On the Road Again 2015 #36

The "big" truck stop in Upsala was big only in that there was a lot of parking for the big trucks. There was only one diesel pump and it was manned by an attendant (Husky and Petro-Canada are all self-serve).  The gas pumps were open 24 hours a day and while the restaurant was closing as I got there, the convenience store remained open. I was quite frankly getting desperate. At the rate I was going, I would not get to Sudbury in time to get back to Peterborough for my medical appointments. I decided that if I could get to Thunder Bay, I would take the Greyhound bus to Sudbury. I hate giving up early. But I had not calculated into my planning that I was travelling two-three weeks later than other times, which meant that the sun was setting just too early. (15 or 18 days makes a surprisingly big difference in terms of when the sun sets - especially in the fall) .  I had also, by leaving later than normal, missed any long distance travellers heading east.

I tried to hitch from the truck stop. It was getting dark and even with a flashlight showing my sign, I knew that people could not see me.  It was silly for me to try. It was also dangerous. I looked for a place to sleep. The area around the parking lot was rocky and uneven. The only place that was reasonable smooth was a patch of long grass underneath the large, partially lit sign advertising Tempo gas. I dozed for a bit but it was difficult to sleep as every time a truck pulled in, it went within ten feet of my head. The place that I was lying was surrounded by boulders so I knew no truck would run over me. It was just noisy. And then it started to rain.

I spent the rest of the night sitting under the overhand at the side of the building. The gas attendant was friendly and invited me in to the convenience store. I did that for a bit but there was nowhere to sit and it felt more important that I sit than to stay warm. I kept on looking at my watch and doing the math. I knew there was a Greyhound bus leaving Thunder Bay around 9:00. People would not be able to see me on the highway until 5:30 AM. If I got a ride right away - I could make it but it would be tight. I knew I would have to get really lucky to get to the bus station on time.r

At some time around 4:00 AM, a taxi pulled up and a young man got out with all of his bags. We talked for a bit and he told me he was off to the college in Thunder Bay. He was going by bus.  When the Greyhound bus heading south came an hour later (it was running late) I talked to the bus driver who agreed to let me on. He was not quite as accommodating as the bus driver in Golden. Not only did I have to give him my driver's licence but also all of the money in my wallet. He was not rude or inconsiderate - he just did not doing anything to make me feel welcome.

The bus was almost full. I sat beside someone who was not at all happy that I was taking up the seat beside him. I suspect that he had had it to himself since Winnipeg. We got to the Thunder Bay bus station, I paid for my ticket from Upsala, gave it to the driver, went back to buy a ticket to Sudbury and found out that there were no seats left. The bus that was leaving in a few minutes was full! I could have stayed at the truck stop and gotten a ride at the very least into Thunder Bay, but perhaps even further. There was nothing for me to do but to wait for the next bus - 12 hours later.  I could have gotten a bus to the highway but that could have taken an hour or two. I would then still have had to try to get a ride south. It seemed to be a better gamble to hang around Thunder Bay and take the bus. So I did.

I really wanted to eat breakfast so I checked my pack and tried to find a restaurant - I couldn't find anything. There was a mall with all food court "restaurants", but other than that I found noting. Eventually at 11:00 I found a restaurant called Moxies. It was just opening. It was a pretty classy place. The waitresses were all really dressed up, the booths were quite luxurious (especially considering that eight hours earlier I had been sleeping on the ground in the middle of an old, tired truck park) and the menu looked fancy. I was their only customer. They had a variety of egg dishes. I did a bit of negotiating with my waitress to trade the bacon for some more eggs, wrote up some notes, had a good meal and tried to relax.

If I had thought about it, I would/should have gotten on a bus and headed down to the waterfront. I am sure there would have been some restaurants open in that area and it would have been a far more pleasant day looking at Lake Superior than walking around a mall and sitting on the little bits of grass that surrounded the parking lot. But I didn't think of it until well after noon and by that point I was too tired and too anxious to stray too far from the bus station. At one point I was laying down on the grass across from the station when a van stopped and a lady got out to make sure I was okay. Once again I was reminded that the world is full of good people.

Eventually the bus came, I got a seat by the window and prepared myself for the thirteen or fourteen hour trip. I had a passenger beside me which meant that it was harder for me to sleep, but I was tired enough that I dozed throughout the trip. She was very quiet except when she was on her cell phone. Then I think, the whole bus could hear her.

The Greyhound bus had Wi-Fi. Which was strange - the bus station didn't have it. This meant that most people were able to occupy themselves texting or whatever for most of the trip. I have always found buses to be somewhat isolating at the best of times. Now that most people have their own entertainment devices with them, I think there is probably even less inter-passenger conversation. Each seat also has, just below the window, a plug to recharge one's device. This is a bit awkward as it means that the passenger by the window potentially has the other passenger's charging cord running across their lap.

The bus was not full, although I had heard the ticket seller tell someone that it was. Or rather it was not full  until Espanola - which is just a few miles from Sudbury. If I had realized that a full bus just means that at some point in the trip the bus will be full, I perhaps could have gotten on the morning bus and would have gotten most of the way home. Next time I will know to ask the right question.

Greyhound is reducing the number of trips across Canada from two trips to one a day. I don't know what people are going to do. It is by far the cheapest way to travel. For many people it is the only way that they can travel.