Heather of Washington State, USA's Profile

Last year I attended the regional school bus roadeo because my daughter's bus driver was competing and we wanted to cheer her on. The drivers made it look so easy, that I decided to become a bus driver myself. One... Continue reading

Posted Aug 7, 2015 at kandas-adventures

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Saying Goodbye to Oddity the Odyssey

Our Odyssey van was 14 years old and had over 150,000 miles on her. We'd replaced the transmission, the timing belt, the engine mounts, and 2 sets of tires over the years, along with all the routine maintenance. But we... Continue reading

Posted Feb 25, 2015 at kandas-adventures

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Easter 2014

Easter began with an early sighting of the Lindt Chocolates "Gold Bunny Car." In the weeks leading up to Easter I am busy sorting and stuffing several thousand eggs for our neighborhood egg hunt. The Friday before Easter I took... Continue reading

Posted Feb 25, 2015 at kandas-adventures

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Spring Break Staycation 2014 -- South edition

This time we headed South, toward Mt. Rainier We went to Northwest Trek, a park featuring native northwest animals in realistic (but too small) habitats. We'd been there before, but Grammy wanted to go again. Bobcat stretching and rubbing its... Continue reading

Posted Feb 19, 2015 at kandas-adventures

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Spring Break Staycation 2014 -- North edition

One of the joys of being a school bus driver is having the same vacation schedule as my daughters. My mom wanted to travel somewhere, but I convinced her that daytrips would be just as satisfying. Our first day trip... Continue reading

Posted Jan 12, 2015 at kandas-adventures

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Spring Bus Driving Adventures and Bus Roadeo Practice

I finally scored my very first-out-of-district field trip. Another new bus driver from my class last summer got the same trip, too, so the day before the trip I picked her up in my car and we drove the route... Continue reading

Posted Nov 7, 2014 at kandas-adventures

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April 2014 Review

You know how life gets busy (like shoe shopping, above) and you lose touch with friends and relatives (other than watching each other's facebook posts)? Well, April turned out to be a month to reconnect with a lot of people... Continue reading

Posted Nov 4, 2014 at kandas-adventures

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March 2014 Review

The new washer and dryer arrived and I got caught up on 2 weeks worth of laundry. At first the girls were all excited to help with the laundry, for the excitement of pressing buttons on the new machines, and... Continue reading

Posted Nov 3, 2014 at kandas-adventures

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February 2014 Review

This is what happens when you go on errands in the Seattle area during the Super Bowl ... Everyone else is in front of a screen watching, so you have the road to yourself! Never seen the town so deserted!... Continue reading

Posted Sep 23, 2014 at kandas-adventures

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January 2014 Review

Just before Christmas our family grew by one when Little K's friend came to live with us. She stayed with us into January, for about 4 weeks. The girls shared K's room with bunk beds, and enjoyed dressing in semi-matching... Continue reading

Posted Jul 11, 2014 at kandas-adventures

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Finding My Way in a Big Bus

In January I began "subbing," as in filling in on routes when the regular driver was out sick or on an extended field trip. From October 1 through December 20th I was in the "mentor driving" phase, where I was... Continue reading

Posted Apr 7, 2014 at kandas-adventures

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A Snow Day with School Buses

When the School District anticipates a snow day, a robo-call goes out to all the school bus drivers at 5am, telling them to report to work at the usual time, or a little earlier. As a new driver, oddly enough... Continue reading

Posted Apr 3, 2014 at kandas-adventures

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Christmas Holiday 2013

We brought our neighbors along this year when we went to the tree farm. It was cold and frosty, but refreshingly clear for a Pacific Northwest winter day. The girls and Grammy in red and black, on our way to... Continue reading

Posted Apr 3, 2014 at kandas-adventures

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Bus Sheds

In anticipation of leaving the mentor driving phase, with an assigned route, and going into the "sub pool" in January, where each day I'll have to drive a new and unknown route on short notice, I decided to spend a... Continue reading

Posted Mar 24, 2014 at kandas-adventures

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Farewell to Grammy's Pool

When my parents bought their house in the summer of 1965 it came with a ten foot deep in-ground swimming pool. They didn't realize it at the time, but it was just a hole in which to throw money. For... Continue reading

Posted Mar 4, 2014 at kandas-adventures

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Fall 2013 Review

Fall went by quickly, at least for me. On October 1st I began driving students and getting up at 4:30am to get to the bus base early. I came home between shifts to rest my eyes and eat lunch, then... Continue reading

Posted Mar 4, 2014 at kandas-adventures

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Family Field Trip: Composting Facility

It's no secret that I drag my daughters all over the world for unique cultural and educational experiences. Today's fun was had at a commercial composting facility, the destination for yard waste and food scraps collected from residences and businesses... Continue reading

Posted Mar 4, 2014 at kandas-adventures

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Two Weeks of Special Needs Runs

After 3 weeks of driving my first training route I was sent to the smaller satellite base to spend a week with each of 2 different special needs drivers. My first week I was paired with a woman who had... Continue reading

Posted Mar 3, 2014 at kandas-adventures

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Just Add Students...

I completed bus driver training. I passed the test and now had my CDL with school bus and passenger endorsements. Before transporting kids the district had one more test for me: the solo drive. I'd spend one day looking at... Continue reading

Posted Feb 9, 2014 at kandas-adventures

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Summer 2013 Recap

This post shows a few of the things we did before summer ended. The neighborhood church is still under construction, but they had a summer festival out in the parking lot. The fire department came with a truck and "christened"... Continue reading

Posted Jan 29, 2014 at kandas-adventures

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The Big Test

This post is the next chapter in the story of how I reentered the workforce and began a new career after "staying home" with my children. You can read the first post about my finding this job here, part one... Continue reading

Posted Jan 26, 2014 at kandas-adventures

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Life and Death with Panleukopenia

In the midst of my starting school bus driver training, the Humane Society called. A mother cat and her 1 week old kittens needed a quiet home to grow and gain weight in until they were ready for adoption. There... Continue reading

Posted Jan 11, 2014 at kandas-adventures

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Back to School Fun and Losing Insurance Coverage

My husband left his job and with that went our dental and vision insurance (we're self-paying an obscene amount for health coverage through COBRA for 18 months). Before our coverage expired we had a flurry of appointments, and found out... Continue reading

Posted Jan 6, 2014 at kandas-adventures

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School Bus Driver Training Part Two -- PreTrip Inspection Prep

This post is the next chapter in the story of how I reentered the workforce and began a new career after "staying home" with my children. You can read the first post about my finding this job here, and part... Continue reading

Posted Jan 6, 2014 at kandas-adventures

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School Bus Driver Training Part One -- Learning to Drive

This post is the next chapter in the story of how I reentered the workforce and began a new career after "staying home" with my children. You can read the previous post here. After passing my 4 different written tests... Continue reading

Posted Dec 28, 2013 at kandas-adventures

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