Joystory

So, I've made the first leg of the journey home. I came the approximately forty miles from Longview to Vancouver WA to spend the night with my sister-friend Jamie. The original plan was for Jamie to drive me to the Greyhound depot in Portland OR across the river at five-thirty in the morning to catch the bus back to Medford OR. But late this evening we discovered Greyhound has changed its rules since the last tme I traveled to Longview and back that way. They used to allow two checked bags and two carry ons. Now they charge extra for the second checked bag and there are size and weight limits to all bags. Also my Mom had hoped to make the boardng process easier in the mornng by buying the ticket online tonight. But that turned out to complicate matters. By buying it ahead of time I would be required to arrive a whole hour before boarding to pick up the ticket. And not only that, they charged an extra 15 dollar 'gift' surcharge for buying a ticket with a creditcard that does not belong to the one who is traveling. What's up with that?

I did not come prepared for traveling back with a single checked bag of under 50 pounds. Anyone who knows me would start laughing hysterically at the thought. Plus I never visit my Mom wthout gong back with at least a few things I didn't arrive with. Who does?

When I learned this I just wanted to go crawl in a cupboard and close the door. I had just spent most of the last twenty hours packing a large duffle and a large cardboard box for checking and a medium sized duffle and a small back pack for carry on. I've had only two hours of sleep since 3PM Monday. I could not deal with this sudden shuffling of my expectations.

Luckily I have some take-charge people for siblings. My sister who lives with my Mom and my brother who lives in Portland got on the phone along with Jamie (who was a ward of my parents through her teens hense the appelation sister-friend) and together they cooked up a new plan. Jamie and I are going to my brother's house for breakfast at eight in the morning and I will visit with my brother's family (three kids still at home, the forth an Army Medic is in Bagdad) while Jamie is at work until noon. About noon, my sister is meeting us at my brother's house with my Mother's van. The same one she and Mom picked me up with in Medford two weeks ago.

So the three sister-friends are making the road trip together. Jamie and my sister are taking turns with the driving and making the round trip in one day as Jamie has to be back at work at ten Thursday morning.

I am typing this on Jamie's computer as I thought it would be easier than unpacking my laptop and hooking it up to her Internet. But I have been hassled continuously by pop ups since I sat down and the browser is not set up with my preferences the keyboard sounds like a herd of elephants. The mouse cursor likes to play hide and seek. And with only two hours of sleep in the last thirty odd I am just a tad cranky. And I have to get up in four hours. I think I better say good night.