STRANDED (Not Sleepless) IN SEATTLE

Hello Everyone. I just returned from Seattle, WA while attending and exhibiting in the Dow Jones booth during the 2008 SLA Annual Conference. All I'll say is that the conference was great and I'll let one of my colleagues blog about that. I'm here to share a personal experience I had in Seattle that was unrelated to the actual conference.

After a busy week of exhibiting at the Washington State Convention Center in downtown Seattle, I extended my trip so that I could spend a few extra days touring the city and visiting other cool places, mainly Mount Rainier National Park. Because we had such beautiful weather during my stay with clear skies, seeing Mount Rainier from my hotel room totally peaked my curiousity. So the only thing to do was to hop on an excursion made possible by Grayline of Seattle to see this enourmous mountain with breathtaking views. Mount Rainier is an active Cascade volcano encased in 35 square miles of snow and glacial ice. The 14,410’ mountain is surrounded by lush old growth forests, spectacular subalpine meadows and a National Historic Landmark District. Mount Rainer is the 17th highest mountain peak in the United States and the 31st highest mountain peak in all of North America.

Back to my personal experience. My companion and I boarded the tour bus at approximately 8:00am EST outside of the Sheraton Seattle along with 18 other tourists for a 10 hour excursion to see Mount Rainier. The driver was very outgoing and joked with me inside of the hotel informing me that I would be the one driving the bus and finding the mountain. Our driver fed our minds with lots of Seattle history during the 2+ hour ride to the base camp just outside of the Nisqually entrance. Once at the base camp, we grabbed lunch because we were told this would be our only opportunity to get food. While here we also had the opportunity to watch a powerpoint slideshow featuring photos of enthusiastic climbers who conquered the mighty mountain. After about an hour at this rest stop, all 20 of us boarded the bus (the driver counted us to make sure nobody was left behind) and embarked on our journey to the Nisqually entrance to Mount Rainier National Park.

The bus drove through the entrance and beauty reared her face immediatley as we were surrounded by some of the tallest trees I had ever seen that were older then America's freedom. A few miles after entering the park, our driver pulled over informing us that we would see one of the oldest and widest trees in the national park measuring in at 24 feet around. Everyone departed from bus to take photos of this gigantic tree that was only about 50 feet from the roadway. My companion and I along with another couple who coincidentally had also attended the 2008 SLA Annual Convention, walked maybe another 25 feet to another tree that appeared even larger and wider than the one pointed out to us by our driver. The four of us began taking photos of the newly discovered tree when all of a sudden we heard the bus engine start. We proceeded back down the path towards the road and heard the roar of the engine as the bus pulled away in our sights. STRANDED IN SEATTLE!

The look on our faces was that of shock because we couldn't believe the driver would pull off without us. Our first thoughts were that he would pull over immediately when he did his tourist count and would wait for us up the road. We proceeded to walk up the windy road while several autos, motorcycles, trucks and trailers passed us by. The sun was out and the weather a bit warm and after walking for about 30 minutes, panic struck when we realized the bus driver did not realize we were missing. How could he not know this if he did his tourist count as he previously did at the base camp?

We attempted to use our cell phones to call 911 but we had no cell phone reception at all. All four of us strandees (backpacks, water, snacks, cameras, iPods, etc. were left behind on the bus) proceeded to flag down every passing vehicle with no luck until finally one family from Ocean City, NJ pulled over. We explained our circumstance to them and they said they would drive up the mountain to the Paradise meadow which was the intended destination mentioned by the bus driver and let him know that we were missing. Our walking continued for about another 40 minutes when we were approached by a Forest Ranger who pulled aside us letting us know that they were contacted by a concerned tourist who told them 4 people were stranded by their bus driver. She informed us that the bus driver had been radioed and informed that we were missing and that he was on his way back down the mountain to get us.

After waiting on the side of the road for another 20 minutes, the bus approached with the 16 remaining passengers sitting in their air conditioned seats. The driver pulled over and opened the door for us to board. There was silence as I was the first to step onto the bus. I jokingly said SURPRISE and the bus driver immediately responded by saying, "I just said to the passengers that if you had mean looks on your faces, I was going to drive right by you." Did he just say what I thought he said? I responded to him, "Is that the way to treat your customers who you neglectfully stranded down the road?" He closed the door and did not comment.

At this point, the tour continued as the driver took us to several other pullover spots so we could take in the beauty of Mount Rainier. Each time the driver stopped, he let us know how much time we had at the particular location and did a headcount before the bus pulled off. When we reached the Paradise meadow and observation point, we again disembarked from the bus to take photos and enjoy the surroundings. We departed Paradise meadown by way of the backside of the mountain until we reached the bottom where we made one last stop at a souveneir shop. My companion and I purchased a couple of t-shirts and hats and the owner of the store asked us if we knew the people who were left on the side of the road. I told her "we" were indeed the people and that it was not a pleasant experience. She actually apologized and said it was the first time she had ever heard of an incident such as this happening and hoped we were ok. Physically we were fine but being stranded on the side of a volcanic glacier is no fun at all.

Not once did the bus driver apologize or offer empathy to us for being left behind. As a matter of fact, we heard him making light of the situation while joking with the other tourists. Proper protocol was not consistently followed at the area where we were abandoned and 4 out-of-towners who were looking for a relaxing bus tour, left Seattle with a tainted experience. Upon returning home to New Jersey, I contacted Grayline management who were very apologetic and assured me that they would look into the incident.

Ciao,

Vinnie