Riding the Dog

My collegiate years were spent in western New York State, and like it or not, I found myself riding 'the dog' a lot. I think I flew back to Maine twice over those years. The quickest of all the scheduled runs seemed to be the Greyhound that left Rochester around 2:30 in the afternoon and arrived back in Portland, if everything went smoothly, sometime around noon the following day. Basically, it was a 22 hour trip, that I took for Christmas break and then again in May to end the year. Thanksgiving and Spring Break were usually spent with friends near school. Making that trip twice a year was enough for me. Throw in a few variables like snow storms, mechanical problems, and rerouted buses and even a mundane trip got interesting. The nights were long, the seats were greasy to your head, and the food was barely edible. Books, magazines and just watching the New York Thruway and Massachusetts fly by in the darkness kept me company for hours. I do believe my love of driving in the late night hours, watching the dim lights in houses and wondering all the while what these folks were doing in their lives, was given birth on these trips. The voyages were long, but the arrival home was always worth the aggravation. Bow Wow!

ps. Just checked the Greyhound Bus Line schedule. The trip these days takes just under 11 hours for about $123.00. Back then a one way ticket went for about $32.00. Not bad.