That’s one of the more common questions I get about the bus. I usually respond, “Pretty much all of us.” The next question is usually, “Wait, don’t you need a special license for that?”

Yes and no. You need a special license to drive a school bus–but none of us are doing that, thanks to a really clever idea from John. Basically, when the bus gets registered with the DMV (it’s currently got a temporary registration, pending the permanent one for the trip itself), it’s going to be registered as an RV rather than a bus. That’s because it will fulfill all of the legal requirements to count as a Recreational Vehicle; it will have bedding, a power source besides the car battery, and even extremely rudimentary plumbing. And lucky for us, the DMV in its infinite wisdom recognizes that while I might not be qualified to drive a bus, I am eminently qualified to drive an identical vehicle that just happens to have bunk beds on the inside.

That said, I’m probably going to do as little driving as possible, except when we’re on abandoned stretches of highway in the Southwest. Ali and John are the more experienced hands when it comes to maneuvering Anne Marie and, while I like to think of myself as a pretty safe driver, I’m going to defer to them on most vehicles larger than a Honda.