Thursday 2nd October 2003 - Day 19/273 - Detroit, Michigan to Chicago, Illinois
My Wednesday kind of run into my Thursday. I decided to hold out in the hotel bar until 21.00 and then get a cab to the Greyhound Terminal. That was plenty early enough for 00.45 bus to Chicago, but at least I was safe.
I'm glad I did get there early coz I met some really nice people. I did have a surreal conversation with a couple from Canada who noticed my boots and said 'Do you get Timberland's in England?'
The journey was another experience in itself. i felt like I was on the Sunshine Bus. If the bus the other day felt like a scene from the Fugitive then today's felt like the next cast for the Jerry Springer Show. The bus was absolutely and it was an overnight express to Chicago with no stops. The joy.
By far the most interesting character on the bus was Daisy from Alabama. She had the freakiest eyes that I've ever seen. She's got no front teeth and protuding jaw. She was divine and as for her mute husband, well he doesn't even warrant a description.
She was the star of the next Jerry Show. 'My Twin got the brain, but hey, I got the looks'
Daisy got up every half hour for a fag in the toilets (obviously totally not allowed). Daisy couldn't do that or anything else quietly. She walked down the aisle saying 'Excuse Me', 'I'm sorry' and 'This is the last time'.
When she returned to her seat she was prone to a bout of passion with the hunky husband, Chuck. It wouldn't have been so bad had she been sharing a seat with him, but she wasn't. They were sharing with other members of the Springer audience.
Because of the capers of Chuck and Daisy and the general lack of comfort in a crammed bus I managed to get no sleep. So when we arrived in Chicago 20 minutes early @ 4.45 I decided to try and get some kip in the relative comfort of the terminal floor. That was okay until about 7.00 when an officious security guard evicted me because he thought I was a vagrant.
In some ways I'm jealous of the fact that Mx is kipping in a nice hotel, but I do feel tha she's missed out on an experience and what an experience. Maybe she's got it right. I guess when i embarked on the tour I realised that I was in for a number of experiences. I knew that not all of them were going to be great, but I can accept that.
The hostel International in Chicago is really nice. It's just a shame that we couldn't get it for longer. That means 2 more expensive nights in the Regency Hyatt. Due to expense of these nights, we've decided to take Des Moines, Kansas and St. Louis off the schedule and head straight to Memphis on Monday. The accomodation issue is proving a real pain. The cheap accomodation is out of town in motels and we have no way to get to them. Alot of cities don't have hostels and the ones that do are packed.
