Even in his 50s, Ron Zimmerman, a former U.S. Marine, has an impressive presence.
He factors in at about 6-feet, sports a greying Fu Manchu moustache, carries a muscular upper body with numerous tattoos, and rides a Harley Davidson.
I was really curious about his rig–a bright yellow and blue customized 1977 Bluebird bus. Somehow I figured that a guy with that blinged-out bus had to be open to talking about it.
Sure enough, all I had to say was: “Excuse me, sir, can I ask you a couple of questions about your amazing bus?”
Ron, a fulltime RVer, is currently a workamper helping with maintenance at the Valley Sunset RV Ranch in Delta, Colorado, about an hour south of Grand Junction.
He is also recovering from a near fatal motorcycle accident this past winter and is an active member of Soldiers for Jesus M/C, a Christian motorcycle club.
He said he found the bus a couple years back while working on disaster relief after a hurricane and paid $2,400 for it. A pretty good mechanic, he’s put “another $10,000″ into the motor (converting it from propane to gasoline), interior, painting the exterior, and tires all around. He uses his Harley for local transportation and lives fulltime in the Bluebird.
Photos: Ron Zimmerman of Delta, Colorado, and his 1977 Bluebird Bus. (By Julianne G. Crane)
