2015-August-12 USA, New Mexico, Albuquerque: 50 Shades Of Grey...Hound

Fo here folks.  

We are in our 4^th USA state (Hawaii, California, Colorado, New Mexico).  Jean and Anthony are just settling in with their Albuquerque couch surfing host and I thought I’d take the opportunity to tell you all about our experiences on the Greyhound buses.  Greyhound is nicknamed “The Big Dog” by the company itself or “The Dirty Dog” by people we have met.  

J & A’s experiences on the Greyhound have been quite varied but always interesting!  It is often the cheapest option for transport, fairly reliable and we only had one bus run really late.

Interesting (but made up) statistics:

It is interesting to see the diversity of people out on these buses.  I guess due to the price-point it is going to be a skewed population and different to the Americans who fly between cities.  I would guess that the statistics look something like this:

-      There seem to be slightly more men travelling.  I would say 57% Male : 43% Women

-      90% of travellers are on their own

-      The number of people smoking is much higher than in a broader spectrum of society.  My guess would be 65% Smokers:  35% Non-smokers. That’s only really a pain when they waft / walk past you on the bus after a stop

-      I’m guessing a majority of the travellers were unemployed.  It takes a long time to get anywhere on one or more buses, so people who can afford to would rather take the train or fly - especially considering the small amount of annual leave that Americans get

-      Also, particularly amongst the Caucasian travellers, I noticed a much-higher-than-normal incidence of people suffering from mental health challenges

-      And then of course there is the small population (1 – 2 %) of international and domestic long-term travellers like myself, Jean and Anthony

-      0% of Greyhound stops have anything vaguely resembling food within walking distance.  Options out of the many, many stops we have had were all convenience stores at gas (petrol) stations.  One stop had a McDonalds.  

Fo footnote1:  Remember there is no science or formal research applied here.  This is just my snapshot view from the overhead luggage rack as we travelled along.  

 

Me - Waiting For Greyhound In Colorado Springs

Let me try to convey the bus experience to you by listing the buses and people the three of us have experienced.

Bus #1:    Sacramento to San Francisco (3 hours - daytime)

Bus Condition:   Clean. Wifi enabled.  Comfortable seats.  Power points for technology worked.

Interesting People: 

The bus wasn’t full.  There was a diverse selection of folks on the bus all of whom were polite and ‘normal looking’.  The notable exceptions were:

(i)          A teenager across the seats from Anthony asked him if he had any headphones to lend him.  Seriously, even Jean and Anthony don’t share headphones with each other, never mind strangers!

(ii)       There was a lady in her twenties on the bus who spend the entire trip writing in her notebook.  We worked out it was probably part of her therapy because when I looked closer I could see several welts of self-harm marks on her forearms

Fo footnote2:  This bus lulled us into a false sense of security and set our expectations a bit high for future bus rides!

Bus #2:    San Francisco to Reno (7 hours - daytime)

Bus Condition:  Old. Wifi enabled.  Comfortable seats.  Dirty.  Power points didn’t work.

Interesting People: 

Not too many extraordinary people on this one:

(i)          Anthony and Jean were asked to move as they were sitting in the area where seats can be removed to accommodate wheelchairs if required.  A disabled man was mechanically lifted through the side door of the bus.  Anthony noticed that his wife and kid were climbing onto the bus through the main door and offered to move again to let his family sit next to him which he accepted.  All we got from his wife was a dirty look and a snarl

(ii)       A middle-aged lady in front of us thought it was quite acceptable to cut her finger nails on the bus.  Luckily she didn’t start on her toes!

Fo footnote3:  Bus 2, 3 and 4 were part of one 31 hour trip with short transfers between each.

Bus #3:    Reno to Salt Lake City (12 hours - overnight)

Bus Condition:  Intermittent Wifi.  Comfortable seats.  Power points worked.

Interesting People: 

The bus was fairly full and this was by far the most entertaining trip from a people perspective.

(i)          Firstly, the bus driver was a bit odd.  We could not quite put our collective finger on it but he was just a bit too intense and jokey.  Just what you want in your custodian on the roads!

