Bus and train depot in Kalamazoo, MichiganOn Friday, August 10 I set off on an Indian Trails bus to go to Iowa. I had so many emotions coursing through my veins. I was elated, nervous, excited and happy all at the same time. I was happy because I was going to help volunteer for the candidate who will turn the Republican Party back to the way it should be. I was nervous, because I was going to help volunteer for the the candidate who will turn the Republican party back to the way it should be. I was excited because I would be a part of political history.
I hopped on that bus with a big huge grin. Considering that I was on a bus, people were probably wondering what I was smoking ;). I'll tell ya what, my only high was knowing that Mike Huckabee is the only Republican I will support.
There wasn't too much excitement going south-way throughout the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Mostly I slept. Then we get to Benton Harbor, MI. Until this time, the majority of the passengers each had a seat to themselves. Then we had to wait for another bus to come in so we could add 35 more people. When the other people boarded there wasn't enough room for everyone. Some people would have to stand up for the next 2-3 hours until we got to Chicago.
*Now for the conversation I had on the bus. Many of the people were making jokes about being stuffed like sardines on the bus. One dude said, "We should take a video of this and put on YouTube. We can find a way to blame this on Bush. He was joking and everyone laughed. Well after he said this a political discussion ensued. At first, I just listened, until I found the right time to jump in about Mike Huckabee.
When I found the proper time to jump in I asked them if they had heard about Mike Huckabee. One guy said, "The name sounds familiar, who is he?". I told him about his history as Governor of Arkansas. I let him know that Mike is now running for President. I told him that even though he is a Republican, he doesn't act like how "us blue-collars" view Republicans. The guy said, "I don't care who is a Republican, Democrat or Independent. I just want to know who will put Americans first, before his party or corporate buddies." I told him that Mike Huckabee will definitely put America first. I let him know how Mike feels about corporations sending jobs overseas, laying off people, filing for bankruptcy then giving CEOs major raises. I told him about what Mike Huckabee did for the victims of Katrina. I told them why I was traveling on the bus and let them know that I have never felt the need to hop on a bus to cross three states just to do volunteer work for a candidate.
This gentleman that I was talking to said, "He sounds like a great guy who knows what he's talking about. But if he is everything you say he is, there are too many powerful people in Washington who will do all they can to keep him out. None of these guys, Dem or Rep would want someone like that. They want their fighting with each other and making their corporate buddies rich. More power too him and I hope he does win." I told everyone they need to check out Mike on the web and tell everyone they can about him.
Most of the people were giving their opinions that people like Mitt, Rudy, McCain, Hillary and Barack are the only ones they have been hearing about and that it's all about money. The dude I was talking to mostly, said that there are two difs 'tween Reps and Dems. I hate to talk like this on this blog, but I will. He said, "Republicans use lubrication and Democrats don't." Sorry, but it's true.*
We finally got to Gary, Indiana. Everyone was talking about the economy of Gary. They were talking about the economy of the town and how it was a booming town and now it's nothing. Some of them were saying, "There's a crackhouse, crackhouse, crackhouse, crackhouse, nice house, repeat. Instead of dropping people off, we added more people. Finally we dropped people off in Hammond, Indiana.
We were getting closer to Chicago. Everyone was excited to be on our way. The sky started getting dark. Nobody could really see what direction the bus was going. We turn off the express-way. We get into town, thinking we are in Chicago. But nothing looked familiar to regular riders. Then, everyone was like, "this looks familiar." Guess what? Larry, the bus driver got us lost in Gary. Somehow he turned around and ended up back in Gary.
Everyone was royally ticked. At least there was some people adding humor to defuse the situation. I like, "Leave the driving to someone else." A take on the Greyhound slogan, "Leave the driving to us.
We finally arrived in Chicago an hour after the expected arrival time. I only had 15 minutes to transfer to the next bus. Fortunately that bus was a late. So I had time to buy some rubbery chicken and mashed cardbaord, I meant mashed potatoes and take it on the bus. The Chicago Greyhound Cafeteria used to have great food. I don't know what happened. This next bus was a Greyhound. I like Greyhound better than Indian Trails. Indian Trails doesn't give as many breaks at the stops. Greyhound usually allows breaks at every stop. I took this bus all the way to Des Moines.
