A mega awful ride

This past weekend, I rode the Mega Bus between Cincinnati and Chicago.

via

I have been riding the Mega Bus for almost three years now. 

I am a seasoned veteran. 

Anyway, my ride this past Thursday was one of my worst.

It all started off so well when I found myself standing first in line.

YESSSS!!! You can finally sit in the front row seats on the upper deck! YOUR DAY HAS FINALLY ARRIVED!!!!!! I thought excitedly. 

"Daddy, can we please sit in the front seats up there? I want to look out the window!" The small child behind me asked her father.

Her brother nodded eagerly, "Yeah!!! Those seats are so cool!!"

I sighed and took a seat on the lower deck.

Suddenly, there was a strong smell of cigarette smoke (a smell I honestly cannot stand), and two younger women emerged on the bus. They were talking obnoxiously loud and were total Mega Bus newbies. 

"I mean, how cuuuuuuteeee is this bus?? And like, I mean, it is SOO eco-friendly, right?" The one gushed to whomever she was speaking to on the phone.

And let me just add- this phone conversation was one of several that took place during our ride across the Midwest.

When the bus finally embarked on its journey, the ride felt uncomfortably jerky. I assumed the driver wasn't the best and wished I had brought Dramamine.

We made our customary stop in Indianapolis, and I made a friend with one of the riders we picked up at that stop. And thank gosh I did because just twenty minutes later, our Mega Bus driver pulled over to a gas station and declared that he couldn't get the bus to accelerate past 45MPH.

He also mentioned that there was smoke coming from the back.

Awesome.

"Ummm...well, the gas station doesn't have the oil I need so I guess I'll just walk down to the truck place," our Mega Bus driver said.

The "truck place" was a looooong ways down the road. It would take him at least an hour to walk there and back!

Lucky for all of us, a man pulled up in his pickup truck and called out, "Ya'll need a ride somewhere?"

Our Mega Bus driver hopped in the truck with the local and off they zoomed.

At this point, we all wondered if we would ever see our driver again. Or make it to Chicago.

Our driver did return ten minutes later, and he was able to fix our bus and get us on our way again. We ended up arriving in Chicago over an hour late (earlier though than I expected).

I am never riding the Mega Bus again. After three years of putting up with random inconveniences like this, I'm done.

And just for the record- it is VERY rare to find a ticket for $1. Don't believe the advertisements. You'll actually pay about $41 each way.