This photo is probably twenty years “in the making”, as they say. I first heard about this bus – at the time, I didn’t know if it was a bus, a van, or a truck – many years ago. A friend told me its story: In the late 1960s, around the time I was born, my friend was a young boy working at his uncle’s concession stand aside a rural North Dakota lake. He saw some hippies driving around the other side of the lake in a bus they’d converted into a rudimentary camper. The bus stalled, and they tinkered with it for quite some time before abandoning it forever.

The bus has since occupied that field, not very far from Bismarck-Mandan, for over half a decade. I knew I had to investigate. My friend has since purchased a significant portion of the land surrounding that lake, so he told me how to hike out to the area on his private land.

First off: while the skies were sunny at my arrival, a nasty storm system soon began brewing to the east. I’m delighted about this, because I love the dramatic skies. This gave me time to check out the bus with not one, but two drones before deciding to hike three quarters of a mile in tall grass.

Whatever metal this thing is made of, it’s held up great over the past 55+ years. Sadly, it’s not unlikely to ever be restored or repaired.

Not much of an engine here. Whatever ailed it, the hippies never figured it out. These days some YouTuber would probably want to LS-swap it.

Hey, keep your feet behind the white line, buddy! I bet this bus was a blast to drive when it ran. There’s something adventurous about just roaming the country in whatever you’ve got, a sensation romanticized in many 1970s songs.

At one time there was a sort of camper conversion thing going on here. It had a stove and a sink, and I’m not sure what else. The interior hasn’t fared as well as the exterior.

Nothing like a full sized stove to make your magic bus complete! I bet it made one heck of a heater, too, if the occupants ever wintered in this thing.

It looks like a primitive chimney was simply routed out the side of the truck, not all that different from some of the sketchy stuff you’d expect at a pipeline protest or that sort of thing. Lefties never change…

I’m not sure what the thought process was here. Perhaps there was a plan for plumbing, but I didn’t inspect it closely. The sky had its own waterworks on the way, and I was a long hike away from my vehicle.

Nope, that’s not a bathtub next to the bus. It’s the remains of an old refrigerator. I’m not sure what the wood behind the bus was for, and I suspect it’s not even from the bus at all.

I was hoping the bus would have some sort of labeling which would give a clue as to its make, model, or even which bus line originally utilized it. Sadly, none exist.

I do suspect, however, that this was bus number 415 somewhere…I just wish I knew where. Thankfully, there are places online for people who geek out on antique buses, so I will likely consult them.

I’m glad I had the chance to finally, after all these years, come out to see this relic for myself. I actually thought it was some kind of van or box truck, but when I spotted this bus I was delighted to have found such an interesting relic.

Suddenly I realized it was time to say goodbye – the storm was approaching more quickly than I’d anticipated. I had a lot of expensive camera equipment, including a drone, with me, and I didn’t want to get it doused. That’s when another wrinkle presented itself.

As it turns out, this bus sits on a sliver of land not owned by my friend. He bought tons of land in the area in pieces over time, so I didn’t think anything of the fence fifty feet on the near side of the bus. I was corrected when the owner of that sliver of land came out to greet me and explain that I was no longer on my friend’s land. Oops.

I explained the situation and apologized for my misunderstanding, and they were cool about it. They gave me a ride back to where my vehicle was parked, and I stowed my gear in the back of my vehicle just as the rain started. And it rained hard shortly after I departed, so I’m thankful for the lift. I didn’t ask for permission to return to their property, so I doubt I’ll ever visit this bus again. But I’m satisfied with the photos I captured that day as well as the story, so now it’s time to chase something else I’ve been eyeing for twenty years. I’m pretty sure I can come up with something. Stay tuned!