Scientology, Foreplay and Rita Hayworth

Hollywood is full of things to see…some things are world-famous, and some things are completely unknown but no less fun to discover! I’ll start with the world-famous.

The Kodak Theatre

The Kodak Theatre is the home of the Oscars. All along the main foyer is a display of every winner of the “Best Picture” Oscar since the awards began. It’s fascinating to see them all next to each other and to remember all the controveries…Shawshank Redemption missing out to Forrest Gump, the time it took for Martin Scorsese to win “Best Director”, and Crash beating Brokeback Mountain in 2005 starting rumours of the academy being homophobic. Every year there is some sort of drams, whether it’s about nominations or outfits or the speeches, and this is where it all happens.

Mann's Chinese Theatre

Mann’s Chinese Theatre is like a game of I-Spy for movie stars…and it’s interesting to see who everyone else is looking for. There’s always a crowd around Marilyn and Sinatra of course. It seemed to me that Sinatra has very small feet!

The stars at Mann's

There are also a few unusual imprints; the Harry Potter trio put their wands in and Whoopi Goldberg left a mark from a dreadlock. One of my favourites though was Rita Hayworth. It’s a bit of a random reason; I am a stickler for grammar and it made me laugh that Ms Hayworth left an everlasting message for all to see with an unnessecary apostrophe. Yes, I am a bit of a geek!

I guess being rich and famous can't buy you grammar!

Now for the lesser know, but no less entertaining, sights of Hollywood. As I made my way across America, I saw a lot of Scientology churches and shops/test centre but this one took me by surprise because it was the first one I saw. When I walked past it, all I noticed was the offer of a “free personality test” in the window. As previously mentioned, Hollywood Blvd is full of sex shops and similar establishments. You can cater to any style and any fetish on one street! But this establishment drew my attention just because they had used the word “Lolz” in their advertising:

Lolz! It's Foreplay!

Here are some more of the lesser known sights of Hollywood.

A shoe shop, which seemed to cater exclusively for ladies of the night. I loved that the word "elegant" is above the word "sale".

A beautiful bit of street art.

Next – Onwards to Venice Beach.

More beautiful street art.

Marilyn Monroe is Outside McDonald’s.

The title of this post may sound like a line from a bad spy film, but it is actually a fact. While wandering up and down Hollywood Blvd, I found Marilyn Monroe and Ginger Rogers Walk of Fame stars outside the local McDonald’s. Out of everything I saw on that long stretch of La La Land, this detail summed up Hollywood for me.

The Walk of Fame.

When I emerged from the metro station and out into Hollywood, they were filming something. There was a massive crowd and they were going a bit wild but I had no idea who the person being filmed was! And so I walked on and I was amazed by what I saw. Hollywood Blvd is all about the contrasts…Mann’s Chinese Theatre, sex shops, Kodak Theatre, tattoo parlours, Walk of Fame, McDonald’s. It’s a lot to take in!

The slightly less glamorous side of Hollywood.

I had never seen so many tacky souvenir shops in one place before and most of them were spectacularly tasteless. I had a choice of sexist slogans on T-shirts, mugs in the shape of a pair of boobs (complete with tan lines) or magnets shaped like bums in thongs to name a few items. The winner of the “Most Tasteless Oscar” has to go to a t-shirt I saw that was in the style of the Obama campaign…except instead of Obama it has Osama Bin Laden, and instead of “Hope” it said “Dead”. I stood staring at it for a while because I couldn’t believe how bad it was. Another great thing about these shops was the staff. They were the most unfriendly staff I had ever come across. They didn’t even tell me how much my purchase was, they just stood there looking exasperated, waiting for me to hand over some cash. They rolled their eyes when I gave them a large bill and they rolled their eyes when I had the exact change. I always smiled and thanked them in my sweetest voice.

One of the many tacky emporiums...excellent free entertainment!

