Stuck in the middle with you

28 A.D.

It’s exactly four weeks since we’ve been on the road and disaster has struck!

But more about that later.

Last night Tim wisely steered clear of the Steel Reserve, which meant that I was tasked with drinking it. I managed most of the cans, but had to leave one in the fridge for the maid. It was another slow evening in Albuquerque.

Next morning we left the luggage with the hotel manageress (who was still in her pyjamas at 11 a.m.) and scouted a couple of locations that were used in the excellent TV show Breaking Bad. That was pretty good, but it didn’t take up much time. The problem with Route 66 is that there is virtually no shade on either side of the street and consequently the back of my legs now look like two sticks of rhubarb. I’ve since switched back to jeans, which may come as a relief to many.

We needed to check our emails, so we covertly hung around outside the diner opposite Hot Yoga and leeched the wi-fi. After a while of sitting uncomfortably on the rocky wall, we decided we might as well go inside and sit down with a coffee (this had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that there was only one woman working out in Hot Yoga).

A few hours later and we headed down the hill to the Greyhound terminal. Our bus would be leaving at 4.40 p.m. and getting into Vegas at 5.30 a.m., after a late night transfer in Flagstaff, Arizona. However, when we got to the front of the queue the lady behind the desk told us that our bus was OVERBOOKED! Noooooooo! Desperate and shaking uncontrollably, we ran through our options:

• Amtrak doesn’t run to Vegas.
• We’re way too ugly to be picked up as hitchhikers.
• The next bus from Albuquerque to Vegas is at 7.30 the next morning and it gets into Sin City at 8.20 p.m.

Another night in Albuquerque? No way, Jose! We discovered there was a bus going to Flagstaff at 11 p.m., getting in around 2 in the morning. The next bus from Flagstaff to Vegas was the same bus mentioned above, only it left flagstaff at 2.30 p.m.,  naturally getting to Sin City at 8.20 p.m. (if you’re having trouble following this then think how we managed it while knackered, sweating and dying for a bite to eat!)

So, it looked like we had no choice about the arriving in Vegas at 8.20 bit, but at least if we took the 11 p.m. bus then we could see a bit of Arizona before heading north east to Nevada. And that’s what the Grayboys always try to do – put a positive outlook on every disastrous situation. We’d always feared being unable to board our bus, so now that we’d experienced it, it was as if the sword of Damocles was no longer hanging over us and waiting to strike. Of course, it could happen again further down the line...but let’s not think about that. That said, we’ve got A LOT thinking time coming up while we wait, stranded in New Mexico with sunburnt legs...