Again, slept most of the way. We had a nice little dinner break in Walcott Junction, Iowa at about 1:50 am. I ate at the Arby's at a truck stop. Whatever happened to the local restaurant inside of a truck stop with the waitress who has a big bee-hive and calls everyone "hon"? Anyways, I digress. I went in to the convenience store side, to get some tums. They had a really cool Reese's peanut butter cup display. It was a cardboard cut-out of Elvis holding candy. I wished I had taken a pic of that.
When I finally arrived in Des Moines, after 5am., I just had to hop on one more bus and be in Ames in a half-hour. Lord, I was again grinning like a dork. I could not sleep, even if I tried. When I arrived in Ames the bus depot was outside of town. I walked into town, only to find out my motel didn't open until noon.
I will talk about the excitement from the actual Straw Poll soon. Tomorrow is the 30Th Anniversary of Elvis' death. Tomorrow will be Elvis day. I have an Elvis blog post prepared. I am about to watch Larry King. Normally don't watch him, but he will be live at Graceland. He is going to interview Lisa Marie and/or Priscilla Presley. Sorry I didn't let y'all know sooner. If ya want ya can watch the repeat episode at 3am. Set your DVD or VCR!
God Bless from the Upper Peninsula in Michigan!
I hopped on that bus with a big huge grin. Considering that I was on a bus, people were probably wondering what I was smoking ;). I'll tell ya what, my only high was knowing that Mike Huckabee is the only Republican I will support.
There wasn't too much excitement going south-way throughout the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Mostly I slept. Then we get to Benton Harbor, MI. Until this time, the majority of the passengers each had a seat to themselves. Then we had to wait for another bus to come in so we could add 35 more people. When the other people boarded there wasn't enough room for everyone. Some people would have to stand up for the next 2-3 hours until we got to Chicago.
*Now for the conversation I had on the bus. Many of the people were making jokes about being stuffed like sardines on the bus. One dude said, "We should take a video of this and put on YouTube. We can find a way to blame this on Bush. He was joking and everyone laughed. Well after he said this a political discussion ensued. At first, I just listened, until I found the right time to jump in about Mike Huckabee.
When I found the proper time to jump in I asked them if they had heard about Mike Huckabee. One guy said, "The name sounds familiar, who is he?". I told him about his history as Governor of Arkansas. I let him know that Mike is now running for President. I told him that even though he is a Republican, he doesn't act like how "us blue-collars" view Republicans. The guy said, "I don't care who is a Republican, Democrat or Independent. I just want to know who will put Americans first, before his party or corporate buddies." I told him that Mike Huckabee will definitely put America first. I let him know how Mike feels about corporations sending jobs overseas, laying off people, filing for bankruptcy then giving CEOs major raises. I told him about what Mike Huckabee did for the victims of Katrina. I told them why I was traveling on the bus and let them know that I have never felt the need to hop on a bus to cross three states just to do volunteer work for a candidate.
This gentleman that I was talking to said, "He sounds like a great guy who knows what he's talking about. But if he is everything you say he is, there are too many powerful people in Washington who will do all they can to keep him out. None of these guys, Dem or Rep would want someone like that. They want their fighting with each other and making their corporate buddies rich. More power too him and I hope he does win." I told everyone they need to check out Mike on the web and tell everyone they can about him.
Most of the people were giving their opinions that people like Mitt, Rudy, McCain, Hillary and Barack are the only ones they have been hearing about and that it's all about money. The dude I was talking to mostly, said that there are two difs 'tween Reps and Dems. I hate to talk like this on this blog, but I will. He said, "Republicans use lubrication and Democrats don't." Sorry, but it's true.*
We finally got to Gary, Indiana. Everyone was talking about the economy of Gary. They were talking about the economy of the town and how it was a booming town and now it's nothing. Some of them were saying, "There's a crackhouse, crackhouse, crackhouse, crackhouse, nice house, repeat. Instead of dropping people off, we added more people. Finally we dropped people off in Hammond, Indiana.
