Sunday, February 14, 2016

Another bus experience

We have one car and have only had one car for some time now. Most of the time one car is more than enough. Our city isn't that big and our bus system is mostly adequate. But every once in awhile Darren will need to take the vehicle, and there will be something planned that we cannot or do not want to miss, and so Hen and I will get to take a journey on the bus. Last night was one of these times.

To get to the location of the party on Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy by 4:30pm, we needed to catch our first bus at 3:15 about 3/4 of a mile from our house. This wasn't a problem, however, about halfway to the stop, it started sprinkling and I began to worry that we had not worn the appropriate gear for the weather. (This turned out to be a well-founded concern. Oregon is known for its rain for a reason.) We had no real issues getting to our location, though, so all was well. 

Fast forward two hours and there is a lot more rainfall to deal with, it is significantly darker outside, and it is a whole lot colder than it was when we left the house. I had Hen put on sweatpants that I had packed just in case (thank goodness), and forced him to wear his hat and fleece quarter-zip shirt that he'd worn instead of a jacket. 

The bus we needed to catch to get home was a few minutes late but we got downtown in plenty of time to catch our second bus. Phew. Only…this bus driver completely ignored the stop and kept on going. So, it's getting late, it's frickin' cold, it's a Saturday so the routes aren't as plentiful as they are on weekdays, and now we have to wait an additional half hour for the next bus to arrive. UGH.

We wait. The next bus comes and stops for us (yay!) and we get to our next stop with a few minutes to spare before our bus arrives. Only I can't find the stop. We see the bus, we watch it turn, I curse not-so-silently as our bus whips past the stop where we should have been. Another sad wait in the rain and cold and it is even later. 

Finally, the next bus arrives - with heat blasting us from below - and we get a chance to thaw out a bit before getting dropped off about 1/4 of a mile from home. One short walk through the rain with us singing Do-Re-Mi (from Sound of Music, ya'll) and we arrive home about forty minutes later than expected. 

Hen is surprisingly awesome at little plan hiccups like this and managed to stay in good spirits for the entire trip.  (See following pic of Hen's good nature whilst traveling via bus.)


1 comment:

B. E. Busby said...

Hey, guys -- we use SF Muni a lot, except when the timing really sux. Our alternate is (first choice) Lyft,( 2nd ) Uber. Yeah, more $, but since we're a duo-some, not tragic. I see you have (at least) Uber available.

N.B.: I have no pecuniary interest in either of the above-referenced ride-share providers.