3 Hour Bus Tour

Joe texted me mid-morning and asked me if I wanted to go to coffee with him and another member of ReChurch.  I had been in the house just working on other office work and reading some material that Hamish assigned me, so getting out of the house sounded nice.  Joe asked me if I would like to be picked up - him and his wife Amy have been my primary transporters since the quake - or if I would like to take the bus to the cafe.  Now, I love the bus system here.  It's clean, safe, and super efficient.  Since the earth quake though, I haven't taken the bus.  A good number of the bus routes weren't even running up until recently just because buses couldn't get down some streets.  There were a couple bus routes nearby, but none of them my regular #45 bus that was right around the corner and would drop me off right near the office.  Lucky me that most bus routes opened back up on Friday.  I figured since I was going to start taking the bus to the offices again for work, it would be good to get used to the routes in case of any minor changes in stops or scheduling.  I told Joe confidently that I would take the bus.

I was so good about it and being prepared.  I looked up maps online, the time schedules, and triple-checked that my route was now running properly.  Yay #45!  I walked to the bus stop and read parts of my book while I waited.  I was not worried at all, especially when a number of other people joined me at the stop.  The #45 bus only really extends out to my suburb and is in fact the only bus that picks up at the particular stop I was at.  From a distance, a few minutes after the scheduled pick -up time, I saw a bus in the distance... however, it was NOT a blue and green bus like the one I normally took.  It was blue and orange. I thought to myself, "Hmm, how strange?  That doesn't look like a #45 at all... well, maybe they just needed to use different buses while they rearrange other routes."  It didn't occur to me that I maybe should have asked if it was the right bus or anything... I just got on because everyone else did.  Yep, I am a follower.  I went to the back, took my seat, and was again comforted by the school uniforms on some of the students because I recognized them from the buses I normally took.   At Burwood Road, the next large intersection, the #45 bus is supposed to turn left...

... We kept going straight.

I got a little panicked but then thought that maybe there was still too much damage down that route and they have to go around.  After this, we ended up passing the road that would have taken me to the cafe.  It dawned on me that after passing both the main streets that the #45 stops on that I MUST be on the wrong bus.  SHOOT.  I would press the 'stop' buttons on the bus at this point, except we were driving on one of the main hubs where there are no bus stops whatsoever.  I have to stay on the bus.  I wasn't sure where exactly this bus was taking me or where the end was... I STILL don't even know what number bus I was on... but i figured that if it picked me up on Travis Road, it would eventually take me BACK to Travis Road.

I really had no idea how long this little trip would take me.  After about half an hour, we reached one of the malls I am slightly familiar with on the other side of town.  I thought maybe this would be a good place to got off, because then I could call someone and have them pick me up.  Brilliant idea, RIGHT?!  I pulled out my phone... and realized my battery died.  I kept trying to remember phone numbers but wasn't 100% positive about anyone's cell numbers and I knew that neither Yo or Neil were at the house.  THAT doesn't help.  So instead of getting off at the only familiar area, I stayed on the bus.  The bus continued to take me to another mall and then took me to the University campus and then to all these other suburbs I had never heard of before.  I got a little nervous at one point too when I saw signs for the West Coast.  After an hour and fifteen minutes, the bus reached the very end where it parked along the street.  The bus driver looked at me and said, "Pardon, but are you going all the way back into town?"  It was at this point when I decided to tell the driver (His name is James... and he has four kids and a wife who he's been married to for 31 years) about my adventure and my mistake.  He just laughed and told me that he's headed back that way in fifteen minutes but just needed a toilet break.  I got to know him quite well after chatting for awhile.

We finally started making our journey back and I was thankful that I wasn't just going to be stranded in some random town with a creepy bus driver and no form of communication.  After three hours, I finally made it back to the Lawrence's house.

Are any of you surprised by this story? Nope, me neither.  Next time I have a hunch a bus might not be the right one, I should probably just ask and double check.  OH, and no, I never did make it to that coffee meeting.