I loved coming home and being able to show people all these photos of rough looking shops and buildings and telling them that the photo was taken in Hollywood! I was also very excited to see all the famous landmarks too. My stomach was doing somersaults the nearer I got to the vantage point to see the Hollywood sign. The best place to see it from the boulevard is from the Highland Mall. There is a lovely courtyard out the back with an Egyptian theme and a massive stone structure where you can see the sign. I was surprised at how far away it was. It looked smaller than I expected but it was a thrill to see it. The most famous sign in the world!As I walked along Hollywood Blvd, I saw a lot of people lying on the ground having their photos taken “next” to their favourite stars. Another regular sight were the characters hanging around outside places like the Kodak Theatre and Mann’s Chinese Theatre…there’s someone for everyone along the boulevard: Marilyn, Elvis, Spiderman, Spongebob, Batman, and even Hello Kitty. Hollywood becomes a friendly place when you walk past these playful characters and critters; they all wave at you and are normally hugging someone. The idea of them (for anyone who is clueless!) is that you can have your photo taken with a famous movie character by paying a tip and they can scrape a living in the in City of Angels.

Next – More of Hollywood and the less famous sights of Los Angeles.

LA’s Dirty Secret?…They have a library!

There is such a massive contrast between Downtown and Hollywood. There was little or no tourist vibe in Downtown Los Angeles and it looks and feels like a lovely city. Hollywood has all the iconic movie sights but Downtown was much more understated.

Sunset across Downtown Los Angeles.

One thing that took me by surprise was the LA library. The films and TV shows tell us that Los Angeles is the intellectual vacuum to New York City’s culture saturation, but I’ve got new-found respect for Los Angeles after seeing the magnificence of the library. It was across the road from my hotel and I went have to look round on my first morning. I am a bit of a Bibliophile so this was a perfect way for me to spend my time.

The Los Angeles Public Library.

As well as the rooms full of books, it had some pretty random sections, such as some Ancient Egyptian statues and a huge rotunda with a glass globe hanging from the centre.

The ornate rotunda of the library.

I like telling people about the library in Los Angeles because it was so unexpected. You think of LA and you think of the glamour and the movies and I didn’t even know about this place until I arrived at my hotel and settled down to read the hardback guide to the city I found in the desk drawer. I found these books in most of the hotels I stayed in and I found them to be a fantastic source of information while I was on my travels. This is an example of a time when I found something new and exciting to see that I never would have found otherwise. And it was free to get in of course!

When I was done drooling over the library, I took the metro from Pershing Square to Hollywood/Vine. I got a bit confused at first because there are three stops along Hollywood Blvd (Vine, Highland and Western) and the end of the line was called North Hollywood and so I wasn’t sure where I was supposed to get off. I had heard Hollywood/Vine mentioned in songs and films so I went with that one. It turned out to be the right one! I saw lots of wannabe gangsters on the metro; cut-off jeans, bandana, swagger. Some of the stations are decorated in interesting ways:

Neon at Pershing Square metro station.

Palm trees and antique film cameras at Hollywood/Vine station.

Which brings me neatly to Hollywood Blvd.

Next – The wonders of Hollywood.

More Tales from the Greyhound

“Every time I check my phone to see if he’s text me, I hate my self a little bit. That’s a lot of hate each day”

My second time on a Greyhound bus was slightly less eventful, and much shorter, than the first. It’s only about 8 hours from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

The San Francisco bus terminal was bright and quiet. While I waited for my bus, an old man started talking to me. I wasn’t really in the mood for small talk but I forced myself to make the effort because he seemed mostly normal by Greyhound standards. He asked the usual questions: Where am I from? Where am I going?. Then he introduced me to his granddaughter and said that she was going to Los Angeles too. He said we should “buddy up and be friends and keep each other safe on the long ride”, it was kind of weird that this guy was trying to fix-up a friendship between me and his granddaughter but I went along with it. She seemed friendly and she looked about 17 or 18. Also, it’s always good to find someone safe to sit next to on a bus.

