Trip to Austin via RedCoach

 After waiting for a couple of hours at the Residence Inn by Marriot in downtown Houston, the RedCoach arrived about 6:35pm.  One of the other passengers got a little nervous and called the company at 6:30 and they reassured him that the bus was nearby.  The driver helped his previous passengers unload their luggage from the right side of the bus.  There were 3 large doors that could be raised to hold whatever baggage would be onboard.  They let you check two bags and you can have a carry-on in the bus.  As advertised, the seats fully reclined.  There were two rows of seats on the left side of the bus and one row on the right, with overhead bins to put carry-ons in if you wanted to.  There were maybe 20 seats on the bus and each had its own 110 volt outlet and a USB jack.  I used the USB with my phone and it was strong enough to keep it charged even while I had Google Maps running to see the progress of our trip.  We hit some traffic on the Houston expressways.  I was reclined with a sleep mask on and I nodded off on I-10 until we finally got out to 71 and headed towards Austin from near Columbus, TX.  The driver took about a 15 minute stop for refueling at the Buc-cees in Bastrop, right by Casa Chapala's other location.  He let anyone that wanted to get off the bus go in and buy a drink or snack.  About half of the 8 passengers took him up on it and everyone was back as the refueling was completed.  I was in contact with Pastor Kevin, who had agreed to pick me up, via text message and I kept him informed him of our progress.  With the late start and the brief stop, we were about an hour late getting into Austin.  Just as we were nearly in sight of the Embassy Suites where we would disembark, there was a wreck at Riverside and the I-35 access road and we needed to take a small detour.  As I was leaving the bus, I told the driver he probably wondered why being an hour late had not upset me.  I told him I had purchased my bus ticket two days before in Nairobi, Kenya and I had been on the road for nearly two full days.  An extra hour was just yet another speed bump in the big scheme of things!  I thanked him for his service as Kevin came over to help me with my bags.  We had a nice conversation on the way to my house in Wells Branch and more than a few laughs.  He was masked up, so I dutifully got my N95 out of my pocket and did likewise.  He let me know he would be taking the family on a trip soon and was being extra cautious, even though he knew I was no longer infectious.  I told him about needing to wear my mask on both Lufthansa flights, a 9 hour first one and a nearly 11 hour second flight from Frankfurt to Houston and how miserable that had been. 

We pulled up to my house before 11pm, I thanked Kevin and pointed him towards MoPac for his ride back home.  Even under less than ideal circumstances and at the end of a long journey, I liked the RedCoach experience and would recommend it to anyone that wants to go to downtown Houston, Dallas or San Antonio from Austin and back again.   I still don't know how they can make it work at only $30 a ticket including tax, but it worked out well for me.  It saved someone from doing a round-trip from Austin to pick me up at today's gas prices and I got home more relaxed than normal, although about 4 hours later than usual.  

Thanks again to so many of you that have followed along on our mission trip via my Facebook page and this blog.   Keep coming back for a while, I will be posting more stories and thoughts on the trip as they come to me and I will announce photo albums of the clinic and our safaris as they become available.  Blessings everyone!