Travel by Bus

The weekend before Thanksgiving I had a plan to visit my daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren, all of whom live in the Summerlin area of Las Vegas. I usually dread the drive because I do not know what the traffic could be like. A clear and easy 4-hour drive can turn into a clogged frustrating drive of 5 or 6 hours.

So I planned to take my motorcycle on this visit. It’s more like a two-wheeled car, but I can still get around traffic jams if I need to. I can carry the luggage I need, it has cruise control, am-fm and a cassette player, etc., and the weather report showed conditions would be ideal for a motorcycle ride.

My wife was not happy about this idea. Actually Dianne was quite upset about it. I did not want to drive a car; that was for sure. There are no trains that go to Las Vegas and I do not enjoy airports. Anyway, it was too late to book airfare at any reasonable price the weekend before Thanksgiving.

Someone suggested craigslist about sharing a ride with someone who would be going to Las Vegas. There were about 9 people going there, but the dates and times did not match up with what I wanted. Then I found a post for Megabus posted by someone who paid $8.50 for a ride to Las Vegas. Apparently if you plan well ahead, or on off hours, you can get there very cheaply. That was not my situation, but the regular fare was only $30 each way. That would have been the same as a tank of gas on my motorcycle each way at current prices.

I booked the trip online and got my confirmation. I left out of Union Station in downtown Los Angeles and got dropped off near the airport in Las Vegas where my daughter picked me up. The trip in each direction was great. The buses were really nice and clean. I saw a DVD movie on the way there and two movies on the way back, none of which I had seen before. I could read, work, sleep, or whatever I wanted. I did not have to concentrate on the road. I was grateful to take the bus home because my traffic fears were realized. There were way too many people leaving Las Vegas on Sunday at 1 pm and the road got jammed by Primm. It took an extra hour to get back to L.A., but I didn’t care. I was not driving. Even though there is a bathroom on the bus, we stopped in Barstow each way for a snack and bathroom break.

I highly recommend this bus service. It is new to the U.S. and only has 24 outbound cities and 9 destination routes. But it they are going where you want to go, it is a relaxing trip. Check them out at www.megabus.com
Rennie