We sat next to each other the whole way to Los Angeles. I learnt she was on her way to stay with her mother for a few weeks of the summer. When we got off at the meal stop, she asked me how old I was. I told her 23 and she was very surprised. She said I could pass for 17. I asked her how old she was and she said 15! I was more shocked than she was, although she was wearing a knitted hat with badges all over it so I guess I should have had an inkling. That got me thinking that her grandfather must have thought I was about 15 too, at least I hoped he had because otherwise that’s a pretty patronising way to talk to a 23-year-old!

It’s always nice to be told that you look 6 years younger than you are! She was pretty good company for a 15 year old…I never expected to have so much in common with a teenager from California.

I had booked my Los Angeles hotel on one of those secret deal websites where they don’t tell you the name of the place until you’ve paid. I had inadvertently ended up getting myself a room at one of the best hotels in the city at a cheap rate: The Biltmore.

View of the Biltmore from Pershing Square.

I was so out of place with my tourist jumper from San Francisco and the Greyhound tag on my suitcase, that I found it hilarious. I like going to posh hotels though because the staff are always nice. Just in case I’m a British heiress.

The modest lobby of the Los Angeles Biltmore.

Next – I enter the world of glamour, tattoos and sex shops…otherwise known as Hollywood.

Haight and Castro

Haight Street is the edgy/ funky neighbourhood of San Francisco, and The Castro is the gay district. Yes, believe it or not, San Francisco has a designated gay district!

Haight St.

Haight Street was full of street paintings and sculptures and fun little shops. Although, the day I went there was Memorial Day and so all the shops were shut but they looked pretty good…I saw the shops not being open as a good thing because it could deter me from spending money! Haight Street is lined with the classic pastel houses of San Francisco and it’s a beautiful street, you never know what you’re going to discover.

A street sculpture/ carving in Haight Street.

One of the things I loved about the city was the wires that criss-cross above the road. I thought they were for the cable cars but only a small minority of them are used by the cable cars…most of them are there for the zero-pollution buses. It was strange to look over photos at the end of the day and see all these lines streaming across the sky.

A house on Hayes St...and what the sky looks like on a crossroad.

I took the metro to The Castro after having a donut on Market street. The main street of The Castro is plastered with gay pride flags and there are a lot of sex shops. I know that it’s a given that you’re going to find gay sex shops in a gay district but there were so many of them! I had never seen so many in one place before. I actually went into a shop that looked like a tourist gift shop but half of the merchandise was sex toys or hookah pipes shaped like penises. Every inch of this place was gay. I don’t think you can expect anything else from San Francisco.

I think there's room for one more flag...

You can't even have a crepe in The Castro without sexual innuendo!

My hopes of limited spending due to Memorial Day didn’t quite work out. On my wanderings round The Castro I stumbled upon a record shop that was open. My parents bought me an actual record player for my birthday this year and I am obsessed with buying classic LPs and 45s. A lot of my collection is from the 80’s but I’ve got a bit of Rock n’ Roll too. I am a massive Beatles fan and I want to own a copy of every one of their albums on vinyl. The most I have paid for a record was £35 for Rubber Soul (that’s about $50). I was not going to pass up an opportunity to browse through a record shop on the west coast! I wasn’t disappointed. Whilst in Streetlight Records, I bought “Let it Be” by The Beatles, a 45 of “Obsession” by Animotion, a 45 of “I Can’t go for that” by Hall and Oates and “The Greatest Hits of The Beach Boys”, which so so appropriate for California I couldn’t believe it! The irony of it was that the record was in fact a british import.

One thing that caught my attention throughout my time in San Francisco was the carp on the pavement. No, I hadn’t been soaking up too much of the psychedelic 60’s culture. If anyone can tell me if there’s a significance to them or give me any information about them it would be much appreciated.

