The Trip From Hell

 

And this was just the Seattle bus station

OK, before I start this story, let me begin by setting the background. This was the summer of 1995, there were no cell phones and no internet. I was 20 years old and never traveled anywhere except by driving. That summer, two friends and I pooled our money together and we bought a 12 foot camp trailer. We removed the table and installed a bunk bed while the third guy slept on the couch. With the trailer, we drove the 3500 miles from Oregon to Anchorage, Alaska. By the time we got up there, we didn't have enough gas money to drive back, but we had a month's worth of MacN'Cheese, Ramen noodles, and canned elk meat that my friend's mom gave to us in mason jars.

Two weeks after arriving, we find this job at a trailer park. It was very convenient because for part of our pay, they gave us this single-wide to sleep in. They guys at work were cool, they called us "The Oregon Boys". We did grunt labor there, mowing yards, picking up trash, and burying propane lines. 

A couple months later, we get a phone call from another friend, announcing that he was going to get married. The other two wanted to go, but I didn't think it would be worth the trip, so I stay and work that week they are gone. A month later, I would go to visit my brother as he would be returning from basic training in the Army. 

Anchorage to Seattle

For this trip, I wanted to maximize the time I had in Oregon, so the plan was to fly, but I also had to minimize my costs as I was only a hired dirt shoveler at the time. The plan was to work a full day, then take the red-eye flight from Anchorage to Seattle, then the Greyhound bus from Seattle to my hometown in Eastern Oregon. Simple, right? 

So, the day of the trip arrives. I have a week's worth of clothes and other stuff in my bag. I wake up at the normal 6 AM and work the full day. The flight we could get from Anchorage was at 1 AM. No problem, I would eat dinner, then one of my friends would drop me off at the airport. He had to work in the morning, so he dropped me off around 8 pm. I wait there in the Anchorage airport until the 1 am flight. I figured I could get some sleep on the plane, but nope. I was too excited, being able to look out the window and see the massive St. Elias range with all the glaciers on the full moon.

We arrive in Seattle that morning. I didn't know where my luggage was, and I keep waiting. After picking up my luggage, I look around at some charts and I see that the Seattle bus station is downtown, and the bus leaves in about an hour. I was planning on taking the city bus there, but there is no time. I run over to where the taxi's are and I ask the guy to drive me to the greyhound bus station. 30 dollars later, I arrive at the bus station. I see on the front of this bus BOISE, so I run over to wait in line to buy a ticket. I am getting anxious as I am standing there, seeing the minutes tick by. Pretty soon, I see that I am not going to buy a ticket in time, so I ask the woman in front if I can come up. Well, I get a rude response, so I back down. I was about 4 or 5 people from the counter when I see the bus take off. The Boise bus ran only once every 12 hours, but I figured I could instead take a bus down to Portland, then transfer towards Boise.

So, I buy a ticket to Portland, I sit down and wait the 2 or 3 hours at the Seattle bus station for the next ride. By now, I am starting to feel fatigued. It is now about noon, and I have been awake since 6 am the previous day. I don't dare go to sleep though, I am sitting in a bus station in downtown Seattle with all my stuff and $300 in my wallet. I am too paranoid.

Seattle to Portland

The bus finally arrives and I climb on with all my stuff towards Portland and I am thinking I am home free. As we are traveling there, I relax a bit. We stop at a bus station and I get off. After about 5 minutes of standing around, to my horror, I figure out it is the Vancouver bus station. I should have known because we never crossed the Columbia River. So, there I was, with a similar predicament as in Seattle, just a little late to meet the connecting bus. I carry all my stuff to the city bus station, spend time figuring out where to go to get to the Portland Greyhound bus station, then wait at that bus station. I take the city bus from Vancouver to Portland City Center. This is the first time that I've really encountered inner city folk up close and personal. I just clench my bags and try to not do the wrong thing. When I get to the Portland Greyhound bus station, I look at the charts and notice that I just missed the bus towards Boise, and the next one doesn't run for 8 hours. I'm thinking back to the Seattle bus, and I would have been better off just waiting the full 12 hours in Seattle. Now, I have another bus station to wait around at.

Waiting at the Portland Station

By now, it is 6pm and I am tired and hungry. At this point, I have been awake for 36 hours and haven't eaten anything but vending machine crap that day. I have 8 hours to kill, so I decide to wander out to see if there are any restaurants nearby. I go and get my belly filled at a McDonalds, but after that, I have nothing to do but wait, so I decide to hang out at the bus station. 

It was about this time that I was sitting on a bench, trying to stay awake that this skinny looking fellow comes up to me and asks me several questions. I must have looked pretty naïve at that point, because he was trying to con me out of money. This is before my church days, and I comment that it would be nice to get a couple beers. He says that if I give him some money, he would buy a couple and give me back half. I give him $10 and that was the last I see of him. 

Later on, another guy comes up to me and asks if I would want anything to pass the time. I ask "what do you mean?" and he digs in his pocket and grabs a little zip lock baggie with little white crystals in it. $20 buck for this, do you want it? I lie to him and tell him that I don't have any money.

After about 6 hours of waiting there, there is this black girl that comes and sits down beside me. By now, it is close to midnight, and I have been awake for 42 hours, I am determined to stay awake so I don't have my stuff stolen. We chat about what we were doing. She lives in Boise and is getting a ride back. I can't remember what we talked about, but I remember it being a pleasant conversation.

We get on the bus, and I sleep, using my bag as a pillow. She sat next to me, but I was unconscious of it all. 

The Rest of The Trip

We arrive near my hometown around 8 am the following morning. I stop at the café and use a payphone to call my parents to they can give me a ride home. The following week was fun, somewhat. On day 2 of the trip, my brother some other friends and I go boating down a section of river that we never tried before. I end up losing my wallet with about $250 in it on the boating trip, so I have to make an emergency run to the DMV to get a new license, then I have to borrow money from my parents. After hearing the story of my trip, they decide to drive me back directly to Seattle.