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!

Final Preparations for Europe

It is really getting down to the wire.  In just a couple of days I will begin a six month trip that involves planes, trains, Greyhound buses, taxis and freighters.  Last Friday I took my wife to the airport and she is already enjoying the unusually beautiful weather there.  I am waiting on the house sitter and have enough time to worry about a million and one things that will never happen.

Here are my plans so far.  First I will travel by Greyhound bus from my home in Asheville, NC to my boyhood home of Longview, Texas.  Roughly 24 hours on a bus.  Greyhound is probably better than the "Chicken Buses" in Central America, but not much.

Greyhound Bus Lines

After spending a week with my Texas family I will travel via Amtrak to Philadelphia.  The last time I rode a train in the United States was after kindergarten graduation in the early 1960's.  The trip will take two days and travels from Longview to Chicago to Philadelphia.

Amtrak

I will (probably) arrive in Philadelphia a day or two before the ship leaves.  I will be aboard the Rickmers Hamburg. 

The Rickmers Hamburg

I will be on this ship for about 19 days.  There will be no internet access while on board so I will have plenty of time to read and write.  The ship will port twice before arriving in Hamburg.  She will port in Montoir, France and Antwerp, Belgium.  I will be transmitting my position via satellite transmitter to my family in Texas, California, Japan and Germany.  It is the only contact I will have them during the three week voyage.  Hopefully my wife will be at the dock when my ship arrives in Hamburg.  If she is not I have no way to contact her and I will just have to wait till we bump into each other in a city of about four million people!

My access to the Interwebs will be sporadic so be sure to check back often.  Of course, my "friends" on Facebook will be notified each new post.