For most, the end of finals signaled the beginning
of senior week and the all-too-short lead into
graduation. But there was still a ton of work
to do if we were going to get out of Hanover on
time. There were bunks to be strung up and couches
to be bolted down. The bus needed a second coat
of green before the sponsorship decals could be
stuck on. Since safety never takes a vacation,
we installed seat belts for all the booths. Plus,
we still had to fasten our 120 gallon fuel tank
to the bus’s undercarriage before we could
attach the 28 cubic feet of steel-framed storage
space Lissa’s dad Jack had fashioned for
us. All this on top of endless financial and logistical
planning meant we had a long string of days ahead
of us.
And so we spent the majority of senior week in
A-lot, painting, priming, sawing, screwing, and
soldering. Fortunately, we had a fantastic send-off
party at Canoe Club as our light at the end the
tunnel, thank you John Chapin.
Before I go, I wanted to say that we couldn’t
have made it out of Hanover without the invaluable
help of a few particular people. First, Professor
Ross Virginia (who’s traveling aboard the
bus with us through Bonnaroo) spent a number of
hours in A-lot with us painting, putting up decals,
and retrofitting the interior. Thanks Ross for
your time, we can’t wait to have you along
for the first leg of our trip.
The second person we need to thank is Jack Lynch,
Lissa’s father. In addition to single-handedly
designing and building our undercarriage storage
space (a huge accomplishment in-and-of itself),
Jack was also there to help us make the small
changes necessary to get our fuel tank in place.
It’s safe to say we wouldn’t have
made it on the road without him. Thanks so much
for everything!
- Forrest
|
