Greyhound #4: Shreveport, LA

This is definitely one of the craziest parts of the trip. Katie and I arrived in Shreveport around 6:30AM and Katie's awesome phone needed to be charged. We walked into the station and found the charging station along the wall so that she could plug her phone in. Little did we know that we were about to have a very interesting conversation with the next two characters in our story. Katie was wearing a New Mexico State hoodie, even though we didn't necessarily want people to know where we were from. Keep in mind that we have been on the bus for almost a full day at this point. We are gross and still in sweats and so tired because we were fast asleep before we stopped in Shreveport. All of a sudden, this guy (later, we would find out his name was Michael) said, "Y'all are from New Mexico?" We looked up and said yes and he goes, "I f***ing hate that state." This is the conversation that followed:

Me: Why?!

Michael: It's so ugly! It's brown and flat and ugly.

Me: It's beautiful!

As we talked, we found out he had spent a year in Socorro, NM.

Me and Katie: Well that's why you don't think it's beautiful!

Me: The sunsets are so pretty and the mountains turn the most beautiful colors!

We continued to argue about the beauty of New Mexico. At this point, another guy had joined in the conversation (I'm pretty sure his name was Shawn). Anyways, Michael just kept asking questions and the weirdest thing was that most of them were directed at me. Where are you going? Why are you going there? Where are you from in NM? How old are you? What are you majoring in? Then it got really interesting...

Michael: So you're like hispanic right?

Me: Um yea (with a very shocked look on my face).

Michael: But only half. Because you act like a white girl but you look hispanic.

Me: (look at Katie thinking, "Is this guy for real?") Yea.

Michael: So your mom is hispanic and your dad is white?

Me: (laughing) No, it's actually the opposite.

Michael: So what's your last name? Mendoza or something?

-At this point, all of us laughed. I knew that was the one question I would not answer. The sweatshirt I was wearing had my first name on it so I definitely didn't want anyone except Katie knowing my last name.-

Michael: What? That's a popular name!

Katie: No, Gonzales is a popular hispanic last name! I don't know anyone with the last name "Mendoza".

Michael: Ok, so what is your last name?

Me: (laughed nervously, but didn't say anything)

Then, I'm pretty sure Shawn changed the subject and I don't remember much after that. Michael introduced himself to me when we went to get back on the bus. I just got back on the bus, not believing what had just happened, when Katie told me that Michael had a tattoo of baby feet on his neck with a name next to it. Katie couldn't believe he was talking me up when he had a baby. I never spoke to Michael again, but Shawn has at least two more stories in our journey.

Moral of the Story: Be smart when talking to characters in a bus station...you never know what they'll try to get out of you.

Greyhound #3: Sweetwater to Dallas, TX

After hitting Big Spring, we continued on toward Sweetwater, TX which is actually where my grandparents live! It was so weird driving through the town and not stopping to see them, but it was 11PM and we stopped for about two seconds when no one was at the bus stop. Before we got there, we passed my grandparents church (shout out to Lamar Street Baptist Church) and we passed the Dairy Queen my Grandpa always takes us to for treats. We even passed the hospital my brother had to visit years ago when he was infected by poison ivy and his eye swelled shut. Oh the memories. Anyways, once we hit Abilene, we changed bus drivers and drove straight through to Fort Worth over the next 4 hours. I was so excited to see the bright lights of Dallas when we finally got there! And then it was time to transfer buses. Katie and I got off the bus, grabbed our bags, and went to the bathroom. It was there that we met another character. Let's call her Shirley. Shirley was probably younger than she looked, and she looked to be about 55 or 60. Most of her top teeth were missing and her blonde hair was stringy and thin. she was wearing a dirty long sleeve shirt, jeans, and a vest and I think something was wrong with her mentally/physically because she kept rocking back and forth on her feet and she was holding onto her left wrist with her right hand and her left palm was turned up. Katie went to the bathroom while I stayed with our bags and Shirley was almost crying as she asked us for money. She told us that she had no money and she just needed a little bit so she could get some food. Unfortunately, I had just given all of my change to a Salvation Army red kettle outside of a Las Cruces Wal-Mart, so all I had for the trip was my debit card. I had absolutely nothing to give her. It was my turn to go to the bathroom since Katie got out and Shirley continued to talk to Katie. When I got out, I fully intended to buy her a sandwich from the shop, but when we left the bathroom, we found out our bus was loading. Katie and I had to run to the terminal and out to the platform. We were at the end of the line, but we made it, checked our bags, and boarded the bus. We sat right behind the bus driver and fell asleep as soon as we were on the road. It was about 3AM and we were exhausted and just happy to be on the bus.

Moral of the Story: Always take the time to help others out in every situation, unless your means of transportation is about to leave you behind in a big city. Then, I'm gonna go ahead and say that it's safe to just catch the bus. :)

P.S. I had to take the picture through the bus window and it was far away so I had to zoom in...not the clearest picture, but I liked taking these at the stations that had them.

Greyhound #2: Big Spring, TX

When you do not take an express bus, you make a lot of stops in small towns on your route to pick people up or drop them off or whatever. Katie and I did not take an express bus, so we stopped in Pecos, TX and Midland and Big Spring and Sweetwater and Abilene until our driver who got on in Abilene said we wouldn't stop again till Fort Worth. Anyways, by the time we got to Big Spring, Katie and I had fallen asleep, but were woken up when the bright overhead lights came on and the bus driver shouted where we were over the PA system. We woke up and after everyone got off the bus for their smoke break, we stood up and stretched for a bit. We had no intentions of getting off because it was 10PM in a sketchy part of a small town and also because of the truck in the picture. It's not a great picture because I took it with my phone through the bus window, but this truck had a sign on the side of it that listed different food products for sale and a single flashing yellow light. Oh yea, and if you wanted to order food, you had to go into the truck where there were no lights. Are you kidding me? I believe that is the definition of sketch! On top of that, the truck operator had a PA system of his own and was shouting, "Hamburgers! Hot dogs! Tacos! Burritos!" over it. The whole thing was so ridiculous and I was so tired that all I wanted to do was go back to sleep. Finally, everyone got back on the bus and we were off to Sweetwater.

Moral of the story: Avoid sketchy trucks that try to sell you food. Especially at 10 o'clock at night.