Lucy

She didn’t have all the fixins Grover had (no new fridge, no AC, not the two-tone Dove Blue and White paint job we loved) but she had a brand new engine by the top one or two VW engine builders in the country and was in fantastic shape.  The engine was still the original block and case, but had been completely customized and rebuilt from the ground up and made a ton more power than stock.  That made me nervous.  We almost didn’t even call about her because of it.  Buses have air-cooled engines, heat is their enemy, and more power means more heat, which means less reliability, worse fuel economy, etc.  Or so lot’s of people including myself think.  I’m glad I’m wrong a lot.  The guy that built this engine (Anibal Chico of Chico Performance) is a magician - it has double the power and literally half the heat of the stock engine.  The cylinder head temperature gauge in it at operating temps reads exactly half of what the same gauge read in Grover (which was inline with all stock buses). Lucy cruises down the highway at 70mph at 70% throttle.  Many buses reach 70 only when screaming down a mountain at full throttle.  

 The engine, along with upgraded suspension, tires, and wheels makes Lucy so much more fun and more comfortable than any other bus I’ve driven.  So, we like her a lot and think she’s got what it takes to carry us around the country.  Of course, what do we know?  We were reminded a few days ago of just how little we know and how little of a say we ultimately have in what happens in life, but we’re starting from a good place with Lucy.  And you know what Les, if Lucy makes it through the entire trip and never has a significant problem whatsoever, then that’s just part of the adventure.   See what I did there?  Let’s give that a shot.