrack before. It was awesome and I learned a lot about how it all works. I ended up loosing a little bit of money, but I won a few bets on a few races too so it was fun. We just hung out the rest of the day. Ashley made us an excellent dinner of rice, chicken, and corn. Later, we went on a boat cruise of the San Diego bay. Check out the pictures, there are some pretty cool ones.

Sunday was a little more relaxed. We did another trip to the storage to help Ashley get all her things. I guess we didn’t really help her move in so much as help her transport stuff from her storage and set it in her room, but we did what we could. In the afternoon we decided to check out a local swap meet in the Sports Arena parking lot. We didn’t actually get to check it out because they tried to charge us $1 each just to get in, what a rip off. The whole ‘cover’ concept really upsets me, I’m going there to spend money and you’re trying to get me to pay just to look. Anyway, for dinner on Sunday we went to Red Lobster, and for one reason only, the free garlic-cheese bread. I had 8 rolls in one sitting plus some chicken and cheese sticks. All together our table paid $15 ($5 tip) for an amazingly good and filling meal at Red Lobster. We headed back to Malibu the next morning. It was a good weekend, we got the bed to San Diego and we helped Ashley move in to her house.

-Carson

Last week Luke’s Jeep decided that it no longer wanted to start. The funny thing is that the Jeep had been having troubles earlier and then Luke decided to show me what was happening. Apparently it had been struggling to start and getting worse every time he tried. I told him not to try it because it would be his “last start” before it finally died, but he wanted to show me anyway. Sure enough it started, but just barely. He shut it down and tried to start it again after just to see if I was right, nothing happened. So anyway, Luke’s Jeep was dead because it wouldn’t start.

It died sometime last week but we didn’t have time to address it until last Thursday. Finally I got back into my all-to-familiar mechanic mode to try and diagnose the situation. First thought was naturally the battery, so we took that in to Kragen (a.k.a. Schuck’s) to get it tested. As expected it was fully dead, Luke had to bite the bullet and buy a new one. After a long drive back to the Jeep we threw the new battery in and nothing happened again. I was a little perplexed but I did not give up, it had to either be wiring/connections or the starter. Since this wasn’t our only project of the day, we had to spend time on the website and emailing as well, there was no time left in the day to continue working on the Jeep so we drove back to Matt’s apt. for the night.

The next morning we headed back out to the Jeep but not before stopping at Kragen for a starter relay just in case that would fix it. After we got to the Jeep we put the relay in and tried it, still nothing happened. Nevertheless it could have been other connections or the starter. So I used my multi-meter and tested everything I could. As it turned out the starter was getting the necessary power from the batter and the ignition key switch was working properly, so it had to be the starter. We made a third trip to Kragen to test the starter and obviously it was dead too. Luke again had to buy a new part but this time we were pretty confidant that it would fix the situation. We drove back to the Jeep and after a little while of me getting terribly dirty and greasy the new starter was installed. Did I mention that there was dozens of bees flying all around me as I installed the starter? I hate bees. Anyway, starter was in, battery was new, Luke’s wallet was $200 lighter and we still didn’t know if it was fixed. After a moment of silence I asked Luke to try it. “YES, it works, let’s get out of here.” We quickly left for a celebration at KFQ and then on to our San Diego adventure.

-Carson

So we spent the last two weeks house sitting my buddy Matt’s sweet marina front apartment. We got to enjoy all of the amenities that we miss out on at the bus and even a few more. This place not only reminds me of the Pirates of the Caribbean but also has four pools, a sweet lookout tower, and pond with waterfalls and live turtles! We Barbequed all the time and enjoyed working on the website somewhere other than Pepperdine. Check out our photos in the gallery section for more.
It was a pretty sweet hookup and we are sad we have to leave. Thanks Matt for hooking us up.
-luke

The title says it all. This quite possible was the craziest day ever in the existence of eBUS live. Just to warn you, faithful reader, this is going to be an epic story filled with ups and downs, heartaches and triumphs, and everything in between. But I guarantee that you will fill a sense of completeness and even justice by the end, and that just by reading about this adventurous day, you will feel apart of it too.

The day began just like any other day for the eBUS live crew. We were up around 9 am, Carson fiddling around, trying to make a ton of noise, so that I would wake up and we could go to the library and work on the computers all day. Then we headed to the bus and I laid down still tired from the night before. All of the sudden, half asleep as I was, I hear a knock, knock, knock on the front door and a “hello there” from one of Malibu’s finest. Immediately I jumped up from my peaceful slumber and quickly grabbed a shirt to throw on as Carson engaged in some friendly conversation about the legalities of parking and sleeping in vehicles within the city limits. Both of them played dumb for a few minutes just waiting for the other to slip. Neither one did, so he took our ID’s and left for what seemed like a half hour. He then came back, nicer than ever, gave our licenses back and told us to make sure that we moved Alice every few days. So we said, “No problem sir,” and, with joy and excitement over our potential parade ruining situation, we bid him adieu.

