I know this was a few days ago, but I've been swamped here at work.
To be honest, I'm sort of hoping the bus will be horrible so I can convince him to get on a train next time. This trip was his idea, so I know he'll want to go back.
Thanks for all the info everyone!
A charter bus for a school is MUCH different from a Greyhound. I took a Greyhound from Newark NJ to Datona Beach FL in College one year for spring break.
NEVER AGAIN.
There is not much I will not do, or do again for that matter. I would have to be beyond desperate to ride the bus like that again. Lets see why
1) As opposed to your school buddies, you sit with some "interesting" people, including that guy in the Carolinas who invited me back to his place to do drugs.
2) You do not stay on the same bus, you get a stack of tickets the length of your arm and have the pleasure of making transfers at 3:00 AM at a bus station in the middle of who knows where.
3) Some bus drivers have quite the power trip going on, including the one who left about 10 people at an "unauthorized" rest stop around 11:00 at night because they had the nerve to get off the bus when it stopped and the driver got out. The driver responded by YELLING "who told you that you could get off the bus, I didn't turn the lights on, I didn't say this was a stop, I didn't say you could get off the bus" Silly people, wanting to use a semi-clean bathroom, which brings us to point 4
4) Bus bathroom = Construction site port-o-john on wheels - enough said.
5) Your luggage is supposed to be moved from bus to bus for you, as you are transfered from bus to bus. Supposed to be. You best bet, stand at the side of the bus when it gets into the station and watch like a hawk to make sure your luggage is put where its supposed to go next. Otherwise, instead of ending up in Newark like its supposed to, your luggage may decide to take its own vacation to Ontario.
6) If your luggage does decide to ramble across the continent on its own, don't expect the bus company to be like the airlines and deliver it to your house or hotel as soon as they find it. Expect a call 4 days later saying "your luggage is back here in Newark, you have 3 days to pick it up, or we discard it"
7) Not really a problem, but I am convinced all Greyhound drivers are frustrated want-to-be train engineers. Why else would they an announce at every station "This bus will be arriving at Track 3, if you are heading south, the departing bus is on Track 7" It's a bus, there are no tracks.
All of the above is true and happend either to me, or my friends that made the trip with me.
Oh, but the stop at "Joker Joe's" Truck stop, diner, firework stand, and outlet may just be the highlight of the trip.
-dave
