Groggy and grumpy, that was the way I felt when I awoke this morning. I almost missed the continental breakfast downstairs and fortunately my new friend Darlene had access to the replenishment food supply for the breakfast crowd and took good care of me. I had one goal for the day and that was obtaining a ride to VVR. I had a list of phone numbers to try, including members of the Sierra Club in Fresno, churches, and the local Boy Scout council offices. Some way, some how, I was going to get back to the trail.
I was pleasantly surprised when I returned to the room after breakfast to hear a voice message on the cell phone from Jim Clement, owner of VVR. He had, as a matter of fact, begun the drive down to the valley for the day to pick up supplies and run other resort related errands. His message stated that he would give me a ride back to the trail late afternoon or evening after he completed his errands, and for me to call him. So I did. And I got him on the first try. And he reiterated his schedule. Since my cell phone had virtually no battery power left, we agreed that I would turn it back on around 5 pm and he would call me when ready to pick me up.
So my focus turned away from getting a ride and instead I thought about my own errands and what I needed to do before going back up to a place with no communications, limited food, and exorbitant prices. What I wanted was to get everything packed up, then find out which bus to take to the public library so I could get internet access, then find a grocery store for food supplies for the next leg of the trail and for the upcoming days I might spend at VVR prior to getting back on the trail.
It was almost check out time and I wasn't doing so well getting my gear repacked so I could check out and go to the library. I went downstairs and worked it out with Darlene so that I could check out late, then leave my backpack in a secure area behind the guest registration counter...but I could only leave my pack there until 3:30 pm when Darlene would be leaving for the day. Back upstairs I went, still in lots of pain and feeling like crap from the antibiotics. I called for pizza delivery and ate quickly when it arrived then finished packing the backpack.
By the time I checked out around 12:30 pm, I realized it might be impossible to catch a bus to the library, get my internet time in, and get back before 3:30pm. So I checked out of the motel, said goodbye to Darlene my motel buddy, and went out front to catch a bus where Darlene said I would need to stand. The heat was oppressive and the backpack was heavy and I only knew that the bus would come by every 30 minutes. But I wasn't sure if I had just missed the bus and would have to wait 30 more minutes or if I would get lucky and have to wait only a couple minutes. At fate would have it, I waited the full 30 minutes. There was no shade, no place to sit, and my foot was killing me stuffed in the shoe and having to stand for so long.
Finally, bus #28 arrived. I got on board and told the driver that I wasn't from around here and asked if I could get to the Clovis public library on his route. He grumpily said no, I was on the wrong bus, and that I needed to cross Shaw Avenue to the other side and catch small bus #10. So I got off his bus and he pulled away just as I reached the sidewalk (glad he was having such a nice day!) and I hobbled to the intersection to push the magic button so I could cross safely when the light would change. I hobbled to the other side...when someone is handicapped and can't walk fast....those 6 lane roads are damn difficult to cross before the light changes and traffic starts coming at you!
The bus stop on the opposite side of the avenue had a bench but it was in the searing heat. I left the backpack there so a bus driver could see that a human was in the area, and retreated with my tattered body to a shade tree about 15 feet back from the busy road. Another 25 minutes passed, and finally I could see a smaller bus in the outside lane heading my way. I flagged the driver as he approached even though I couldn't read the bus number. I was just hoping it was bus #10, for two reasons! One, I wanted to get on the bus and cool off. Two, I didn't want to get accosted again for flagging down the wrong bus. Fortunately, it was the right bus and the driver said he could get me within a half block of the Clovis library. I paid my dollar and sat patiently as he made the many stops along the route. I studied the bus route map and realized I was about as far away from the library on the route as could be possible.
Now 3 pm, I arrived at the bus stop for the public library. I hobbled the half block and entered, wondering how many computers the library would have for internet access and how long I would have to wait. I asked the librarian how to sign up for access. She asked me for my library card, to which I replied that I was hiking from Mexico to Canada and was just passing through town. She gave me a guest card and directed me to the computer where reservations were made for internet time. I logged in, entered my request for an hour slot of time, and fortunately got a quick response time with a full hour available from 3:15 to 4:15 pm.
