From White Sands Missile Range comes A Bus Named Sandy

Sandy is having her third life as our new skoolie home. First, she had duty for the federal government, at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Later, she shuttled nursery schoolers in Texas. Finally, we found her. We feel she is the perfect platform for the next chapter of our lives. She is a solid and reliable 2005 Thomas FS65, with a CAT C7 and Allison 2000 transmission.

We removed all 20 seats, all the wall panels, the ceiling, the floor, even the windows. We fully insulated before completely outfitting our tiny home on wheels with a queen bed, a kitchen, bathroom and even a roof deck.

We intend to be off-grid, and “boondock,” most of the time. So we added 400 watts of solar to charge our 300 amp hour lithium battery. We have both AC and DC power. We carry 20 gallons of propane, a generator, and 75 gallons of fresh water. With the exception of the shower waterproofing, the bench cushions, and the steel frame extension, we did all the work ourselves. We made tons of mistakes, but learned so much. We are super proud of our work and can’t wait to start traveling in our new tiny home on wheels.

We will document the whole build, including systems and carpentry, here. If you’re new to our page and our journey, read about us (Holly and Joe) here.

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