Wednesday 15th October 2003 - Day 32/273 - Winchester, Virginia to Charleston, South Carolina

Last night was my last night at Val's and I've got 2 stories for you. Let me give you some background here. Val is sleeping in her room. I'm sleeping the sample room (don't ask) on an air bed. Mx is in the lounge on a sofa bed (with the TV). At about 1am Val and I are woken by an hysterical Mx.  The cats liked her so much, they brought her in (twice) a live (sort of) cardinal (bird).

Picture the scene. Val trying to rescue a traumatized bird.  Me trying to wrestle a blood thirsty cat from scuppering the rescue attempt (I have scrathes to prove it).  Then there was Mx (our illustrious hero from the Detroit taxi incident) standing in the furthest corner from the action, saying 'Do you guys mind, if I lock myself in the toilet.' The rescue attempt succeeded, but the scars on my hands live on.

The second story is really a baseball update. The season is down to the stage of the Divisional Finals. The Florida Marlins are playing the Chicago Cubs for the National League and the New York Yankees are playing the Boston Red Sox for the American League. The winners of each league goes on to play in the World Series, to see which team is this years WORLD Champion at rounders.

The Yankees, Red Sox and Cubs are probably the 3 best supported and most famous clubs in baseball. The English comparison of the Yankees is Manchester United (boo hiss) as they have all the money, all the fans (coz they win alot) and all the merchandizing machine behind them.  Don't they realise that this is supposed to be sport not money making? The Red Sox and the Cubs are 2 clubs with great histories, a bit like Tottenham (Yeah!!), but they are currently under a curse. This is what the fans believe wholeheartedly and it sees them behaving very bizarrely to get the curse overturned. Neither club has won a World Series for over 80 years. You can now imagine Americas excitement at the prospect of these 2 clubs playing against each other for the world crown.

Last nights game sees the Cubs leading the Marlins 3-2 in the series and 3-0 in the 8th innings. They need to get just 5 more Marlins out to progress to the World Series. Previous attempts at progressing have been scuppered in strange circumstances, by cats and goats and all sorts. Last night was no different. The 5th to last Marlin batter hits a fly (high) ball out to left field (catchable). The Cubs fielder is going to catch it right on top of the fence, when a cubs fan, in the crowd, leans over and tries to catch the ball, deflecting it out of the fielder's glove in the process. This led to a dramatic collapse where the Cubs conceded 8 runs and lost the game.

The fan had things thrown at him in the stand and has subsequently appeared on TV and in the newspapers apologizing and asking for peace for him and his family. His actions caused the Chicago Street Party to be cancelled.

The Cubs went on to lose game 7 as did the Red Sox and so the World Series starts on saturday night between the Florida Marlins and the New York Yankees. Curse or just not as good as the opposition. I ask you?

As I said that was my last night with Mx and Val and they dropped me off at the Greyhound station in Winchester for my 13.25 bus. I thought it wouldn't feel any different, but it feels like a whole new adventure. I have to admit feeling a little lonely for the first time since I've come away. This feeling wasn't helped by my thinking about Xmas, New Year and Remembrance Weekend (if you're not a Dukie then you won't understand). So the challenge is set to meet new people.

I do feel that I need to do this alone, at my own pace and as a backpacking adventure as opposed to a holiday. I don't think I'm rushing, but I do have a desire to see as much as possible in the time and with the money I have available. This could be my only shot at it.

I'm actually perfectly happy on my own. It's a concept that many people struggle with on 2 counts. Firstly a lot of people can't stand being on their own and secondly a lot of people can't understand people who can be on their own. That said I do like company, all I'm saying is that I can be on my own.

I do worry sometimes that I may go so long without talking that I might actually forget how to talk. As a wise man (my Dad) taught me (he never actually said this) 'If you haven't got anything to say, then don't say anything.' I've fallen foul of this rule a few times, by engaging mouth before brain. Anyway all I'm saying is that I wanna have my mid life crisis my way.

I find myself on another Greyhound thinking that buses can seriously damage your health. Not because you're gonna crash and die or get mugged by a passenger, but because they afford you so much time to think that you're brain starts to ache. The fortunate thing is that they give you so much time that you can clutter your brain and then clear it all in one journey.

Today I was thinking about the stuff I miss from home. Namely my Nike Air Cortez and the few decent clothes that I have. Fashion never has been my forte or something I'm particularly bothered about, but I have pushed the boat out on a few occassions this year. They'll probably be out of fashion by the time I get back, but like I say that doesn't bother me.

Today's trip had it's usual ups and downs. Looking round the bus there is a common trait to the characters who appear. We're all cheap skates. There are lorry drivers going to pick up a truck. There's college kids going home to visit their folks. There are pensioners going on vacation and there's me backpacking. In fairness the Greyhounds are cheap, reliable and not infrequent.

Indirect routes can be slow and riddled with long lay overs that involve getting on and off the bus every couple of hours. This disrupts the sleep pattern, but not as much as the rattles on this new coach or the bloke sitting opposite with the most horrendous phlegm. At least there is room to get comfortable (relatively).

Today there was confusion over my route, but at least I learnt my lesson from previous journeys and got my baggage labelled. The internet and baggage label gave me one route, but the driver insisted on trying to get me to go a different way. I won in the end, but the final section of the trip was serviced by a different company and not Greyhound. The Greyhound Ameripass covers this journey, but you have to go to the ticket desk and get a valid ticket. That's my tip of the day.

Today's route started in Winchester (Virginia) and took me to Purceville, Leesburg, Dulles Airport, Fairfax, Rosslyn and Washington (DC). At Washington I changed bus and went to Richmond (Virginia), Fayettesville (North Carolina) and Columbia (South Carolina). There I changed bus again and went on to Orangesburg, Summerville before eventually arriving in Chareston (South Carolina) at 6.15.

Thanks to Val for putting up with me. Sorry I beat all your minesweeper scores.