Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Man travels from NY to LA using Greyhound

Outlier experience. A blind friend had to come home earlier than his wife on a family business trip. She put him on the bus from California to Denver. I picked him up. There were 5 people watching out for him, making sure he got off OK, and verifying who I was.

Different time I picked him up at airport. Walked in, plane was early, walked right into him fumbling along with no cane holding his arms out feeling for walls. Proof God looks after drunks and fools.

I've ridden the local routes between mom and dad's house's (35-40 miles) when in Jr high/high school. Last long trip was central valley California to Lake Tahoe (sophomore summer). Amtrack from Hanford to Sacramento, Greyhound Sac to Tahoe. Some sketchy people in Sac bus terminal. Bus smoked, pulled over by the CHP. Driver begged cop to give him a ticket so it would really be fixed.

I'll take a train WAY BEFORE a bus.

Ahh the street-rat express. Used to shuffle bums across America. You couldn't pay me money to ride one.

Never road Greyhound but I did ride the Mexican equivalent from Culiacan to Nogales. It took about 22 hours because even though it was supposed to be an express, the driver would stop in every little town and load up more people and sometimes their goats. We had two or three army checkpoints where we had to get out and get searched a little too. But it really wasn’t as bad as that guy’s experience on Greyhound looked like it was.

I think a lot of people would take a fast, affordable train before they would either drive or fly. It's just that America doesn't have much of a passenger rail system and it's expensive.

The interstates are getting crazy congested in the eastern U.S. Just one example is Interstate 40 through North Carolina. I made my first drive to the coast of North Carolina in 1978. It was non eventful--light traffic, plenty of room. Now, a big part of it is 8 lanes bumper to bumper for a large part of it.

Try I-95 through Florida or I-75 going through Atlanta. A person is lucky if they don't get tied up in at least one traffic jam during a day long drive. My longest was 4.5 hours on I-65 in northern Tennessee. Everybody just shut their cars down and loafed around on the interstate all afternoon.

Getting on an airliner is like checking into prison and they cram you together like sardines.

I can really see the appeal of traveling 250 mph in a comfortable seat on a high speed train.

It's said that Americans love their cars too much for rail travel to become popular. Well, maybe. Cars are definitely convenient. But sitting behind the wheel operating one for 10 hours to travel somewhere has lost a lot of appeal for me. I bet it has for a lot of people. Especially since you're doing 75 mph in a car,.maybe 85 if you want to risk a ticket.

High speed rail does 250 mph and you don't have to operate it risking accidents, traffic jams, speeding tickets, and breakdowns.

While I was Greyhounding to Wisconsin in the 80s, a state cop stopped the bus and hauled the driver away. All of us just got out and stood on the side of the highway. Two hours later, the cop car reappeared, the driver got behind the wheel and took off without saying what happened.

High speed rail would suck. Why? One, they would turn it into security state theatre hell just like airports. Number two, it would be full of all the people who were too poor to afford cars to travel. And you know who and what that means. It would be like Spirit airlines on steroids.

The sad fact is that this country is now too full of uncivilized people for anything as pedestrian, as cheap and efficient public transportation to ever be any fun or safe again. That is unless you enjoy being trapped inside a metal tube hurtling across the countryside with entitled fat baby momas, idiots, and turban wearing goat frickers.

If I can't drive we're not going.
Been on enough planes during our scuba trips .
I'm done

That's why there's separate cars.

Can't afford that. Too many wars, too many illegals to house, feed, clothe, and medicate.

On a bus?

Doesn't sound like it if couldn't get of until she got to Georgia.

Used to be a comedian that did a skit about pubic transportation. Said there were 3 categories; plane, train, and BU-uh-UH-uh-US….thinking he nailed it.

Greyhound = Tom Waits material

I can only recall two rides on greyhound. One was from San Francisco to Santa Clare and the only bus available was a commuter. Three hours to go roughly 50 miles. No choice. My friends wanted to hook me up with this cute read head. and my car was in my garage while I chased down another transmission. I dated he a couple of times but we didn't work out. Stuff happenes.
Second time I was going from the base in Las Vegas to San Francisco to look at a car my dad spotted. I'll just say the first half of the trip was interesting and I slept the rest of the way from Barstow to San Francisco. The car? It was a 55 Olds Super 88 two door hardtop. Guy said it was his late mother's car. Yeah right. Dual 4 barrels headers and straight pipes. Engine had a lope at idle that makes think it had a cam that was not stock. $600. Damn thing was quick.
PJ

Riding the Loser Cruiser is a great way to get lice.
Pass. I'd rather walk.

[video:yahoo][/video]

1980, living in Las Cruces NM where I had sublet an apartment to have a mailing address while applying to the Peace Corps. At the time I was living on day labor.

Got accepted but had to have all preemptive dental work done first which in my case included four extra vestigial wisdom teeth buried in the gum. Had em chiseled out while conscious (Novocain city) and the very next day got on a Greyhound for a four-day journey to Highland Falls NY for a short visit with my parents before leaving for Africa.

I was bloody-mouthed and biting on cotton wool to suppress bleeding, I do recall the stitches and musta had them removed in NY tho I only vaguely recall doing so.

I suppose the trip was much like that guy’s journey but he comes across as sort of a wuss. I do recall a White Ex-Con-looking guy with “LOVE” tatooed on one knuckle and “HATE” on the other who was acting like he wanted to fight me.

Somewhere in the South this older Black Lady sitting across from me dressed in her church clothes fell asleep and her hat fell in the aisle. Without waking her I picked up her hat, dusted it off, and carefully placed it in the luggage rack above her head.

Ex-Con tattoo guy, sitting further back, might have seen that because he suddenly weren’t hostile any more. We didn’t talk or anything but his attitude was different.

See? Sometimes a good deed DOES go unpunished 🙂

'

Next Time Take The Train! You'll just need to first travel back in time to the 1950s.



Santa Fe promo film featuring the lovely actress Virginia Leith.
Music: "Super Chief" by Count Basie & His Orchestra

I 35 has sucked for years.