Raven's Roads
Living an interesting life: the travels and musings
of motorcycling author Linda R. Moore

May 9, 2006

May 6th

So, the bus. I’ve never travelled by Greyhound before, though it’s just like National Express, and I’ve done my share of travel that way. There’s a song by “The Divine Comedy” that sums it up; just a long 7-hour haul. There were two Los Angeles buses leaving within an hour of each other; we’d paid extra to be on the express, which takes 7 hours. The one we got on (and nobody checked to see we did the right thing) would have taken twelve hours, stopping more often. The driver was mellow about it and brought us back to the terminal.

We stopped for breaks here and there; lunch at Coalinga Junction. Much of the route is rather dull, right through the Central Valley, mile after mile of agricultural land. You know you’re getting close to Los Angeles when you enter the mountains.

We got there a little early, caught a cab to the hotel — Best Western Dragon Gate. Pricier than my usual thing, but not too bad for a city’s downtown. Settled in, then went exploring in Chinatown.