I had arranged with Karen Andrews, whom I knew both from TGSF and the TG Forum chat room, to drive from her home north of San Francisco to the Esprit 1999 conference in Port Angeles, Washington. We agreed that I would meet her spouse, who works near the transit center near their home, on Friday and spend the night with them, so that we could start our journey early Saturday morning.
As usual, I had left packing until practically the last minute. Before leaving I had to make some telephone calls to determine that I would be able to have the money needed for the trip. Then it was the usual process of deciding what to bring, and getting everything together. I packed both my laptop computer and scanner, and my full set of photographic equipment including my tripod. I had everything packed into the same carryon bag with a handle and rollers, carryone garment bag, and extra soft bag for the camera equipment that I had had on my return from Seattle the previous September, as well as the computer bag.
I chose the cobolt blue outfit with tight-fitting leggings and my blonde wig for this phase of the trip. I had on my blond wig. I brought my bags one by one out to my front porch. Some women neighbors whom I don't know drove up and parked in front of my house. They asked if I was going on a trip, and I replied that I was going to a conference in Washington.
I managed to roll or carry everything to the bus stop, where I caught the first of three buses to my destination. The bus was full, with people standing. With the help of the bus driver, I found places for all of my bags and several stops later found a seat. At the first transfer point, I determined the fare, and found that I had enough currency and change. After waiting about 10 minutes, I boarded the second bus. The driver was pleasant, and joked with me about spending my allowance, since I put about 6 quarters in the fare box in addition to the currency. When we reached the next transfer point, he helped me carry my bags off the bus.
I had missed the bus that I had planned to take, and had to call Karen's spouse to let her know. After some problems with my calling card, I got the change together to make the call. I let her know my estimated time of arrival, but due to heavy traffic the bus was delayed 15 minutes in arriving. During the wait I had chatted with two young women who were waiting for the same bus.
On boarding the bus, a young man helped me with some of my bags. I was told by the operator to go to a rear, center-facing seat. The bus was further delayed by the traffic, and arrived about 30 minutes late. Two men who had been talking on the bus helped me carry my bags off. I was then met by Karen's spouse who drove me to their home. We spent the evening there getting to know each other, and shared a pizza. I then settled into the guest bedroom for the night.
This page last updated: September 24, 2000
