Date: 2003-06-27
From: columbus

To: Davis Hollow
Miles today: 1.0

Jon took us back to the station and we waited the rest of the layover reading the newspaper and just hanging around. Five hours is a long wait between buses especially between 10PM and 2:55AM when there is nothing open. I was so glad we had children in COlumbus who could entertain us for a good part of the time. Boarding the bus was a big problem! I had put plastic bags over the packs to protect them in transit and fastened them on with tape and twine. It appears plastic is not allowed in the luggage hold of the bus, or so s man named John informed us, not very nicely. We protested that the Akron station seemed to have no problem with it. " Well, we do," he snapped, "now you can have it shipped or take it on the bus and put it in your lap, but it can't go below." I tried to comply with his order as best I could dragging my big heavy pack down the aisle of the crowded bus bumping people as I went. Relentless didn't make it up the steps with his because it was bigger and the straps caught on the sides of the stairs. He and John were having a not so pleasant discussion about impossibility of his getting the pack on the bus and the more impossible task of holding it on his lap to ride all the way to VA. For a while, there seemed to be no solution and the other passengers were anxious to get going and started to grumble. The bus was full except for the handicapped seats up front and a seat beside a rather ragged looking chap abotu 4 rows back. I shoved my pack in front of this only vacant seat and then went up to see if I could help Relentless deal with John. We finally agreed that if we took all the plastic off the pack, John would put it down below, so we started ripping plastic, tape, and twine while the passengers grumbled about delays. Relentless went to find a seat , but there were none so he was allowed to sit in the handicapped seat behind the driver. I sat with my pack between my legs which cramped both me and the poor fellow next to me. He was a sweet old fellow who put up with this without complaint, and I didn¢t complain about the fact that he smelled like a hiker who had been on the trail a week. We had a little conversation then he spent the rest of the trip to Portsmouth mumbling to himself and singing, ¢There were bells on the hill but I never heard them ringing.¢ When he got off at Portsmouth along with quite a few others I was able to sit next to Relentless and put the pack on the handicapped seat in front of us. The next layover was in Charleston WV, but we didn¢t change buses, just grabbed some rolls and coffee from the hotel around the corner. When we got back on the bus the driver informed me that my pack couldn¢t ride up top unless I paid a fare for it. ¢OK, just put it down below.¢ I replied. ¢Nope, it isn¢t properly packed,¢ says he. ¢OK, I¢ll ride with it between my legs.¢ ¢ NO that isn¢t allowed either, It¢s too big, he snaps. ¢Then I¢ll take the plastic off and you can put it below,¢ I offer. No, he can¢t do that either. ¢ So what do you want me to do ?¢ I throw my hands up in frustration. ¢It¢s supposed to be in a box,¢ he says. Thoughts of carrying a 37.5 box around the bus station go through my mind. ¢Bring it down here and set it beside the bus,¢ he orders. ¢I¢m not leaving without my pack,¢ I stammer. ¢I¢ll have them put it below, ¢he says, ¢I¢ve already told the man to load it. ¢So why did we go through all this,¢ I think, but I didn¢t say that for fear he would change his mind. We got to Wytheville about noon and called the car rental dealer who has promised us a ride to the trail. By now it is raining. The car rental doesn¢t have a driver available and we are to call back in a couple hours maybe someone can give us a lift then. We went to the Country Kitchen Restaurant to eat and the food was so bad we only ate half of it. We finally decide to try hitching to the trail and due to some bad directions, we end up hitching the wrong direction. Fortunately it was a short hitch and when we got off we discovered our error while looking at our map and eating at Burger King. We are lucky enough to get a quick hitch back to Wytheville and start walking down 11south through town. We finally wander past the Enterprise car rental, threw ourselves on their mercy and they are nice enough to give us a ride to the trail where we got off at Groseclose. We have a last milkshake at the Dairy Queen and hike a mile down the trail to a campsite. As we were heading down the trail the sun and blue skies finally appeared as if to welcome us back. We pitched the tent, got water and slept well all night. It was good to be back, ¢sigh.¢