Greyhound trip - Portland, OR to Pittsburgh / Chicago to Cleveland to New Orleans

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NativeSon5859

Conductor
Joined
Aug 6, 2003
Messages
1,057
Location
NOLA
I just got back from a long Greyhound trip… and believe it or not, it wasn’t half bad. The trip ended just a couple of days before the switch to the new reservation system.

PDX to BOI was bus #1. On time, and a very scenic ride. Not completely full so I had a pair of seats to myself. Bus #2 was Salt Lake Express from BOI to SLC.
It was actually a Northwestern bus, no outlets, minimal leg room, but comfortable seats. On time as well. SLC to DEN was back on the Hound. Gorgeous ride up through the mountains to Wyoming. We were about an hour late into DEN but they held my connecting bus to STL. I got the last window seat on that one, last row. But it wasn’t that bad because the folks that used the restroom made sure to not leave an odor, if you know what I mean. After a long 16 hour ride to STL, I connected to PIT. That leg was full once we departed IND. It ran about an hour late. I spent a night in PIT, then I flew to Chicago in the morning. Headed over to the bus station and caught a bus to CLE, because I wanted to check out the old station there. It was beautiful, but it was definitely a shell of its former self. It looked like the restaurant in the building was permanently closed. I then hopped on a direct bus to ATL which was a long 24 hour ride. The current CVG stop is so sad. Just a parking lot and a trailer to wait it. Made it to ATL only about 30min late, then I caught the final
bus to MSY. I slept basically the entire way. Had a pair of seats to myself.

I got to see a lot of the country, got to meet some interesting people, and I did a bit of writing along the way. You definitely get a lot of time to reflect, when you’re on the road.

Will post pics soon.
 
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Pics part 1
 

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Pics part 2
 

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Pics part 3
 

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Pics part 4
 

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You may have had room on the eastbound trip from PDX because for some reason the itineraries via BOI were not always coming up on line. For a while I got the routing via SPK. Rather than fight with it, and because Amtrak coach meals were still uncertain when I booked the trip, and because the bus is 15 hours faster than Amtrak, and because the rail coach fare was four times the bus fare, I'll be on buses for the Hill Lines idea of DEN>PDX via Buffalo, Billings, Spokane, and Pasco.
 
You may have had room on the eastbound trip from PDX because for some reason the itineraries via BOI were not always coming up on line. For a while I got the routing via SPK. Rather than fight with it, and because Amtrak coach meals were still uncertain when I booked the trip, and because the bus is 15 hours faster than Amtrak, and because the rail coach fare was four times the bus fare, I'll be on buses for the Hill Lines idea of DEN>PDX via Buffalo, Billings, Spokane, and Pasco.
Surprised you don’t just hop on UAL…
You must still love bus travel…😉
 
I just got back from a long Greyhound trip… and believe it or not, it wasn’t half bad. The trip ended just a couple of days before the switch to the new reservation system.

PDX to BOI was bus #1. On time, and a very scenic ride. Not completely full so I had a pair of seats to myself. Bus #2 was Salt Lake Express from BOI to SLC.
It was actually a Northwestern bus, no outlets, minimal leg room, but comfortable seats. On time as well. SLC to DEN was back on the Hound. Gorgeous ride up through the mountains to Wyoming. We were about an hour late into DEN but they held my connecting bus to STL. I got the last window seat on that one, last row. But it wasn’t that bad because the folks that used the restroom made sure to not leave an odor, if you know what I mean. After a long 16 hour ride to STL, I connected to PIT. That leg was full once we departed IND. It ran about an hour late. I spent a night in PIT, then I flew to Chicago in the morning. Headed over to the bus station and caught a bus to CLE, because I wanted to check out the old station there. It was beautiful, but it was definitely a shell of its former self. It looked like the restaurant in the building was permanently closed. I then hopped on a direct bus to ATL which was a long 24 hour ride. The current CVG stop is so sad. Just a parking lot and a trailer to wait it. Made it to ATL only about 30min late, then I caught the final
bus to MSY. I slept basically the entire way. Had a pair of seats to myself.

I got to see a lot of the country, got to meet some interesting people, and I did a bit of writing along the way. You definitely get a lot of time to reflect, when you’re on the road.

Will post pics soon.
I don't mind riding a bus for trips 600 miles or less, but NOT if I paid AMTRAK over $2,000 for a 1st class deluxe bedroom and they are trying to shuttle me from San Antonio to Dallas because there was some problem with the Texas Eagle going north (or some similar situation) which has happened to me twice.
 
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