Embarking On A Trip To The LHP Consortium.

Soon I shall be travelling to Atlanta, Georgia. This trip will be taking place on April 6th, 2016. I am taking the Greyhound bus down to the LHP Consortium. This will be my first trip far from home since giving birth to my first born daughter. This will be her first trip outside of Canada. 

I am exhibiting my artwork in Atlanta. I will be staying at the Sheraton Hotel near the airport. This event is something I have been looking forward to. Yesterday I sent off my artwork through FedEx. I hope it arrives in time for the show. 

Minerval

This weekend I will be traveling to Buffalo, NY. I frequently visit this city because I visit an O.T.O. lodge called Pyramid Lodge. I have been visiting this lodge for more than a year. On this particular visit I plan to fill out the paperwork to apply for my Minerval. I will be staying overnight, but people are letting me stay with them. This will be a very low budget trip. I am only paying for bus tickets to get to and from Buffalo.

St Catharines

Yesterday I visited St Catharines for the first time in my life. Currently I am considering moving there. It is the largest city in the Niagara region. It is warmer than Toronto by a few degrees. This is why the area is so popular for wine. The temperature is much better for growing grapes.


St Catharines is known as the Garden City. I spent the day in the downtown. First I was checking out a program for people who are going through a mental health crisis. This is an alternative to hospitalization for people to put their lives together. It is called Safe Beds. I am planning on staying with them as I turn my life around. 

I spoke with a counselor who was very kind for quite sometime. Afterwards I browsed some of the shops downtown. I came across an artist run center. There was a musical performance in the evening. This was how I spent my night. A musician with politically motivated song lyrics took the stage. It was an enjoyable evening with food provided by Food Not Bombs. The musician was named David Rovics. I bought his CD and was very impressed with the music. 

My tickets cost $16 round trip from Toronto. The bus was very crowded both ways because it is the Thanksgiving week-end in Canada. It took an hour merely to get out of the Toronto city limits. The drive takes less than 2 hours normally.

My First Day In Indianapolis

I arrived in downtown Indianapolis at the bus drop off early on the afternoon of July 24, 2014. Neither Indianapolis or Columbus have a bus terminal for Megabus. Megabus because is one of the cheapest bus lines. The 6 bus tickets I purchased for my entire trip came to less than $30. If you book in advance there are many exciting day trips to take from American cities for as low as a dollar each way. People often express disbelief when I explain how low the price of my bus tickets are. 

In Indianapolis I had made reservations with the hostel well in advance. Typically I make all hostel arrangements through Hostelbookers, but no Indianapolis hostels are listed on their site. I found The Indy Hostel online quite easily by doing a search. I had hoped to walk to the hostel. The map application on my phone said it was within 2 hours of walking distance. I have been trying to lose some weight and had hoped to get some exercise. The walk did not go as well as planned. I walked along a different street just 1 block north of the one I saw in the directions. Somewhere along the way I got completely off path. My lack of experience using the Google application was apparent on this first day in Indianapolis. 

I walked for a couple of hours. No stores or fast food restaurants were along the way. Highly frustrated, I walked and walked and walked expecting to find a place to sit down to have a closer look at the maps. I walked past many interesting sites. The Children's Museum was along the way. I ended up walking along 30th Street as the application suggested. Never  could I find the street to take a turn on. The area became more and more rural in appearance. There was a naval base along the way and golf course along the way. At this point I was highly frustrated and hoping to find the street on the map at any point. 

I walked further and eventually shops began appearing at the intersections on the streets. My phone was running out of juice. I needed to find a fast food restaurant to sit down in. Finally I found a Burger King where I purchased a lemonade for one dollar and sat down. At this point I checked my location on my phone and did a search for the hostel. It said there was still 2 hours worth of walking to do still. It was almost exactly the same amount of time as when I had started. At this point I decided to take the bus. 

There was a pregnant girl standing at the bus stop. I was glad she was there because she let me know that I needed to go all the way back downtown again. I would have waited at the wrong bus stop to ask the bus driver for directions if she hadn't been there.

