"The wheels on the bus go round and round all through the town... -children's song based on the British song, "Here we go round the Mulberry bush."
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Hubcap wheel of the bus.
On Sept. 26, a group of 42 people from the Senior Circle boarded a bus bound for Cape Cod. We were told the bus would have 50 seats, so there would be plenty of room for all of us. We boarded in order of when we signed up: the first person to sign up, boarded first. Even though I did not sign up last, I was the last to board. Imagine my surprise when there seemed to be no more seats left on the bus. A lot of people took up the whole seat in a two seater spot. The trip coordinator had to make people double up. Pauline, who was my roommate, and I were so happy when we got to sit together. We were hoping to sit by Diane and Stephanie, but that was not to be. Turns out the bus was a smaller bus, and it had a license plate from Mexico, and came with two drivers who were from El Paso. They spoke very little English. Hmmm. Remember the Bob Newhart show with Daryl and his other brother Daryl? Our two drivers were not named Daryl, but Juan and the other Juan. Hmmm again.
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| Loading up...Diane and Stephanie |
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| Diane and Rob |
We look pretty fresh in the pictures don't we? We will see how we look at the end of our trip. It took us four days to get to the Cape, but I worked on my 2013 family album, took pictures out the window, watched movies, read a book, and talked a lot with Pauline.
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| Pauline, my chair and roommate...and me on the day of departure. |
We went through a lot of states: Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. (States not listed in any particular order).
We stopped for gas and a bathroom break, and a family was pulling this jeep piled with stuff. Look at the driver side window.
Then sitting in between their SUV and the jeep they were towing, they had this chair with a very nice skeleton soaking up some rays. I thought these people must have a sense of creativity.
At most of our stops, Pauline and I bought a bottle of diet A&W root beer, which only made us need more stops. She had a terrible time keeping track of her drink. It seemed to take on a mind of its own. It rolled up and down under the seats at will. Forward, back, and sideways. People would wonder where this bottle of root beer came from, and holler out..."did someone lose a root beer?" It was always Pauline's. It happened so frequently, soon there was no need to ask. We just heard, "Pauline, your root beer is visiting me again."
I was not too sure in the beginning about Juan and Juan, but they way they navigated the streets in the large towns we had to go through made my opinion of them go up 100 fold, especially when we got to New York where there was bumper to bumper traffic for hours.
Here are some highlights of photos taken on my iPhone along the way.
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| Coming into Pittsburgh |
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| A building in Indianapolis |
We ate a quick meal at McDonald's in the Bronx. Actually, we got our meals and ate on the bus. When I was in there, I was trying to find out where a plug might be to recharge my computer. I was conversing with one of the workers, but he did not understand me and I did not understand him. The sad thing was that we were both speaking English. Let me just say that was an interesting stop.
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| The Bronx |
One of my favorite stops was at a huge truck stop in who knows where. It had every truck part know to man, plus 18 wheelers to boot, and a nice gift shop.
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| Truck |
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| Me taking a picture of myself in a rearview mirror. |
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| St. Lois painted on the side of a truck. |
Just random shots:
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| House beside McDonald's |
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| Farmhouse. |
Along the way we stopped at the Will Roger's Museum in Oklahoma City, the Museum of Art in Indianapolis, and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh. I will have more adventures to share in the coming days. It has been a real adventure.
