Today was my last day in Salt Lake City. I started the day at 5AM. I changed my mind about doing a noisy departure from the hostel. Regular readers of this blog will remember a posting a few weeks ago about a noisy wake up when I had to be up at 5AM.Sorry, I don't know how to post a link to that entry. If I can figure out how, I will post the link to that specific entry below.
Unbelievable Luck!
If you don't see a link, then you'll know I wasn't able to do it.
Anyway, I was up at 5AM. Other than a problem with returning the room key to the keylock (another "easy automatic service" that was anything but easy or automatic). After about 10 minutes of trying to get the key in the keylock box, and trying to call the owner of the hostel, I gave up and shoved the key under the door.
I arrived at the Greyhound station at about 6:30AM. There was already a line about 25 people long. I got behind a trio of ladies who seemed to be ....never mind.
The departure time was suppose to be 7:10AM. The bus departed about 30 minutes late. The last person on should have been the first(a woman in a wheelchair). The bus was packed, but of course you had those who tried to stake out their space by taking up two seats hoping no one would sit next to them. One young lady had her feet up on the second seat next to her, covered in her blanket, sound asleep. The guy in the back was laying down across the three back seats, again sound asleep. I woke up the guy in the back seat. I actually like the back seat right by the bathroom because it is the only seat where you can stretch out your legs. The down side, the very, very down side is when the bathroom is not clean. Not only was the bathroom dirty and stinking up the back of the bus, but person after person kept leaving the seat up causing the back to stink even worse.
I will be on the road until about 6PM tomorrow. There were heavy clouds but luckily no rain. I passed the time reading comics, listening to my MP3 player, and watching the DVD "Disaster Movie". I laughed a couple of time, but the movie was a bit too vulgar for me. On the road, somehow we arrived 1 hour late into Denver. Having to transfer buses in Denver made me a little worry about the late arrival. Also, Greyhound overbooked my transfer bus by an extremely large number. How did I know there was a large number for the overbooking? They needed three buses to get everyone on the road. The good news was that everyone who was suppose to go was able to get a seat. The bad was that I had no time to eat or go to the bathroom. I was a bit annoyed about the late arrival and the overbooking, but I have to say that Greyhound did get me on the road (if a bit delayed), and the ride was not difficult.
Thursday, July 30th
This is a continuation instead of creating a new entry.
Nothing much to report. More time on the road. Towards the end, I realized the two guys seating near me were just released prisoners. The comment about "we're not in jail anymore was the finally confirmation of my suspicion. The envelope showing the prison label "correctional facility..."(sorry, I don't remember). Later, on another bus, there were another two guys having a longer than necessary loud conversation about someone being in prison. For the first time on my bus ride, I felt a bit self-conscious about the "extra" gear I brought with me (MP3 player, DVD player, radio, etc...). But, there weren't any problems.
I arrived in Indianapolis around 7PM. Rather than try for public transportation, I asked the hostel owner for the hostel pick-up service. The hostel turned out to be about 4 miles from downtown.
First impression of the hostel. The hostel had a very warm, comfortable feel. The neighborhood however, was a bit different. The first night there, the nearest store was about a 10 minute walk. Having lived in the inner-city, I had a flash back when I walked into the "local supermarket". Some of the food was out of date, with discount labels for expired food. Frozen foods had freezer burns. There was also a very limited amount of choices(a lot of brands I didn't recognize). The neighborhood seemed to be a mix of low and middle income houses, but seemed relatively okay.
Well, that's about it. First day in Indianapolis. Actually, I should say first evening in Indianapolis. My epal told me months ago that he would only be available for Saturday and Sunday to show me around town, so I won't even bother calling him until Friday evening or Saturday. Since my main goal was to get out of NYC for a while, I told myself that I would just do some solo walking around town. I did meet (online) a couple of locals who said that they might be available for some tour guiding, but I'm not sure if they will or not. Either way, I don't mind doing solo walks around town.
* The attached photo is a picture I took while on the bus on my way to Indianapolis.
Post Date - Friday, August 28, 2009 9:57PM
4 comments:
Yeah, I think finding out I was traveling with convicts would make me a little nervous, too.
They were "exconvicts", so I guess that made it okay. Hopefully, a lesson was learned by the individuals and won't be repeat offenders.
Well, uh, maybe.
Okay, look: I have a friend who served time for stealing stereo equipment from the store where he worked. he learned his lesson and has lived straight ever since. And I have a friend who was accused and acquitted of attempt to molest a girl. But I know the girl, too, and I'm pretty sure that either a) she made it up to get attention or b) she was the one trying to molest him, so that guy doesn't scare me. And I have a friend that I suspect might be serving some time for a few minor things if he'd ever been caught, but he doesn't scare me.
But.
Being in close quarters with ex-cons I didn't know would make me a little nervous. Maybe they were like my friend who served time for a small theft and weren't likely to repeat the crime. Or maybe they were something much scarier.
I'd be nervous, but then again, I'm a woman, and women just plain have to be more careful than men.
Actually, I added the "excon" comment so that I wouldn't come across prejudging without cause. Not to sound sexist, but I agree that a woman traveling across the US (alone) would have some "discomfort" sitting next to a couple of unknown excons.
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