After the fine policeman left Carson and I decided that we should probably move the bus seeing as how we had been parked in that same spot for about three weeks. So we readied her for movement, took our seats, and prepared to fire her up. Weeenenene. Nothing. Weeeneneneeee. Nothing again. Our bus wouldn’t start. The joy from overcoming our recent visit quickly subsided. My heart sank. What was wrong with Alice now?

After some investigation by Carson the mechanic, we started to think that the battery might be dead and headed to Kragen to charge it up. Once there, Carson hopped on the charger, and after teaching the staff how to use it, hooked up the battery. After a few minutes he realized it was fine; full of juice as a battery should be, despite the habitual suggestion from one of the workers that our “battery was no good” and that we should buy a new one. So, we bought some starter fluid or “magic spray” as Carson called it, and headed on our way.

Back at the bus we put the battery back in place and attempted to fire her back up. Nothing. We sprayed some starter fluid into the carburetor and got some action but not for long. Our next diagnosis was that we weren’t getting any fuel to the engine, not a good thing for those of you who don’t know much about cars/buses.

So back to Kragen we went to buy some fuel filters and a fuel pump. And yet again Carson had to show the employees how to use their stuff by getting on the computers and finding the part we needed. The one they said they didn’t have! We got the stuff and headed back to the bus. While putting on the new filters, Carson noticed that the pump’s electrical was all frayed and immediately realized that this was the problem. So he installed the new pump, with some MacGyver ingenuity I might add, and we tested her out. Victory! We had won the battle and she started right up. It was time to test her out on the road.

Once on the road we realized that our most recent triumph was going to be short-lived.

Carson pulled out onto the road as I sat shotgun praying that she was fixed. Alice started off like normal, puttering a bit as she does. But then, all of the sudden, she started cutting out like crazy and we were forced to pull off. The new pump just wasn’t powerful enough. We were broken and the spot we pulled off at was no good for buses; we had to keep going to a better spot for Alice to rest. So with Carson driving and me out in the road watching traffic, we attempted to head a bit farther. A few hundred yards up, Carson pulled off again, in a spot we could leave it, just in front of the local London double decker tour bus.

After Carson pulled off, and I ran behind on foot, the woman who owned the London bus was waving Carson to come over to her. As I ran up she was explaining to him that her attendant couldn’t make it to work the corporate party that night and she needed someone to fill in. She was so desperate that she was willing to give two grease covered, bus living fellows like us a hundred bucks to be in charge of her party. We immediately accepted, suggested that we spruce ourselves up bit, and showered in the Howdy’s Burrito Shop bathroom. We even threw on some collared shirts, a detail Francesca, in pure desperation, wasn’t that concerned about. After about twenty minutes we were on our way, a hundred dollars richer and ready to party.

Oh yeah, just to add a bit more to this action-packed half hour, while we were frantically getting ready for the party, my buddy Matt called me and said that he was heading to Washington for a few weeks and that he wanted us to housesit his kick-ass place in Marina del Rey. And when I say kick-ass I mean it. This place overlooks the marina, has four pools, ponds with turtles and fish, and a tower where you can see the Pacific one way, the marina another way, and L.A. in the third. Jackpot! seeing as how the cops had just hassled us about sleeping in the bus and that they would probably be checking in on it.

Ok, back to the party. Basically, without even knowing our names this lady hired us to be in charge of her bus and help the driver Jamie, pronounced “hi-may” and who thinks that using his horn exempts him from stopping at stoplights, keep the party in line. What a gig. In case you didn’t catch that, this lady wanted to pay us a hundred bucks to ride around and party with some corporate stiffs in her awesome bus. Who does that? During the party we went all over: from the heavily Jewish community on Fairfax in Hollywood, down to the hip and young shores of Manhattan Beach, and back up to the slightly bohemian town of Venice. It was awesome and all we had to do was make sure that no one fell off, which became an actual concern around the time Jamie (“hi-may”) hit the junction from the 10 freeway to the 405 at around 65 mph; a maneuver almost as crazy as his U turn right in the middle of Lincoln Ave! But hey, Jamie (“hi-may”) put it best when he said, “If there’s no police watching, it’s legal.”

Ok, let’s recap this day. The police came and told us to move. We were startled yet happy to get out with a warning. Then the bus wouldn’t start. Our spirits dropped. Next, we hooked up a new fuel pump and Alice fired right up. Our spirits rose. But then she gave up on the road test. Our spirits dropped again. Then, we met Francesca, the London bus lady, and she offers us a sweet opportunity. Our spirits soared. Further, Matt called and offered his awesome pad overlooking the marina for us to stay at. We couldn’t have been any happier. Finally, we went on this awesome adventure all over the greater L.A. area and had the time of our lives. We also got hooked up with all of the leftover food and drinks which we ate while we passed out in front of Matt’s big screen plasma TV. What a day.

