Go Greyhound - a Thanksgiving travel adventure

I had a brand new kind of travel experience this week. I took a Greyhound bus from Albuquerque to Loveland, Colorado to see my family.

I left the driving to Jamal.

In the past I’ve talked about preferring to travel with our Rockwood Mini Lite, so that we have our own bed and bathroom and all the comforts we are accustomed to. We did spend quite a few nights in hotel rooms this summer, as we traveled back and forth to Indiana four times (wow!) with and without our travel trailer.

The Albuquerque Greyhound station - very southwestern

We just got back from our fourth Indiana trip, where we picked up and upfitted our new 2025 Rockwood Mini Lite 2506FK. As we towed her home, it was getting really close to Thanksgiving. We had planned to visit my mom and have Thanksgiving with my family, and we were cutting it close!

As we hurtled home from Indiana, we thought about all the tasks we’ve been shirking at home. We talked a lot about it, and Tony decided it was best for him to stay home over Thanksgiving weekend. We thought about renting a car for me to drive to Colorado, but I am not keen on spending that many hours behind the wheel all by myself.

I checked on the Greyhound schedule, and realized it would be fairly painless, time-wise, to let Greyhound do the driving for me. It cost just under $200 round-trip, which was likely less expensive than a car rental and gas for the trip. I say likely because I never actually checked the cost of a rental car. I just didn’t like that option.

The bus would arrive in Loveland at 8:20 pm and I didn’t want anyone out that late on Wednesday night, so I decided to travel on Tuesday. We got home with the Mini Lite on Monday. So I had only one evening to switch gears on my travel and be ready for an early morning. We unpacked the trailer and I did some laundry while catching up on work and packing for the weekend.

Tuesday morning Tony drove me into Albuquerque to the Greyhound station. Bus stations are always right in the middle of the big cities, it seems. Albuquerque is no exception. There was no parking at the bus depot, so Tony wasn’t able to come inside and wait with me. We got my bags out of the truck and I went inside.

The Albuquerque Greyhound station is quite nice, as are all the old “central stations” I’ve visited. Los Angeles is still my favorite, you should check it out.

I only had a short wait, then the announcement came to go to Gate 5. It was actually “door” 5 but whatever. The small crowd headed through the door out to the patio area. Shortly, the driver, Jamal, came and asked who told us to go through the door? I guess we misunderstood the announcement, we were supposed to wait at the door, not go through it. So now he knows we don’t follow instructions. Haha.

This was my first Greyhound experience, so I didn’t really know what to expect. The driver checked our tickets (QR code on my phone) and told us which storage area to stow our checked bags. The bus would make a few stops in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado before arriving in Denver, so the early-departures used one storage, and the Denver passengers used the other. I watched someone put their bag in the wrong area and get corrected by Jamal. Maybe that’s the person who led us all out of Door 5.

Grateful that I had two seats - legroom is tight

When you buy a Greyhound ticket you can pay extra to choose what seat you want. I did that because, if the bus was full, I wanted my right knee in the aisle to keep it straight as much as possible. Not everyone prepaid for specific seats; they just took whatever seat was empty. I got on the bus and a lady was in my seat. I don’t know why they don’t let pre-paid seats load first, to avoid that. Later, another couple would get on and she was in their seats and had to move again. I felt a little sorry for her.

There were only about 20 passengers on the bus. So really, I could have chosen to let that lady keep my seat and moved to another row. But I didn’t know.

Greyhound bus seats are possibly less roomy than airline seats. I haven’t been on a plane in a lot of years either, but dang did that legroom seem small. I was really happy not to share a row with a second person. I wouldn’t even like to share that much space for 10 hours with someone I do know, let alone a stranger. I was able to spread out and use both seats, for myself, my bum knee, and my backpack carry-on bag.

