After nine hours of bussing (all of it by James, incidentally) we have crested $14 000, and are well on our way to $15 000. Keep those donations coming, folks — the kids will love you for it :).

So you all know that this Desert Bus awesomeness is for the children, via the awesome charity Child’s Play, a Seattle-based organization that provides toys and games to children’s hospitals worldwide. Tomorrow afternoon (Saturday, Nov. 21) we’re going to be graced with the in-person presence of Child’s Play’s very own Kristin Lindsay! Not only is she the head of this great charity, she’s also an awesome person generally. And she’s traveling to Victoria to guest drive the bus! Tune in to chat with Kristin.

If you have questions for Kristin, please post them as comments here.

After a marathon eight-hour driving shift, James has earned our first point: the first time anyone in DB history has done so by himself!

We’re on our way, folks!

Somewhat unrelated, but this bizarre-possibly-gta-mod-looking game was just posted to Destructoid. Given that it pretty much encompasses what Desert Bus would look like today, I’m posting it for you.

Yes, it’s true! #DesertBus beat New Moon on Twitter’s trending topics, and our viewers drew these to celebrate!

Keep using the #DesertBus hashtag, and let’s see if we can trend tomorrow during peak traffic!

We’ve given away two copies of the Girl’s Guide to Dating a Geek to people watching Desert Bus for being awesome!

Our first winner Kevin Raymond wrote the following haiku:

Why am I a geek?
Oh God, the virginity.
Please give dinosaur.

Then I challenged the everyone to draw a desert bus running over Edward Cullen (a symbol of #desertbus overtaking #new moon as a twitter trending topic) – and Tyler Samson won with this incredible (and rushed drawing!)

Edward Under Bus

Yes, we have passed $13 000 dollars. Thirteen thousand dollars of spite, torture and generosity from you to us: Nothing can stop the bus rush!

Yes, we have gone for five hours without crashing.

In honour of Desert Bus 3, 1Up has updated their fantastic Retronauts blog with an in-depth article about the history of Pen and Teller’s Smoke and Mirrors. I you’ve ever wondered about Desert Bus’s origin, this article will probably teach you a thing or two. If you have a few moments, give it a read. Education is good … for the children!