At 3:15 pm I logged on and got a slow response time getting into my AOL e-mail. When it finally came up....I had almost 200 e-mails to read!!!!! Most were legitimate, I had spent considerable time before leaving home un-subscribing to all the on-line junk sites I would receive information on and had asked the scout troop to delete me from the numerous threads of information passing back and forth regarding upcoming trips and meetings. So I began with a purge of the e-mails that I might normally have interest in reading....like gear discounts information, weekly updates on happenings with the outdoor clubs of which I'm a member, etc. Then I got into the actual e-mails to be read.
Soon my hour was up, and I still had dozens of e-mails to still read and respond to. So I quickly hustled back to the signup computer, logged on for more time, and was told the first available hour wouldn't be until after 7 pm but I could get a half hour slot at 4:45pm. I took it, then asked a librarian working near the computers if I could leave my backpack with him while I attempted a hobble to the nearby post office so I could mail my journals and film out. He agreed to take care of the pack, and I began a tortuous mile to the post office and another tortuous mile back. It hurt so bad to walk, at all, any steps! Somehow I made it back by 4:50 pm. And tried logging in my reserved computer. And it rejected me, on the basis that I hadn't signed up in time for my reserved time slot. Bummer! So I talked to the head librarian and she said sorry, nothing they could do, and I would have to sign up again for additional time. So I did. And I got a thirty minute time slot at 5:45 pm. So I spent an hour journaling.
Back on line, I worked feverishly (no pun intended) to get through all the e-mails during the time allowed. I barely made it, but had no time at all to check out my website and I was really wanting to get some information back to Portland so Eric and Ashley could caption the plethora of photos posted with information about places and people. So back to the signup computer I went, hoping for another half hour and soon. The phone had not rung yet so I figured Jim was still busy running errands and I might have some more computer time in the library. I got another half hour at 6:45 pm.
By now, my foot was really hurting, so I found a quiet place in the library to examine it. Lovely. It wasn't getting any better, and the infection seemed to actually be wrapping around to the front of my foot on the big toe. And, my fever had returned. It wasn't a difficult decision. I needed to stay in town despite the opportunity for the ride back to VVR. So I did some more journaling and rested while waiting for the 6:45 pm time slot. Finally I was back on line for my final half hour allowed for the day. I worked through the jeffpct website, making notes on photos so I could alert Eric/Ashley as to who was who, etc. With 10 minutes left to go, I started an e-mail to them to give them the information.
Then the phone rang. Jim said he was close by. I told him of my decision to stay. He said he would be back in the valley again tomorrow with more errands to run. We agreed he would call me in the late afternoon. I asked if he could pick me up at the library to drive me back to the motel...he politely declined, saying he would see me tomorrow.
The computer gave me an extended 15 minutes of internet time. I used it all. Then I went up to the check out area to turn in the library internet access card. There was a long line of folks checking out books. I asked the librarian about catching the return bus to the motel. She and I looked at the Clovis schedule....buses stopped running at 6:30pm! So she said that I could still catch the Fresno bus on Shaw Avenue, a road by now very familiar to me, about three blocks up. Bus #28, hmmm....I knew that bus number too! She said it would take me where I needed to go. So she looked at the Fresno schedule, and said that if I hurried I could catch the 6:42 bus. I looked at my watch, informing her that it was now 7:30! And that was the last of the Fresno buses for the evening as well. Knowing I was now stuck without using the services of a cab, and knowing that I had an audience of folks waiting behind me to check out books, I put my acting hat on and made a spectacle of myself, lamenting the bus situation and the cab situation. I was just hopeful that someone would step up to the plate and offer me a ride. And it worked! A fine Christian gentleman and his three children made way for me to fit in their car and they drove me right to the motel lobby! Finally someone in Fresno had risen to the occasion of trail angel! I was grateful!
I succumbed to the temptation of another round of Vietnamese take-out and returned to my now familiar room. The foot got a thorough soaking and soon I was out for the night, hoping that surely tomorrow the foot would be improving and I would make my way back to VVR to see hiking buddies coming in behind me. Whew, what a day! Being immobile in a big city is a real pain in the butt! Remember that if you ever see someone in need and they are on foot!!!
