Stage two complete! I'm now waiting for my Greyhound to leave Austin and crawl north across the parched countryside to Dallas. It's hot here, especially compared to SF at midnight.
Wobbling from the plane after an extra half-hour's sleep, I managed to locate the information desk where the 70-year-old lady attendant and I worked through our language barrier. Take a taxi for $10, she advised me. What about the bus? I asked. She ummed and ahhed, and eventually admitted that it would cost 75c and take me right to the bus station. I left confused at her reticence.
The bus arrived, and then things became interesting. It was pretty full, and everyone was chatting like old friends. After a few minutes they broke into a song about Jesus.
Being British, and on public transport, I sat quietly until Angela in the seat behind me struck up a conversation (my looking at a map every two minutes probably gave me away as a tourist). "Almost everybody onboard is an ex-convict," she told me in a conspiratorial whisper. "Including me," she added.
She'd been out for two months, and like everyone else was heading to an organisation near the Greyhound Station that helped recently released prisoners find work. She had three kids, living with her mum, that she hadn't seen since getting out, and she'd come through the usual route of foster care herself. She was 29, living in a half-way house and trying to rebuild. I had an informative bus ride.
Now I'm sat in Kick Butt Coffee (the password for their wireless network is "Bruce Lee") with two hours until the Greyhound leaves. By a nice coincidence it's the South by South West music festival at the moment - the biggest arts festival in the world! I've just been moved to make room for the stage, so we'll see who turns up to play.
I'm in Texas!
In Austin on four hours sleep.
One bus leads to another.
Live music! And the coffee guarantees no more sleep today.
