The other day I got a text message that said "call me" and I assumed that it was from someone interested in my car because I've gotten a few texts from people who are interested in it but when they call my phone it goes straight to voice mail because my phone is constantly off.
I forwarded the message to my mom so she could call them and provide them with any information they needed. When she called the number it was a friend of the asian man who used my phone earlier in the week and he wanted my mom to get a message to me and then to the man. Since I wasn't traveling with his this wasn't a realistic expectation.
While in Gatlinburg Tuesday night we went out to a bar and had a couple beers and then on the way back to the motel, Matt decided he wanted to go to the quick stop and grab something. Guess who else was in the store?!? The asian man! I tried my best to tell him that someone wanted to talk to him but he didn’t understand. Eventually I dialed the number that texted me and handed him the phone. He talked for a few seconds and then handed me the phone and I talked to an elderly asian woman who's son was trying to contact the hiker to tell him he was getting picked up in hot springs. I'm not sure if she didn't speak the same language as him or what but he didn't understand and I spent 10 minutes trying to get him to understand. I don't think he did, or he didn't like the message because this time I didn't get hugs or handshakes, he just walked away.
As I walked down the street with several other hikers on Wednesday on the way to Shoney’s for breakfast, my knees were killing me. Then I went to the visitor center to see if it was even possible to get out of Gatlinsburg and found out there was a bus leaving 40 minutes later to Knoxville for only $9. I decided to go for it and then started making calls to see how I could get from Knoxville to Saint Louis. Half the rental car companies do not allow one way out of state rentals and the ones that did, didn't have any availability. A plane ticket the same day was nearly $300, so I got a ticket on greyhound.
I've never ridden greyhound before and I was excited. I got to visit Chattanooga, Nashville, and Paducah on the way to Saint Louis. Riding the bus is like hiking really fast with lots of other people around me. While riding on the bus the driver slammed on the breaks and then started to back the bus up on the shoulder. Apparently there was an accident ahead and he decided to take an off ramp that he had already passed.
Also while driving, the bus driver comes over the intercom "there is no smoking weed on the bus, be smart people there are babies on this bus". Everyone started looking around, no one was smoking anything. Then a woman near the back starts banging on the bathroom door and a young guy steps out of the bathroom with bloodshot eyes and a plume of smoke. The bus driver comes over the intercom that there will be drug dogs at the bus station when we stop and anyone with drugs is advised to flush them in the toilet. Suddenly a panic breaks out on the bus as at least 10 people scramble for their bags and start talking nervously. The bus driver pulls over and a cop gets on the bus. I'm not sure how one got there so quickly it seemed like seconds. The cop walks down the aisle and asks "Does anyone have any marijuana? Who was smoking". A guy speaks up that it was the kid behind him and the bus driver confirms that he was the one coming out of the bathroom. The officer asks the kid If he was smoking and he denies it. Then the officer searches him and finds nothing. The officer tells him to sit back down and while walking off the bus says the quote of the day "Don't smoke weed on the bus, if you need to get high, snort some coke instead"
After that nothing too exciting happened and I made it to the new Greyhound station in Saint Louis around 1am where my mom was waiting to pick me up.
No comments:
Post a Comment