Gabby’s Blog: My bus tour of America.
- Published on Thursday, 08 December 2011 00:41
- Category: Opinions
Gabby’s Blog: My bus tour of America.
It had been a few years that I had attended school room classes so I had to get used to studying, quizzes and weekly finals. These were activities that the school was so serious about especially that what they were trying to inculcate into our minds had to be learned for years in regular school. If students did not do well in a subject they get set back or remain in that class until they passed. I accepted the Navy way of life so I did my responsibility as a US Navy sailor should be. Once we leave the classrooms, it was liberty time so we had to work things out that we do not forget our home works. The EM Club and movie theater were just walking distance from our barracks. The Navy considered our welfare outside the classrooms and we should act accordingly as responsible students. It was on weekends that I join friends go out to town or spend our time drinking beer at the EM Club.
Those few weeks in SD School went so fast that we had to proceed to our next duty station. My final orders was to meet the USS W C Lawe (DD 763) at Annapolis, Maryland. Here I am again from Mapmapa-o country in the Philippines ordered to travel “solo flight” to another far off state. Most of our travels were made as a group and we did not do any travel arrangements. It was a learning process for me, an OJT in traveling in the US of A.
The Navy gave us a few days leave and travel time to reach our destination. There was enough time for us to get to our destination in comfort traveling. Most of us travelling had preferred to take the bus so we can see more of the country.
I checked out from the school command and called my grandfather to pick me up. My grandpa let me stay at his house for a few days. My grandpa was a World War 2 veteran and he joined the US Navy in the ‘30s. He was one of those from Sagada who left the place to go to Baguio for greener pastures. History wise, I learned a lot from him about Sagada, the old Baguio and the Old Navy. I used to visit grandpa’s father when we were staying in Sagada so he enjoyed my stories. My great grandfather died in the late ‘40s and I remembered this very well. The killing of our great grandfather was the first murder case in Sagada and it was a gruesome incident. Our great grandfather lived alone up in the mountains and it was nature that provided for him. The case was unsolved but after talking with grandpa I found out what the motive was so we had the same conclusion on who committed the murder.
During my grand fathers time in the Navy they had to travel alone and learned how things were on their own just like us then. It was only when they were recruited in the Philippines that the Navy made all the arrangements for them as a group. He was working for an American family in Baguio then and he learned from friends that the Americans were accepting Filipinos to join the US Navy. It was at John Hay Air Base where he joined a group who wanted to join the Navy. Joining the Navy was known in Baguio but only few wanted to leave the place to be a member of the US Navy.
I told my grand father that I preferred to take the bus to get to my next duty station and he approved to it. From California to Maryland would take several days so I would get a chance to see the US of A on a Greyhound bus tour. On the day of the start of my travel, my grand father brought me to the bus station and I learned how to checked in my luggage and was informed of all the bus transfers that I had to make in order to reached my destination with no hassle. I bid goodbye to those who went to see me leave for Mayland and took my sit in the bus. The Greyhound bus looked so big compared to the Dangwa bus that I used to ride during my trips to Manila. There was a small toilet at the back for the passengers to use while the bus was on the road. The seats were very comfortable and it can be reclined to a sleeping position. I was the only Filipino onboard and two of us were traveling in uniform. The other guy was a black Marine enlisted just like me. In our first stop the Marine approached me and we talked for awhile. It was his first time to travel alone also. He was from California and going to one of the Marine base in the east coast.
In one of our stops somewhere that I knew as a cowboy state I saw this guy standing looking at me and smiling. His features were like us from the mountain provinces so I approached him and asked him what province does he come from in the Philippines. He replied that he was not from the Philippines but a resident of the state and a member of one of the Indian tribes. The trip was a learning process as I went along.
After a few days on the road the bus driver informed us that we will be going thru the state of Texas. It was a long bus trip and in our first bus stop in Texas I talked to the Marine that we should go to the restaurant across the street for a hamburger. I noticed that people were looking at us as we headed to the restaurant. A restaurant worker approached us when we entered and told us that we were not allowed in the restaurant. That was my first encounter with the “colored people” problem in the US. We did not argue and went back to the bus depot. That was an Incident I had experienced that I always remember.
Somewhere in Texas, I must had taken the wrong connecting bus but did not know it until we reached Chicago. The bus trip took me to several states and enjoyed viewing the places. The bus station in Chicago was a big one that I had to ask someone where I can get the connecting bus to Washington DC, my final destination. That was when they saw that I made the wrong connecting bus somewhere. I thought that I made a big mistake but the bus station personnel made changes to my bus ticket and directed me to a bus going to New York and from there I made a connection to Washington DC.
When I reached Washington DC, that was another big bus station and here I was trying to learn how things were. One thing good that time in the US, our military uniform was appreciated and it was easy for me to get help. The ship I was going to catch was in Annapolis, Maryland. Again Greyhound bus station personnel made things easy for me to continue my trip, I was given a connecting ticket to a bus going to Annapolis. I had to check out my luggage that I checked in in San Diego. My luggage could not be found and the bus for Annapolis was leaving and I had to leave. I left a copy of my orders to one of the bus station personnel so they can forward the luggage to the Annapolis Navy address. The bus station personnel were so helpful and kept me from worrying that much.
It was worrying time for me now, I had been traveling for several days and I need to change to a new uniform. I was carrying a small bag where I had my ditty kit and no more under wear to change to. The trip to Annapolis was not that long and the bus dropped me off at a bus depot. I must have looked like a lost sailor and someone at the bus depot called a Navy office to send someone to pick me up. That was a big help especially that it was already night time. After a couple of hours of waiting a Navy gray pick up pulls in at the bus depot and a sailor in dungarees who was driving called me up to hop in. There was no time for me to thank the bus depot personnel who helped me out, and as soon as I was seated in the truck we were already on our way. The driver told me that he had another trip to make and complaining about being a duty driver. I asked him where my ship was but he did not know. We were going to the US Naval Academy and from there they would know where the ship was. I was lost, my ultimate destination was USS William C. Lawe DD 763, but now here I was being taken to the US Naval Academy. (to be continued)