And now for the final chapter of the stalker story. I had been ignoring his calls to my hotel room and I had fobbed him off once when he showed up in person, but when I got back from Haight and Castro there he was in the lobby again. Yes, again. I was gasping for a cup of coffee and the facilities were in the lobby. I started pouring myself a cup when I heard my name and there he was asking, “Remember me?” once again. I sighed very blatantly and continued to make my coffee. He then started asking me about the Greyhound and inquiring as to whether I had called customer services to complain and get compensation. I was just thinking, “You’re telling me you came all the way across San Francisco to ask me about a bus?” It was pathetic that he was now clutching at straws and trying to find topics to ask me about. I ignored all his questions and then, once my coffee was done, I said, “Leave me alone” and went up to my room. Once again I was worried that he would follow me but he didn’t. This was the last I heard of him. He gets full marks for persistence but zero marks for freaking me out so much!

Next – the trip to Los Angeles, CA.

No Taking Dungeness Crabs

The title of this post is taken from a poster I saw when I took a detour to a pier while on my way to the Golden Gate Bridge. Luckily, I wasn’t planning to take any.

It didn’t take me long to learn how cold San Francisco is. When packing my suitcase for my American travels, I hadn’t really factored in the chance of cold or windy weather. Some of the blame must go to the songs and films that tell you that it never rains in California and people spend all their time on the beach. Ironically enough, California was the coldest state I stayed in! Even in Los Angeles and San Diego it wasn’t exactly warm. I had to go to the thrift store down the road from my hotel and buy a jumper and I had to go to the nearest pharmacy and buy some tights. I had only packed little socks and a pile of skirts and dresses. A big part of this holiday was the shattering of misconceptions about America. So, I am saying definitively that it does rain in California and I didn’t spend any time on the beach because it was too cold!

The beautiful suburbs of San Francisco.

Despite the weather, San Francisco is a great place to wander, so taking a walk to the Golden Gate Bridge was a great way to see the suburbs, the hills and the streetcars. I initially planned to catch a streetcar but it costs $5 and the majority of them don’t really go anywhere; there’s one that takes you from one end of the street to the other! If I hadn’t been on a budget I would have splashed out though because they’re so iconic. While trekking all over the hills of San Francisco, the Powell-Hyde cable cars kept trundling passed me.

A view across the bay...I think I was on Hyde St.

The walk to the Golden Gate Bridge was up and down a lot of hills…the locals claim that San Francisco is built on 42 hills, which sounds about right to me! It was an exhausting walk but well worth it because, once you reach the top of a hill the views are spectacular. You can see right across the bay from some of them and down massively long roads from others. I came across Lombard Street on my walk, also know as “The Crookedest Street in the World”. It was clearly constructed as a tourist trap but the view is incredible. It was one of my favourite views of the city.

The amazing view from the top of Lombard Street.

The walk to the Golden Gate Bridge turned out to be a lot longer than I expected. I got as far as Marina Green on the bay and then I decided to turn back. However, this doesn’t mean I didn’t get a good look at the world-famous bridge! You can see the orange structure from miles away.

Needs no introduction...

The other sight you can see in San Francisco Bay is, of course, Alcatraz. Although I have a habit of calling it Azkaban. Hoards of tourists take the ferry tour across to the island prison each day, unfortunately they were sold out on the day I planned to go, but it’s still very creepy to see it across the water. They have a gift shop dedicated to Azkaban on Pier 39, which sells lots of mugs, shot glasses, t-shirts etc with “Property of Alcatraz” emblazoned on them. I’m sure the people imprisoned in Alcatraz enjoyed shots on a regular basis!

Alcatraz/ Azkaban

To return to the story of the freaky businessman stalking me…he had already rung my hotel room several times, which had led me to unplug the phone. However he was clearly not swayed by this and, later that evening, I went out to buy some Mexican food and when I arrived back at my hotel he was waiting in the lobby! I started to head upstairs when I heard someone say my name. I turned around and there he was. He said, “Hey, so, do you want to go get some food or something?” I said, “Got some thanks” and headed straight up to my room. I was very worried that he was going to follow me to my room! Bt, as far as I know, he left after that. The wasn’t the last of him though.

