That was the start of a career of wandering. After leaving the Navy, he "packed up a little stuff, peanut butter and jam sandwiches, and hitchhiked," he says. "I'm just like a free bird."

His plan: stay in Utah a few more years, and then go to another state. "I don't mind being like that," he says.

Long experience

About midway through the 8 a.m. route, Rulon Scott boards the bus and sits in the seat nearest the front door, right across from where Gerona had sat earlier.

During the winter, Scott, 64, works as a cab driver in Salt Lake City. In the summer and fall, he says he just bums around. "All my time is spare time now," says Scott, who has a deep voice and gravelly laugh.

On his right forearm, he has a green, slightly faded tattoo of a marijuana leaf. "Many times I wanted to smoke my arm," he says, his eyes sparkling with amusement.

Four years ago, Scott's wife of 34 years died. They raised nine children.

"I'm from the old school," he says. "You stick it out whether you like it or not."

Scott spent four years in Vietnam as an Airborne Ranger. He was shot in the chest and his leg. A long scar runs down his stomach. It took almost a year to heal, he says.

He collects a military pension. But he says, "If I had known in '65 what I know now, I'd be a Canadian. Back in those days, when the country says you go, you go and don't question."

Then he reflects: "If it all ended tomorrow, I'd say I had a good time. But I'm not too sure I'd do it the same. I made some boo-boos along the way."

College bound

Laura Michie is always dragging a small black suitcase with her. It has a Salt Lake Community College logo and is stuffed full of books and papers.

Once she's maneuvered the suitcase on the bus, she always sits in the seat behind the bus driver with a heavy plop, the suitcase resting between her legs. She wears a green, puffy coat and white tennis shoes.

Michie takes the bus to school almost every weekday. Sometimes she'll start a conversation with the person who sits across from her. But she didn't talk with Scott the day he rode.

At age 50, after raising four children, Michie is going to the community college to earn a teaching degree. She says she wants a "decent job with benefits."

Going to school has given her confidence, she says. "It's been worth every minute I've had to struggle through."

Just a few stops after Michie boards, Alan Nordgren takes a seat toward the middle of the bus. He doesn't interact much with the other passengers and instead sits quietly.