Greyhound: Never Doing That Again

                You think I may have learned from my last Greyhound excursion (here) that it wasn’t that great of an experience from Portland to Salt Lake.  But I decided to give them another shot.  I thought it might be a fun experience for Jaime to try.  It would be the first time I brought my own companion on the bus. I had never done that before.

          I had purchased the tickets online. I decided the word “Flixbus” means “small”.  Searching the internet further leads me to believe it is the Flixbus that is the coach bus (with more leg room offered than on airlines) and the Greyhound is a petite upgrade from school bus. I have ridden coach buses before and I have ridden school buses.  The bus from Portland to Salt Lake was closer to school bus as far as the amount of space for passengers.  It was definitely smaller than three of the buses Jaime and I took to get to Salt Lake three weeks ago.  But still . . . There was only one coach bus.  The seats are marked with this sign

Yea, right!  Unless the passenger buttocks is the size of the average middle schooler, there is no flipping way a seatbelt is going to fit across a person.  Get real!

 I had ridden the bus before.  I’d gone back to Virginia on Trailways at the time Greyhound bought them out.  I don’t recall the bus size being so smooshed as opposed to eight years ago or three weeks ago.  But then I was a lot smaller in 1987 than I was eight years ago to currently. 

Eight years ago I caught the bus in Roseburg at a gas station where there were benches outside.  This year it was at the parking lot of an abandoned grocery store.  There was nowhere to sit.  No one to talk to.  Nowhere to pay.  What the hey?

          The bus lines would like passengers to believe that there is a restriction on size and weight of luggage – but for the most part we (the passengers) were required to put the luggage on and take it off ourselves.  Driver did not enforce the size or weight regulation. Doesn't seem to matter whether one specifies assigned seating as that isn't enforced either.

          We did ride a Coach Bus (the Flixbus that wasn’t marked as a Greyhound)  from Hermiston (not mapped) to Boise.  Why is it that we had to take four buses?  And why through Seattle instead of Portland?  There was a bus in Hermiston going to Portland, so why not from Portland to Hermiston?  Why the tour of southern Washington state?  Granted, it was pretty – but it was 8 – 12 hours we could have been in Utah and not on Greyhound's upgraded equivalent of a school bus.

          We had a four and a half hour layover in Seattle. 4 1/2 hours! Theoretically the station wouldn’t open until 5:00 a.m. and we had arrived just before 4:00.  Fortunately someone came to open the doors at four.  My bladder was most grateful for that call.

          Before we left the house, Richard had told me to fill my pockets with change.  I had selected a pair of shorts that seemed big on me without the weight of the change – but with all that money in my pockets, I definitely needed a belt so that my pants wouldn’t fall off my body. It was in Seattle where my change came in handy as there were vending machines that offered snacks and Jai and I were both hungry for something other than what we had brought with us.

          We did have some good experiences and some not so pleasant moments – but we were safe and we were grateful.  I had looked into other options for our return as I really didn’t wish to return the way we came. But because of all the fires that happened while we were away, we may have not had that option anyway.

Early to Bed, Early to Rise . . .

          Jenna has early morning seminary.  She started this morning.  Arrangements have been made for taking the students from the church to the school - though I had planned on assisting with that this morning.  From the time she left the house to the time I arrived at the church was one of the quickest hours I have ever experienced in my life. 

          I had forgotten about her being in seminary or school traffic or buses or how much I loathe driving in school traffic.  I had somehow managed to forget all of that during the summer.  As soon as I pulled out of my driveway and saw a school bus, I thought "Oh, no." And then I had to fight the brightness of the sun on top of that.  Good grief.

          How is it possible that my baby had just barely turned eleven before our official move to Oregon and now she's a freshman in high school?   It's been nearly 14 1/2 years since I had given birth to her.  Wow! Time flies.  The older I get, the quicker it goes.  Why could it have not gone this quickly for me when I was a student?  A junior high school student particularly.  I am theoretically a student now.  The class I am currently taking is halfway over.  I barely remember it starting.  Even my accounting classes have gone fairly quickly.

          As I type this post, I have been given the opportunity to contribute to a car pool starting tomorrow.  That means I won't have to drive!  or even feel obligated to drive.  There are three in the class that will be going to the high school.  Small class.  

          Jenna's brothers and I all had the option of making seminary an elective during school.  Jenna would have that option if she were attending school in Roseburg. I can't help but believe Jenna would be going for the early morning seminary regardless.  She wants to take choir and drama.  I think she would enjoy painting or drawing as well, but is limited to how many electives she can take.  Right now she seems to want to put the perfuming arts above the liberal or graphic arts.

          I hope she has a great year.