The Incredible Journey

Sit back and rest your weary feet, traveler, for this be the tale of our epic trek from Seattle to Houston. We braved snowstorms, long hours and bureaucratic incompetence to get from the extreme northwest of the US almost to the very southern limits of that great country.

It started off in foul weather and amid chaotic scenes of too many people trying to fit into too small of a space.


We knew that the Seattle bus terminal would be busy, but having had buses cancelled for two days in a row, things were not helped by an initial delay of two hours when our scheduled bus driver didn't turn up and they had to find someone else.

We rolled into Salt Lake City in Utah without much more of a delay (only about 3 hours at this point) to find that the schedules had effectively gone out the window and we were facing another delay while they figured out what to do with us. Luckily, the delay wasn't too bad, but we still left Utah without much idea when - or indeed if - we'd get to Denver, let alone whether there'd be a bus to take us any further.


All the while we passed by some awe-inspiring landscapes - awe-inspiring not only because they were incredibly beautiful, but also that we had to travel in such treacherous conditions.


We finally did get to Denver after 30 hours of travel only to find that our connecting bus had gone and we'd have to wait another 3 hours. The 3 hours became 5 as the driver overslept (he forgot to set an alarm!) and we finally left Denver at 3am.

On our way to Amarillo, TX (yes, now I do know the way there!) we managed to get some sleep - finally! It was quite fortunate timing because the weather took a turn for the worse and apparently driving conditions were rather harrowing! By this time we'd built up quite a close knit-band of fellow travellers who we'd ascertained were going roughly the same way. We all consoled each other with each fresh delay, watched out for each other's places in the queues we found ourselves in and shared any details of Greyhound's incompetence which we thought may have escaped each other's notice. We found camaraderie in each new adversity.

Anyway, on arrival at Amarillo, we were relieved to find that the connecting bus had waited for us. Unfortunately, it was found to have a transmission fluid leak and would have to be repaired.


Amarillo bus station - note lack of buses!
After the "15-20 minute" repair was completed (i.e. an hour and a half later) we set off for Dallas. It was getting right down to the wire whether we'd make our connection or not (the connecting bus was due to leave at 10:30 and we would arrive at almost 10:45) and all attempts to call the bus station failed. Luckily, Greyhound didn't disappoint and this bus was late too (finally it worked in our favour) and we managed to clamber aboard.

By this time we were on the final stretch and the 4 and a half hours seemed to fly by as things gradually became more and more familiar. We only had to negotiate the crowd of taxi-drivers at the door of the bus terminal before we were winging our way towards the northern suburbs of Houston and the first horizontal nights sleep in 60 hours or so.

Total time from arrival at Seattle bus station to arrival at the Thompsons' house: 66 hours.