Leaving Las Vegas

4 February - Leaving Las Vegas

Quote: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”

I like to see the ‘real’ country, not just the well worn, often sanitised tourist trails. This has taken me to places like the Shankhill Road in Belfast, with a local I met in a pub and an American tourist, right at the height of anti-American sentiment amongst the Belfast protestants, late on a very quiet Monday night. And to drive a car with Croatian number plates through Serbian Bosnia in the late 1980s.

This time, my inclination led us to take the Greyhound bus from Las Vegas to Flagstaff, Arizona, to see the Grand Canyon. How dangerous could that be? Being responsible for Angus means being conscious of his experience as well as my own. This time the destination wasn’t the issue, it was the means of transport.

We woke at 4.15 am and caught a cab downtown to the Greyhound station, clearly on the wrong side of the tracks, for our 5.45 bus. Most of our pending co-passengers had seen better days (a long time ago), and included apparent ex-cons (probably using their free greyhound ticket given on release from jail). Many of them were asleep on the not very clean floor, surrounded by various tatter (bags) as they lined up well in advance at the door leading out to the bus. There were also some who looked like old army vets. It didn’t look to me like their country had done much for them, but most wore their patriotism proudly, in their US flag trackpants and hoodies. The adolescent black boy at the bus station who mumbled and giggled to himself and occasionally getting up to perform a Michael Jackson style moonwalk, all tiredly ignored by the waiting passengers, turned out to be there for the evening, and not a passenger. A bus station regular.

I was feeling very nervous, and telling Angus not to touch anything, foisting anti-bacterial wipes on him constantly. He didn’t seem too phased though.

As we began to board, my initial impression stood but I realised there were some exceptions - a hard working Cuban family of elderly mum and dad and adult son, who befriended us offering all sorts of bus travel advice, and who were very impressed by our command of English (I couldn’t return the compliment for the elders, though they had been living in Texas since 1967); and an exchange student from Sydney who was with a few other ‘people like us’ (but - ahem - younger).

I listened in to conversations around me on the bus, particularly about Obama's proposed universal health care scheme (no-one is at all clear about what it will do, and all are very fearful of what it will mean for quality of care) and whether Guantanamo Bay should close (they tend to think not).

A very tired looking woman sitting in the seat behind us offered us candy towards the end of the four hour trip though we hadn’t spoken with her at all up til then (and didn't afterwards either for that matter). And a younger woman from Kingman wished us fabulous travels as she left.

Flagstaff was a beautiful town (and is referenced in the Route 66 song). Heaps of snow, gorgeous wooden houses, lots of trees in the streets. The only bad side was all the dog poo on the sidewalks, a particular issue when you’re hauling suit cases along (from the bus station to the car rental place). Guess the owners thought it would freeze over. But people, snow melts.

I'm a bit concerned at the prospect of driving in the snow, on the wrong side of the road, sitting on the wrong side of the car.

There are lots of people in Flagstaff who have long grey hair in pony tails, kind of a Willie Nelson look.

People are generally pretty helpful here, and at the bus station.

Things we’ve learnt:

A: Quesadillas are okay. Giant lifesaver lollies are good.

B: busses in the US aren’t quite as bad as they seem, but should not be used for long distances if you have options. McDonalds in Arizona do ‘McSkillet’ breakfast burritos and they are really good (and filling).

I wonder about American patriotism and how all pervading it must be to withstand the lives some of these people appear to have.