It took a long time to get to the hostel. I had to take 2 buses. My bus back downtown took me back to where I had started. I headed eastward on the bus once again, but this time it stayed more Southern route. 

The hostel was very spacious on the main floor. It was very attractive. The kitchen had lovely wood flooring which was highly polished and made up of 2 tones. I stopped off at a grocery store after I got off my final bus. There was a grocery store nearby, but it was a bit expensive. The kitchen was handy. I made a stir fry before heading off to bed in the dorms which are located in the basement. This basement is not so bad. It was not humid. 

Leaving Columbus

I am at a coffee shop in Columbus, Ohio. My bus will be leaving for Indianapolis in a little more than an hour. I spent most of my time walking around Columbus yesterday. My sense of direction was off. My intuition led me off in a direction opposite from the hostel. This was not a displeasing experience. Columbus is a very attractive city with a gorgeous area in the southern part of the downtown. I walked down some residential streets which were practically out of a story book. It reminded me of Montreal, except everything was in red brick. The streets and sidewalks were constructed of cobblestone. Every house I passed was extremely charming. It was a beautiful walk. Eventually I found a McDonald's. Columbus does not seem to have as much commercial stuff in the immediate downtown vicinity. It is one city without a Starbucks on every corner. I have not seen a single Starbucks since I got here. There aren't a lot of stores on the streets. It is a bit challenging to find what you are looking for.

I assumed I could walk to the hostel. It began getting dark when I gave up. I had hoped to hail a cab. This isn't a city to do that in. I had to go in to a restaurant on High Street to ask them to call a cab for me. I was very frustrated at this point due to some mood issues. My nerves were shot. I had been shouting about my frustrations on some of the side streets. This is something I do often enough as I get agitated frequently. By the time the cab arrived my nerves were zipping along a mile a minute. I was full of the jitters as I rapidly spoke to the cab driver and tried to appear like a normal human being. My wallet was empty when it came time to pay. I had to get the cab driver to drive around in search of an ATM. These are not close to the hostel which is on Indiana Avenue. It cost me about $10 extra because of this.

I  spent very little time at the hostel. They have a hot tub in the backyard. I relaxed in it for 10 or 15 minutes. I didn't find the temperature particularly hot. I got cold and went back inside. The room was nice. There was only 1 bunk bed. I was sharing the room with a male. He went to bed around the same time as me. I had a lot of mood problems yesterday which disturbed me throughout the night. I had to keep getting up during the night to find ways to relax myself.

Leaving Buffalo

I am at the Buffalo bus terminal. My only night in this city for this trip is now finished. I am getting ready for the long bus trip to Columbus, Ohio. The bus will be pulling out of the station at 10:30AM. Arrival in Columbus, Ohio will occur around 5:30 PM. My time in Buffalo I have enjoyed immensely. I always stay at the same hostel whenever I am in this city. It is located 667 Main Street in an older style building. The interior has loft style ceilings. I enjoy the lounge area on the 2nd floor. This hostel is called Hostel Buffalo Niagara. It costs about $26 a night. I had to pay a percentage online when I booked through Hostelbookers. They don't take bank cards. I had no visa card available to me. The young lady at the hostel was very nice. She let me get settled in before I went off in search of an ATM. There are 2 nearby. The first one wouldn't let me withdraw from a Canadian account. The second one allowed me to do so, but charged a $3 fee.

After I paid for my room I went off in search of vegetables. There is a list of grocery stores in the lobby at the hostel. I was going to search for a Food Co-Operative, but rushed off without bringing the address. In my mind I knew exactly where it was. I was wrong. By the time I got to Elmwood I had forgotten where I was headed. I could not remember if the store I was looking for was on Elmwood or Ellicott. I decided to keep walking north along Elmwood.

Eventually I found a very large grocery store. It was near this co-operative I once visited when in the city last year to help out with Food Not Bombs. Whenever in Buffalo I typically help out with Food Not Bombs. They are a vegan organization which is pro-peace. They give out free food in Lafeyette Square on Saturdays and Mondays at 1PM. 

