I have often said that we have "three targets", if you will... and in a very quick way, I should explain "why" we would even consider something other than our own RLH 3...

Oh, there's no doubt... Regent Low Height 3 is our favourite and there's a multitude of reasons why we're trying to save her... but we had to look at a few "What If" scenarios...

#1 What If... The buses ownership is in question... the fellow in Roswell, New Mexico, is the legal owner, but it's last caretaker in Santa Rosa, California, has a legal claim and is owed money from the owner... What if this problem cannot or will not be resolved? We cannot "speed things along" without paying the Santa Rosa person what he wants (to make the legalities worth his straightening out and taking ownership himself... which he can do...) and we cannot find the fellow in Roswell... That's why we need to raise the purchase money "up front"... so we can grease that wheel... but what if the wheel refuses still to move?

#2: What If... We're trying as hard as we can, but what if we miss our chance? What if the bus is sold or scrapped? What if we collected the money and missed the chance?

#3: BIGGEST What If... I have a ten year old... at this point, NOT getting a double-decker would be as bad if not worse than losing RLH 3... In other words, I'm locked in.

These things said... What do I do if I manage to raise the money, but lose out on our beloved RLH 3???

Answer: Backup plans!

BACKUP PLAN "A": Since a Regent Low Height is the bus of "choice" and may help with those burning questions, use the funds to try and get RLH 39...

...which is currently in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Although it's not THE Regent Low Height we dreamed of, it's a worthy successor and we would be thrilled to work on her.

BACKUP PLAN "B": Assuming RLH 3 and RLH 39 are not forthcoming, switch gears and try to grab a Bristol Lodekka... of which there are many in North America.

Now, what "spurred" me talking about the Lodekka's today?

A VERY kind soul who sold me my last couple of old Buses Illustrated magazine sent me the first part of a series about "Low Bridge Double-Deckers" of which I only had the second part...

...which, sadly, does NOT mention anything about Regent Low Heights...

It does, however, talk at length about the Bristols...

...and had this picture...

It's a Bristol Lodekka - Model LD6G (VRB 521) and I admit, it's danged attractive!

Don't get me wrong, I've always found Lodekka's to be okay in the aesthetics department, but never measuring up to Regent Low Heights... this one comes close though... and Lodekka's have a kind of "funny" look to them I admit I like.

Still, nothing beats our beloved Regent Low Height 3... but if push came to shove... and I had the money... and RLH 39 was not in the cards...

I think I like the above Lodekka because, unlike it's brethren, it has a "full front grill" as opposed to the squat ones.

Oh, while I'm here... check this out...

It was designated XTC 684 and was a prototype Leyland "LowLoader"... they never really took off as a design, but what a kooky front-end! I like it!

So, for those keeping score...

GOAL ONE: Rescue RLH 3!!!

Backup Plan #1: RLH 39

Backup Plan #2: Lodekka

Although the one bus is plenty, you know if I won the "big lottery", I'd have all three... maybe more... like a Dennis Loline?

In all sincerity though, our hearts and minds are fixed on RLH 3... and we do hope to rescue her... as I keep saying, we're all sad to hear that she's currently being used as a garbage tip.

We must rescue RLH 3 and we need your help... Please see the bottom of this post for details...

Okay, how many saw the above or read the above and had one reaction...?

I know, I know... well, it is a "bus blog"... so, occasionally, I gotta do the busly thing!

Of a slightly less boring note AND "bus" related... Frequent readers might remember me mentioning some "kookiness" that might lead to us getting RLH 3 sooner rather than later??? Well, it fell through a while back.

It was a media thing and... well... they loved the idea of the "ghost hunters" running about with their double-decker bus looking into haunted places... but when the costs of getting her running and outfitted came up... and the fact that we don't have a plethora of "private haunted homes with cool witnesses that want to be filmed"... combined with what they wanted to invest in the production (being zero... as usual... no money for us, no money for the bus...) well, it fell through.

This is not unusual... to date, we've done dozens of "media things" (documentaries) for TV and even a movie or two... and only once were we offered a paycheque (or even to have our expenses we ran up participating for these things reimbursed) for our efforts.

I do have to say it... the media folks love to make money from our work... but are rarely willing to help us out with anything.

...and no, media exposure for our "paranormal stuff" really doesn't help us out a whole lot.

Honestly, neither Sue nor myself want to be "on TV"... and don't see ourselves as quasi-celebrities... or want to be quasi-celebrities... We see ourselves as investigators and researchers in the paranormal... and being asked to "dance to the Ghostbusters Theme" (something I was once asked to do) does not only NOT impress us... to be honest, it's insulting.

Oh well... We'll still try to rescue the bus by any means we can.

The usual last note on the old blog... PLEASE SUPPORT THE DREAM!

Please don't forget about our pixel ad site, HelpCoverTheBus.Com and our PayPal donation button (see the upper-right hand side of the blog) and, of course, the NEW Cafe Press shop for T-Shirts and shtuff! (...and who doesn't need some shtuff!)

Please help us make this dream a reality and save a piece of history!

...an entire family would thank you!