I wrote a piece about the Bou-Saada Bus for The Gilded Serpent. You can find it at www.gildedserpent.com/art39/ShelleyBus.htm I won't reiterate that article here nor repost those photos. However, there is always more to tell. The Wet Paint Bus generously lent to us by the band of the same name, got us on our first mini tour.

Upon return, we decided we needed our own bus. There were eight of us, plus, at times, children, dogs, equipment, costumes, etc. Taking several cars was impractical, expensive, and could lead to all kinds of delays with people not showing up on time for the gig, cars breaking down, getting lost. A bus would take us all together, all of our equipment and costumes, and could even provide a place to sleep, thus cutting down costs and simplifying logtistics. I don't think any of us expected to make a living from touring, but we didn't want to have to pay to do it. And, bands had tour buses, we were a band, of sorts, why not us? So Muzzy and Marty drove to the bus graveyard down by Tacoma and found our 1952 Kenworth Pacific bus for $500. It had a 30 gallon gas tank that didn't get us very far down the road before we had to refill, so our Roadie at the time, Gary Pagano, and Muzzy, welded on and wired up an extra 100 gallon tank. Once it was all working, we always started out with the 100 gallon tank first. Switching to the 30 gallon while underway was always an adventure because the bus coasted for a while before the new tank engaged. We went on one tour with the bus it's original yellow school bus color. You can't run a bus legally with "School Bus" on it unless it is, so we painted out the S and h and it was a "C ool Bus". After that trip, we organized a pot luck for the troupe and friends, handed out yellow rain gear, and had a wet-sanding party in the rain.

When the bus was adequately sanded, we found an empty warehouse down by the Fairhaven boat yard, rented a compressor and painting equipment, and painted the body beige and chocolate. At the peril of starting a fire in the old wooden boatshed, we ran flood lights for 24 hours to dry the paint.

A good friend and graphic artist,Marilyn Bennett, painted a winged Egyptian symbol of longevitiy above the front windows. An orangey red sun dominated the center of two Isis wings. Green snakes curved on either side of the sun. Along both sides of the bus body, just below the windows, Marilyn lettered "Bou-Saada Dance Troupe" in rich chocolate with silver accents. On the back, the name was repeated with Bellingham, WA beneath it. It was a sight to behold!