We were getting closer to Chicago. Everyone was excited to be on our way. The sky started getting dark. Nobody could really see what direction the bus was going. We turn off the express-way. We get into town, thinking we are in Chicago. But nothing looked familiar to regular riders. Then, everyone was like, "this looks familiar." Guess what? Larry, the bus driver got us lost in Gary. Somehow he turned around and ended up back in Gary.
Everyone was royally ticked. At least there was some people adding humor to defuse the situation. I like, "Leave the driving to someone else." A take on the Greyhound slogan, "Leave the driving to us.
We finally arrived in Chicago an hour after the expected arrival time. I only had 15 minutes to transfer to the next bus. Fortunately that bus was a late. So I had time to buy some rubbery chicken and mashed cardbaord, I meant mashed potatoes and take it on the bus. The Chicago Greyhound Cafeteria used to have great food. I don't know what happened. This next bus was a Greyhound. I like Greyhound better than Indian Trails. Indian Trails doesn't give as many breaks at the stops. Greyhound usually allows breaks at every stop. I took this bus all the way to Des Moines.
Again, slept most of the way. We had a nice little dinner break in Walcott Junction, Iowa at about 1:50 am. I ate at the Arby's at a truck stop. Whatever happened to the local restaurant inside of a truck stop with the waitress who has a big bee-hive and calls everyone "hon"? Anyways, I digress. I went in to the convenience store side, to get some tums. They had a really cool Reese's peanut butter cup display. It was a cardboard cut-out of Elvis holding candy. I wished I had taken a pic of that.
When I finally arrived in Des Moines, after 5am., I just had to hop on one more bus and be in Ames in a half-hour. Lord, I was again grinning like a dork. I could not sleep, even if I tried. When I arrived in Ames the bus depot was outside of town. I walked into town, only to find out my motel didn't open until noon.
I will talk about the excitement from the actual Straw Poll soon. Tomorrow is the 30Th Anniversary of Elvis' death. Tomorrow will be Elvis day. I have an Elvis blog post prepared. I am about to watch Larry King. Normally don't watch him, but he will be live at Graceland. He is going to interview Lisa Marie and/or Priscilla Presley. Sorry I didn't let y'all know sooner. If ya want ya can watch the repeat episode at 3am. Set your DVD or VCR!
God Bless from the Upper Peninsula in Michigan!
7 comments:
Haha, the lube comment reminded me of a threat the drill sergeant used in basic training.
It looks like the political gods put you on the right bus to talk about Huckabee though! Hopefully you changed some minds!
Again, I can't apologize enough for missing you in Chicago. I probably left just a few minutes before you got there.
I can't wait for Part II!
-Kevin
www.ktracy.com
I never knew riding a bus was so much work! You're a trooper.
Btw ... my 2nd cousin is Linda Thompson. I was in Graceland as a small child ... don't remember it, but it makes for a good story.
Kevin,
I think, hope and pray that I did change minds and also was able to encourage people to become more aware of what's going on around them.
Jeremy,
I have been twice. I am going to post a few pics from both times. I don't remember all that much from the visit when I was a kid.
Kinda reminds me of a dream I once had. I was just sort of sitting around, relaxing, and President Eisenhower came to call. Yes, Eisenhower, of the original "I like Ike."
So we chatted. "How are you, old chap? Haven't seen you in a while!" "No, General, not since ninth grade history." We talked about the War, and then the conversation shifted to modern day politics. We deplored the way politicians had become today, how everybody was just greedy for their own gain and didn't care about the good of America.
At this point Ike made an remark so incredibly funny that I awoke myself laughing. Unfortunately, I don't remember it. It was something along the lines of "The only difference between the parties today is that the Democrats drink bottled water and the Republicans don't," although I distinctly recall that the line had something to do with a pimento pepper.
This was before I heard about Mike Huckabee. I suspect General Eisenhower would have approved of him, though.
Congrats on the great showing in Iowa, by the way!
--Nick
www.RightMichigan.com
Thankya, thankya very much!
timotheus,
lol, cool dream. i had a dream once of ronald reagan and teddy roosevelt. they didn't say anything funny though, just that the girl i was dating at the time was going to OD on heroin and get me kicked out of the air force. reagan also said i looked like teddy... my mind must be warped.
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