October 4, 2013

October 4, 2013

So last night after talking with my sister and parents I decided that this is going to be the end of my hike for the year. It just isn't worth sitting in a motel room for who knows how much longer waiting to feel better. So, this morning I am ticketed for a bus to Albuquerque and from there will fly back to Portland.

This is certainly not the way I wanted to end my hike. In fact the only way I thought my hike would end is when I arrived at the Mexican border. I hate the feeling of not finishing something I set out to do, especially in light of all the other obstacles already overcome along the way. At times it seems to me that this is such a lame reason to stop, but then I realize that my health is probably the best reason there is to stop. Doesn't make it suck any less though. I'm hoping to get back to New Mexico next April to finish the remainder of the miles. Anyone interested in a little 450 mile hike?


As for the actual "travel" today, things did not go as planned. I got to the Greyhound bus pickup place an hour early as recommended by Greyhound and began the waiting game. The bus was scheduled to pick me up at 8:45 and get to Albuquerque at 10:15, leaving me plenty of time to get to the airport for my 5pm flight, right? Wrong. At 9am I called to see what the status of the bus was and it turns out it broke down in Flagstaff and was running 4.5 hours behind. No big deal, that's why I left myself so much extra time. I called periodically to check on the bus and around 12:40 the Greyhound guy in Gallup thought it was only 10-15 minutes away, and I suppose it was, but for some reason that I cannot understand and no one was able to explain to me, the bus never showed up in Grants and went straight through to Albuquerque. WTF. The folks at Greyhound assured me that the next bus (8pm) would definitely stop in Grants. Thanks. What the hell is the point of buying a ticket the night before if the stupid bus doesn't even show up! I thought I was buying assurance the bus would actually be there, even if it was running late. Guess I need to learn more about how business "works." So I called and changed my flight to tomorrow morning instead for an additional $150. Needless to say I never plan on taking Greyhound again if I can at all avoid it. And if I can't, then I'm going to make sure I leave an extra 24 hours between the scheduled arrival time and when I actually need to be somewhere.

After more waiting around the bus finally did arrive and I made it to Albuquerque and then from the bus station to the airport. And so begins another waiting game until tomorrow morning. Here's hoping for smooth sailing through the skies and feeling better soon.


Alex