Remember Pittsburgh’s Merry Pranksters?
Max Ferrari and Jack Thornton — two recent Shady Side Academy graduates who used their pandemic downtime to turn a school bus into a solar-powered RV — have finally reached the California coast. And what a long, strange trip it’s been.
Leaving in June, they made a quick stop to see friends in Chicago, then rode Bessie the bright blue bus across the country’s heartland, down to Texas and Oklahoma and on Rt. 66 to California.
Ferrari and Thornton have spent the last week touring the Golden State, with an extended stop in Los Angeles and a romp through the Bay Area.
Bessie has traveled everywhere from the dusty roads of Luther, Okla., and Shamrock, Texas, to the wind-swept streets of San Francisco and Berkeley, Calif.
“Our favorite was probably the Grand Canyon,” Ferrari, 17, of Oakland, said in a phone interview from Martinez, Calif.
“We woke up one morning at like 5 in the morning to do a sunrise hike all the way from the top of the canyon all to the way to the bottom, which was an elevation change of about 6,000 feet and then all the way back up. It ended up being about a 14-mile hike,” he said.
Another highlight, according to 18-year-old Thornton, of Aspinwall, were the good eats along the way.
“There was this little fried chicken store.... It had this great mural of Rt. 66 on the outside. It was very unassuming — it was just attached to some gas station — but it was the best chicken we had ever had,” he said.
Ferrari and Thornton built Bessie in Washington's Landing using YouTube tutorials. Solar panels on top of the bus power the electronics inside.
So far, there’s only been one mishap.
“Everything on the bus was DIY and built by us, so we were a little nervous that, you know, we weren’t exactly sure what was gonna hold up and what wasn’t,” Ferrari said.
After a stop in Shamrock, Texas, Bessie’s battery died.
“It was lucky because we were pretty close to an outlet that was on the outside of the building. So we just, you know, maneuvered a couple things. We eventually got it to start, so that was a little bit of an adventure,” Thornton said.
“But the solar panels, everything that we built, has not fallen apart and everything's working the way we expected, and we couldn't be more thrilled,” Ferrari added.
The guys even created an Instagram handle for their adventures aboard Bessie. According to Ferrari, they’re making friends and fans across the country.
“Everywhere we go we’ll get comments like, ‘Oh, it was fun riding behind you at the national park.’ Or in this town, ‘Best of luck, the bus looks awesome,’” Ferrari said.
“Even the other day, we were at a gas station and somebody was like, ‘Hey, I pulled up your Instagram and that looks really cool. Congratulations.’”
What’s next for the Merry Pranksters? They’re making the long drive back to the ‘Burgh, and the next adventure begins this fall — college.
Jesse Bunch: jbunch@post-gazette.com.
First Published: July 10, 2021, 11:30 a.m.
Updated: July 10, 2021, 3:25 p.m.
