September 4rd, 2003
Dear Diary,
                Well, we're just leaving Chicago and I must admit I'm sorry that we are. Gladys' company since New Jersey has been a big comfort, she's made me smile and laugh and time has gone a lot more quickly than I thought it would. I didn't expect to meet anyone like her on this bus trip, but she was so kind and she made me feel so much better about everything. If everyone in America is as nice as her, I really have nothing to worry about. Maybe it is a different world, but I've been in lots of different situations before. I can definitely cope with this one. After all, when I first got sent to prison I was scared and apprehensive, but I survived it. When I got put in rehab, I was frightened too, but I made it through that as well. And this is something totally different - it's something positive! Man, so many people I went to school with would be falling over themselves to be sitting here on this bus with me now, seeing all of America flit by the window!

My only reservation is that I don't have the time or the money to really take advantage of the time I've had in stop-overs. Chicago, according to Gladys, is a fun city to visit and I read over the timetable they gave me at the ticket bureau back in New York...one of our stops is Las Vegas. I'd love to be able to really explore a city as famous as that. Ah well, not this time. This time I'll just savour the time I have to see what I can and then get on to Los Angeles. I can't believe how much more positive I'm feeling about the journey, though. I'm starting to enjoy being on the bus!

Food along the way has been cheap and probably highly unhealthy, but at least I'm not starving and I don't get travel sick. The trouble is that there's so much to see from the window, I don't want to sleep. I suppose I'll grab an hour or two later. I didn't get any sleep last night, Gladys and I were talking all the way to Cleveland about her family and mine and time just flew by. Besides, America is beautiful at night, with all the lights in the cities. I never saw anything like this country before. England is so much smaller but this is such an expanse of land and people and everything.

I'm really starting to wonder what Los Angeles looks like. I know it's near Hollywood itself, and that's kinda exciting in it's own way. I'm not going there to gawk at stars and celebrities, but then again, I don't know if I'd forgive myself if I visited LA and never went to see the famous letters in the hillside. Maybe if I asked Topaz? I'm sure she'd take me. 

There's rain coming down outside, and the window is a mess of water and condensation, so I suppose now is the best time to grab a wink or two of sleep, whilst the view is obscured. Gladys showed me how to use my bag as a pillow - and if anyone tried to grab it, then I'd wake up right off - so I'm less worried about that. I shouldn't be so distrustful about this. These are people who are travelling, just like me...that doesn't make them thieves. Heck, I've spent enough time around and among people who steal and cheat for a living, you'd think I'd know the difference.

Well, I'm going to grab a couple of hours sleep if I can, get myself ready for the day of travelling ahead. 
Sweet dreams, Diary!