chartering a bus to big bend

[revkathyr]

Hello,
We are planning a big group campout at big bend and to conserve gas we are wanting to charter a bus to get us there and back with our camping supplies. Surely we are not the first to ever do this. Does anybody have any advice or has done this before?
any feedback is welcome..

[SHANEA]

Contact the Houston, Austin, or Dallas Sierra Club.  They run buses out to Big Bend every Thanksgiving week.

[EdB]

Could a bus even fit on the road to the Basin? If not, you'd be limiting your options for hiking and camping.

[SHANEA]

Could a bus even fit on the road to the Basin? If not, you'd be limiting your options for hiking and camping.

As I said, check with the Sierra Club.  I almost went this last year and they do multiple "events" by splitting up the group.  Some do hikes up in the basin, some do hikes or river trips, some just camp in the basin.  They have designated group leaders. 

This last trip to Big Bend that Jeff and I did - the "Drop Everything" trip, when we had dinner at the Basin on Friday night, there was a huge standard OTR Grayhound type of bus up there full of tourists.  They tour all of west Texas and spend a night or two up in the Basin, so it is possible to get a bus up there.  So, yes, it is possible to get a bus up there.     

[uh_clem]

  I've been on a few of the bus trips. The bus they chartered had seating that resembled restaurant booths. Two bench seats facing each other with a table top on a pedestal in between. The "booths" were intended to accomodate four people and were located on each side of the bus for the full length. At bedtime, the pedestal was removed and the table top placed between the bench seats to form the lower berth. The upper berth was made by resting "planks" on the backs of the bench seats. These "planks" were upholstered and stored overhead. I was never crazy about this arrangement because it occurred to me that while the lower berths seemed pretty safe, the occupants of the upper berths would go flying in case of an accident. 

  This bus was a full size bus and it not only made it into the Basin, it also made it into and out of the campground on one trip. 

[Roy]

It's not the bus that has a problem on that road, it's whoever's heading the other direction at the same time

[uh_clem]

It's not the bus that has a problem on that road, it's whoever's heading the other direction at the same time

There were some dosados involved.

[fartymarty]

  I'm not sure what "dosados" are, but if it's a guy with a pick-up truck that temporarily stops traffic in the other direction
until the bus gets through the sharp turns of Panther Pass, then yes that's what they use. I've seen them do it a couple of times with the
DAN DIPERT tour buses.

   dosados: french, back-to-back ?

[RichardM]

"Swing your partner round and round..."

Dosado (also written do-sa-do) or Dos-a-dos (also written dos a dos) or do-si-do (also written do si do) is a basic dance step in such dances as square dance, contra dance, polka, various historical dances, and some reels.

The term is a corruption of the original French term dos-à-dos for the dance move, which means "back to back", as opposed to "vis-à-vis" which means "face to face".

It is probably the most well-known call in square dancing aside from, perhaps, the "Promenade" or the "Right and Left Grand".

[uh_clem]

...but if it's a guy with a pick-up truck that temporarily stops traffic in the other direction
until the bus gets through the sharp turns of Panther Pass...

   dosados: french, back-to-back ?

No, there was no escort service. The bus was on it's own.
I used dosado as a sort of metaphor for cooperative movement.

  "swing you partner, dosado, allemande left with your old left hand, now promenade around the square"