I’ll make a recommendation if you plan to take a bus ride: take your neck pillow and maybe a light blanket. I wasn’t cold, and I had my jacket, but if you want to try to nap, these will make you more comfortable. I had a small blanket, and I used my jacket as a pillow and managed to get semi-comfortable.

I don’t know if Greyhound rides are always so quiet. As I said, there were only about 20 people on the bus, and mostly singles, so there was not a lot of talking. Once I cocooned into my seat with my blankie and especially after dusk, it was like I was there all alone.

Another recommendation is to take snacks. The bus did make a few stops. However, even knowing where there were stops, and tracking the bus route on the website, I could not tell which stops would have toilet or snack opportunities. Our first stop was in Las Vegas New Mexico, which was not on the schedule, and was for a quick smoke or to run in and grab a snack at the Love’s. I wasn’t expecting that, and I needed to go, so I was actually in the bus bathroom when Jamal was stopping and starting and turning into the parking lot. Definitely not a recommended activity!

Around 1:00 we stopped - I forget where - at a gas station/travel stop that had a Wendy’s and we all went inside to get some lunch. I was again glad we had a small crowd, because Wendy’s was pretty slow and some people may not have gotten to eat if there were a lot more of us.

So that stop at Love’s was unexpected, but some of the scheduled stops really weren’t stops at all. The bus just drove to the street corner with a bus stop sign, waited a minute or less, and kept moving. I imagine they are required to stop even if nobody is scheduled to get on or off the bus at that location. Anyway, the point is, it’s hard to know what will be available at any given stopping location. So be prepared!

Changing places

My route had me changing buses in Denver. Jamal’s drive ended there. We all got off the bus, got our luggage, and went into the depot. The building is essentially one loooooong hallway.

I was unsure of what to do. I wandered half way toward the bathrooms, then turned around in uncertainty. I walked back toward the center where I started. I finally got my bearings and knew that the bathrooms were only at that very end. So I made my way back to the bathroom end, where I had to wait for a security guard to open the door. Only two people are allowed in the restrooms at a time.

I was also very hungry. The website had said there was fast food available. If so, I did not have time to find it in my 35-minute layover. Also, the same note was on the Albuquerque depot and I certainly did not see any food sales there, other than a vending machine. I called my mom and told her I would need to eat a sandwich when I finally got there.

There were not very many people in the building, so finding my gate for the second bus should have been easy. Unfortunately, there was also not a lot of help or information to be found. There was an electronic sign, but it only said “see Agent” in the gate column. I finally figured out who the Agent was. She was trying to help some non-English-speaking passengers who I think had missed their bus. Finally, another man broke in and asked for the bus to Fort Collins, and the Agent told him the gate number. So we all headed to that gate.

The new bus, which runs through northern Colorado, was newer and nicer than the Greyhound. Again, there were only a few people on the bus. We got started and made the mandatory stops were nobody got on and a few people got off. When we got to Loveland, I was the only one to exit. I dragged my bags out and headed down the tunnel.

Northern Colorado has a new system built into Interstate 25. The buses, at most stops, exit left and there is a stop below the center of the highway. I suppose this is great for the bus drivers, not having to fight city traffic at every stop. And the stops are nicely done. Unfortunately, the new system is so new that finding the parking lot is a new trick for the locals to learn. I walked out of the tunnel on the parking side, and overlooked an absolutely abandoned parking lot. I called my mom again. She was at the old stop location, a couple miles away. I told her that the other side of the tunnel went to the mall promenade, so I crossed over to that side and told her I could see the movie theater. So, while I walked down the ramp and across to the theatre, she worked her way back to the location. It was cold and dark and she was so upset to make me wait, but I made it fine to where she could find me easily. And now we know where to drop me off next week, if we never manage to find the new park and ride lot!

So, overall the Greyhound trip was long, and boring. However, a friend said it could be depressing, scary, or boring. I’m glad boring was the option I got. I hope it will be the same on the way home early next week. In the meantime, I’m spending a lovely week with my mom.

And Tony is unsupervised. Yikes.