Day 9: Salinas to Santa Maria

We woke up at 4:50 in the morning, and quickly brushed our teeth and got dressed. Last evening, we asked for a taxi a 5:10, so we hurried out of the building and boarded the taxi. In about 5 minutes, we arrived at the Salinas Transit Center. It was pretty well-lit at 5:20 in the morning, but we still had trouble finding GATE 8 for  our bus. It was hidden behind a big bush, and separated from the rest of the TC. I found an unmarked change machine, and we used it to get some quarters. It was very cold, so I zipped up my coat and read a book.


At about 5:30, the bus pulled in. It was the same big, Greyhound style bus we rode on the 55. I wondered: Why do they use such big buses on not-so-crowded routes? After five minutes, the doors opened, and we bought our day passes and settled in. We had front-row seats, so we could see out of the windshield! So I took some pictures and fell asleep.

A few hours later, we arrived at Fort Hunter Ligget. Someone got on the bus and took everyone's ID (except the bus drivers and mine). FHL is a large expanse with very few trees, and everywhere in sight there is only yellow, dusty ground. I was glad I would get out quickly! The bus dropped us off at a shelter in the middle of the complex, and turned off the engine. A few minutes later, another bus pulled up in front of the 82. This was the 83, out next leg of the journey. We had a 20 minute wait, so I pulled out my Nook, and Appa took some pictures. I felt like I was stranded, and was thankful that we didn't need to stay here any longer.

Then, the 83 opened its doors, and we got in. It had big, squishy seats, and we immediately fell asleep. I woke up in Paso Robles. We rolled in to the AMTRAK station, and got off. Paso Robles station was nice and quiet, and had lots of shade. The next bus, the 9, arrived soon to the station. It used the same type of bus as the 83, yet with less comfy seats. It winded down Route 101 to San Luis Obispo making many stops at intermediate cities. One time, a slightly drunk man got on the bus, and tried to pay his fare. The farebox said "Coin not valid" in a female voice, and the guy muttered "Only a woman would say that" .

We arrived in sunny SLO, at the transfer station. We took the 4 bus to IHOP, and had (in my opinion) one of the best breakfasts of the trip. The only problem was that when we finished our orange juice, they took it and refilled them. That was okay, until they started to bring more and more glasses of orange juice, piling them on top of the ones we finished! They kept bringing more and more, so I asked the maitre 'd to stop bringing us orange juice. A few minutes later, the manager came by, smirked, and said "How 'bout some more orange juice?" We all burst out laughing.

After visiting the Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, a super old monastery with an amazing garden and a museum full of really old artifacts, we hopped on the next bus #10 to Santa Maria. It took us to the Santa Maria transit center, an uncovered concrete expanse with small buses and vans occasionally pulling up to the curb. Then a small blue bus picked us up, and we rode to the Santa Maria public airport. It was the smallest airport I've ever seen! All it had was tiny 2-seater propeller planes! Our hotel, the Radisson, was right next to the airfield, and you could see planes from out your window!