Bus Trip

I'm at home right now, which is great news since yesterday I did pretty much everything I enjoy in life. I woke up late, had a grilled cheese sandwich, Mom and I went to the zoo (!), I got some great pictures which I am unable to share right now but will do this evening, went to the thrift store, bought a jacket that got rung up as a blazer, ate at Pizza Hut (!), went to the airport, saw Dad, hung out with Rob, and got a vanilla Frosty (!). How could that day have possibly improved?

I think that's all a cosmic reward for the ordeal I suffered through on Friday night. I was supposed to take the bus home at 5:05, for a five and a half hour trip. I think it's really lame that the express bus got cancelled last year, but whatever. Five and a half hours. That's bad. But not as bad as seven hours, which is how long the trip ultimately ended up taking. So what happened???

1. The bus was late to begin with. Those leaving for Philadelphia and Harrisburg were just idly lounging in the parking lot forever and finally the Fullington bus for Pittsburgh showed up at 5:30.

2. Our bus driver was a cigarette fiend who just stood outside the bus and smoked for another forty-five minutes while we waited for another late bus that had passengers destined for Pittsburgh.

3. So it's 6:10. We start moving. People cheer. I take a Benedryl and begin a nap.

4. My nap is rudely interrupted when the guy next to me says "hey, we're pulling off the road". We were indeed off the road. Why? Because the engine stopped working. Now we're stuck in Phillipsburg, on the side of the road, no light to read by, and no cell phone reception.

5. Smokey finally gets reception and calls Greyhound. They say to sit tight and they'll send another bus out. Estimated time: thirty minutes. We just sit on the bus and do nothing.

6. Eventually, the bus driver gets the brilliant idea to try turning the ignition one last time, and like magic it starts. We drive.

7. I have to pee like mad, so I go to the horrible, stinky bathroom. It's about a hundred degrees, no joke, and I begin to become concerned about the state of our engine and whether it's either going to just fall off of the bus or explode.

8. By the way, this entire time I sat next to this really loud, stinky guy who would play rap on his cell phone through the speaker. Ugh.

9. We stop in Clearfield to wait for the replacement bus to fix our engine. So we're just sitting there. Wait time: thirty minutes.

10. We stop again near Punxatawny. We're supposed to switch buses, the driver says, but there aren't any spares so we can't. However, that does mean that we have to find a diesel gas station and fill 'er up since there isn't any more fuel left.

11. Pacific Pride, here we come. The driver gets off and begins smoking until one of the attendants berates him back onto the bus. Wait time: twenty minutes.

12. Eventually, stinky seat partner and his friend get off at Indiana and I'm able to lounge.

13. Arrival time in Pittsburgh: 12:00. How lame.