We all got on the bus with reasonable ease considering age, mobility and the fact that it was early in the morning. A group of senior strangers, with one exception that being my good friend from way back in the day at high school and off we went for about an hour to go on a boating excursion together.
I hadn’t had my morning coffee,for personal reasons (you figure it out) and had driven through city construction after driving in for thirty minutes from the sticks. No coffee, detours and morning rush hour traffic is not my usual routine anymore since retiring. The bus seats seemed narrow for my traditional sized body type. So , no coffee plus jangled nerves and a tight squeeze for an hour prior to the boating excursion with complete strangers…get the picture?.
Finally on board our vessel we were accomodated and fed a light meal. The afternoon boating event was bracing, breezy and informative. Washroom facilities were, shall we say…”ew”!
All in all, we all made it back to dry land and our chartered bus intact, hair blown and cheeks rosy. I had spent a good part of the day with a great pal and become familiar with another part of the Great Lakes system. Senior trips may now be part of my present and future adventures and I will have to accept some limitations….even if it is a little “ew”, now and then.
An Embarrassment of Freedom 
I love the term “traditional sized body type”! But you’re braver than me to do it without coffee.