Rode the number 10 bus to Royal Palm Beach, miles and miles. It turned out I had caught the bus by dumb luck, as it doesn't run very often. Got off at the corner of Okeechobee Boulevard and Royal Palm Beach Boulevard. Looked around for the senior center. I was pretty certain the person I had talked with on the phone had told me it was on the southwest corner, but there was nothing on the southwest corner except trees, so I crossed to the southeast corner where there were some small government buildings, including the "Village Hall". Found a tiny post office, so I bought some stamps, but the clerk didn't know where the senior center was. I asked at a desk labeled "Information", but they didn't know either. In fact, she said they didn't have a senior center. When I told her I'd talked with someone on the phone who had told me it was at the corner of Okeechobee and Royal Palm, she said to try the cultural center across the street, so I crossed again. It wasn't exactly on the corner or even near the corner, but that was the place, and they had openings, but before signing up, I figured I'd better make sure I could get there by nine in the morning. They had a free courtesy phone, so I called the bus company and for once got right through. Found out they only run two buses a day to Royal Palm Beach, and the first one gets there around eleven! That was the bus I had taken, so I didn't sign up for the class.
The return bus was scheduled for 12:30, so I had plenty of time. The other two corners of this intersection had super markets -- a Winn-Dixie on one and a Publix on the other. Went to the Publix and bought a few things. It was noon when I got to the bus stop. The bus didn't show up at 12:30 or 12:35. I began worrying that my watch was an hour slow and I'd missed the bus. Luckily, two people came by with wrist watches, so I asked them the time. They said it was twenty-five minutes to one, which agreed with my watch, so I felt better. All three watches couldn't be off by an hour. The bus finally arrived at 12:45. What a relief! This was the day Roy and I planned on going to a presentation at West Marine on cruising the Bahamas, and I was beginning to worry that I wouldn't get back to the boat in time. As it was, it was after two when I got there.
I had come to the conclusion that my best bet was to complete the 55 Alive course in Fort Lauderdale. Phoned Greyhound, but they didn't have a bus at a suitable time. Then I phoned a taxi company and found out the fare from here to the Tri-Rail station was only $8, which is what I would have paid to take the course over, so I'll go down by cab in the morning. The train will get me to Cypress Creek in time to catch a couple of buses that will get me to class in time, if I'm lucky.
We were able to take the bus to within a mile of West Marine and walk the rest of the way, but the buses stop running at seven, so we weren't sure how we'd get home. Maybe have to take a taxi. We ate supper at Burger King and got to West Marine in plenty of time. There weren't as many people as we had expected. The talk was fairly interesting, but mainly about the Abacos, which we're not planning on visiting.
When the talk was over, I asked if anyone was going in the direction of Riviera Beach and could give us a ride. A young man volunteered to take us part of the way. He was very nice. His name is Manola Garcia. He was born in New York City of Ecuadorean parents, so he's fluent in both Spanish and English. He's been in the Air Force for fifteen years and is planning on retiring early. He loves boats and longs to sail. He brought us all the way back to the marina instead of half way, so we invited him to visit the boat. He was thrilled. He wants us to phone him Monday evening so he can invite us to supper.
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