Megaboose

Thanks to some heavy handed touring, meaning we toured with my minivan dragging a 3' X 5' trailer around the Eastern half of the United States, i have a day to day vehicle that is relegated to local-only travel. So in my haste in trying to find adequate transport to and from chicago, i looked at all of the deals possible:

- Southwest Airlines (STL) - $230 + driving - $50 = $280

- Southwest Airlines (KC) - $219 + driving - $50 = $269

- SW Express Amtrak Train (La Plata) - $168 + driving - $40 = $208

- SW Express Amtrak Train (Jeff City) - $140 + driving - $35 = $175

- Megabus (Columbia) - $90

so being the financial whiz kid that i am, i chose the Megabus.

this transport is ridiculously convenient, i walked from my house to the Wabash Bus Station and boarded a double decker bus lined with airline style seating. the bus made two stops, one in st. louis and one in normal, il. all told i spent 8 and a half hours on the bus. 

on the way there they showed the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness" (yes with the "y") featuring Will Smith and his son. honestly not a bad movie to watch on the Megabus. 

the trick to the Megabus is getting your tickets early. supposedly you can get can get tickets for as low as $3 roundtrip, but you have to book it WAY WAY far in advance.

they have routes that are expanding across the midwest, and have additional routes on the east and west coast. so if you can handle the long rides, you can make it to any of these places in a pretty affordable fashion... 

i have made my second booking for chicago for $45 roundtrip. now if they can figure out how to get me to the west coast, with all of my band equipment and my band members that would be great...