A Little Music, Then Some Flags
Had my second run Friday, here’s the run-down.
0400 wake-up
0530 Arrive at terminal
0600 Meet pre-loaded bus of Jay School Dept Band members
0630 Transfer “command” from current driver (who loaded) and head south-bound
Took the load of 53 students to Holyoke, MA for some kind of band competition. The students were made up of elementary through high-school. Got them there in time for thier 1030hrs appointment time without much of an incident.
The one “minor” snafu along the way… the bathroom on the bus wasn’t flushing, so we needed to stop at a rest area along the way. Hit the NH border and began looking for the next available stop… of course the teacher / chaperon and I laughed our asses off when the next bathroom break was none other than the NH State Liqeur store! ROFLMAO And of course they weren’t open yet… so the teacher and I were joking that maybe we could find a fireworks place… or better yet just take them down to Foxwoods to complete thier “education”!!
Once they got finished with that, it was just a short hop down to Agawam, MA and Six Flags New England. While they enjoyed about six hours of fun in the sun and roller coasters… I enjoyed a rather hot, sweaty nap in the 70 – 80 degree heat! Of course the park as a “no idle” policy so I couldn’t run the bus / AC until the passengers were boarding.
Have to remember to pack LUNCH and WATER next time that’s for sure!
Obviously I survive, and I got them back to Jay High School around 0030 hours Saturday morning without incident. By the time I parked the bus, did my post-trip and finished the paper work it was at least 0130hrs. Got home around 0200, more than 22 hours after I had started the previous morning.
All in all, it was a good (albiet LONG) trip… and it WAS nice seeing my first paycheck in my “bin” at work when I got back. I was told by Mike in dispatch that we’re still in the “slow” spring season and that things should be picking up in a couple more weeks. Then I’ll have more steady runs if / when I want them. That’s the biggest beauty of working at Northeast Charter & Tour (NECT), I can work as many or as few hours (runs) as I want.
That’s all for now… more after the next run!
PS… here’s some pics of the bus I was driving Friday, a nice, newer Setra 417.
Setra 417 Cockpit
Setra 417 / NECT #1003
NECT #1003
A pretty decent ride… about what you’d expect from a mid-class coach. Had a nice ride up into Gorham, NH and across Rt. 2 to I89. From there we took 89 North to Exit 11, Jericho, VT and the Underhill Artillery Range.
The one I drove is actually brown and is showing it’s age, however, it still drove fairly decently. Loaded with 24 Weekend Warriors and thier M16’s and 50 Cal’s… not to mention all thier gear and packs made for a pretty smooth ride down I89 to I93, then Rt. 4 out of Concord to Portsmouth where we (there was another bus with me) caught I95 North to the Portland armory on Steven’s Avenue.