If you think back to your family vacations growing up, trips taken, best memories, what do those cherished moments all have in common?  Nothing went according to plan, not one detail, you forgot your luggage, left your brother at the rest stop, went the wrong direction for an hour or two, been launched out of boat when it was run aground, the list could go on and on.  This adventure has started off disastrously comical so far.

On our last day with friends and family we went to a local diner to have a good breakfast before we headed out for the evening.  Everyone was great but me, I got food poisoning. For the next 8 hours I spent every moment either running to the bathroom or to the sink.  It was so bad I didn’t trust myself to nap for fear of having a worse day, if you catch what I’m throwing.  Kim had to pack and do a final checklist for me.  This is just what I needed, to be confined with 40 other people while I was violently ill.

Our first leg of the bus trip to Ohio was to Baltimore. We left at about 11pm and just as we were about to board my brother remember that he left his antibiotics at the house. When we got on the bus, all my brother wanted to do was sleep. Nope not a chance, as I suffered quietly Kevin had the pleasure of an off key, high pitched, half mumbled rap concert.  For the next hour and a half this guy, with his headphones on, sang away till we arrived. By this point I was so dehydrated I couldn’t see straight and all I thought about was I don’t have cash for a vending machine.

From there it had to only get better, right? Not a chance in hell. The next leg to Pittsburgh Kevin, again drew the short straw.  A gentleman in his sixties, with his long hair and unkempt beard, looking more homeless than hippie nestled against my brother as slept on and off.  It got so bad Kevin had to leave his prized window seat and ninjaly sneak in next to another sleeping passager.  Maybe looking like the death has its benefits when traveling, nobody wants to sit with you.

The last leg of our bus trip went actually pretty well.  I managed to get some fluids in me, we both were able to sleep for a few hours too.  I that regard our trip was looking great, that was until we arrived in Columbus Ohio. The whole reason in traveling to Ohio was to see an old army buddy of mine, before we headed out on this grand adventure. I bet you can’t guess what went wrong.  Nope? Tom never showed up, his phone was going to voicemail, his house phone was apparently out of date, and so on.  What the deuce, had he forgotten? I talked to him two days ago that wasn’t the case.  My mind raced at all the possible reasons why he wasn’t there.

We did the only thing we could do at this point.  We had to change our tickets to the next bus and fast because it was leaving in 15 minutes.  Rushing to the counter we hoped and prayed this could work or we would be stuck here for a while.  Fortune finally rained down on us as the ticket agent quickly changed the tickets and we hurriedly got in line for the bus to Atlanta. While we waited, Kevin and I game planned our new itinerary.  That is till the driver informed us the bus was full and the three of us, kevin and I and some unlucky college kid, were not going to fit on the bus.

You’ve got to kidding me, can we just get a break for once please.  The station agent helped us retrieve our luggage and informed us they would change our tickets for free and feed us.  At least they are compensating us for overbooking the bus. The agent discussed the few options we had and the earliest one with seats was departing at 9 that night. Lovely just lovely, I’m sick, we both are sleep deprived, Tom never showed up, and now we are stuck in this city for ten hours. Well I guess we can pick up our food for the next five days while we wait.

Grocery shopping accomplished we sat down to start prepping our food for the bus ride.  Let me call Aaron and Kim and update them, I thought as I checked my phone.  As fate would have it there was Tom ringing away on my phone.  This had better be a good story I said to Kevin, informing him Tom was on the phone.  I answered and said hello.