Travelling Stories

Yes, yes, I know: I'm cursed as a traveller.

This time the trip home from school wasn't actually so bad. (Though it's the Christmas vacation stories that always take the cake.)

I got a ride from a friend from Walla Walla to Tacoma. I was only one hour late this time, as opposed to the times past, when I actually missed a greyhound bus. On the way there, the driver got lost for an hour. (Hence, why this friend remains unnamed.) After we got to their place, I stayed for two days (as the next day was Sabbath)--and I should add that they were so kind as to let me stay.

I went to the Greyhound station in Tacoma on Sunday morning. The one bag they weighed was 11 pounds overweight, which cost me $20 extra. They didn't weigh the other because they didn't believe it could be over. (I'm laughing at them, right now.)

Got on the bus, and then I misplaced my ticket from Seattle to Vancouver. I panicked, until I got to Seattle, and got off the bus, at which point it fell to the ground. After we departed Seattle, a lady in the back started talking in a loud, hoarse, scratchy voice on a cell phone, so loudly the rest of the bus fell silent. She said something to the effect of "I just came from Vegas (Vegas, baby!), I got so drunk, I love you, I was just at a bar, drank several Vodkas, some guy helped me carry my bags to this station, he was awesome, I'm so hammered right now, I can't wait to see you." Half the bus was waiting for the driver to kick her off, and the other half was trying really hard not to laugh.

Once in Vancouver, I realized I'd left my ticket confirmation number in Walla Walla. And the airline, departure time, etc. So I phoned home and got my brother and sister, to whom I had to give my email address and password so they could look it up for me. It took 35 minutes, but they finally got it to me--and the flight was departing in 2 and a half hours.

So I grabbed all five of my bags and took the SkyTrain (subway) and a city bus to the airport. The bus driver was really patient with me, I must add. No further comment, except that I broke a strap on one bag, and currently have bruises on my collarbones and neck from the exertion.

At the airport, I weighed the first bag, my blue "carry-on" roller, and it came out to 56 pounds. The ticket lady replied "That's impressive. How did you manage that?" The next bag, from which I'd removed a number of books because it cost me $20 on the Greyhound, came out to 61 pounds. She was nice and let it slide. I'm sure I owe her a lot. Especially as I got to the gate 15 minutes before boarding.

I slept 30 minutes on the night plane. Spent 50 minutes waiting at the airport for my Mom to arrive to pick me up, because of traffic to the airport. We stopped at a music store on the way home, and when we got out, the battery was dead, and the hood wouldn't open. An hour and a half of waiting later, the mechanic boosted us, and we were back on our way home, where I arrived at noon on Monday.

Overall, not a bad trip. A lot of things could have happened a lot worse. I know from experience.


"That's impressive. How did you manage that?"