Thoughts from the Road - 2

[I am now staying at my sister's house, and unfortunately, my WinXP computer won't connect to her wireless network. Her house is all Apple, could that have something to do with it? So i am writing this entry on her Apple MacBook!]

In Columbia SC, i got a quick smoke at noon, then right back on the bus. Our stop at Walterboro SC at a McDonald's for an official lunch break was supposed to be at noon, but we were still running an hour late. i spent the stop eating a Big Mac and didn't get a smoke. I discovered my mother had called twice in the past hour but i had been asleep and missed them.

At this point i notice that the driver has a seat belt! none of us get a seat belt!

Between Beaufort SC and Savannah GA we went over one very long bridge and a whole lot of water. I'm going to have to check an atlas when i get a chance. I notice my first palm trees around Savannah. We weren't supposed to change buses until Jacksonville, and we were supposed to get a half-hour break in Savannah, but as soon as we get in, the driver tells us quick, move over to the next bus for a non-stop Jacksonville Express. Twelve passengers moved and we took off immediately, and by 6p we were in Jacksonville FL and back on schedule but at the cost of no stop in Brunswick GA and no smoke breaks since Savannah GA at noon. Like a dummy, i get to the smoking area and find my pack is empty except for a leftover half-cigarette. I had another pack on the bus but we weren't allowed back on while they cleaned it, so i ended up having to find a curly-haired hispanic fellow traveller to bum another smoke, which was okay cuz he had been borrowing my lighter all day. We got our scheduled hour break in Jax before hitting the road again. I get a seatmate again, a scrawny guy who had rented an apartment in Daytona by mail and hoped to find work there.

We had run into a few sprinkles in South Carolina but here in Jacksonville it is storming big-time, lightning and thunder. The driver predicts we are going to run late again after looking at the traffic on the interstate, but he must have found a way around it, because we made our quick stop in St Augustine FL on time. We were supposed to get a smoke break in Daytona at 830p and we were on schedule but for some strange reason, they told us to stay on the bus. My seatmate debused and I got to spread out for the rest of the trip.

At Orlando we had our last break at 945p (2 smokes) and got back on the road at 1030p. I got another half-hearted security check in Orlando--the first was a more thorough one at Jacksonville, but in both places they just checked my person, my suitcase and backpack were still on the bus. I chatted for a few minutes with a guy wearing a "Cincinnati Bearcats" tee-shirt, turned out he was from Dayton. A lady I talked to was returning to Miami from Las Vegas and would be travelling for 4 days!

Got in to Ft. Pierce FL a few minutes ahead of schedule at 1222a. My parents were waiting when i de-bused, but i made them wait for a few minutes while i got a latte and a few hits on a cigarette before getting in their new Kia to head for their home.

If this part seems to over-emphasize the smoke breaks, 1. i was interested to record how many i got in 28 hours (10), and 2. smokers really do get obsessed with smoke breaks when they are rationed like this.

This MacBook's battery is really lasting! i'm impressed in spite of myself!