Put Your Shoes Back On and Other Adventures on Greyhound

 After my two week Loony Bin run, I am back home in Michigan! Like my run last year, I took Greyhound. I am happy to report that unlike last year's trip, there were no bus break downs, no passenger arrests and no fellow rider showed me a knife "because you never know what might happen."

But, what would a bus trip be without a glitch? Sadly, we encountered a truck wreck (it ran off the highway), an hour away from Ann Arbor (my final destination). Our bus got to the accident site a couple minutes after it happened, and we waited for two hours on the side of the highway. There were a ton of fire trucks, a news crew, an ambulance and a helicopter. To provide some comic relief, one of the police cars racing to the scene got stuck in the ditch. Luckily, there were plenty of tow trucks on hand.

After nearly two hours on the side of the road, our bus finally started moving. Not even kidding, three miles after we started again, we got stuck behind another accident. This time, we waited for another hour.

I rode with some really nice people. On my first leg, I chatted with a grandmother heading from Texas to see her grandchildren in Vermont (we talked for nearly three hours). I also met a woman who was doing the exact same route as me: Tulsa to Ann Arbor. And I even met this little guy (who, upon boarding, was awarded "Cutest Passenger on the Bus"):

There were a couple of loud mouth-breathers and snorers, and I'm sad to report I did not get my own row. But, luckily, I brought earplugs and an eye mask, and I was able to get some sleep.

Other highlights of the trip:

-Successfully getting out of a conversation with a creepy dude who kept going on and on and on about the prices of rent in Texas. He was like Bubba from Forrest Gump talking about shrimp, only 98 times creepier.

-The bus driving coming over the loud speaker and announcing, "Whoever took your shoes off, you need to put them back on."

-Overhearing this conversation between two guys who didn't know each other.

Dude 1: "If you go to Ypsilanti, there's a good burger places there."
Dude 2: "Oh, I don't eat meat." Dude 1: "I don't either. I just meant they have a good veggie burger."

So that made me happy.

But, what made me even happier was successfully timing my potty breaks to avoid the nasty bus bathroom...that is, until we got stuck on the highway for three hours. And even then, I must say, the bathroom wasn't entirely terrible. Not getting Hepatitis from the toilet seat for the win!