Our last day at the Summit started by packing our bags before breakfast, after not hearing our alarms and perchance waking up just in time. We managed, but it was nonetheless stressful. Breakfast was, just like normally, cereals, toast and a lot of snacks. It seemed as though we survived on snacks way more than you should.
We closed our bags, took down all the remaining beds and tents and last but not least our pavilions. Our leaders didn’t want to have to hurry while taking everything down, which meant that we had a lot of spare time until our bus was supposed to pick us up. So we waited. We waited and waited, we waited until our departure time was scheduled and some more. We waited in the sun, because there was hardly any shadow near, we waited hoping that our bus would soon come to pick us up.
Our bus came, 1.5 hours late, and already half-full with another Swiss unit. This was the reason why half of our unit had to stay behind and wait for another bus. We packed as much luggage as possible into the bus, without checking if it belonged to the people on the bus. It wasn’t supposed to be a problem, as we all assumed that the others were going to wait for half an hour or so and then follow suit in another bus. But that bus never came. At least not on August 2nd.
Anyways, I was one of the lucky 17 that had fit onto that bus and was on their way to Washington DC. The 6.5-hour drive was calm and drama-free, at least until we heard from the others about 5 hours into the drive. They said that they were still at the Summit in West Virginia. They said that they didn’t know what was going on. They said they had no idea as to when they were going to join us in DC.
This is when all hell broke loose and we got quite frustrated. We had been looking forward to seeing our friends this evening in the hotel and instead we were hoping that they were going to get a bus soon. But there wasn’t any bus available in all of West Virginia, because they were all being used for the Jamboree. We all calmed down after a while, because the others had told us that they were having a good time and enjoying themselves instead of being frustrated.
Upon our arrival, we checked which bags we had taken with us. Only about 5 out of 17 had their own backpacks, the rest belonged to the ones left behind. In turn, they had some of our luggage and a few bags of them. Again, I was one of the lucky people that had their baggage in DC.
Except for not having any clean clothes to put on after their warm shower, not having their bags was easier for everybody in DC than for those in West Virginia, because they had to stay put for the night and some of them didn’t have their sleeping bags. At least they got to stay with the ISTs, but it must’ve been cold still.
Back in DC, we got to do pretty chill things during the evening: driving on a yellow school bus (OMG, we were all freaking out about it!!), eating some really good sandwiches and picnicking in a park next to the Potomac river, while the sun was setting.
We played card games and bottle fight, like we always do, but the mood was at the same time lighter, because we were in DC (!!!), and dulled, because we were missing our second half.
While we were in the park, we learned what happened and why the others couldn’t make it to DC. There was indeed a second bus that was supposed to pick them up, together with another unit. This bus had somehow not stopped at our campsite. Before leaving the Summit, the driver called around, because he knew that he was supposed to pick up another unit, but he was given the green light to drive, leaving our people behind.
On our ride back, we all fan-girled some more about the bus and took some cool pictures of the skyline and the setting sun. It was an early end to a long and exciting day. Everybody was ready to see what the next day would have in store for us and to get to see the others again.