 |
|
|
|
|
...My Life as 'Drive away' driver
|
Trip 33b - New - Class B Motorhome ... from Kitchener, ON 2/13/04 - Friday the 13th ... what could go wrong? Overall, nothing did ... but ... The guy who sold me the bus ticket said be here before 8 AM, this driver does not wait. I had set the alarm for 6 AM, but I was awake before that ... up before that ... I was awake off and on all night because of the heat ... Had thought of hitting a breakfast buffet, but I was still full from last night ... and I had shoved a couple of cookies in my pocket on my way out, they'd do for later ... even before 7 I am checked out and walking the couple of blocks to the bus depot ... busy place ... an awful lot of buses for what I thought was a small town ... but admittedly, I am clue-less when it comes to public transportation ... Oh, I can see my bus sitting a block away when I get there ... finally about ten to eight he pulls up and before eight we are gone ... me and one other guy, how can this pay?? It's only a half hour back down to Buffalo ... at the bus depot I see others who were at the Niagra depot this AM and caught the city bus down ... this was early enough, I have a couple hours to wait ... my bus ticket was all hand written so when there wasn't a line at the counter I asked what my schedule was ... 10:30 leave Buffalo to go through customs ... 12:15 leave Niagra Falls ... "WHAT? This bus goes (back) through Niagra Falls??" ... no, it goes through Niagra Falls, ON. I'm beginning to think I could have made better plans if I'd have know more of the facts ... and it'll get worse ... The driver had told me to board my next bus at gate 4 ... so about a half hour before departure, I moved to that area and started watching the spot ... as well as watching everyone else coming and going ... only half paying attention I hear "... Kitchener ...." Aaahhh ... I've been staring at gate 3 ... there has been a bus in gate 4 for a while ... and a line of people waiting to board ... (help, where is my mind sometimes) Dispatch had told me I "shouldn't need my birth certificate, just my picture ID..." so I wasn't ready, had to dig it out of my well packed bag ... some people had their's folded, he didn't even ask them to open them." ... but that was only a 'first check' ... as soon as we crossed the boarder, "Everyone, everything ... off." And we had to stand outside, even the Amish couple with a baby ... until custom's went out to check the bus and saw them waiting outside and took them in the out door ... back on the bus they had tried to sit together, but no, everyone thought they had to get their same seats back so they and their kids had to sit separately. It was a cold wait, I was about half way back in the line and it was above freezing today ... not sure what they do when it's 40 - 60 below wind chill ... this gate is for buses, why not at least have a sheltered area?? I only get to hear the questions they are asking the two ahead of me ... "How did you get to Buffalo? How long are you staying? How much money?" Etc, dozens of questions ... then there's me ... "Picture ID please ... Birth certificate please ... Where are you going?" and "Kitchener, to pickup a vehicle." ... "You're good to go ...Thank you." ... huh? Yep that was it for me. I guessing for most people it only took a minute or two, but it was about 15 minutes between the last two coming back to the bus, and the last guy came out a different door than the rest of us had ... now for the half hour ride back to Niagra Falls ... ON. Now for the bad news ... I hated to do it, but I asked the ticket guy "How often does the bus leave here for Kitchener?" "Every two hours, every day." NOOOOO!!!! "You mean I was right across the river since last night and I could have walked over the bridge and caught the bus ...?" I asked. He gave me this ... grin and handed me the bus schedule "Better luck next time." It would have been nice if the ticket guy would have told me this last night, or anyone would have told my wife this yesterday when she was calling ... I could have walked across the bridge, caught a bus ... it might have even cost me less ... spent the night in Kitchener and been ready to roll at 8 AM and could have almost (legally) been home tonight ... instead I'm up against the clock to pickup before they close and am not planning on driving all night even though I will have almost enough hours. One more bus switch and another half hour wait ... then about a half hour out of Kitchener we come to a complete stop, traffic is backed up of miles ... not sure what had happened, we do see a fire truck leaving a few vehicles ahead of us ... one car in the ditch and a snowplow on the shoulder and snow driving across the highway, the bus driver was listening to the local station for any reports but there wasn't anything. Finally Kitchener ... off the bus and a cab waiting ... "How much ..." "$10 - $11" ... great, I had no idea how close we were ... he finds it on the first try ... I tell him I only have American money ... "Then $8." ... I give him $12 ... he could have charged me $20 and I wouldn't have known or cared ... I've never brought a vehicle back through customs so it takes a little while to go over the paperwork and sign all the forms ...plus the inspection takes a while, this vehicle is for re-sale so everyone is going to be a little pickier ... By the time I'm done it's after 5 PM, but the gal seems patient and used to the process ... she also suggests where to stop for fuel and how much I'll need to get out of the country ... she also has a map for people coming in to there place, which she uses to show me how to get out of town ... One problem, her map shows '8 West' and I keep looking, and a few miles out of town realize that .... yes, if I was coming INTO town I would take '8 West,' but to get out of town I will need to take '8 East' ... I do and am on my way ... check in with home to give an update and about that time loose cell service ... probably wasn't a bad thing, with in a Km there was someone in the ditch ... then another ... overall the road was dry, but every so often was a spot where snow was blowing across the road so it was wet ... and the wind ... I was holding on with both hands all night. U.S. Customs ... I have heard stories of other drivers trying to go through the passenger lanes to avoid the '15 mile lines' ... no lines tonight, I actually could have passed another dozen trucks if I had known the area ... as it was there was one truck ahead of me ... should have watched closer ... I pull ahead and wait by the door ... and wait, 'where did the guy go' ... as I'm waiting, I'm looking around and notice the back of a computer up in the air six feet ... Duh ... the window is up and truck height ... I'm coming through at car height ... so I pull ahead and the guy says "I knew you'd figure it out sooner or later." I hand him my paperwork and wait a couple of minutes ... "Anything else in there?" (Sales Lit) "Did you purchase anything you are bringing back?" (no) "Anyone else in the vehicle with your?" (no) "How long have you need doing this?" (nine months) "You're cleared to go ..." ... and that was it ... maybe it helped I shaved this AM and still looked half awake ... Now I need two things ... food and fuel ... Ouch ... $1.69 a gallon ... I only put in enough to get me to IN ... I hope ... then stop again to eat ... same place as a few months ago ... Big Boy in Imlay City ... This time I hope I'm going the right direction ... never do stop to look at the map, finally know for sure when I see the signs for I-94 a few hours later ... nights breakfast ... had to return the OJ ... "Taste's like 75% water." ... and water would have been free. Last time we were here some guy was sitting there at a table with a stack of crossword puzzles ... tonight it was some guy with a stack of paperwork he carried in ... maybe his taxes?? Wanted to get to Battle Creek tonight ... just because ... maybe just because I knew where I was then ... I was WAY off on the fuel, had to fuel again with 100 miles to go ... good news though Knights Inn is advertising $29 ... as is the Days Inn ... I go for the Motel 6 for the same price. The guy asks if I want a wake-up call ... I do ... then call him back and say no. Might as well keep it legal, even if I don't have to cross any scale with this thing .... 2/14/04 - Plenty of time to kill ... much better sleep last night, still couldn't get the heat right ... was up turning it up / down / off ... but at least it was liveable. Next door was Denny's ... sounded like a good morning for a $2.99 Grand Slam ... but as I'm walking that way I look around for a 'local cafe' ... none, but on the other side of the motel was a Cracker Barrel ... not my first choice but better than Denny's. Ended up getting a $2.99 breakfast there instead. Finally make it into IN ... WHAT is going on??? Gas is still $1.69 ... finally I know I'm no going to make it to Gary and have to stop ... the truck stop billboard said $1.69 but just down the street, the Speedway had it for $1.52 ... which was the lowest I seen it all trip, I fill ... my only fill for the trip, gas was so high I kept only putting in a few gallons at a time ... cost me four fuel stops instead of two ... and ended up paying $1.69 for the other three stops anyhow ... Chicago was a breeze today ... I-90 boarder to boarder in under two hours ... Last night I had a good treat on the radio, was able to pick up the Grand Ole Opry on WSM for less than a hour ... sure beats having to listen to the same format in every town ... seems like every town has a "light" station, a "Cool" station, a "Magic" station ... same songs, same format, same promo's ... and the same syndicated talk stations. This morning coming through Chicago it was all sports talk, except for a few stations who were broadcasting live from the auto show ... only one unique format ... 'Elvis Only' ...(it's only an hour long show.) Dispatch had said to drop the vehicle when ever I got back, but on my last check in the boss said to hang on to it until Monday ... so they can inspect it when I drop ... so it's sitting in my yard for the weekend ... |