I would encourage you to pick up a copy of my book Life Lessons from the School Bus. There you can find some of the stories posted earlier today, plus a lot more (really, there’s a lot more content).
However, being this is my last day as a school bus driver (going to pastor full-time in Georgia), I now want to share some of my favorite photos from my bus-driving years, including some from today. I only wish I’d thought to take more when I first started doing this back in 2001.
I know this will be as boring as a vacation slide show, but maybe you’ll find some of the pics amusing.
Listen to the song, first 😁The School Bus Man Can
The man. The Legend.
I first started driving for Durham in Chattanooga in August of ’07. However, I started driving a school bus in August of 2001 in Christian County, KY. I don’t have any pictures from those days.
One of my favorite pictures taken by my daughter, Katie. This should have been the cover of my book.
Driving at night in the rain can be dangerous, especially with all the reflections. Notice the reflection of the gas station all the way across the parking lot to my right – reflected in the window, NOT the mirror to my left!
I officially drove a total of 3 routes during my 10 years with Durham School Services. First, I drove 370 for two days. Then I drove 369 for a couple of years. Finally, I drove 374 until the time I had shoulder surgery and left. However, 374 went through 4 different bus models during that time. This one had a Mercedes engine.
Hey, it was St. Patrick’s Day! Give me a break!
The bus. The Legend.
There were times that I had plenty of time on field trips to study for a sermon. But that’s what it’s like when one is bi-vocational – you study when you can.
One day when my bus sprang a coolant leak. This was the view from the passenger’s seat of a BIG tow truck. At least it had air conditioning 🙂
Literally, this was the closest thing I ever came to an accident that was my fault. No damage, just stuck. I got complacent turning into my own driveway and wasn’t paying attention. The student doors were so close to the ground that they wouldn’t open.
The only way to get in and out of the bus was through the side emergency exit with a step stool! LOL
If you haven’t bought one, you should 🙂
Book signing at Barnes & Noble.
My book at Barnes & Noble – in the comedy section!
“Bobble Head” Phil rode with me for years. He usually sat facing the kids (which some didn’t like).
Phil stuck with me through thick and thin, even waving down traffic when I was broken down.
Former drivers Chris (370), Joseph (369), and me at McDonalds. We always stopped either their or Hardee’s for coffee and biscuits in between our morning routes.
The last day of school (I forget what year) we went to Cracker Barrel. Here is Chris (370), a driver from New Orleans, Jean (369), and myself…I should have tucked in my shirt.
Driving a bus in the snow in Tennessee is more rare than a total solar eclipse or hen’s teeth. But it actually happened to me at least twice in 10 years.
This is where I would pull the bus into the driveway of the parsonage of Riverside Baptist in order to wash it. That was my old Cadillac, “The Ride.”
On the first day we got nugget I took him for a ride on my bus – with kids on the bus (this was when I was driving 369).
Our little dog, Nugget, would love to run out and meet me in the mornings after parking my bus.
Stress relief 🙂
A view of the pond on Shanty Lake Road from inside my bus on the last day of school (the bus was stopped).
The very same view as above, but as the sun is coming up in January. God is a beautiful artist, isn’t He?
My final lineup at Lookout Valley Middle/High.
Looking down towards Lookout Valley and the Tennessee River from the Cummings Highway bridge – yes, a bridge.
I was giving myself a thumbs up, but the driver I was training nearly took me off the side of a mountain that very same day!
Hot day on the lot as a driver trainer. All day on the asphalt in between my own routes.
My last day (in December 2017) before shoulder surgery, and my last day officially working for Durham.
I took this picture when I was coloring with children of family members of the children killed in the Woodmore accident. Everyone in the room at Erlanger Hospital was waiting to hear if a particular boy survived – he didn’t. He was one of the 6 who died. I was there as a police chaplain that night, and the best thing I could find to do was distract the other children with coloring.
This was the first day I started driving a bus again – after nearly a year! I went to work with Chattanooga Bus Company and my former manager at Durham, Dominic D’Amico. I couldn’t decide if I was happy or not 😉
This was my bus I drove when I finally got back to work this last school year (after my heart attack) and had a route. I called this bus “Spinal Tap” because of the number “11,” but hardly anyone got the joke.
This was taken the first year I was a “park out” driver. I prayed over every seat and asked God to use me in some way to make a difference in the live of the children I transported. He did. At least 7 came to Christ over the years!
My last-ever pre-trip log sheet (nothing digital this time).
The last bus cockpit I’ll officially sit behind.
The Recovering Legalist 