On the Road Again!

I have done a lot of traveling since my last post and I am going to break it down into three posts.  I called my port agent today and I have at least one extra day in Philadelphia, so I have plenty of time before the ship sails.

I left Asheville on August 9, 2013 headed for Longview, TX on a Greyhound bus.  What an experience that was!  The bus was always behind schedule.  The people on board were interesting, to say the least.  One guy had a GPS tracking device strapped to his ankle, ther was a Buddhist (Hare Krishna?) monk that continuously play video games, and young men wearing their pants at their knees so that their multi-colored boxer shorts showed their rear ends.  I have never seen so many neck tattoos on one vehicle!  The bus was very crowded from Greenville, SC on.  The bus from Greenville arrived late and that was it for the rest of the trip.  I changed buses in Atlanta and from there it was straight down I-20 to Longview stopping in every little town along the way.  At 3:00AM we arrived in Jackson, MS and were told to get off the bus so it could be serviced and cleaned.  This means that they spray a little water from a garden hose on the windshield and fill the tank with diesel.  The garbage left by my fellow travelers was still on the bus when we finally got back on board.  It took a while because there was supposed to be a driver change and the new driver never showed up.  Smart man or woman!  Finally a driver arrived and we were back on the road to Longview two hours late!

The pooch in Shreveport, Louisiana.

I think I was the only person on the bus that did not smoke.  At each stop everyone would rush off the bus and burn a couple of smokes as fast as they could.  This led to the whole bus smelling like a smoky barroom on Sunday morning after a Saturday night.  At each bus stop I was constantly harassed for cigarettes or spare change.

The bus finally arrived in Longview two hours late and I felt like I had just gotten off a plane from Europe.  Bus lag?  My father was waiting on me and I needed a shower and a nap.  When I took my shower I scrubbed and scrubbed trying to get the Greyhound experience out from my pores.  My nap was heavenly!

Tomorrow I will post about my visit with my family in Longview, TX.  Check back then!