Friday, August 12, 2011

B is for Bus

Bus: a large motor vehicle designed to carry passengers usually 
along a fixed route according to a schedule.
[According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary]

Ok so a few days before I was supposed to board the train, Amtrak called me and told me that there was scheduled track work and for part or all of my trip I would have to take alternate transportation. I minorly freaked out, being completely confused my the message, but I called the number back and basically they said that everything was taken care of and all I would have to do was take the train from Toledo, Ohio to Albany, New York, get off the train and board a bus in Albany which would take me the rest of the way to Boston. I guess I did want an adventure right? Well that’s how I looked at the situation anyways - as just another part of the adventure. So here we go exiting the train and being herded into the Albany station. I hear an older man ask a worker what travelers heading to Boston were supposed to do, so naturally I went up to this man and asked if he was taking the bus to Boston too. He said yes and told me to stick with him and two other younger people around my age. He said, "Well, if we miss the bus then we'll all miss it together." I was fine with that. At least I wasn’t completely alone. So we wait over an hour for this bus to pick us up and it finally comes and we get split up a bit. There were two buses and each was stopping at certain stops but leaving out others to shorten the trip. Another bus was coming along about an hour later to be a straight shot to Boston, but I wasn't really in the mood to be waiting a whole additional hour. Anyways I get put on the red bus to Boston, and luckily I’m put on the same bus as Matt, an accounting grad about to get his Masters from the University of Tennessee, returning home to Boston after a family wedding in Rochester, New York. Matt was another stranger made friend during my traveling adventures and we talked about anything and everything during the bus trip. The trip lasted a good 5 hours but when you're occupied that doesn't seem so long and can go by pretty quickly. I was pretty thankful to have had Matt there to keep me company. Unlike the train, the bus had much less room to spread out but fortunately when they filled the buses, this one only had so many people that everyone has two seats to themselves. I couldn’t complain. The trip could have been pretty miserable if everyone had been partnered up, but I was able to spread out a bit and not have all by bags smashed up on my lap. Nearing the end of the ride I got a bit nervous, not familiar with the area I was being dropped off at to wait nor knowing exactly where my friend was going to pick me up at, but Matt knew the area so he showed me where to wait safely and was really helpful. All-in-all the entire trip to Boston was a success and quite the adventure. =)

-~- B.

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