Westward Bound: The Great Greyhound Adventure of 2007. part 4

We left off as we were leaving the bustling Chicago station. After a hectic transfer we were indeed on our way to Milwaukee, where we wouldn’t actually transfer, but, rather, make a stop, since it is a major city of sorts.

We leave Chicago around 10:30 pm, so our arrival time in Minneapolis, our next transfer, is the next morning. With this knowledge I make full use of the Target knock off brand of ,what is essentially, Unisom. I was able to sleep all right from Atlanta to Lexington, but it’s the getting to sleep that is an issue. You’ve got people all around you, it’s not exactly comfortable, and, lest you forget at any time, you are on a bus. Now I don’t want this to be blown up into some huge pharmaceutical endorsement…but Target brand knock off Unisom is amazing. I take one little blue, non habit forming, pill and within maybe 10-15 minutes I am out like a light. It doesn’t leave me drowsy in the morning, and I sleep like a baby on the bus. I take one as soon as we are on the road from Chicago.

Before I fall asleep, I learn a few things about my fellow bus riders for this leg of the trip. The first thing is that two of them really do not get along. How do I know this? I don’t know, really, and I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but when two people start fighting - with their fists - on the bus, I tend to assume that they are not exactly on the best of terms. Now I know, I know this would be an amazing story for you to read about, however, I had already taken said magic blue pill and was awoken just long enough to know that a fight had indeed broken out. The two were separated, and were not on the bus with us beyond the next stop. I apologize for not having more details; it will probably happen again.

I also learn that my other favoured mode of transportation has not been too reliable lately. Apparently Amtrak had some problems with route from Chicago to Madison, so a bunch of those people were given Greyhound tickets and were our companions on this short leg of the trip. I do love Amtrak as well, but I think that if I were bumped down to the bus, I would not be a happy camper at all. Needless to say, these people were not happy campers. They were pleasant enough, and I suppose it was fortunate that for all of these people, their last stop was in Wisconsin, so they didn’t have to stay on the bus past morning.

We pull into Milwaukee. I am awoken by my sidekick, as it were, that we are all getting off the bus, and transferring to a new one. There is, much to our surprise, something wrong with the steering on the bus, and we need to get on a different one. Let me put that another way- The bus that had just transported us from Chicago, IL to Milwaukee, WI had a problem with the steering - that which controls the bus. And, in case you forgot, buses are quite large. I might have been worried or upset had I not taken the blue pill earlier. Remember how I said with the pill I’m never drowsy in the morning? Well “morning” does not apply to 4 in the morning. 4:00am is not morning, nor is it evening. It is a non-time. Unless confronted with it directly, you would never know that a 4 am exists. It does, and it is less than pleasant to confront it when still drugged and in Milwaukee (without your glasses, I might add, since I was not going to bother to go through my bag to find them and put them on - only to take them off again when we get back on the bus).

We do get back on the bus - this time with more leg room than the bus before, which is good - and continue on our way to the Twin Cities. Without any delay, I am sound asleep and the whole “no steering” issue is well to the back of my mind.

The next time I wake up is fantastic. I wake up on my own about 2 or 3 hours later. The bus is still mostly dark, and everyone else is completely out. I look out the window to see the rolling Wisconsin landscape. Just slightly hilly is how I would describe it. Anyways, it isn’t long after that the sun rises. It’s a beautiful clear day, and the entire sky erupts in color. You know that scene in Lawrence of Arabia, you know, with the rising of the sun? It starts in darkness and then slowly it gets lighter and lighter until you actually see the sun breach over the horizon, and it’s all cinematically beautiful and epic and stuff. It was like that, but in Wisconsin. There have been several times in my life that I have been completely moved by an experience of natural beauty. This was definitely one of them. I’d say it would have been completely worth it to do the whole trip and that be the only positive - that one moment. Luckily there were more, but it was amazing, to say the very least.

We arrive in Minneapolis. One thing to note about midwestern cities is this: They come out of freaking nowhere. We’re driving along, with this vast expansive landscape, when all of a sudden, you look ahead and BAM! there’s a city. Middle of nowhere and here’s a city. No warning, nothing. When you drive into Charleston you ease your way out of nothing. First there’s Summerville, then North Charleston, then Charleston. The Lowcountry here is very sprawling and fades out to the edges. Not so in the midwest. One moment there’s nothing for miles…and then you’re in a huge metropolis without any warning.

Minneapolis may have had one of the nicest bus stations we saw on the whole trip. Chicago and Atlanta were “nice” but they were so busy and cramped. Minneapolis seemed just as busy, but you also had a sense that you had a little more room, and it wasn’t as claustrophobic. We get off the bus, and await our transfer to Bemidji. There’s nothing really interesting to note about Minneapolis station except that it was in the middle of the city, or so it seemed. In other cities, the bus station is on the outskirts in a not-so-nice part of town. In Minneapolis it was very nice and you got to see downtown. I liked it and would hope to visit their fair city, when it’s not ungodly cold, that is.

Our next leg is our first non-Greyhound part of the journey since Southeastern Stages carried us from Charleston to Atlanta. Greyhound does not service Bemidji, as it is in the middle of nowhere, Minnesota, so we will be riding the luxurious Jefferson Lines.

We board this new bus line and it is not as comfortable as the previous buses we have been on. Greyhound currently has ads up promoting their new “more comfortable” seats. Jefferson Lines, I think, got all the old, less comfortable seats that Greyhound didn’t need anymore. There was a weird bar in my seat which prevented me from sitting up straight, so I was forced to slouch the whole time, which isn’t all that comfortable for one’s back either.

We pull into our one and only transfer point, Wadena, MN. This is not even a station. The transfer is done in between a McDonald’s and a Dairy Queen. It is exactly what I have described. You have these two restaurants, and on the road between them there are two spots for buses to park. Passengers will either stay on their current bus, or move to the next one. It’s not that complicated. Either way, it’s fairly amusing.

The next segment of the story is a little too long, and is one of my favourite parts of the trip, so I’ll save it for part 5 coming up. I don’t know how I talked so long about the least exciting leg of the trip, but there you have it. If you’re going to get all your friends to read my blog, the next greyhound post will definitely be the time for them to jump in. It’ll have mystery, deception, loss, romance, adventure, and some delicious Strawberry Rhubarb Pie.

Well maybe not so much romance…but the pie will be there. I promise.

~ by aeqvitas on February 28, 2008.