At the grocery store I bought some pumpkin seeds, garlic, broccoli, and carrots. I came back to the hostel and started doing a stir fry on the gas stove in the hostel kitchen. There were some people I chatted with while cooking. They were from Australia. This was the young woman's first time in the USA. They were heading off to Boston. I was complimented on the scent of my stir fry. I went to bed after cooking dinner.

Before checking at the hostel I rushed over to the local art supply store. I know somebody who works there. This is a store called Hyatt's All Things Creative which is located on Main Street just before Allen. It is only a few blocks north of the hostel. I rushed with my suitcase. I thought the store closed at 5PM. That is only on Saturdays. Monday to Friday they stay open until 6PM. 

My friend was working. He was  helping somebody with amputated arms when I entered the store. I was impressed to see an amputated person buying oil paint. It reminded me of a calendar my old psychiatrist gave me of the art work created by people who paint with their feet or mouth.

I needed to buy a new sketchbook while at the store. A value pack of 2 sketchbooks with grey toned paper for $14.95 was what I settled on. Recycled coffee bags were used to create this paper. A coupon for $5 in coffee included beneath the cellophane. I was told this coupon was for Spot Coffee. This morning I found out that it was not. It is for Starbucks. I need to send it to the art materials manufacturer and they send me an e-code. I also bought some multicultural colored oil pastels at Hyatt's. These are a variety of flesh tones meant to show diverse ethnic groups. These colors should be interesting on grey toned paper. I needed to spend $20 to get my rewards card punched. Hyatt's has a frequent shoppers card. After a number of $20 purchases you get $20 in free art supplies.

The Wayfaring Buckeye Hostel

This month I will be taking a week long voyage to Indianapolis. There will be many stops along the way. One city I will be visiting is Columbus, Ohio. I don't know very much about Columbus other than it being the writer James Thurber's place of residence for most of his life. I will be staying in Columbus for only one evening before I go to Indianapolis. I will be coming back to Columbus for about 8 hours on my way back to Toronto.

The Wayfaring Buckeye Hostel is where I will be staying while in Columbus. I have booked a bunk for less than $30 for 1 evening. This hostel is on a residential street in a former duplex. I have been exploring some of the websites to learn more about where I will be staying. This will help me know what to expect when I arrive in the city. I will be traveling by bus to get to Columbus from Buffalo, New York. When I get into the city I will need to take a bus to get to The Wayfaring Buckeye Hostel. It is not within easy walking distance of the bus stop.

The hostel has many wonderful looking features which will enhance my visit. They offer the free use of bicycles so you can sight see in this manner. I am not sure if I will be doing this. It has been a while since I have rode a bike outdoors. I only use stationary bikes while I am at the gym. In Toronto we have a very congested city. Bicycling is something many people feel safe doing, but I am not one of them. It still seems like a fun idea for those accustomed to bike rides. When I was younger I used to enjoy packing up camping gear and cycling from village to village in the region I grew up in.

The Wayfaring Buckeye Hostel seems like a great for a summer visit. It is an air conditioned facility. Frequently I read reviews of other hostels where people complain about the heat in the summer being an issue. There is a back patio and yard which can accommodate musical performances. There is a fire pit and BBQ which can be used. I might do this while I am there. Veggie dogs might make a wonderful dinner for the evening. There is also a hot tub in the backyard which can be used.

Breakfast is included in the reasonable price they charge. Hostel Reviews I have looked at say the breakfast is cereal, bagels, and cream cheese. As a vegan I imagine this will be adequate for me. I am a vegan and sometimes I need to omit many foods which are provided by different hostels. Cereal and bread products are usually okay for me. These products don't include butter as far as I know. Some hostels have croissants which are very delicious, but not good for a vegan. In the past the hostels I have attended have provided soy milk for cereal. It is not easy to predict what will be provided at a hostel before arriving. Within most hostels there is a kitchen where you can prepare your own food. This hostel includes this as well. It makes it great for travel where you are watching your money. 

There are towels included for free. Many hostels will charge you a couple of dollars for clean towels. There is also a washing machine for people on longer voyages. A book exchange is also onsite.