The Adventure's Not Over Just Yet

Day 32:

12:01 am, we are pulling out of the Reno Amtrak Station. The plan is to stop in Truckee and Colfax before reaching Sac. I want to stay awake for this last part of the trip. I'm not sure why.

We stop in Truckee and let 2 people off the bus. It's the middle of the night, the 2 motels we saw are full, and there is no one around, and no one waiting for them. These 2 people did nothing but gripe and complain since we turned back to Denver. They were in the room next to me, and they complained very loudly. At one point, I started singing loudly to drown them out. They are very annoyed by me. I tried very hard to feel bad for them. I finally managed to feel sorry for them.:)

A bunch of people of off the bus in Colfax. Wow, who knew that was such a destination?

Now the real adventure begins. After a few more miles, the driver starts shaking his head back & forth. Then, he starts rubbing the back of his neck, and the top of his head. A while later, he begins slapping himself in the face over and over again.

I'm glad I stayed awake.

I'm in the third row, so I lean up to the folks in the first row, and suggest they start a conversation with the driver. They had seen the same thing as me, so they agreed. They kept him talking, and that helped a lot. We arrived in Sac at 3:20, and I walked the 3 blocks to the hotel. Walking in downtown Sac in the middle of the night with 3 pieces of luggage, is an experience in itself.

When I got to the hotel, they had labeled me a no-show, and charged my card. I had to wait while she reversed the charges, and reinstated my stay. She felt bad for me, so she upgraded my room, and gave me an extended stay (extra 3 hours) which I thought was nice.

I was able to sleep until 10, and then called my cousin to come pick me up. The original plan was that I would arrive at 3:45 the day before, and I'd stay at my aunt's house that night. I'm so glad my family is flexible. I still wanted to stay and visit, and they wanted that too, so I got to spend the whole day with them. We had a great dinner that my cousin Karen prepared, and a great dessert, that my cousin Jenny prepared. Karen has 3 great kids that you see at the top of this post. Karen kept my van for me, and they really enjoyed it. I think I'm lucky they gave it back (joking). They were really thankful to have had it for a few weeks.

The family retires early, and i thought I'd be sitting up alone for several hours, but I was in bed by 9:30. I hadn't realized how exhausted I was.

I can't believe this is my last night away from home. It sure doesn't feel like I've been gone over a month. It's been a great trip.

Praise god!