When Uncle Carter and Aunt Trudy opened Doublecreek, they had a problem. How do you get campers to Doublecreek? The answer was pretty simple. You bus them out!
The first two or three summers, we rented our buses. The camp also had a van. We rented our buses from T.I. Enterprises. I forget what T.I. stood for, but the possibilities are fairly limited. Our bus looked like any other T.I. bus. This company supplied buses to the Universities of Texas for their shuttle systems for students going to and from classes. More than once we had a U.T. students try to get on our bus while we were at a stop light. One morning a students (she looked old enough to be a grad student) was desperately pounding on the door and screaming, "Let me on! Let me on!" One of our campers shouted at her, "Hey! You're too old for camp!" As we pulled away, a very confused grad students watched us roll down Exposition Blvd.
By the fourth summer, we had our own buses. As our camp population grew, so did our fleet of buses. By our tenth summer, we had 5 or 6 buses and they were named by their color. They were called; The Red Bus, The Blue Bus, The White Bus, and The Green Bus. Soon our buses had more personality. We had The Red Baron, The Blue Ghost, The Green Monster, Shamu, The Orange Bevo, The Aggie Bus, and The Tan Can.
The Green Monster was Uncle Carter's bus. It was a piece of work! It was an old City bus. On occasion, it carried half the camp! Before we had Nickel Dive, the Farmer vs. Rancher winner would go to the local Dairy Cream in Round Rock for ice cream sundaes. We could fit the winning team on the Green Monster. It was a sad day when we finally retired the Green Monster.
Early on, Uncle Carter insisted we sing on the bus. I was very timid about singing. I do not have a melodious voice. My vocals can be best described as something between the voice of a frog and an angry crow. One week, each bus was given the task of creating a new song for sing-song. That's where "Joe Ray's Blue Bus" was born. (Later it was Joe Ray's red bus, then orange bus, and now Joe Ray's White Bus) I had no issues singing that song! The song was patterned after "Bill Grogan's Goat". If you don't know "Bill Grogan's Goat", then you haven't experienced Doublecreek. Unfortunately for everyone, I have no issues singing at Doublecreek! I see our buses as an extension of Camp Doublecreek. Our bus fleet had humble beginnings and has expanded both in size and personality.
It is often said that Doublecreek begins with the bus ride. For many campers, their first Doublecreek experience comes when they step on the bus in the morning to when they step off the bus in the afternoon. We want campers to have a rewarding experience and to be safe and happy!
-Joe Ray
