[78-L] ARSC^

[Cary Ginell]

Reminds me of a cross-country trip I took on my own in 1978. I had two goals: to go to Bob Wills Day in Turkey, Texas, and then to go on to New York to visit my grandmother in the Bronx. I chose to take Greyhound, and the cross-country trip was a bargain, costing $55 each way. I made it to Amarillo in about 37 hours. Sleeping on the bus was impossible because back then, not only did the seats not recline more than a few inches, but smoking had not yet been prohibited. They had segregated smokers, with the first half of the bus designated as "non-smoking," but c'mon, fellows! The smoke - obviously - did not know to stop at the end of the smoking section, and since I was sitting towards the back of the non-smoking area, I got it full. You could disembark anywhere along the route and pick up another bus later, so I rented a car in Amarillo and drove to Turkey for the festival. On the way back, I got a horrendous flu bug and spent the next two nights, sick as a dog, in a seedy Motel 6. When I recovered, I got back on a different smoky bus and made it the rest of the way. That was enough bus travel to last a lifetime. I took a nice, spacious 747 wide body American Airlines jet home. I didn't care what it cost.  Trains are fine. Buses - not a chance.

Cary Ginell

> From: Philip_Carli at pittsford.monroe.edu
> To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
> Date: Thu, 5 May 2011 23:15:38 -0400
> Subject: Re: [78-L] ARSC
> 
> When I was growing up just north of San Diego, every couple of years my grandmother would travel via Greyhound from Oceanside, CA, to Alberta and back to visit her sister.  I think it took three days each way, at least, without a bed or reliable washing facilities the whole trip.  She was a very tough Norwegian farm girl; I can't imagine going that far by bus and surviving.  It seems almost like a frontier stagecoach odyssey.  PC
>