KARFA I was with you for every step of your story. It took me back to my backpacking days and early 1986. I was in San Francisco and had a flight booked home to SYD from YVR. I had a Trailways bus pass and had allowed plenty of time for the journey up the west coast of the US. Unfortunately I delayed my departure by 24hrs (yes there was a woman involved!) which coincided with some of the worst storms to hit the bay area in years. The resultant flooding meant buses taking massive diversions. I think it took some 36 hrs to get to Vancouver and did actually get to the airport with quite a few hours to spare. In those long ago days with no money or status or lounge access , by the time I eventually got to SYD, I had gone 57 hours without a bed or shower!!! I can appreciate the description of bus stations. There was quite a few hours spent changing buses at some of these less than desirable places in my travels across the US.