I Am a Motorcoach, Discovering the USA by Tread Windshield and Mirror…

. . . and what a difference a day makes! I told you in part-one of this trip blog how strangely absent of motorcoaches the streets of DC were when we arrived for the big rally. Well . . . then Tuesday happened. Motorcoaches poured in. Then Wednesday . . . Motorcoaches everywhere! Motorcoaches galore! What a beautiful sight. The final count in DC from all over the country for the rally: 1,008!

And don’t forget the main reason for our being there: you, our passengers. In case you’ve forgotten our unified rally message: IT IS HOW IMPORTANT WE MAKE YOU THAT MAKES OUR SURVIVAL IMPORTANT.

Here, let me take you to the rally . . .

Selfies

(which by definition means I’m in them . . . though you might have to look for me)

Whether you’ve toured with me by land or blog, you know I have a thing (maybe even an ethic) about being early. So, it will come as no surprise that I was the fourth coach on the first row at the Audi Field staging lot. But first row quickly became back row.

. . . and back row quickly became, “Woa . . . uh, buried!”

Yeah . . . and it quickly became the first time I have ever questioned being early. (That is Audi Field in the distance, by the way, home field of DC United. It’s a soccer team. You know . . . sports, remember those?)

We were packed in so close it felt like I and my travel buddy, Two Eight Zero, might share paint. But no, just reflections.

MEETING THE NEWS on the roadways of America, first-hand, real time, real world news—going out and discovering the news . . .

SIGNAGE NEWS: The rally was story in signs. We all wore them:
600, 000, 000 Passengers
Buses Move America’s Youth
$101.68 Billion overall sales Impact
Motorcoaches Move America’s Military
30,000 Jobs, $237 Billion Economic Impact
Buses Move America
$80 Million Hotel Reservations Annually
And so on . . . .

IMPORTANT NEWS: I know I’m just a machine, but I actually thought by interacting with passengers I had come to recognize what is important to humans. Like, smiles. Not so much, it turns out. Heck, folks could be toothless right now and no one would know. And sports? Nope, gone overnight and everyone appears to be getting along fine. How ’bout hugs? Nope, nobody’s hugging that I can see. Back home all I see is mechanics these days and, trust me, mechanics don’t hug.

Here’s what I know for sure is still important: you are! That’s why a bunch of us traveled across the country to cast votes for still being around when you all are ready to get out there and see this great country again. (Do machines say “I love you?” I think we just did.)

TRUCKER NEWS: Not to be confused with our motorcoach industry rally, trucks lined both sides of Costitution Avenue on Wednesday, welcoming us with blaring horns, fist-pumping, and generally animated support. Because we share the American roadways, it felt familyish, homelike. In normal times, we are used to driving through corridors of trucks. But the airhorn surround-sound made for an especially celebratory experience.

(The truckers have been there since May first, protesting COVID-induced wage trimming — $ per mile — on the part of load brokers, resulting from drastically reduced productivity and far more truckers than loads to be delivered.)

HISTORIC NEWS: Motorcoaches Rolling for Awareness – that is, the awareness of U.S. lawmakers on Capitol Hill – was not only a proud moment for our industry and each participating company and motorcoach, but also historic. We have never before had reason to create such visibility by parading our colorful selves through Washington DC. The response was history-worthy. A big thank you to all involved in organizing and permitting this great occasion.

(Unlike selfies, these are not about me, but about travel discoveries I think you’d like to know about.)

Visit the websites of your local motorcoach and tour companies and start planning those summer and fall motorcoach trips. We can’t wait to see you again and be back out on the road together. Let’s do this!

Quote Of The Day samples

“Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.” – Seneca

“Oh the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won.” – Dr. Seuss