<p>I'm trying to make the Sleeping Bag Weekend more and more official--I've already looked at airline prices and am in the process of purchasing tickets! However, I was wondering just how long it will take to get from PIT airport to CMU's campus by bus. I have read that I should take the 28X route (will I be taking this route to go back to the airport as well?) Thanks for any helpful details while I try to sort all of this out! I hope to be awe-inspired by CMU's campus!</p>
<p>Taxi ride = 15 min? Bus Ride: 20-30 min? I also think you should take the 28x route and from my last taxi ride I think the driver took the same route going to and from CMU.</p>
<p>There is something called MAPQUEST!! lol :)</p>
<p>The campus is awesome and traditional but what most people like is the fact that it is a great campus enclosed in a great city (2nd largest college city). This allows you to have the best of both worlds whether you like traditional small vs urban vs large (Upitt) etc. </p>
<p>Anyways I hope you enjoy!</p>
<p>Yes you would take the same bus back to the airport. My S takes this bus back and forth from the airport whenever he comes home on break. It is very convenient. I think it is about a half hour ride when there is no traffic, 45 minutes at the most.</p>
<p>I have a quick question before I actually purchase plane tickets:</p>
<p>Sleeping Bag Weekend officially starts at 10 AM on Sunday:
My plane will be arriving at 7:40 AM (at PIT airport), so there will be a sufficient amount of time for me to get to CMU on time?</p>
<p>Sleeping Bag Weekend appears to end after 4 PM (I'm guessing it will end closer to 5 PM) on Monday evening:
My prospective flight will be departing PIT at 7 PM. Will this be enough time to get from CMU to the airport for luggage, checking in, etc.?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>P.S.- Is it unusual that I will be going alone--without my parents? I called the CMU toll free number to ask about the SBW event, and unfortunately non-admitted students are not welcome to stay overnight. This does not, however, discourage me to go! By the way, will it be a real hassle to have a sleeping bag and a bookbag full of clothes (toothbrush, etc.) when I'm riding the bus to CMU? There's nothing I can really do to change it, but are the buses too narrow to really move around or are they especially designed so that luggage can be easily carried on them? I'm just trying to imagine what to expect!</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Yes. But remember this does not account for delays! </p></li>
<li><p>Yes. You can even leave whenever you want.</p></li>
<li><p>Not unusual at all. Most kids ditch their parents at a hotel so it doesn't matter anyways. </p></li>
<li><p>All you need is a backpack with a sleeping bag. It isn't that much luggage at all. You don't even need a change of clothes and only the most basic stuff like toothbrush/paste. It is only one night (perhaps one change of clothes is alright which is just a tshirt, pants, jacket). One backpack and a sleeping bag should be more than all the luggage you need.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>AcceptedAlready, do you know what the general rule of thumb is for adding time for unexpected delays? If I do arrive after 10 AM, will they mind? I'm hoping there is some leeway with the 10 AM check-in. Here is what the SBW schedule looks like:</p>
<p>10:00 Check-in
10:00 Student Services Fair: Housing, Dining, Police
11:30 Welcoming Address
12:00 Welcoming Lunch</p>
<p>And it basically just goes on from there. Would it be fine if I arrived a little later? Also, I don't want to eat lunch alone (I'm not anti-social or anything either), and I'm really hoping there's just a group of other people who came by him/herself...</p>
<p>No they won't mind that much. I don't see how you can arrive that late though since you have a lot of time to take a 30-45 minute ride. </p>
<p>I don't know how the early morning thing goes but I think your bagger takes care of you and eats/hangs out with you. Perhaps this is different because "welcoming lunch' seems like it is just for the baggers. </p>
<p>It seems like you would eat on-campus for that so I think a lot of ppl will do so whether or not they came with parents.</p>
<p>Is my bagger also my host? Will I automatically be paired with someone when I arrive on campus and check in? I know this sounds so silly, but I really don't want to be that one kid walking/eating all alone.</p>
<p>Um. you are the bagger. The host is the one that will be taking care of you. You will be paired with someone of course (you will sleep in his dorm) but I don't know how quickly they pair you up. I remember the guy across the room had a bagger come at 5pm so it might be around then. </p>
<p>Finally, I don't think you will be walking/eating alone because at the worst you can just go and meet your host early. Not to mention last time there were just random kids walking around campus in a "tour" group mode. Most parents had left but some remained on the "tour" with their kids.</p>
<p>You'll be fine; leaving a bit early and/or arriving a bit late is just fine. Don't count on the bus ride being 30 minutes though; I've ridden the 28X round trip twice, and it was always an hour-hour and 15 minutes. According to the bus schedule, it's an hour. It stops at a large shopping area between the airport and CMU and picks up a lot of people there. The bus they're probably using (there's two kinds) has room in it for luggage; otherwise it just gets stacked in front of the back door.</p>
<p>Get the schedule for the 28X from <a href="http://www.portauthority.org%5B/url%5D">http://www.portauthority.org</a>. The bus leaves from PIT every 20-30 minutes depending on the time of day and time of year, and the ride takes about an hour.</p>
<p>Ah...sleeping bag weekend.</p>
<p>A couple of things from an experienced host:</p>
<p>-Everybody there will be nervous and friendless for the frist 5 minutes, but after that you find people to hang out with.
-Most students ditch their parents, and don't even want to be seen with them. This is obvious during tours, where kids tend to stay about 10 feet from their parents...kind of silly, but whatever.
-The sleeping bag weekend schedule is flexible. They know people are coming and going at all sorts of times. The key part is between about 5pm to 2 pm the next day of your night, when you're with your host. As AcceptedAlready said, you meet up with your host in the evening, go to dinner with them, and then go to classes with them the next day.
-Hosts are really friendly people who want you to come here and will try to help you have fun. That being said, remember that (especially if you come on a sunday night), there is always homework to be done, so your host probably won't take you out on the town.
-And finally...remember that it is a bit of a hassle for someone to host you. It's considered a nice gesture to bring cookies or something for your host as a thank-you gesture, but certainly not required.</p>