Magic School Bus

My husband’s job had been very stressful ever since the world stopped spinning in March 2020. Being a work-a-holic, he had accumulated too much unused vacation hours and was forced to take time off. He asked me to find a place that was secluded and somewhat nearby so that he could just relax. I scoured the internet and found the perfect spot.

A school bus that had been converted into a small house. Complete with bed, table, kitchen and shelving. It was located on 20 acres on a plateau near the top of a mountain in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. I presented him with my exquisite find and he was reluctant. Where was the toilet, where was the shower, he asked. Both were on other parts of the property, along with a trampoline-type apparatus to lay on and star gaze, 3 hammocks, a swing wide enough for two, a yoga perch complete with a bowl that made mystical sounds when you swirled a ladle thing around the rim, and a campfire area. Time was running out and he hesitantly agreed.

The 1 ½ hour drive up was uneventful until we got to the dirt road. Deep potholes peppered the one lane road (actually, it was more like a path) that hugged the edge of the mountain. Our SUV did fine, we were glad we hadn’t brought our smaller car. We were also glad that we hadn’t met another vehicle coming down. The directions included ‘veer left at the fork, after you pass the stream’ and ‘turn left at the…