Flagstaff

For Christmas, my friend gifted me a round-trip shuttle ride to Flagstaff. I was pretty excited about it, though I'll admit I've been so busy that it was difficult to find a time I wanted to go. I also felt a little strange going up to a city I don't know anymore all alone with no vehicle of my own. But I chose today, marked it on my calendar, looked up city bus information, etc. Then last week it snowed. Part of the reason my friend wanted me to go is because I like seeing the snow. But 4.5 feet seemed like a lot. That was last week, though. Just meant there would still be some snow for me.

I kept a close eye on the forecast when I heard there was a possibility of more snow. After that last storm they had to close the highways in and out of Flagstaff and the last thing I needed was to be stranded alone. I kept having this strangely bad feeling about going, but I ignored it.

Don't get me wrong, I didn't get hurt or anything, but this turned out to be a horrible day. I tried so hard to stay optimistic, despite setback after setback.

Setback 1: The bus schedules here changed, which made my initial travel time start 40 minutes earlier than I had originally planned.

Setback 2: I walked outside at 6:05am into a rainstorm.

Setback 3: The first bus I had to take was running late.

Setback 4 (and one of the worst): As I sat under the bus shelter and out of the rain, I felt something plop onto my head and back. It came from a pigeon. The other person at the bus stop kindly wiped a lot of it off, but this happened only about 45 seconds before the bus arrived.

Setback 5: All I had to wipe the bird poop out of my hair and off my back and backpack were some tissues and Clorox wipes. It stunk. There was SO MUCH in my hair and I had to try hard not to gag. I only had a few minutes to work on getting all the poop out before I arrived at my final destination, the airport, where I was to catch my shuttle.

Setback 6: The airport bathroom sink kept turning off while I was trying to get the rest of the poop out of my hair and wash the poop off my jacket. Those are the times I hate automatic sinks.

Setback 7: After I finally found the shuttle check-in, I got my receipt and went to put it in my wallet. My wallet was gone. I searched and searched through my purse, pulling almost everything out. It wasn't there. I searched my backpack. It wasn't there. I called the CVS where I had purchased my diet root beer just before the bird pooped on me. They didn't have it. I realized that I must have had it after that because I needed it to use my bus pass. I checked the airport bathroom. It wasn't there. I called the bus company. They weren't open yet.

Setback 8: I got on the shuttle and my jacket didn't. (Luckily I had another one.)

Setback 9: I got to Flagstaff and had no idea where to go. I'd thought I would spend some time at a park, but there was so much snow everywhere that I couldn't very well get around anywhere. I finally just got on a bus that took me to the Amtrak station where I wandered around for two hours while I waited to go home.

Setback 10: I may have been able to change my return trip to 1:00pm instead of 3:00pm, but I didn't get to the Amtrak station until 1:02pm. Hence the two-hour wait.

Setback 11: While the ride up to Flagstaff was quite pleasant, the ride home was completely full and uncomfortable. I think the guy sitting behind me was sick, too. Great...

But when we started on our way home, things started turning around...a little. I don't have roaming service on my cell phone, so I couldn't call the bus company about my wallet while I was in Flagstaff. We were set to arrive back at the airport at 6:00pm, which was an hour after the lost and found closed. Thankfully, we were running early.

We hit my cell phone service area at about 4:45pm, so I called about my wallet. I was told that the bus I rode in on would be at the airport at 5:15pm and leave at 5:30pm. I called the actual lost and found office just before 5:00pm and was told that the safe would be opened tomorrow around 9:00 or 10:00am.

We got to the airport at 5:34pm and I got out of the van *just in time* to catch the bus I needed. The driver didn't have my wallet. But he said the other driver may have taken it back to the bus company to lost and found if someone had turned it in. I pray that someone found it and gave it to the bus driver and didn't just take it. I have faith in that possibility, as I have seen a lot of honest people doing just that when people leave things on the bus.

One of the problems with not having my wallet was that I didn't have my bus pass. Thankfully, I don't keep my money in my wallet, so I had money to get home. Can you imagine if I didn't have any money to take the bus home??

Another lucky break: the first bus home wasn't accepting bills, so all I had to pay was $0.75 instead of $1.75. I decided that at the end of this horrible day, I should do something good for myself--get the bird poop washed completely out of my hair. So I stopped at Great Clips and got myself a $3 shampoo.

I came home and dumped the contents of my purse on the table, just to be sure my wallet wasn't in there. It wasn't. I made a list of the cards that were in my wallet that will need to be replaced if I don't get it back. ID card, insurance cards, debit card, food stamps card, fingerprint clearance card (not sure if I can get that one replaced). I'm pretty sure it won't be too difficult to replace all these cards. I just really pray that I don't have to. I hope others will pray for me, too.

What a day.

***UPDATE***

I got my wallet back.