Next – The Haight, Castro and the final run-in with the stalker.

Flowers in your hair…

Yes, I am a cliché. When I got changed in Salt Lake City, I had deliberately put flower clips in my hair in preparation of my arrival in San Francisco. I can check “Arrive in San Francisco with flowers in my hair” off my “To do” list!

On my first proper day in the city I think I had walked about three blocks and I was smitten. I’m not sure what it is but it’s a beautiful city; little pastel painted buildings with retro fire escapes sit side-by-side with skyscrapers. You can feel the history and modernity clash and it’s bustling and alive and so many of the buildings have quirky old features. My hotel was actually in the part of the city known as the Tenderloin. Anyone familiar with the city will know that this considered the rough area. I would admit that, yes, the block I was staying on was a bit dodgy; I was opposite a homeless shelter and a few doors down from an Oriental sauna. But, San Francisco is one of those cities where even the rough parts are beautiful.

Part of my block in the Tenderloin.

I want to say that San Francisco is the New York of the West Coast but I feel I would be doing it an injustice. I don’t want to compare San Francisco to anywhere. While wandering the streets of that fabulous city, I got the feeling that all that happened at home was centuries ago and it didn’t matter anymore. I realised that I was 6000miles away from everything. I am a double cliché because I did leave my heart in San Francisco. I am still very much in love with it today and it has become my favourite city in the world, coming above the likes of Paris, London and New York.

Love at first sight in Union Square. I was eating a hotdog at the time.

One of the guys I had spoken to on the bus from Utah was born and raised in San Francisco so he gave me lots of tips about where to go. The first place I went was Pier 39. On the way, I called my mother. She asked me what I was doing and I said, “Oh nothing much. Just looking out across San Francisco Bay”.

My first look at the world-famous bay.

Pier 39 is one of the main tourist areas of the city. There are lots of flags, a carousel, and tourist shops with so many souvenirs I was spoilt for choice. There is a left-handed shop, which made me laugh with some of their products…the left-handed wooden spoon being my favourite. But, for any left handers reading this, you can actually buy stuff you might need. My sister requested a left-handed ruler. Basically, it’s the Flanders Leftorium from The Simpsons, except it’s real!

Also available: left handed spatulas and left handed postcards.

Another unique site to see on Pier 39 is the sea lions. When I visited them it was the 21st anniversary of their arrival in San Francisco.

Happy Anniversary Sea lions!

Next – The return of the stalker and my walk to the Golden Gate Bridge.

The Golden State.

“Once we got outside he repeated “I’ve got to go” without giving a reason. He gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek and told me it had been great to see me and spend the evening with me. I don’t really believe him. When he kissed me on the cheek there was such a familiarity and tiny thrill to it that I felt like screaming again.  Literally, as soon as he had turned away to go home, I started to cry silently. I carried on throughout my short journey home and then I just broke down once I got home”

Believe it or not this was my first look at the Golden State:

Not exactly what I was expecting. Especially since we had just driven across northern Nevada aka the desert! I was to spend the next 2 weeks in California, and I would learn how varied a state it is. It’s not all golden beaches, surf and palm trees as the songs and films would have you think! I later learned that the snow on these mountains melts each year as the weather gets warmer, but this year the snow stayed around a lot longer than normal. I never thought I would be able to say that I had seen snow in California.

The White State

We travelled over night from Utah to California, and we arrived in San Francisco at about 2.30pm on the 4th day of the journey. I was tired, cranky and in dire need of a hot bath but, when I saw this view, I couldn’t help but smile:

My first view of San Francisco from the bridge from Oakland.

