Thursday, April 26, 2012

And I'm Off!

(This my first post from my phone.  All apologies if it's disjointed.  I am terribly slow!)
Well, the trip has begun.  I am somewhere between Chico and Sacramento, looking out at a sliver of moon as total strangers talk like childhood friends to pass the time.  Me, I'm pretty quiet.  It hasn't quite set in, what I'm about to attempt.  Perhaps that's why I've kept to myself ... not ready to talk about it.  And why I've found myself the perfect silent riding partner.  He has not said one word, yet it's that pleasant silent you want when you're in your own head and riding the Greyhound.  Oh yes, the Greyhound.

It's been a couple of years since I've taken the bus, but it hasn't taken long to settle back into the rhythm.  See, the thing is, I kind of like this long, slow, sometimes stinky, always colorful mode of transportation.   Everyone sounded appalled when I said I was taking the Greyhound down to the border.  And so I explained that I could keep my pack, unsearched by airport security, under the bus where I would know exactly where it was at all times.  Isn't that nice?   And the train?  Well, it arrives at San Diego at 1 AM.  And I'm not much of a city girl let alone a city girl at the wee hours.  Makes sense, right?  What I don't really mention is my secret affection for the bus.  Yes, I love knowing where my pack is.  But I was also looking forward to being trapped with mostly my own mind for 26 hours on the same system of travel I used for years when I was first trying to figure myself out.  Life has been chaotic.  I might not know what I'm doing.  Sitting and thinking as my PCT miles tick away in reverse is just the thing for me right now.  Plus, nowadays, Greyhound has Wifi!  And more leg room!   But the same old half crazies.  Gotta go.  We're at the station, and there is some people-watching to cram in before the trail!  Night.

10 comments:

  1. Know what you mean, Dorothy. We have been very impressed with your technology (being retired tech and library people ourselves) but ordered a 18 x 40 map and laminated it so we could visualize your trip better. Sometimes simplifying does it so much better (and how much more basic can you get than Greyhound, and then hiking soon?). PS do love the technology as it should make it easier to hook up with you later!

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    1. Appropriate technology, my geology professor always said ... and, yes, it does make connecting easier!

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  2. You are on your way! Blessings on you and I look forward to following your progress. Not a greyhound person myself (bad experiences with an overflowing toilet and a breakdown in the middle of a muggy Florida night) but it sure sounds like a good way to start your trip.

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  3. I'm following 2 journals this year, yours and Heart's. I'm an old nurse, like Heart, but you speak to who I've been. I love the smell of a bus station. When I was 18 I got a 90 day for $90 greyhound pass,Oregon to NYC and back. I'm wishing you strength, not just for your steps but for your fears. Peace, Raisin

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    1. Thanks, Raisin! I just saw (but did not meet) Heart at Kickoff. And I thought, "What a fitting name, just from her face, she's someone you'd want to meet ..." I took two month-long Amtrak trips when I was 19 ... :)

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  4. And here I thought I was the only crazy one who actually enjoys adventuring via Greyhound! I emailed your "packer" today after I found some really awesome merino wool socks. I'll get them to him as soon as I can so he can forward them. You'll be in our hearts and minds tomorrow morning for sure! (as well as lots of other times :-)
    Beth

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    1. Thanks, Beth! And glad to hear you are a fellow fan of Greyhound! There are not many of us.

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    2. yeah, well...we adventurous soul sisters just gotta stick together! Jazzercise was hugely better on Saturday -- I did a qi (chi) gong class with some friends on Friday a.m. and that had to have been what made my body feel like a 30-year-old's the next morning. Benefits are still hanging in there! Shared your blog on my Facebook page and am email with Guy to get some really cool (warm? :-) superwash merino socks and goodies to you (at his pleasure/leisure?!?) Take good care, my friend!

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  5. Hi Dorothy! Wired here! I'm first seeing your blog today as I checked in on mine (on my 1yr anniversary of starting the trail) to find you had thanked me and had a link to my journal on yours! So...first off, I can't believe we didn't meet before the trail! You're in Silverton and I work in Woodburn all the time! You totally could have emailed me. I feel like you may be my long lost triplet! I can totally relate to all your worries and reasons for doing the trail. I am so excited for you and your journey ahead. I'll be following:)

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    1. Erin, your blog was such a help to me! Not only in my research, but as I was trying to explain to everyone that I would be okay. I'd tell them how I was following the blog of a woman my age from Portland who was hiking solo, but didn't have to stay alone if she didn't want to, didn't get stalked by any creeps, didn't have any wildlife problems, and didn't carry a gun. Thanks! We set foot on trail tomorrow!

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