(ii)       There was a lovely gentlemen sitting behind us who was in his eighties.  He was catching 4(!) buses to Nebraska for a family reunion and the whole trip would take him about 45 hours.  We heard him on the phone to his son saying he was cold with the air-conditioning and he had left his jumper in his case which was in the baggage compartment under the bus.  Anthony offered him a scarf to put around him which he gratefully took.  After that he kept hanging around us at every stop hoping for a bit of conversation.  I think he was just very lonely.  What a long journey for an elderly man to make

(iii)     At about 4am we made one of the regular gas station stops.  When we got back on the bus, the man sitting opposite to Anthony started playing a vulgar comedy show on his mobile phone at top volume without headphones.  How annoying! Anthony and Jean decided he would soon turn it down and go to sleep.  What actually happened is Anthony dozed a while and when he woke up properly 35 minutes later, it was still blaring but the man was asleep under a blanket.  Well, Anthony leaned over and shook his leg gently to ask him to turn it down, which he did.  All sorted!  NOT.  He threatened Anthony for the next 2 hours under his breath with “drinking meals through a straw” and “Teach you some respect bh-oy” type comments.  I won’t repeat some of the names he called Jean in print!  When we arrived at Salt Lake City, Anthony and crazy man stared each other down for a few minutes on the bus before crazy man said to meet him out back (they have quite tight security at the stations).  We all got off and decided to stay in the middle of the crowd in the open.  Crazy man paced around for a while but luckily we saw that his girlfriend came to meet him and convinced him to go with her.   We all breathed a sigh of relief that he was not on our next bus.

Bus #4:    Salt Lake City to Denver (12 hours - daytime)

Bus Condition: 

No Wifi.  No electricity.  Anthony’s seat was broken in the reclining position.  Toilet smelled terrible from about half way through the trip!

Interesting People: 

This bus was packed to the hilt.  Each stop where someone got off, their seat was quickly taken by someone joining us.

(i)          We had to wait around the terminal for a while to catch our next bus and it is the first time we have seen Mormons in their cultural dress in so many numbers.  Anthony and Jean chatted to a couple for a while and were expecting some to join us on the bus.  None did.  They all caught the train which went from the same station.

(ii)       The security check was hilarious here.  We had not been checked anywhere else.  Jean asked the guy next to her what they were looking for and his answer was “probably weapons, they don’t like us to carry knives like these” (as he pulled a fairly large knife from his jacket).  So Jean and Anthony stood in line for the security check while I guarded the suitcases – they only wanted to check hand luggage.  The guys asked them some questions about what they were carrying without actually looking in any of the bags and then stamped their tickets and they came back to the general waiting area.  None of us understood exactly what they were trying to achieve with that process

(iii)     Early on the bus ride there was almost another altercation.  A young girl asked a middle-aged guy to stop constantly clicking his lighter.  He shouted back at her that he was “NOT some kind of psychopath”.  Very reassuring!

(iv)     We were surprised on this journey that a lady was allowed to bring her medium-sized dog on the bus with her (not for sight assistance – just a pet)

(v)        Jean kept encountering a lady at each stop who talked her way out loud through her ablutions in the ladies restrooms.  “I am just going to comb my hair and then I can brush my teeth and then it will be time to go to the toilet….”

(vi)     Speaking of restrooms, Anthony also had an interesting moment when a man in his thirties look up at the mirror and said:  “Look at that, the picture of health but dying”.  Unsure if he was expected to comment, Anthony made the decision to stay out of it.   Wise choice I think.

I must say, after being on these 3 buses for a total of 31 hours, all three of us were glad to get to Denver station.

Bus #5:    Colorado Springs to Albuquerque (7 hours - daytime)

Bus Condition:  Clean.  WiFi not working.  Didn’t bother to check the plugs.  Chairs were comfortable.  Great (lady) bus driver, best we’ve had so far. 

Interesting People: 

The bus was about 70% full.

(i)          A young girl behind us in the waiting room had had a panic attack the night before about the journey and was extremely anxious about getting on the right bus and when it was due.  Probably nervous she would miss it.

(ii)       One guy was overweight in his luggage and was told he had to pay $40 extra.  He could not afford it so ended up throwing a good armful of clothing out.  Felt sorry for him!

Jean and Anthony were chatting to someone they met about their “Dirty Dog” experiences and realised that they had gotten away quite lightly.  He had stories of overbooking where he was put onto a much later bus and then his connecting bus cancelled completely.  This cost him an overnight motel and about 2 days extra on his journey.

Showing Off Back Tattoos On 5 Minute (Smoke) Break

OK, so does that mean I won’t sit in the overhead luggage rack of another Greyhound?  

Mmm.. I suspect that, despite some of the above experiences, Jean and Anthony may still choose the mode of transport if it is going in the right direction and the cheapest option. Apart from the savings, a bonus of the bus travel has been the amazing views of the country as the wheels roll along.  Who knows what excitement future trips might hold?!