We Even Took a Thousand Mile Bus Trip Together

Michael left us a short while to live in Florida. We received a call from his Mother wanting to know if I would come out and meet her in Virginia to bring Michael back home with me. She wanted to spend a little quiet time with her new husband, Brendan, who had graduated from Boot Camp earlier and was at his secondary training school.
It took me about 15 minutes to round up a few things and head down to the bus station. It was grueling trip that encompassed Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, and Washington D.C. But those were just the transfer stops. In between were stops in Peoria, Columbus, Wheeling, Harrisburg, King of Prussia, and Richmond, among others.
The above depot is in Petersburg and that is where I picked him up. I remember him racing around a bench at the dimly lit place, and a friendly bus station employee who liked Michael and talked to him a bit.
I told Michael we were going on a bus and of course he liked that idea. That is until it arrived. It pulled up under the canopy in the back and seemed to engulf the entire place. It was loud and it sure enough scared him. Here I was boarding with him flailing in one hand and a car seat, and duffel bag in the other. He kicked and screamed all the way down the isle and I'm sure he hit some passengers. He even knocked my watch off my wrist and it went flying. And scream, if anyone was asleep, they weren't after being introduced to Michael Nathanial.
But Grampa worked his magic and before long he quieted and we had a great trip. I also recall not having any wipes and he was still in diapers. That was a bit dicey at times. We would transfer at dark dingy depots and oddly enough we got along just great. He would play on the floor and we would explore parts of the stations. A bus station is pretty lonely at 2 or 5 o:clock in the morning.
And the funny thing is I didn't take my camera. One of our great adventures and I never recorded it.
And, yes, we missed out transfer in Pittsburgh and ended up in Indianapolis without a way to get all the way back home. Thankfully my sister-in-law Patti rescued us and Nancy came out to get us.