On the Road Again

From Memphis I took a greyhound bus to Norman, Oklahoma. A friend from Ealing now lives in Norman with her girlfriend Amanda. Pennie is studying for her Masters at the University of Oklahoma, in Norman. I was excited to be heading to friends again, but not so excited about the 5am bus from Memphis to Little Rock. Thankfully it was an hour late, unfortunately when my alarm went off at 3.55am I didn't know this. I stood with my fellow passengers as we were searched, along with our carry-on luggage for bombs and dangerous weapons. It's okay to transport them in the hold. We all watched as a man with a urine soaked crotch was escorted off a bus, everyone silently hoped they wouldn't get his seat.
Finally I boarded the first bus of the day, pulling out of Memphis an hour late. In Little Rock I met my connecting bus that would take me all the way to Oklahoma City, only 30 miles from Norman.
My fellow passengers included a large woman, she looked like she weighed 500lbs plus, wearing VERY revealing pyjamas with a pillow tucked under her arm. I also met a guy who reminded me of Cletus from The Simpson's, he kept asking the driver to stop, "I just want to get me a coke man!". I did befriend one of my fellow passengers Lesley. He was on his way to Oklahoma City to visit his very sick granddaughter. Lesley asked me about the ranches in England, I tried to explain we don't have ranches, but then he asked me the price of a pick up truck in England. I played along.
We finally arrived in Oklahoma City two hours late, I'd missed the bus to Norman, the next one would leave in the evening. I knew Pennie and Amanda were meeting me at Norman's bus station (a garage) so I asked the station guy if he could call the garage in Norman and let them know. But he said no one was picking up the phone. After a taxi ride to Norman and Amanda and Pennie's wasted trip to the City we finally met up. Valuable lesson learned, in future I will carry phone numbers with me, not hidden in my email account.

The Clay/Vargas Residence, Norman

Pennie and Amanda gave me a quick tour of Norman (including the 65,000 seater football stadium that is packed for each game, yes we are talking College Football), and then we went to a great Mexican restaurant. A few hours later we headed out to a bar (I forget the name of) that has great views of Norman and Bingo! Amanda won a game and paid for the beer. Thanks Amanda. I also got to meet some of Pennie and Amanda's friends. We headed home knowing we had an early start the next day (4th July) for the drive to Stigler, Oklahoma to join Amanda's family for the Independence Day celebrations.