on a bus to Portland

(One of two new posts, see the long rambling story below this!)

In a couple hours--this means I guess I'm not even going to try to sleep--I'll be heading to the Greyhound station for a bus to Portland, Oregon. I won't arrive till Thursday morning. This is more than twice as long as the longest Greyhound trip I've ever taken (from Chicago to Bryan/College Station, Texas), and my first bus trip in over a year.

It's my 4th or 5th trip to Portland, and first to the Portland Zine Symposium, where I'll be tabling with my zines, stickers, etc. I didn't know of anyone else going from Chicago, so it was up to me to get there myself, and by the time I checked plane fares a month or so ago, I could barely find anything under $400. An advance, Go Anywhere bus fare was $178. It's an inexpensive trip, but more than half of it will be spent on the bus! Greyhound has some vague ad campaign about something they've changed--in all that time, I guess I'll find out what it is.

This is also my first bus trip going farther west than Iowa. I'll transfer in Omaha and Denver (never been, and I'm not really going to get to see it at 6:00 am, either.)

When I get back, I'll have just 10 days to get ready for the City of Destiny Chicago Writers' Night (dull name, I was in a hurry to come up with something) at Quimby's Bookstore. You can look at their web site to see what's going on August 20th.

Talk to you soon...