Texas Couple Transforms Old Church Bus Into Livable RV
Christopher Stoll and Tori Edwards plan to travel the country in their bus.
— -- A Texas couple with dreams of traveling the country has transformed a nearly 30-year-old church bus into the RV of their dreams.
Christopher Stoll, 25, and Tori Edwards, 28, met while working as teachers in Japan. They decided to continue their minimalist lifestyles after they moved back to Fort Worth, Texas.
Last September the couple purchased a 1988 Blue Bird bus for $1,500 from a church in nearby Denton, Texas. The duo spent the next four months renovating it from top to bottom.
“We stripped it, put in flooring, installed the sink and bed and solar panels and plumbing,” Stoll told ABC News. “The only thing we couldn’t do was fix the transmission, so we went to a diesel repair shop and that was our biggest expense.”
Stoll estimates they spent around $8,000 in total on the bus, including its purchase. The couple invested their savings in the renovation as well as profits from Stoll’s book, “A Natural History of the Fantastic.”
“It was really tricky putting together the electrical systems,” Stoll said when asked what was the most difficult part of the renovation. “I nearly electrified the frame of the bus a couple of times trying to install the solar panels and big batteries.”
For Edwards, the toughest task was scraping off the floor of the bus, which Stoll said she did using an ice scraper.
“The floor was glued down and was matted with feces and a bird’s nest so it was a harrowing tale but worth it,” Stoll said, adding with a laugh, “It might be too much for your readers.”
The couple - who said their families were unsure of their plan at first but have came around after seeing the renovated bus – now plan to spend at least one year traveling the country in their refurbished vehicle.
“We’ve charted a year-long loop around the U.S. that brings us North in the summer and South in the winter,” Stoll said. “We want to visit every state but it depends on the bus. We’re not sure if it will make it up Colorado’s mountains, for instance.”
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