h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I knew about the one in KC. We were looking into going to Chicago by train, but just haven't done any real planning on it. You would think there would be a line running southeast too.
When we went to Vegas by Amtrak, the train was completely full. I can't believe it isn't profitable, as much as our tickets cost!! We could have flown much cheaper.

It's about 25 hours altogether. The train would be around 36 and cost more. I was surprised that the bus'd be quicker than the train, but it seems Amtrak would have me hanging around for ages, whereas Greyhound give you an hour give-or-take for a stopover.

That's a big difference in times. Plus, on the train, you'd have another drive to get here from the train station - adding around 3 hours longer.

Right, St. Louis is about 6 hours shy of Joplin on the bus. I considered mixing train and bus journeys, but Amtrak don't connect any better with Greyhound than they do with themselves.

Greyhound should bring yuou right to Joplin. The bus station is only about 10 minutes from me. Piece of cake on my end.

Sorry, I meant the bus takes six hours to get from St. Louis to Joplin. When's a good time to show up? There's a bus gets in at 9:40am, which seems like it should be early enough. Or there's a 2:50pm, which might be a bit late, especially as I'd want to recover from the journey for a bit.

Actually, how long are people going to be around for? I could always aim for the previous day.

I don't know yet who is coming on which days. If you could come the day before it would give you a chance to rest a bit. You might have a better time on the 4th if you aren't tired.

Were you interested in the float trip? The only one so far who said it sounded fun is FG.

Amtrak makes train travel difficult at best. When we went to Vegas from the middle of KS, we left in the middle of the night, travelled 24 hours and arrived at Needles, California about 2:00 am. From there we took a "motor coach" to Vegas--another two hour trip. When we got to Vegas, our room wasn't ready...............we were exhausted and I'm afraid I wasn't very nice. We had paid an extra day so that when we got there we would have a bed to fall into. I couldn't seem to make the night clerk understand that we had paid an extra day's rent. She said we weren't scheduled to arrive until the fifth. I told her that anything after midnight was the fifth. She found us a room to shut me up............

Bagpuss, are you planning on staying a few days after the 4th? There are some interesting places I could show you.

We thought about taking Amtrak to Connecticut. It just turned into too much of a hassle. And was really expensive. It would have been cheaper to fly.

Float trip sounds good. Having found your description of it, I'm surprised there wasn't much uptake.

I'd like to stay a few days, but I should figure out what my friends in Canada are up to - don't want to miss them.

Right. Understood. It's still early days. Plenty of time to finalize schedules and sightseeing. It's going to be great fun having you here.

Aw shucks.

I should probably get a plane ticket soonish, which is why I was worrying about which bus to get.

Like I said, the bus station is close by. So get the best schedule for you. I can get you anytime. I'd think an arrival on the afternoon of the 4th would leave you pretty tired for the picnic.

I have regretfully removed David B from the list of possible attendees. But the good news is that Yogabiker and his missus are going to try and make it. So the actual numbers haven't changed.

My current thinking is to fly over on the 1st, then catch the bus early on the 2nd, arriving at 9:40am on 3rd. Alternatively a later bus gets in at 2:50pm if that's better for you. The schedules seem to be exactly the same no matter what the day of the week.

Shame we won't see David B. Unless the pair of you were going to spend the whole time talking shop.

Bagpuss, if you get here on the morning bus then it will give us a chance to get together with the other early arrivals - if there are any. And give you time to rest. You'll have to adjust to the time change. I hope you're able to sleep on the .

Sorted. I know people who would think a pre-10am arrival to be an imposition, but I didn't think you'd be one of them.

And I'll probably be one of the early arrivals. I can pick you up so Hyp doesn't have to leave the homestead unattended.

Ta, Witty.

OK and we will probably be down there early as well so if anyone needs a ride, we can accomodate them.
We plan to arrive on the second, as of this posting.