The Green Tortoise

Journey

Forward

Prologue

the nest

college

Break

Ireland

The Seacoast

Portsmouth

The Road

The Tortoise

Meeting

Lowell

San Francisco

Learning

Driving

Living

Next

Seattle

Epilogue

Afterward

I'd heard about The Green Tortoise from a friend at the University of New Hampshire who sometimes drove for them. I'd also heard that they went from Berkeley, California (where I was stuck), to Eugene, Oregon (where I had friends waiting for me). Looking for cheap transportation I made a reservation on the bus the next evening.

Catching the Bus

Over the phone I was told to be at a certain street corner in Berkeley at a certain time the following evening, and at the appointed hour I was sitting next to the Berkeley Co-op with my backpack. After about half an hour I started thinking that maybe I got the information wrong (or that maybe there really wasn't a magical bus company) when an old city transit bus pulled around the corner and rolled to a stop. It had 'Green Tortoise' painted roughly on the side. I couple of middle-aged hippies stepped out of the bus, took my bag and my fare and said we'd be leaving shortly. A few more people showed up, we got on board, and headed north.