Bad luck equals good times

Somehow, I was very cozy sleeping on the floor in Spencer's friend Dan's apartment in the Foggy Bottom district of DC. But unfortunately, we had a 9:45 bus to catch in Chinatown, so it was time to start the day. I slowly peeled myself off the floor and gathered my things.

Our 48 hours in DC seemed to go by quickly. My low expectations of the tourist trail had not been exceeded. We had time to see a few of the popular sights -- the Lincoln Memorial, the reflecting pool -- but none of it gave me goosebumps, especially knowing that so many people had been there, done that. The most amazing thing I saw was a swooping hawk attack a group of ugly pigeons in front of the White House. The chaos was so much that Spencer and I had to take cover.

When I visit I knew place, I'm more curious about the way of life, the people, the vibe, the neighborhoods. We had a little bit of time for that, but not enough for me to give a fair opinion of the city. We saw a great bluegrass band at a tiny bar one night, and the other night drank at a place known for its spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the most beers.

But now it was time to head back to New York.

Spencer's old buddies, and now my new friends, Dan and Jesse, took a cab with us to the bus station. Jesse downed the remainder of a bottle Jack Daniel's for breakfast at Dan's apartment, so talking to him was the bulk of our entertainment.

We arrived at the station a half hour early, so we had some time to kill. We saw our bus, which didn't look very crowded, so we decided to wait until the last minute to board. We thanked Dan for his generous hospitality as he headed for work, and then Spencer, Jesse, and I walked to the nearest Starbucks to hang out.

I chatted with Jesse about his band, These United States, which is pretty popular around the DC area. I listened to a copy of his CD and haven't stopped listening to it since. I asked him how his breakfast buzz was treating him. He said, "I feel like a winner." We laughed and decided it was time to hit the road.

We arrived at the station at 9:36, but the bus was gone. We didn't panic, figuring that must have been an earlier bus and that ours was on its way. We went into the station office to ask the guy running the show if our bus was running behind.

"Next bus, 11:45," he said.

"What about the 9:45?" I asked.

"You mean 9:30? That leave six minutes ago," he said very calmly.

We dealt with the news and the fact that we were idiots for not getting on the bus when we first saw it, and headed back to Starbucks. Jesse had a confused look on his face when we reappeared, and then just laughed at us when he heard the story. I didn't mind the delay. I didn't have an agenda for the day, or for life for that matter. It gave me some time to think and write about my trip thus far. Spencer had to be back for dinner in Manhattan with his brother, so he had a bit more riding on the departure than I did.

This time around, we were a bit more careful. We arrived at the station at 11 with no bus in sight. We crossed the street to sit on a bench in a grassy area, making sure to keep an eye out for our ride. Spencer talked about taking Dan up on his offer to let him live with him for free for six months. Being an advocate of spontaneity, I encouraged him to do it. I asked Spencer his thoughts on my trip. We agreed I need to leave my comfort zone and leave the country sooner than later.

Finally, around 11:30, the bus appeared. We were the first ones to board. The driver, who spoke very little English, asked us what bus we were looking for. We of course told him the 11:45.

"Bus leave at 1," he said.

This seemed like a joke. The guy from the office appeared. We pointed to the schedule he gave us, proving that a bus was to depart from DC to NY at 11:45.

"Oh, sorry. That next month schedule," he said, again, very calmly.

We stood there waiting for better news as the men argued in Chinese for the next 10 minutes. It seemed to be getting heated. Spencer mentioned looking into hopping another bus somewhere. I convinced him it wouldn't be worth it. We made the men promise that we would be able to leave by 1. We were frustrated, but not defeated.

We roamed around the town and found a Spanish Tapas restaurant for lunch. We looked at the list of daily specials. The only day that didn't have a food special happened to be Thursday. The Thursday special, however, was half-priced pitchers of sangria. We looked at each other, smiled, said nothing, and walked in.

We called Dan to meet us for lunch. We purposely acted like nothing was wrong, making him extra confused about why we were still in town. When he showed up, we were downing the last of our pitcher. He just shook his head and laughed at the sight of two guys with purple teeth sitting by themselves with their backpacks at the bar.

We headed next door to Ruby Tuesdays for lunch. Our food took a while to come out, so we again were flirting with disaster.

"We absolutely have to catch this bus," Spencer said.

By the time I got done slamming my beer, Spencer was a block away. I chased after him. He turned back, not slowing down, and motioned for me to hurry up. It was difficult to sprint on a full stomach with a 50-pound backpack on, but I gave it my all. Spencer squeezed through a pair of cars heading east on a busy street. What he didn't take into account was the fact that there might be cars coming from the west that we couldn't see. Sure enough, a pair of cars had to slam on their brakes as two idiots dashed in front of their bumpers. I yelled at Spencer for guiding me into near tragedy.

We made it to the station with three minutes to spare. The bus was there. They let us on. It was, in fact, leaving for New York.

It wasn't half as crowded as it was on the trip down. Spencer and I each got a pair of seats to ourselves, making the ride much more comfortable.

Behind me was a young couple from Germany visiting the states for the first time. We exchanged information in case we could ever help each other out with travel arrangements. Spencer began chatting with a girl ahead of him who is an actress in New York.

I put on my headphones, flipped to the page bookmarked in my book, and treated myself to a mini bottle of Southern Comfort that was in my bag for a reason I can't remember. Although, I am convinced I put it there for this moment.