Greyhound and Lost Land

A nice day. I was a bit tired but it was still nice. I enjoyed not having the thought of school, students, or planning over my head.

I resisted the urge to sleep or turn on my computer this morning. You regular readers know that's how my weekends quickly turn into marathon sessions of sleep or surfing.

I think I've mentioned this before, however, I'm not sure. For the last few days, I've been a bit out of it with end of the school year last minutes activities....mostly paperwork.

Anyway, this summer I will be traveling. Sometime last year a couple of fellow bloggers offered to show me around their neck of the woods -- both made the offer around the same time. I decided to take them up on their offer. In between stressing out about school related activities, I've been making my travel plans. At first my destination was Utah. Then, being the cheapskate that I am, I decided to also make a stopover in Indianapolis. While doing a price comparison, I through in Los Angeles and discovered the price was the same.

I will be traveling to LA by airplane, and then, I'll work my way back to NYC by bus. I was a little nervous about traveling. Regular readers of this blog know that I am basically a homebody. But as my plans started to take shape, I've been very excited about my travels this summer. Hopefully, I will be able to take some nice pictures of my travels and post them here. I will be staying at hostels at the various destinations. Hostels are very affordable accommodations when you are traveling. For those not under 25 yrs. old, the cost can range from $20 per night to about $30. You are basically paying for a place to sleep for the night. Most of the places require you to leave the premises during a 10AM ~ 4PM block for cleaning purposes. So far, I've had very positive experiences with hostels, both here in the USA and in Japan.

Well, today was the last piece of the reservation puzzle. I did most of my arrangements online(airline ticket and hostel reservations in the various cities), but Greyhound was a bit of a tough nut to crack. Greyhound didn't seem as user friendly as Amtrak or the Expedia. Although, Greyhound was (by far) cheaper, there was a slight price to pay for the lack of expense. One was the slight difficulty I had getting information. I tried to buy three tickets at once, but I had some difficulty online and then on the phone. On the phone, they wanted to charge a telephone user fee of $6 and then a $3 mail fee...for each ticket. So, I had to go in person to buy my ticket.

I have to say that the terminal in the NYC was not the most efficient place. Of the 6 clerical terminals, only two had clerks. Both in their mid 60's complaining about who was going to relive them (one was due a break and the other was off the clock). They also complained about the lateness of the rent a cop who was suppose to replace the guy who left.

With my bus tickets in hand, I decided to walk around the terminal, and then around 42nd Street. At the last minute, I decided to see the movie "Land of the Lost". I really liked the commercials for the movie, even though I'm not really a Will Farrell fan. The movie was amusing. The goal was to entertain without being too over the top. I was a bit annoyed at the concession stand pricing. On the overhead display it clearly showed 4 different combinations, and directly under was the sign choose and three for $7.50. Imagine my surprise when I ordered the #3(two hot dogs and a soda) and was told the price was $12 and change. Normally, I'm a jellyfish and would have said okay, but I was in no mood to spend about $25 dollars to have a movie experience. I settled for one hot dog and a small (probably 20oz.)soda for $7 and change.

After the movie, I went to visit my foster father. And then return home. I tried to watch TV, but with for some reason, I've not having much luck. I still can't get channels 11, 13, and 21. But I can get 3 or 4 copies of other channels.


Tomorrow, I will be seeing Transformers 2 with an epal in Brooklyn.


Post Date - Saturday, June 27, 2009 10:07PM