A Ticket to Ride

A Ticket to Ride

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Riding Through Life on Multiple Modes of Transportation

1- bus trips between State College and Philly- 1975-1977- I took the Greyhound bus from from college on numerous occasions.  The bus was always filled to capacity and too, too much luggage.

2- bus trips between Williamsport and Philly- 1981-1984- I didn't have a car when I worked in Williamsport so I had to continue with my poor person transportation mode and take the Greyhound with all the other poor people.

3- City Bus- Williamsport, PA- 1981- 1984-  So few people took the city bus which was clean, timely and reasonable.  And I think I was the only person who paid full fare as I was not on public assistance nor was I disabled, nor was my license suspended for any reason.

4- a train trip across the country- Feb 2015- I picked up a train in Baltimore on Sunday and I got to San Francisco by Wednesday.  I loved it.  Sam Stein joined me in Iowa.  We brought food with us and we spent the days in the Observation Car, talking to everyone but the Amish who chose to ignore us.

5- a train trip across Alaska- June 2007- I went with Sharon, Glenn and his father. We had long rides which wandered through mountains and fields and trees.

6- The Bullet Train- Japan- 1994- We were only on this train for a few hours. But was fast, fucking fast and a little intimidating.

7- An overnight train ride from Poland to the Czech Republic- Fall, 2007- I was sharing an overnight car with my brother.  When we saw we only had a lower bunk and an upper bunk, we both held back on offering which bunk we would take.  we both wanted the lower bunk.  I won and he climbed up.  Half was through the night, we passed a border and we abruptly awaken by the border patrol.  I was stunned by the abruptness of the man who charged in our room and demanded our passports.I was befuddled by my haze of just waking up. He hurried me which annoyed me.  But just as fast as he entered the cabin, he left.

8- An overnight train ride in China- Spring 2012- I was teaching in China and asked two students to take me to see the Terra Cotta Warriors.  We had to take a two hour taxi to the closet city and then an overnight train to the Warriors.  We couldn't get a cabin for all three of us.  So Olivia had to share a cabin with a family in another car.  That made me nervous.  And Selia and I shared our cabin with a family of three. We had two bunks and they had two bunks.  It was crowded and smelly.  I didn't sleep well and my eyes burned from fatigue when we eventually left the train.  We were scheduled to take the train home tonight as well and i was dreading the return ride.

9- A fast train in China- Spring 2012- We were returning from our visit to see the Terra Cotta Warriors and dreaded the thought of taking another overnight train to our university campus in central China.  We were tired and just wanted to get home.  My student looked on the Internet and found that there was a five hour fast train to our destination.  It was only $50 which I thought was reasonable but my Chinese students hadn't recommended it before because they thought this was an outrageous price.  I paid the bill and jumped on the train and spent soundly for the entire ride.  We were home before it was dark.

10- The Greyhound bus from Philly to Tucson, AZ- summer 1979- It took three long, stinky, hot, crowded days.

11- The Bryn Mawr Local- stopping at Overbrook, Merion, Narberth, Wynnewood, Ardmore, Haverfrod and Bryn Mawr (Old Maids Never Marry and Have Babies).  I took this train in to Philly from Overbrook for years.

12- The Shopper Special Bus- For a few years, I took this bus every Saturday morning and went into downtown Philly with my sister where she went to a voice lesson.  I think the fare was a quarter.  It picked us up right at our corner and dropped us off in from of the Union League on Broad and Chestnut.  There were always some Hara Khrisna kooks there who frightened me a little.

13- A Small Plane Across the Arctic Circle- June 2007- we left the airport around 10PM and it was still light outside.  There were maybe 8 of us aboard.  My brother-in-law noticed that the fuel gauge indicated that we were very low on fuel.  When he mentioned it tot he pilot, we were all told not to worry as he had a spare fuel tank.  I was nervous until we landed.

14- A Small Plane Ride Across the Okavango Plains- Botswana- Summer 2000-here were three passengers and we were anxious to see animals.  Our diver made it a point to fly over pools of water. "When you live out here, you get excited to see water." t

15- A Small Helicopter Ride Across the Arctic Tundra- Canada- November 2018- I finally, finally took an expensive trip of a lifetime and went to Churchville, Canada to see the polar bears.  Unfortunately, the polar bears had already migrated for the season.  There wasn't a bear to be seen fro 40 miles.  So we took helicopter rides over the Hudson Bay in hopes of

16- A Helicopter Ride Around Pigeon Forge, TN- summer 1997- it was my first helicopter ride and I thought I was going to fall out and throw up.

17- Bus Ride to the March for Our Lives in Washington, DC- March 2018- There had just been yet another mass shooting in a high school in Parkland, FL.  Unlike other shootings, these survivors stood up and called us all out for n=being so passive about these shootings.  So the whole continuity defended on DC in a massive protest.  I took a bus with a group of pre-school educators in Philadelphia.

18- Bus Ride to the Women's March in Washington, DC- January 2017- OMG, the energy was pliable. The realities of the Presidential election were too heavy to bear and this protest was going to be a release so many of us needed.  It was 6 AM and we were all up and ready to protest with all our hearts.  I loved it.

19- The Metro Bus to Boston- Fall 2012- I hopped the bus and made my way to the Sam Adams brewery. I went to the brewery for three days straight and then I hopped back on the bus and went back to Philly. They were too polite and caring for my jaded personality.

20- My 2004 blue Honda Element- I got 243,000+ miles from this car. I bought it in 2008 with 45,000 miles on it and paid $15,000. Then I sold it in 2017 for $1200.