Everett cab driver Mark Forbes, an ex-military, ex-cop, ex-plumbing parts salesman, likes to say there's an adventure every day in the taxi business.

What began in the wee hours of Saturday, April 10, was more. It was a big yellow odyssey.

It had been a busy Friday night, with all the usual runs to Seattle nightclubs, local bars, casinos and grocery stores.

Near the end of his 12-hour shift, a Yellow Cab dispatcher radioed Forbes, 62, to make a pickup at the Days Inn on Evergreen Way.

He pulled into the motel parking lot and saw two men emerge from a room. He looked at his watch --5:30 a.m.

The men had no luggage, so he was sure he could get them to their destination before his shift ended.

To the Sikh temple near Seattle, said the taller of the two men.

(Sikhism is a monotheistic religion, rejecting Hinduism's caste system, founded in 15th-century India by Guru Nanak.)

The cabbie started the meter, shutting off the 1991 Chevrolet Caprice Classic's roof vacancy light.

Forbes hadn't the faintest idea it would take more than nine days and 2,300 miles to get back home.

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