The drama wasn’t over quite yet though. The Greyhounds had done their work, and had taken me from east coast to west coast but I was to encounter a problem with a passenger. While I was waiting for my suitcase to be unloaded from the bus, a Chinese business man started talking to me. He seemed confused as to what I was doing standing around next to the bus. As previously mentioned, the combination of no washing, little sleep and discomfort had made me cranky and so I was in no mood for small talk from anyone. Once I had my suitcase, I went out the front of the terminal to find a taxi, The businessman proceeded to follow me. Once again, he asked me what I was doing, where I was staying and how long I was going to be in town for. He was shocked to learn I was on my own and he said he would take me for a drink. I told him no thankyou. My taxi pulled up and I said bye to the businessman and then got in. I noticed him hanging around next to the taxi and then he opened the door and got in. Now, call me naive if you want but, I was unsure if this was normal American taxi behaviour and so I just went along with it. I had an over-whelming urge to tell this guy to go away and leave me alone but I am not a confrontational person. Unfortunately.

I made a point of ignoring him while in the taxi. He told me he didn’t live far from the bus terminal so I expected him to tell the driver where he lived and then get out. But, he didn’t. Not only did he stay in the taxi until we reached my hotel, he then got out of the taxi and came into the hotel lobby with me! I made the mistake of being passive aggressive and I kept saying “Okay, bye” but he kept following me. I ignored him once again and went straight to the front desk to check in. He was still hanging round. When I was done checking in I made my way to the lift and he then insisted on giving me his phone number, he asked to take mine but I refused. He asked me if I wanted to go get dinner and I told him that I had just spent four days on a bus and all I wanted to do was have a bath and a nap and could he leave me alone please. He left after this, but not before saying that he was going to “call you later”. I didn’t think much of this remark as he didn’t have my number. However, that evening, my hotel room phone rang about five times! He must have found the hotel phone number online and asked the front desk to put him through to my room. I assumed he had overheard when I had told the receptionist my name.

I was totally freaked out about this, and it had put a bit of a dampener on my first day in San Francisco. After getting sick of the incessant ringing, I unplugged the phone. I thought that would be the end of my stalker. I was wrong.

Next – First day in San Francisco, involving a trip to Pier 39.

Thanks for going Greyhound! Pt4

Yes, there really is a “part 4” of this bus journey! This is the story of Salt Lake City, UT. I started to feel like the prospectors during the gold rush, very slowly making my way to California.

The view from the bus terminal. The snow-covered mountains are a beautiful backdrop but the bus terminals are always in a ghetto part of town!

My fellow passengers were rather irate when we arrived in Salt Lake City and were informed of the 12 hour wait. Everyone headed to the ticket desk to complain and shout at someone other than the driver. I saw this delay as a positive thing. The terminal was spacious and bright and we were the only people there because there aren’t any buses running in the middle of the day.I had just spent about 55 consecutive hours on a bus or in a chaotic terminal so I welcomed this change of pace! I went straight to the bathrooms and freshened up: I brushed my teeth, changed my clothes, re-did my hair and did anything else I could do to make myself feel clean. I then nabbed myself a plug point and charged my iPod and my phone whilst being stretched out on the floor. I don’t think a floor has ever felt so luxurious!

It turned out that something positive had come out of all the complaints; everyone on the bus was given free soda, pizza and a $100 voucher to spend on any Greyhound bus in the future. The Salt Lake City terminal doesn’t have a cafe, only vending machines and so I was very grateful for the pizza. Of course, some people still weren’t happy and were talking loudly about how Greyhound should reimburse everyone for their whole trip. By this time, other people had started to come in and they were very confused as to where we’d got the pizza and soda from! Certain passengers took it upon themselves to tell the tragic and dramatic tale of the bus that broke down.

The time inched onwards but I kept myself amused. Some people took the tram to the town centre to see what Salt Lake City was like. At some point in the evening, I sat near some guys and they started talking to me. One of them was a middle-aged guy called Russell who was from Atlanta, one was a guy about my age from California called Nick and there was also a guy from Los Angeles hanging around too. The majority of the conversation was questions directed at me about the mythical UK. This was my first experience of the fascination  that Americans have for British culture. I was grateful for some people to talk to and it was good to talk about home.