-luke

Just wanted to let you all know that eBUS live has broken into the press with an excellent article written by Mary Decker of the Redmond Reporter. A while back I mentioned doing an interview with the paper for an article and it finally came out today. I just want to also quickly thank Dawn Olson for setting this whole thing up. Dawn has been helping out eBUS live a lot by sending in tips to certain publications trying to get us in the press and her work has come full circle with the release of this article. Thank you Dawn. So everybody should read the article naturally, if you are interested you can find it here. That’s pretty much all I have to say right now, the article is awesome and entertaining and captures eBUS live well. Thanks for your support by reading this and don’t forget to check back soon because I’m sure great adventures are just around the corner.
-Carson

Luke and I didn’t have grand plans for the weekend as of Saturday morning so we decided we needed to go some place and have fun in the sun. Since Ashley had recently got back to California I thought it would be exciting to surprise her at work in Newport. She was going to get off at noon and I wanted to be there to surprise her, then we could all go hang out at the beach or whatever. Anyway, things didn’t work out because there was so much traffic as usual (I don’t know why I’m not better at anticipating that, it’s pretty much a guarantee of terrible traffic anytime in the day on the freeways in southern California). Needless to say we made it down at about 12:30. We met up with Ashley and her grandmother Adeline and quickly left for a bit to eat. The first of many meals provided by Adeline, which were amazing and we thank her very much. Not only did Adeline provide many meals for us, she also let us stay in her house for a couple days, use her shower, as well as her washer and dryer. Basically she is a phenomenal host. After eating lunch we took the kayaks out into the harbor. We had three kayaks provided by CT and Adeline, so we each had our own. Kayaking was awesome until Luke noticed his vessel was deflating. He did not abandon ship. He battled the leak and made it back to shore before the whole thing went under. (Hopefully the kayak can be fixed, it’s probably just a leak that can be patched, but if not we’ll replace it.) After that fiasco we decided to walk around Balboa Island and take the ferry over to the peninsula. We saw the sites and hung out in the sun, it was a good time. We also hung out at Adeline’s pool and took some cool photos…

Saturday night we went to see ‘You, Me, and Dupree’ and it was hilarious. I’ve seen it once already, but the second time was just as funny. Owen Wilson is an exceptional actor because pretty much every line he says is funny in this movie. Sunday went pretty much the same, just hanging out at the pool and the beach, living in the lap of luxury provided by Adeline. The surf was extraordinarily high last weekend so we went to ‘The Wedge’ which is a surf/body board spot in Newport Beach. I can’t really describe it but the waves where gigantic, the pictures are great but they still don’t do it justice. There are also a few videos of some body boarders riding these things then getting destroyed by the wave, it’s pretty crazy.

The weekend was great, happy times where had by all. I would like to thank Adeline for all the meals and the overwhelming hospitality. I’m sure we’ll be back in Newport soon, but hopefully next time we can buy some meals and return the favor.

-Carson

After about a day and a half in L.A., Elias decided his time here was not right and that he should peruse other life options. To fully appreciate his rash decision making I feel that I must first tell you his story. You see, Elias and I met a few times at my mentor Glenn’s house up in Graham, WA. Being four years younger then me, I didn’t get to know him very well up there but had heard that he was a good guy and that he aspired to be a professional actor. Just recently graduating high school, Elias decided that he must move to L.A. in hopes of making it big under the glamorous lights of Hollywood. So he packed up his car, said his goodbyes, and headed south with nothing but a dream and a couple of guys offering up a bed in an old school bus. When he arrived in Malibu he was a bit overwhelmed and very homesick but he was still very determined to find his place in this crazy new city. The first day he immediately hit up the internet searching for roommates and cheap living situations. And as you can imagine, in such a short amount of time of searching, not a lot surfaced. Then he got a call from his mother who offered a different solution; a quite different one indeed. She suggested he move to New York City, where she lived, and pursue his acting dreams there and then eventually head back to the city of angels in a few years. She even offered acting school and a place to live. It only took a few hours of contemplation for Elias to settle on this opportunity; he was to head to New York. So Carson and I showed him around a bit more that day and he headed back up to Washington around nine o’clock that evening, quite possibly completing the shortest trip that anyone has ever made to California from Washington by car.

From all of us here at eBUS live we say good luck Elias. You are nuts and it is so awesome. Live the dream.

-luke

Our friend Elias from Washington is in the process of moving to L.A. and will be staying in Alice, our bus, with us until he gets settled into a place and finds a roommate. If you have any ideas that could help him out in this process he would greatly appreciate it. Just email ebuslive@ebuslive.com. Welcome to the bus Elias!
-luke