Seattle’s Grunge

Seattle’s Grunge

Last year, I was looking at a map and noticed that I had gone to three corners of the map. Up to Brunswick Maine, down south to South Padre Island, and West to San Diego, but the most northwest place I had gone to was San Francisco.

So, I planned a trip up to Seattle. And what kind of trip did I plan? “A Cheapo tripo”.KAKOJ SLAVNIJ KOTENOK

I calculated the cost of gas, hotels, and the food. Planned out what I wanted to see, things I wanted to do. I weighted the pros & cons between flying and driving. Flying was cheaper than driving, but I would miss out on the sights and smells of the open road.

And then it came to me.

I could take the bus!

I was going to have it all! I would get the sights and smells; I would save money on gas, mileage on the truck, money on hotels. It was perfect. A nice “cheapo tripo”.

My plan included a scenic ride from Phoenix to Los Angeles, and North on Interstate 5 to Seattle.

The day came, my bags were packed, the ticket was bought, and my trip began at the bus station.

I don’t even want to describe the odors at the bus station, let’s just say I was relieved when I was eventually on board and was rolling.

The bus rolled a couple of feet and stopped, along with the air conditioner. 20 minutes later after it was officially pronounced out of service, we all had to get up and board another bus.

After a couple of hours of rolling, it was time to sleep. Part of the savings of the trip was eliminating the cost of hotels. So, I had planned on sleeping on the bus at night during the trip.

Just about when my eyes closed, all the lights on the bus turn on. The bus stops and people are scuffling out with their bags, and I’m getting hit! Their bags hit all the headrests as they exit the bus.

I did not take into account that greyhound stops at every little town with a bus stop. And every time, they turn on all the lights on the bus.

By the time I got to Monterey, I was exhausted, I still managed to walk to fisherman’s wharf for lunch. Walked over the beach to watch the waves and to take a short nap on the beach.

Funny thing about California, you don’t really feel the heat by the water. And I didn’t buy any sun block, so I got red as a red snapper.

Before I got back to the bus, I was at least able to take a shower at a local kayak rental place.

Now I know I’m skipping some cities, but there is not a lot to talk about when you are taking a cheapo trip.
Now Sacramento, a very nice clean city. I was walking and didn’t see any bums. It turned out that I was the bum. I was fortunate to find a train station and was able to take a hobo shower and nap indoors on the benches before going back to the bus station.

I arrived late at night to Seattle. I figured that a city known for it’s coffee would be up all night.