How we got it and why, distance learning!
My wife and I are in our 40s with 4 kids between us between 11 and 14. Early on in 2020 when the pandemic was just getting started and lockdowns were in place, we talked about taking the opportunity to take the kids on an epic road trip.
I’ve always been interested in commercial bus conversions although only in passing and previously had an older gas powered 35’ Winnebago. I love the industrial quality of buses and although I hadn’t yet driven one, I knew they were designed for stacking miles unlike traditional fiberglass RVs. One of our neighbors has an Eagle and I had seen it on a few occasions driving past although didn’t know what it was at the time I really loved the look.
Anyway, late 2020 we received a notice from the kids schools that the school year would start out with distance learning from home. Time to turn this into an opportunity, so we decided to start looking for something we could take the kids on a month-long distance learning trip. They’d be on laptops all day long anyway, might as will be on the road seeing some cool stuff.
Only a week or two in, and a craigslist ad popped up for this 1968 eagle, and it was only a few miles from us.
- Craigslist Ad
The bus was owned by Burl and And Ione Goff. They had run a charter bus company out of Spokane Washington years before. Burl retired in 1979 and converted this bus sometime in the mid-80s originally. He re-powered the bus with a series 60 and Eaton auto shift in 2000 or 2002.
Original Conversion
Burl and Ione spent many years and tens of thousands of miles and lots of adventures on the bus while they owned it. They spent summers in here in Washington and winters in Arizona and were an active part of the Eagle Community. I’d love to hear of any other bus nuts that met or were friends with them over the years.
