Hey folks,
Thanks for the thoughts shared. You're right, I will be near Springfield... looked into Greyhound from there, and it's about 25 hours trip (!!!) but just about $120 round trip, believe it or not. I have no car (never have, actually) so this is the most economical (yet torturous, ha ha) method of travel. Amtrak always charges so much more—$334 for this round trip. Agh! All I want is to see Riverside, Andromeda, Iced Earth and co. Do I have to lose an arm and a leg, too?
So right now I'm planning on the bus, unless I can find someone from the area who will be driving...