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I know, I know. I swore I’d never ride the megabus after my last hellish experience (the one with the alleged burglary of a passenger’s diamond ring…no joke.)

But I’ve got some extenuating circumstances– namely a broken arm that ruled out driving to Chicago as planned to see Chicago family plus my LA brother and his family. Gotta say, the ride hasn’t been bad. Helps that we have a very no nonsense driver who runs a tight ship, err bus. He has twice warned the male riders not to pee on the toilet seat in the bus bathroom, I.e. lift up the damn seat before you wee. And he has started each leg of the trip with a walk down the aisle, looking sternly (bordering on disdainfully) at us passengers.

The college kid next to me who boarded in Iowa City (replacing a rougher character with a cane that had a handle. wrapped in electrical tape) said he prefers the windstar buses that replaced the old megabus double deckers. More comfortable, he says. I have no complaints although I am glad I wore long pants and brought a scarf. The AC is intense.

The two stops we made to drop off or pick up passengers ( coralville and the quad cities airport in moline) were quick and everyone returned promptly after mr. no nonsense stated clearly the time he would be leaving and warned “don’t get left behind.” There is no meal stop, as there has been in the past at some god forsaken fast food joint. And for this I am also thankful. (My first seat mate did show up with some smelly McDonald’s.)

Emma kindly picked me up at 9 pm at the bus stop in downtown Chicago, conveniently located near a Portillos, where we had a late dinner of classic Chi-town hotdogs.(They really do squeak when you bite thru the casing.)

We began our day with disturbing news from a neighbor in Iowa that our house and street were hit hard by a flash flood. We are thankful for thoughtful neighbors who are helping us get the help we need to remove all the muck and mud and water from our basement and garage.

We managed to put the flood aside and enjoy yet another spectacular day of weather –it was almost too hot. My few warm weather clothes are getting a workout while I have yet to use my down jacket, rain coat or umbrella.

Breakfast in our little communal kitchen at Eplet Bed and Apple went smoothly. I am impressed by how well organized the kitchen is and how people follow the rules, from cleaning up to sorting trash. We ate fresh eggs and strawberries from Eplet’s chickens and orchard, using butter bequeathed to us from the Pennsylvania family that left today. As I was taking down our laundry from the line this morning, I met a nice young woman who is Chinese and works at an American school in southern China. She is here with her French husband — we are road tripping together tomorrow. (They don’t have a car. Been there.)

Also met a nice Norwegian woman. Meeting people from all over is the fun thing about staying in this kind of place. It’s a few steps up from youth hostels, which I loved staying at in my youth and where I met some great traveling companions. Over 30 years later, I can still remember some of their names: Lyndal from Adelaide, Australia; Astrid and Martin from Berlin; Jon from Boston; Jerry from Dijon.

I digress. Back in Solvorn, we took free bikes from the hostel on a ferry ride across the fjord (the ferry man was the same guy who sold us groceries at the small store in town) and onto “the romantic road,” a narrow road with few cars or even bikes. It hugged the shore and was quite hilly. We passed a few houses perched on the mountainside and red cabins hugging the shore; two waterfalls including a high one full of water that rivaled Tauganock Falls in Ithaca. This place reminds us a bit of Ithaca with — a narrow body of water lined on each side with high slopes; the waterfalls, gorges and farm green fields. But Ithaca doesn’t have the snow capped mountain we rode past here. And there are hardly any boats on the fjord or even signs of habitation along the road.

We returned late to Eplet, exhausted after a lot of biking (on a borrowed bike with dodgy gears and low handlebars) and hiking (to the waterfall and the Urne stave church on rugged uphill paths in sandals with dwindling tread). Wouldn’t have had it any other way – except maybe having my hiking boots. We took a late dip in the fjord which was cold but very refreshing at 8:30 pm, had a beer at the little cafe in the village and had our second meal of the day with farm fresh eggs. Lovely day!

We are worlds away from even Bergen, in a lovely old white wood farm house overlooking an apple and raspberry orchard, a small village of old wood fisherman’s house and last but not least, the shining waters of Lustrafjord and the high grassy mountains beyond. The drive here took about 5 hours from Bergen, much longer than it looks on the map (as we had been warned) which is no big deal because it was gorgeous scenery.

As our hostel operators suggested, we drove from Bergen to Voss to Vik and then took the ferry to Helle and then drove through Sogndal, a bigger town, to this tiny village of Solvorn. En route, we stopped for lunch on the side of a two lane road running though a green valley with a road zigzagging up a mountain beside water crashing down some falls. Wow. In Vik, we stopped at a lovely old Stave church circa 1140, made of carved wood, with painted murals inside a rounded entrance.

Eplet Bed &Apple is a charming homey place. Our room is small but cheerful and has a spectacular view. There are mostly young people here , some from France, but also a Jewish family from central Pennsylvania. Two strange coincidences: we met a couple yesterday in Bergen from the Pennsylvania family’s town. Turns out it’s their dentist. And the mom of this family went to Grinnell for college.

We went down to the one business in town, a small cafe and store where they served surprisingly good Thai food, cooked by a Thai woman who usually cooks at a restaurant in Oslo. She is summering here. Another pleasant surprise: we can swim in the fjord. There are two little beaches and the water is not frigid. As dirck says, it kind of feels like we are in summer camp or Ithaca on vacation by the lake.

Yes, it’s technically cheaper but the Basic Economy ticket isn’t worth the savings – and probably won’t save you anything in the long run, especially if you happen to travel with luggage, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The Basic Economy Fare as sold by Delta, United and American, is about $30-50 less than “Standard” fare but lots of downsides including:

On all three airlines: no seat assignment until after check-in or at the gate. Worse, you’re the most vulnerable to losing your seat if the flight is oversold (aka “involuntary denied boarding” or “getting bumped.”) If you’re traveling with a group or family, there’s no hope of sitting together.

United and American: You can’t put anything in the overhead bin without a $25 charge each way (so there goes your modest savings from getting the Economy fare.); You also board in the last group, further reducing your chances of finding bin space.

Delta gives you overhead space but again, you board last.

United: you can’t even check-in online unless you’re checking luggage (i.e. paying $25). you have to check in at the airport. And, oh, no frequent flier miles. (American and Delta let you have miles.)