Hey folks, just a quick note that the guys over at Geeks With Issues are doing a 24-hour run of Oregon Trail TODAY that seems . . . vaguely familiar. It’s called the Battle Against Dysentery, and while their game is obviously way more interesting than ours, I’m giving them major props for supporting the kids and testing their gaming marathon muscle. Also, we here at LRR are NOT fans of dysentery.

Check out their webcast, and toss a few dollars their way if you can! If you were late to the Desert Bus party and really wanted to be involved, this could be your chance to contribute! They may even name a wagoneer after you :).

The last PayPal eChecks are clearing the banks this week, and we can say that we didn’t just come close, but we actually did it! We broke through $70,000!

OFFICIAL FINAL TOTAL: $70,423.79!!

Wow. Just, wow.

Well, not really, but it very nearly killed our 5-year streak of a new video every week. So, to avoid such a disaster, we present this, for your enjoyment:

Amongst all the stellar photoshopping that was submitted for the various milestones, several viewers just outright drew us some awesome stuff that wasn’t pinned down to a given dollar amount. Enjoy it here:

Thanks to everyone who submitted them! If we missed your I’m sorry, we’ll find it while we wade through the inbox.

Well, the driving has finally ended. And nearly $70,000 later, we can all rest well. And rest very well we did, which is why this post is nearly a day late.

More posts to follow over the coming days with more of the fantastic images we’ve accumulated over the past week (it feels so much longer).

But for now, just some of the milestone pics we haven’t posted yet:

Thank you, everyone.

It’s the morning after, and I am still in bed. It was all I could to just to roll over and grab my laptop this morning after six incredible and exhausting days. We met some awesome people, raised a huge amount for charity, and (in the final moments) one of our best friends got engaged. Talk about a fantastic success!

The fact that the site still takes a while to load suggests a large amount of traffic, even though we’ve stopped driving, and I wanted to take a couple minutes to note where we go from here. It will take some time to bring the site fully up to date, but of course we want to post the remaining milestone pictures sent in by our viewers. Those of you who participated in our various contests and activities generated a huge amount of creative content, from insane video game names, to fables to limericks to slash fic, and we want to make sure that is also full archived. We have things to sign and mail out, and probably some more stuff to do that I’m blissfully forgetting at the moment. We expect our donation total to increase slightly over the next week or so as well, as outstanding e-cheques clear and are deposited to Child’s Play.

I also wanted to offer up thanks to everyone who helped us make Desert Bus 2 the staggering success that it was this year. Our current donation toal is over three times that of last year, and that success lies greatly on the shoulders of those who called in to wish us encouragement, who took time out of their days to come down and support us, and who used their personal blogs and creative outlets to promote us. You people are amazing. Thanks also go to the press for covering us, sometimes multiple times, and encouraging readers and viewers to prolong our suffering.

Last but certainly not least, I want to thank those of you who’ve been with us in the chat, and who have watched us over our web streams. All of us pointed to interacting with you as our favourite part of the whole experience, and it’s ultimatele the part that makes Desert Bus so special. Thanks also for the donations; $70,000 is a phenomenal amount to raise, but is more significantly a phenominal amount to donate, and all credit for that goes entirely to you. It wasn’t until I looked at Rosco’s facebook this morning that it really dawned on me how many individuals go in to making an event like this what it is, and I need to reiterate my thanks for the huge amount of support over the last several days.

Please come back and see how things shape up. If you’re interested in spending more time with us, stop by LoadingReadyRun and check out our forums, as that’s where we’ll be until next year rolls around. Also, make sure to add Rosco on facebook to keep up with his future adventures.

Cheers, beers, and thanks again for making Desert Bus a phenominal success!

–Jeremy Petter
Driver, duck wrangler
loadingreadyrun.com | desertbus.org

So late this afternoon we hit the 60,000 dollar mark. Something we didn’t even consider. I can, without doubt say not one of us ever thought we would hit this milestone. But we are here and that means we need some more pictures, which thankfully you guys keep sending.

Why to the even numbers always get the love?

Check out the latest installment of Penn Jilette’s “Penn Says” vlog to watch him pitch Desert Bus hardcore. As one of Desert Bus’s co-creators, he knows full well the fury of the desert, and we truly appreciate his support.

Onwards towards $60 000!

If you live in Victoria, BC and would like sidestep PayPal and give cash directly to Desert Bus, please come by the office with your doantions by 3:00PM PST. If you want directions, email [email protected]