Greyhound Adventures

So, as many of you know, I took a 24hour bus ride on Greyhound from Waynesboro, VA to AnnArbor, MI for my friend, Dana's wedding. Now many of you may be wondering why I interrupted my trail experience for this wedding when I am not exactly in the wedding. It is because it is my friend, Dana.
Anyway, the trip on the bus was long and exhausting and I can't wait to take my mother-in-law back with me on the return trip. It is a lot of stress wondering where they are not going to let you go any further due to your ticket having a future date on it, but it was never questioned along my journey.
The first bus was from Waynesboro to Washington DC. As I departed Waynesboro, I wept a little to be leaving my friends and family from the trail not to mention the wonderful people who helped get me on the bus (Woody and Irma). Then I settled in for the long haul and finished my book by the time I reached DC. After DC, I travelled through Pennsylvania and could see ridgelines and I wondered if those were ridgelines where my friends would be upon my return from Michigan. That made me cry all over again. Trying to make myself happy wasn't working to stop the tears either. As I thought of my friends and family that I would see over the Memorial Day weekend, I also began to cry. Life seemed to go in slow motion and seemed almost surreal at that point. I had to try my hardest not to cry the whole way home to Michigan. Upon arriving in Michigan and travelling from Detroit to AnnArbor, I again began to cry because soon enough I would be visiting with my friends and see my family. It felt so weird. What do I say to them? Will they be asking me all sorts of questions from the trail? With my emotions on the fritz would I just start bawling when I saw them? How about those friends I left on the trail...Would I see them again? So, much worry for such simple things. MY heart beat rapidly as I approached AnnArbor. Thank Goodness Dana was not there right away to get me from the bus because if she had been standing outside the bus when I got off, I know I would have lost it and again cried my little heart out. It was bad enough that I reported my fragile state of mind and then began crying right there. How could someone who has hiked 850miles be such a blubbering baby? The tears did not last long despite being just below the surface and ready to spill at any moment. Dana and I ran some errands and then got some breakfast. I ate all of my meal and half of Dana's. Guess I still have an appetite.
Going back to the greyhound trip itself, there were not too many weird people until I got to Cleveland, OH. As we were approaching Cleveland, I was laying with my head towards the aisle and almost had it kicked in by the guy behind me putting his foot on my armrest. He apologized and then began to talk to me about my destination. From there, he started telling me how beautiful I am and it went down hill from there. He asked me if I was married and whether I would ever cheat on my husband. I told him as long as it was him, I sure would! HAHAHAHA! No! I did not say that. I told him I would never cheat on my husband! He just kept telling me how pretty I was and patting my head. I was glad to get off the bus and find somewhere away from him to sit and wait for the bus to take me to Detroit.
In that seat inside the bus station; however, I had another guy strike up conversation with me. He was not as bad as the other guy, but you could tell there was something mentally wrong with him. We talked about the buses and he told me he was headed to Vermont and I told him I was headed to Michigan. We talked about our jobs and he then went into talking about mental facilities and high strung communities. He was going to apply for dual citizenship with Canada because his great grandfather was Canadian, and once in Canada this guy had a bad experience with the people and so he wants to be able to tell them where to stuff their attitude or something like that. It was weird how quickly the topic changed as we conversed and he kept asking me if I got it. The bathroom was my refuge from this guy.
During my encounters with these 2 guys, I thought of Montana's coaching me on how to safely hitch a ride. He told me to just hang out by a gas station or some store and just watch the people to find the one who looks safe and ask them for a ride. I decided after this experience, I am just a magnet for weirdos and will not be hitching by myself. Despite my ability to read the safe from the unsafe, I am a magnet for the looney bin escapies. So, no hitching for me unless with other people!
On the whole, the experience was a decent trip and I look forward to taking the bus back home...to the trail. Oh no! I am calling the trail my home. I really have flipped my lid! At least on the return trip, I will have my mother-in-law along for company. Maybe the weirdos will stay away if there are 2 of us! Can't wait to find out!