Our weekend adventure continues. Just like Star Wars Episode II being right before the Clone Wars, and Episode III coming as they close, these blog posts skip over the exciting part of the weekend (playoff hockey). My journey to northeastern Pennsylvania is here.
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Saturday, 10:00 pm: I hop on the team bus.
10:26: The bus leaves the rink, destined for Providence.
Sunday, 3:22 am: The bus arrives at the Dunkin Donuts Center.
3:25: I help the team unload the bus and put the equipment away.
4:00: I crash on a recliner by the TV in the locker room.
After 4:25: I finally fall asleep, having set alarms for 6:30 & 6:45.
7:25: I wake up, knowing there are still 50 minutes until the bus leaves, and I have a 10 minute walk to make. I’m off-schedule but still have enough time. I thought that was the end of the drama…
7:30: After confusing the bejesus out of myself with Google Maps, I find the right road to walk down to get to the bus station.
7:41: I arrive at Kennedy Plaza and walk into the booth to print my ticket (what I was told to do, since my ticket couldn’t be printed on Monday).
7:43: The lady inside tells me that Greyhound and Peter Pan tickets need to be printed at the bus’ next stop, just outside the city.
7:47: I wait outside with the Greyhound itinerary pulled up on my phone.
7:50: I get so impatient that I start walking around the bus stop, looking for the Peter Pan & Greyhound signs.
7:55: I give up and ask one of the attendants, who literally points next to him to the sign. I guess my three hour nap is showing its effects.
7:56: The Peter Pan bus shows up. Based on the many times I’ve gone from Boston to NYC or other places on Greyhound, I know that Greyhound tickets often are good on Peter Pan buses and vice-versa, so it doesn’t bother me. Yet.
8:04: After filling out some paperwork on the bus, walking around inside it, then disappearing while inside it for a few minutes, the bus driver opens the door and exits the bus.
8:06: Another potential passenger (presumably a PC Friar basketball player, based on the giant photo poster he had of himself) asked if the bus was going to South Station, when the sign said “Boston” on the top line and “Logan Airport” on the bottom. The bus driver sounded confused, because the passenger said he was taking a bus to Canada from Boston. During his struggles, I speak up…
8:07: The bus is going to South Station, right? The bus driver replies with an answer I don’t even remember word-for-word. It was something that seemed to me to say that this bus wasn’t going there, but I’d have to print my ticket at the Peter Pan Station just outside the city. He was mad that I hadn’t printed my ticket yet, but I explained what I was told by the person inside.
8:09: I hop on the bus after loading the radio equipment underneath.
8:11: I put the equipment (which I forgot that I could have left at the rink) in the wrong storage bay apparently, so I switch it.
8:15: We leave for Boston, one minute late.
8:21: We arrive at the Peter Pan Plaza, and we’re told that the bus leaves at 8:30.
8:23: I get inside to buy my ticket, but there are four people in front of me. The three minutes I wait feel like three hours. All of my stuff was still on the bus…
8:26: I get to the front of the line and explain my situation. The woman at the counter didn’t recognize my ticket number, then realized it was a Greyhound ticket. That was an issue for some reason, despite the two companies frequently using each others’ buses. She says she’ll do what she can…
8:27: Before I can start to all-out panic, she says that she can fill out a form and write down my license ID number to work as a makeshift ticket for me.
8:29: I receive my “ticket” and get back to the bus on time. Luckily, it had pulled right in front of the door when we got there.
8:32: While sitting in my seat, the bus driver approaches me, saying that he knows I had a Greyhound ticket, not a Peter Pan one. I have a mini-version of the exact same conversation with him I had before I got on the bus downtown, but he lets me stay.
8:34: Off we go to Boston.
8:56: I’m typing out the last of this story.
Nick Gagalis 
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