Cyring Moments from Vacation
Bus ride from NM to DEN
The long awaited part 2 commentary on our “WORST BUS TRIP EVER.”
1:00 am: The 11:30pm bus finally arrived. We were the first in line to board, and we said our final good-bye to the parents that stood by us all night. As I watched our bags get loaded, Steven proceeded into the bus to secure seats. The bus was not clean, nor did it feel comfortable for a 7 hour bus ride. I found Steven, and he had a look of terror and disappointment. He was not able to find any two seats together, and his face indicated how sorry and helpless he felt. CRY MOMENT #4. Not only was I tired, and upset. But now I needed to sit with a stranger for 7 hours.
*ONLY POSITIVE MOMENT OF THE BUS RIDE* a man seeing my sadness volunteered his seat to Steven which allowed us to sit together in the second row of the bus.
1:25 am: We were on our way. CRY MOMENT #5. Tired, upset at leaving abruptly, to have lost all that time with his family, that the bus smelled unclean, that the seats were too small, that the woman in front of us felt the need to recline her chair, and that we weren’t even going to make our flight! Knowing that we could have just as easily driven ourselves the next morning, or flew out of Albuquerque and miss our flight anyway was upsetting in itself. Part way down the freeway, and amidst Steven’s concerned kisses and hugs I was too tired to cry, and I fell asleep.
3:45 am: Awakened by a sudden stop, I looked around and realized we were at a gas station. The driver did not speak English (Greyhound runs during the daytime hours, and their routes in the late evening are run by American Autobuses, which was never indicated to us), and was making an announcement of some sort. We were apparently taking a break at the gas station. CRY MOMENT #6, just because I hated EVERYTHING at the moment.
4:15 am: Finally leaving the gas station and back en route to Denver. At this point we DEFINITELY were not making our flight. Steven also advised me that thus far on the ride, he was being dripped on by the bus. There was some sort of leak from the air conditioning unit, which was apparently located above us. The fact that it was leaking explained why it hadn’t been running the whole ride.
7:20 am: Arrival in Colorado Springs. Our flight leaving DIA at 8:00am was going to leave without us. We stopped with only enough time to let people off, and then we were once again on our way.
8:30am: On the freeway getting into Denver. CRY MOMENT # 7. We had missed our flight, and I didn’t know what flights were available throughout the day. At this point, we had to ride stand-by for a flight home.
Upon arrival at the bus station, the taxi we had ordered was already there, he got us to the airport promptly and at a very small fee. We checked in, had breakfast and made our way to our gate. Waiting indoors at the temperature controlled airport was 100% better than our bus ride. We spent all day Wednesday trying to get on a flight, but they all left full. That evening we were fortunate enough to have a friend working for the Red Lion hotel and he had given us a great rate for a BEAUTIFUL room. We were able to shower, and really just relax before heading out early to the airport for another day of waiting.
Thursday morning, the flights were all once again full. However, we were able to split up, and fly out seperately. Steven arrived in Seattle direct from Denver around noon, and I arrived in Seattle with a lay-over in Portland at 2pm.
There is no moral to this story, nor any words of wisdom. It’s just too good of a story to keep locked up. The series of unfortunate events continued to pile up, but in the end we made it home. Slight bruised, but overall alive.
Do YOU have a story to tell?
