We finally got all our shit packed and left Birmingham, AL at 10:00 CST Friday morning. The trip started well by exit 5 in GA we needed to stop for our first refill. Then it went down hill at the gas station when we realized one rear tire had a bulge in the sidewall. When Rick looked closer we found out the the inside rear tire was flat. 2 hours later and $471.16 later we were finally driving again. After our 2nd refill we started noticing a knocking in the front end of the short bus. At stop 3 we realized the sway arm mount on one side was broke. We tried to wrap a shirt around it to see if this was the knocking we heard. We soon realized this wasn't the noise. By stop 5 we noticed fluid leaking at the rear end. We stopped at truck stop service center and had the short bus looked at. We were informed that the front ball joints were bad, but as the mechanic said "They be OK for what you are trying to do, they rarely fall totally apart." The rear end look like extra fluid that came out of the rear end. The mechanic looked and the fluid level was still good.
Half way to the next gas stop we realized the alternator belt was loose. When we tightened the bolt it snapped. Luckily Rick had an extra bolt that worked. Our final challenge was somewhere in bumfuck Virginia late at night. We had to change the alternator belt because we couldn't adjust it to tighten anymore.
We finally made it to meet with Ed in Philly at 10:00 EST. 23 hours on the road to get here but we made it. Harper was a machine driving. He got it in his head that we were getting to Philly without stopping to sleep and we did!
We got out of the bus and had our first beer and broke in the shotski. 3 beers and 4 shots, an hour nap and it was off to the strip club. After supporting some students we went to a bar that had amazing cheesesteaks and ate some dinner. Let the fun begin!
Sorry not pictures from The Conshohocken Cultural Center (otherwise known as 7th Heaven or The Ballet.)
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