WALKING ROUTE 66
It’s Got to Be the Going, Not Getting There That’s Good
Harry Chapin got many of his stories on the Greyhound
Four years ago, I walked Route 66 — from Chicago to Santa Monica and blogged about it daily. Now, I am reflecting on the lessons learned along the way.
(Read from the start) The saga continues…
I had to wait for the 10 PM southbound bus to take me to Dallas. I got there around 2 AM and had a two-hour stay over before connecting with the bus to Houston.
I slept most of the way from OKC to Dallas. The Greyhound station in Dallas has power strips along the wall to enable people to charge their electronics. As I was charging my phone, I heard, “A puppy, a puppy.” I turned around to see who it was. The little girl was pointing to the big Greyhound logo on the wall.
While I had lost my balloon apron, I had a few loose balloons in my duffle bag. So I made a poodle for the little girl. Mom was kind enough to permit me to take a picture and post it online. Doesn’t she have gorgeous eyes? And that look, it’s just too much.
How does it get any better than this?
The 4 AM bus took me to Houston, and I arrived early in the morning. But it was a workday, and no one was available to pick me up. To say that Houston doesn’t have the best transit system would be an understatement of galactic proportions. I had to change buses twice, and it was almost noon before I was close enough to walk another 30 minutes to get to my van. I had lunch at Golden Corral, and while there, I worked on finishing up the speech that I was scheduled to deliver the next evening.
As I think back and ponder.
I have always enjoyed traveling at see level. Over the last forty years, I have utilized the services of Greyhound countless times. I have been in Dallas between 2 AM and 4 AM at least a dozen times in the past ten years. Every time I am there, I think about the other times I was there.
Many years ago, Greyhound used to have the See America Pass, where you can purchase a ticket that allowed you unlimited travel across the USA, and I used to love to do that. The last time was $99 for one week, and it was one of the best trips I had.
Just a month earlier, when I came in from Joplin, I remember meeting a young man named Joshua on the bus trip between Dallas and Houston, and I am wondering how he is doing. Wishing you the very best, wherever you are, Joshua.
Stay blessed and be happy, my friends.
Days 80: Home Sweet Home (Original blog post).
Just for fun.
I invite you to tag along if you’re up to it. I am mentioning a few friends who may be interested in it. If you are tagged but don’t want to read my stories daily, let me know in the comments, and I will remove your name moving forward. If you are reading this and aren’t included in the list below, but you’d like to come along, let me know so that I can add you.
Michele Amy Trista Henery Timothy Tim P.G. Sherry Saloni Indra B. A. Linda Sharon Tree Linda Britni Desiree Elisabeth Simona Kristin Helen Julia Chris Rosennab Tom Truenorth Agnes Aurora LauraRaduenz Catherine Joe Stuart Gurpreet BFoundAPen Margie Bob NaNa’sworld Wolfie Rebecca Susannah Paul
As always, thank you for reading and responding.
Here are some of my other stories:
Rasheed Hooda is a published author who has contributed to many of Medium’s top Publications; The Startup, The Ascent, P.S. I Love You, Rogues’ Gallery, and ILLUMINATION, to name a few. He is also a Top Writer for several topics. If you like his work, buy him a cup of coffee, he drinks a lot of it.
