Update: Wayne and Dave made it safely home last night! Thanks for everyone who supported them on this crazy journey. It will be interesting to see what eventually become of that old Scenicruiser.

Since sharing the story of the Bus Trip of a Lifetime, we have heard periodically from Wayne and Dave about the status of their trip. We have also heard from a few of our readers who have connected with the Scenicruiser and the crazy guys behind this endeavor. Kenneth N had the chance to meet up with the guys and sent us an update. Here is what he had to say about the experience! Got to meet up with Wayne and Dave and here are some photos from their Henefer, Utah lunch stop before switching to I80 for Cheyenne, first shot is of the lonely road leading to the stop.  

I took these when we rendezvoused at Grumps Gas & Grocery store in the town of Hennifer Utah at noon yesterday.  Wayne (owner), Dave (loyal friend and hotfoot driver) and bus took up the whole front of Grumps – only place for miles to get something to eat!  I couldn’t even buy them some go-juice as the last two truckers drained the store’s tanks. Grumps owner, Kevin Joiner, is a very hospitable guy (retired cop), valiantly trying to get a real diner going here in spite of crazy licensing requirements for a food business, so we were only able to get warmed-up pizza (very good!), pop, and chips.  

Between sporadic customers, Kevin, Wayne, Dave & I shot the breeze & filled Kevin in on this epic road trip. Then Kevin’s grandson Waylin joined us (1 whole year old!) and wanted in the bus then had to be pried out of it after a few minutes of dancing on the driver’s seat.

Finally Wayne pulled a fast one on Dave, cajoling him into putting on the SuperCruiser (superman?) hat with PINK bill for a photo-op – Dave was not happy!  In spite of the backwards 10 speed transmission, Dave said he had it down pat now and shifted clutchless with a bit of careful throttle control, as the clutch system was a bit dodgy.  Did I say dodgy?  Yeah, when he opened the left hand front floor access panel, there was a Harbor Freight bottle jack propping up the whole clutch valve!

Turns out that’s what was in place when Wayne bought the rig!  No wonder he slick-shifted!  Wayne overheard that and asked Dave how much metal he’d have to drain out of the tranny when they got home.  Although the airbrakes were working fine, Wayne put wood blocks between the suspension air spring mounts and chassis to keep the body from settling and squashing the ancient rubber bags too much when the compressor was off.  

The engine was running great when they left – even started at first turn of key, which surprised Dave, as he said the massive batteries were 10 years old and hadn’t even had any water added.  As they headed off toward Cheyenne the exhaust was actually clean – surprisingly so for that old motor.  Wayne said it was running so well he had difficulty keeping up with Dave in his pickup – “must’ve been all those extra gears” he said.  I think they’ll make it all the way just fine! 

It sounds like the guys are doing great and hopefully they are able to keep the old gal going so well! We want to thank Kennith and Kevin for showing the guys some old Barn Finds Hospitality! If you are on Wayne and Dave’s route home, be sure to meet up with them and take a tour of the bus. They are great guys and you won’t regret the time spent chatting with them!