Bus Conversion; Sneak Peak

Today marks our Three Year Anniversary!

In August 2011, we gave away all of our possession and bought a 1984 MCI-9 Motorcoach (bus). Over the course of two months we would begin the conversion process with the help of many friends, neighbors and family. We departed Green Bay, WI in our bus on Oct 13, 2011, with the exterior walls, couch, dinette and master bed in tact. The rest of the bus was a container. We set off for our first stop in Sister, OR where another handful of friends and family helped us build out the kitchen cabinets, framing bedrooms and installing the electrical system. We left Oregon and as we traveled we built out what we could, when we had the resources and time. Over the course of the next three years we installed the plumbing system and finished off the bathroom complete with a shower and hot water. We have traveled over 60,000 miles, through 36 states. We are peace pilgrims, folk revivalists, and merrymakers. And, this is our home today.

PS. Video was filmed on an I-Phone 4 and we realize the quality isn’t ideal but hopefully you get a good glimpse for now. Also, here is the first design floor plan drawn by our friend, Marc Brummel. We adapted it as we built, moving the shower, sink and toilet but the basic design is the same.

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Canada, Oh Canada

We were only an hour from the border, so why not. We made our way up to Vancouver, BC on cloudy afternoon. The city was vaguely familiar with the electric bus line, the tall shrubs that fronted most houses and the fashion sense.

As we made our way through the city streets, Stanley Park, the Vancouver Yacht Club and Kits Beach we found that the city was the spitting image of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. We were in awe and conversations of migrating to Vancouver abounded.  We lunched at The Local Pub Eatery on Kits Beach which could have easily been mistaken for Brighton and enjoyed shopping on Granville Road, which mine as well have been Burke Road. The down side was that our Aussie family wasn’t there but we now know that if we’re needing a quick fix between visits home, that Vancouver is the place to go! By the way, the Fish Taco’s at The Local were out of this world.

Starfish and Green Frogs

Hanging in the Northwest Corner of the lower 48. We camped at Larrabee State Park just 20 minutes south of Bellingham, WA. We had a show up here at The Green Frog but most of our time we explored the amazing coastline.

Nestled deep in the pine forest, Larrabee State Park sits on Wildcat cove. Sept 15-May is the off-season, so our full hook up site was only $29.00 a night.  Wildcat cove was pristine, with dramatic cliffs, still waters, beautiful sunsets and starfish!

 

The city of Bellingham is a fishing hub and a college town with awesome coffee, thrifting, friendly folks and a great live music scene. We performed at The Green Frog, a local 21+ establishment. However, we did an earlier show and caught the all ages crowd.

The door man, Michael, welcomed with a warm smile and a few fans began to make their way in. We met Brent, who grew up on the set of Hee Haw. A father and his two children, and Amy, a fellow bus conversionist.

Our set was classic Hollands! with harmonies dazzling but it was Banjo Holland who stole the show. We don’t often get to play in a room that can handle his funky and confident beats, but the sound system at The Green Frog was perfect and Duke our sound guy was fantastic! Our show was followed by The Pine Hearts, a five piece rollicking Americana band out of Olympia, WA. They were gracious and wonderful musicians. We later realized that we actually had met Joe, one of the leads, at Folk Alliance in Memphis a few years back when he was touring with The Blackberry Bushes.

It’s a small world and it’s great to know that there are kinfolk all over this great big world. And, this is a part of the world we would like to get back to! Thanks for all the love Washington!

 

Community Caravan

One of our “dream talk” desires is to have friends and muso’s  join us on the bus and/or community caravan. As we gear up for our summer of touring we though it might be fun for you to see how it breaks down in two-week increments. Although, we’re happy for folks to join us even for a weekend. We’ve got room for three on the bus and we have guest rooms (tents) when needed. We’ve already had our first family sign up for the weekend in Galena over the 4th of July and another traveler for the month of August.

If you are interested in exploring what it means to live intentionally in community, to travel and to tour, contact us at thehollands@thehollands.org. Come on and join us for the ride. We’re looking forward to a fantastic summer.

Great Lake Plains 1
May 31- June 14 Starting off in Chicago, traveling through IA and back to IL (Waukegan). We have 4 official performances during this time period.

Great Lake Plains 2
Jun 14-28 Staring off in Waukegan IL, We travel to St. Louis and back up through Madison, ending in Green Bay, WI. We have 6 official performances

Great Lake Plains 3
June 28-July 14 Staring off in Green Bay, WI. traveling between to Door County, Milwaukee and Galena IL. Ending back in Door County. We have 5 official performances.

Northwoods
July 15-29 Starting off at Camp Tek in Shawano, WI, traveling between Appleton, Fon du Lac, up into Minnesota (Minneapolis and the surrounding areas) Ending back in Shawano, WI. We have 7 official performances.

Great Lake Plains 4 – Michigan
July 29-Aug 12 Starting off in Shawano, WI, ending in Chicago, IL Currently we only have 2 official performances and are hoping this will be a time of beach, community and rest.

Westward Ho!
Aug 12-Sept 1 Starting off in Chicago, IL, traveling through KS, CO, WY ending in Salt Lake City, UT. We have 11 official performances.

FALL OPTIONS:

Sept 2-16 Starting off in Salt Lake City, traveling through Boise, ID to Bend, OR

Sept 17-24 Starting off in Bend, OR, traveling up to Bellingham, WA back through Seattle, Portland and ending in Bend, OR

Sept 25-Oct 10 Starting in Bend, OR, traveling through Roseburg, OR, Eureka, CA, Redding, CA, Modesto, CA and ending in Irving, CA

Oct 11-24 Starting in Irving, CA, traveling through San Diego to Phoenix, AZ