A Little About Who We Are

I am creating this blog for my friends and family (or anyone interested) to follow us on our travels. I attempted this a couple year ago and let it go after about a year. This time I will try very hard to keep current. I will try to blog daily and share thoughts, memories, pictures, tips, and maybe even a recipe or two.

For those that do not know us personally let me introduce ourselves. We are a family of 4 (5 if you count my fur baby) that have been traveling full-time in an rv for the past 3+ years. We started out in the 5th wheel we used for camping trips. After a year we upgraded to a 2 bedroom 5th wheel. After another year we decided that we needed something more sturdy and that had more conveniences while traveling, so we converted an old charter bus.  It has been almost a year in the bus and we are loving it!! I will post pictures of our home another time.

Why we live this lifestyle:
In April of 2008 God spoke to my husband and I and said we needed to sell what we have and go on the road full-time in the evangelistic field. We were moving in this direction anyway. Within 2 weeks we packed what we thought we needed (key word being thought) into the 5th wheel and sold or gave away the rest. We spent the next 5 weeks at a friend's house sorting through the stuff we thought we needed. Purged half of it (but still had way too much).  We hit the road and headed north to Idaho where we spent the next 3 months. In that time we purged half the stuff once again.
3+ years later and we are settled into this lifestyle. Actually we were settled into it by the time we got to Idaho.
Since January of 2009 we have been involved in tent ministry. For those that do not know what that is, we do tent revivals.  We are currently a ministry of helps to a very good friend (and spiritual father) of ours. We someday hope that God will bless us with our own tent.

In another post I will introduce us all individually.
Until then I look forward to you getting to know who we are and what we are about.

The Thomas Family

In my previous post I explained what we do and why we do it. In this post I will introduce each one of us individually.
We are:
Michelle (aka Chelley) - Mom

She roadschools/unschools our two daughters, we do a lot of life learning. She enjoys baking and cooking (which can at times be a challenge in such a small kitchen). She loves our lifestyle and experiencing new places and wonders with kids. Loves crafting of all kinds. Some of her favorites are quilting, sewing, and beading. She also likes to read the Bible and Christian fiction (especially Amish fiction).

Derrick - Dad

He is the chauffeur of our 40 ft home on wheels. He is a missionary evangelist and enjoys his calling. He is a "Jack of all trades" and can fix just about anything. He is the one that did the conversion to our bus. You can see pictures of the bus and the conversion process by clicking on "The Bus" on the menu bar or on the right sidebar under categories. He enjoys reading the Bible.


Michaela - Daughter (age 10)

She was diagnosed with Autism. God has miraculously healed her. She has never been on any meds, vitamins, special diets, etc. and has never been in any special therapies; yet she has improved and come so far. We know that God is not through with her and are believing in a complete "healing". She is a very special little girl and loves everyone she meets with her whole heart. She enjoys coloring and putting puzzles together.

Riona - Daughter (age 5)

She is our little diva! She is definitely a "girlie girl" and loves to have her clothes match her shoes and her hair done just perfect. She is our prayer warrior. If anyone has an ailment of any kind she is the first to suggest prayer or pray herself. She enjoys coloring and playing with her Barbies.

The Bus

The bus is a 1977 MCI MC-8. We bought it in Kentucky in June 2010. It was converted by us in Oklahoma that same summer.

We owned 2 different 5th wheels before the bus. We love the layout and space a 5th wheel provides, but the convenience and sturdiness of the bus is far better.

The Bus: The Conversion

It took Derrick 2 weeks to gut and strip the interior of the bus. Another month and a half to do the conversion. We are not completely done with it.

 

Before we took the seats out.

 

Completely stripping the interior.

 

It took 2 weeks to get to this point.

 

The new laminate flooring.

 

Building the wall frames.

 

The wall frames.

 

The beginning of all the wiring. It is ran in the ceiling and in the walls.

 

Electrical panel.

 

Putting the pine ceiling in.

 

The ceiling. There are 3 of those ac units. And the square where you can see the metal was cut out and a Fantastic Fan put in.

 

Building the queen bed in the master room.

 

Storage under master bed.

 

Storage above master bed and framing for side wardrobes.

Building the bunks.

 

The bunks.

 

Door leading from bunk area to bathroom. There is another door just like this leading from bathroom into master room.

 

Closet and drawers in bunk area.

 

Linen closet in bathroom. Shower is to the right.

 

Building the kitchen cabinets.

 

Bookshelf and passenger seat area.

 

Another picture of the passenger seat area. It also serves as Derrick's desk.

 

Installing the couch. We also installed 3 seatbelts here.

 

The tanks before plumbing. The fresh and grey are each 120 gallons. The black is 66 gallons. There is also a fuel tank on the bus that will hold 178 gallons.

 

This is where the bus's ac unit was. It now houses our huge generator.

The Bus: After

Here are a few pictures of what the bus looks like after the conversion. The pictures truly do not do it justice, but will give you a good idea of what a great job Derrick did converting it.

 

Passenger seat ... also doubles as Derrick's desk. In the background you can see the bookshelf.

 

Cabinets above couch and dining room table.

 

Kitchen. The cabinet just to the left of the drawers is where we keep the garbage can.

 

View of the microwave (which very rarely gets used for anything more than a bread box) and upper kitchen cabinets.

 

Pantry and blue flame heater (the ac units also double as heat when he are hooked up to power).

The dining room table.

The fridge. Above the fridge is the electrical panel.

 

The bunks (not looking their best).

 

Ahhh .. A better view of the bunks.

 

Not a very good picture, but this is the closet in the hall/girls' room. There are 6 large drawers below.

 

Each girl has a dvd player with headphones in their bunk.

 

The shower.

 

The vanity in the bathroom. Toilet is just to the left of this (and shower and linen closet are across from it).

 

The queen size bed in master room. The head board is made from the same pine as the ceiling. There are small wardrobes and night stands on either side and storage above.

 

There are two of these large wardrobes in the master room. Each one has 2 large drawers on the bottom.

 

The outside. We covered the middle section windows with aluminum. There is a flood light on either side. Eventually we will paint the outside.

On top of the bus we have our internet satellite, 3 ac units, and 2 solar panels.