As the hours ticked by, the terminal got more and more crowded. A lot of people showed up for the midnight bus to California and were dismayed and confused to find the line so busy. More drama ensued when our bus arrived. There was a group of people who were making a connection who had just got off another bus and they tried to push in front of the line. The arguments never came to physical blows but it got very heated. One man was saying that he had been waiting for 15 hours in Chicago, someone from our bus said we’d been waiting here for 12 hours and it became a contest of who had the best Greyhound sob story. I stayed well away from all this. In the end, we were all able to get on the midnight bus. This was the first of many angry encounters I witnessed on the Greyhound.

Next – Arrival in California. Finally.

Thanks for going Greyhound! Pt3

We’re still on the second day of my Greyhound ride.

Although, at this point, I had totally lost track of time and day. Anyone who is planning to go on a long Greyhound ride, I will warn you that after the first day and night you start to exist outside space and time. The only way of measuring time is “How far until the next stop?” and most of the time I could only get as detailed as “day or night”. I spent a lot of time sleeping or staring out the window in a comatose fashion. Passengers were at their most perky just after a rest stop but, after about 20minutes, most people were asleep again.

And so, onto Denver, CO. When we arrived at Denver it was a surprise. I now know that most of the western states have the same pattern when you’re on the road; you see little sign of civilisation for hours and then suddenly you are presented with a city on the horizon. Colorado was even emptier than Kansas so Denver was a shock to see. It’s a proper, full on metropolitan city in the middle of nowhere. The Rockies act as a backdrop to the city and they were very beautiful to see. They were sharp and a lovely shade of red. We arrived around sunset so it was the perfect time to see them. To be honest, I cannot remember anything about getting off the bus at Denver and then getting on the bus to Salt Lake City. Denver is the only bus terminal that I can’t conjure up in my mind.

Colorado...or perhaps Wyoming. I wasn't sure of the exact location of the state line. Apologies to anyone from these states if I've got it wrong!

The sections of my cross-country trip were slowly getting worse and the Denver to Salt Lake City part was the clear winner. About two hours away from Denver near the border to Wyoming the driver pulled off the interstate and we sat there on the bus for about 4 hours. The driver said that the headlights had flicked off while he was driving and it wasn’t safe to carry on so he had to call the terminal in Denver to bring another bus. A lot of people were angry; I think I was more irritated than angry. People were shouting at the driver and complaining that he should drive anyway and most of them were blaming him and shouting out what he should do. All the smokers got off the bus and chain-smoked for the duration of the wait. An old woman was shouting at the driver to drive the bus or she would do it herself. Colorado at night is very cold and windy so I avoided going outside and I sat there frozen in the artificial cold of the bus instead. I sat in my seat and tried to shut my eyes and, once I had vetoed all possible ways out of this in my head, I remember thinking, “This must be a dream, this can’t possibly be happening to me” I also recall that I got a bit sad when everyone started either calling loved ones or finding someone who had a phone with battery so they could call loved ones. I’m not sure I’ve ever felt more alone or further from home than I did on that bus in Colorado.

One thing that did strike me as amusing, even at the time, was when the lights were turned off inside the bus. Everyone who had been shouting and stressing out was subdued or asleep within a few minutes. It was as if they’d pumped Valium into the air conditioner!

The replacement bus eventually arrived and some passengers helped transfer the stowed luggage. We got on our way to Salt Lake City. Again. I slept and woke up to the sun rising across Wyoming. I learnt that it’s also known as “Beef Country”. I found the landscape of Wyoming slightly more varied than Colorado and Kansas but there was little or no sign of life.

I'm not sure this photo does it justice, but Wyoming was quite scenic and full of surprises!

We got to Salt Lake City at about 11.30am on the third day. Due to the delay, everyone had missed their connections and everyone going to California was told that the next bus was due to leave at midnight.

Next – The 12 hour wait in Salt Lake City.