Real life is never like a movie, there was no portentious background music, I showed my lack of understanding by failing to get baggage check, and mostly I was thinking of how bad I had to go pee... which I did after an "appropriate" wait on the bus, I even managed to have to have someone explain how to open the door, and finally the bus is going west, I will have to transfer in Knoxville before I go east.
Anyway, reality will hopefully sink in soon, I guess that surreal dreamlike quality life takes on is a defense mechanism, it unfortunately often leaves us wondering if we even did what we set out to do.
I am now probably as much on my on as I have ever been.
Moreso than my first solitary night in the dorms at Tech. I'll miss my parents soon enough I'm sure. Then it will just be me and God... and whoever he happens to put in our path between then and now.
I think that the unfortunate mark of postmodernism(And probably pride) in my is that annoying "self awareness" of what I'm doing.
....
Buses stop at railroad tracks and the last bus I was on that stopped here was high school band bus on the to a football game, hehe.
...
Until later.
Met Dr. Zhou just now in the bus terminal he's from near Beijeng and is a chemical engineering prof. He's going to Kentucky with his wife and is studying how to turn coal and its byproducts into gas or other useful compounds he has a daughter in VA and several(6?) postdoc students in the U.S.
We both remarked on the great diversity of people in races in the terminal. I sorta mentioned America as an idea more than a place and citizenship open to all.
waiting is.
On this trip I do not want to wish ahead to the next moments or be impatient in my travel becaue this trip is not a means(at least to travel) is IS the end. And by learning from this experience of not looking "forward" or "back" I might get closer to God.
I want to learn to not settle for worldly things and satisfaction but Heavenly and by this, maybe I will also improve the world.
The benches in the bus terminals are very comfortable(most things are at this time of the morning) unfortunately some smartalec realized the potential
for sleeping on them and put rails that divide it into seats and conveniently enough also prevent you from laying down.
Well managed to *sort* of sleep some, and managed to arrange the benches in Columbia, SC to take a 2 hour nap. At the greyhound station in Charleston I succumbed to exhaustion and got a cab to the Hotel. Anyway here's the balance sheet.
Well, I just got done eating at "Stick Fingers". It was good but I kinda gorged myself(easy to do with BBQ...) Anyway the waitress was nice, her name is Melissa, and she has a friend from Nashville, anyway I'm still in the restaurant to do some journalling.
I went on a carriage tour earlier(16 passenger carriage) the ticket girls and guide were all 3 cute blonds... Diedre(spelling probably wrong) was the guide. She's from Lexington outside of Columbia, SC. She lives in Charleston and does the carriage tour thing fulltime year round. She started school in private college but finished at the College of Charleston. I think she might have been a school
teacher at one time. She said she loves her job(especially being outdoors).
Her horse was Barny(Barnabus). He is a French Perchin the tour company saved from being killed for meat in Canada. He only works 2 to 4 hours a day and gets a few weeks on/off tour of duty. They're "vacationed" on an sland(Johnson?) and the guides occasional trail ride them there. The horses are well taken care of(i.e. spoiled) and worked well under their capacity(10x weight under rolling weight 10 hours a day 200 days a year).
Tonight I think I'm going to take a haunted walking tour and tomorrow hike the city if its sunny(the naval base if its raining) and tomorrow night check out this "Spoleto Festival" if I can figure out where and what it is.
Lots to talk about. The waitress was from Rhode Island and was on a soccer scholarship here majoring in P.E. and Psychology entering her fifth year.
The walking tour was pretty cool and the guide kner her stuff. Lots of stories involving pirates, evil spirits, duels, people seeing missing/killed children.
I met a girl named Mary Morris from Lexington, SC. Apparently she was up here with her mom, aunt, grandma and maybe another relative for the day(her grandma was visiting). She just graduated high school and didn't know where she was going to college yet(I didn't ask about a major) She was quiet and had a sweet disposition. Originally born in Western NC she's lived here for 6 years. She's been to Gatlinburg and thought Morristown was a cool name(same as her last name). We bumped into each other in the store
waiting for the tour, I think she thought I was someone else and made a comment about some soap on a string that hit her head. Anyway after walking a while on the tour I introduced myself(the soap incident was awkward, I think I must have had a really weird look on my face). After the tour she asked about me and I told her I was backpacking around the country, and she and her relatives thought that was kinda cool. Also, I think Mary is Catholic.
On the way back to the bus stop I found a group doing Tango(argentine) in City Market. They are a group that meets at Medical University of SC. I met and David and danced(very poorly for all the lessons I've had, I'm glad Mr. Bradshaw wasn't there) with Nina and Betty.
I talked to my parents tonight and tomorrow I'm probably going to go to the naval base time to and meditate. Oh yeah, Turkey vultures are "Charleston Eagles".(learned that on the carriage tour).
I consider 7:50am pretty early, but the bus schedule to the naval base didn't a lot of time, so I suppose (sigh) I'll get up early tomorrow, and make it out there.
Of course today will be good. I'm taking a harbor tour at 11:30 and the guy there recomended an affordable place to eat breakfast, Kaspers, so thats where I am right now. I think I go to the First Baptist Church tonight for a service; its the first Baptist(and Southern Baptist) church in the nation. Time to eat breakfast.
The boat tour was fun. I met a girl from Germany named Carmen. She is 15 and lives near Stuettgart in the Black Forest and rides dressage horses. We swapped email addresses and talked about stuff, mostly what sorts of things she does. It must be pretty rural where she lives because she
said they go trailriding a lot.
Anyway, I know it seems like all the people I've met have been girls, but thats because I've ran into more girls around my age. I got of her too because it seemed like a good idea to get pictures of the people I meet for scrapbook purposes, but it is kind of an awkward thing to ask and it would probably be wiser to let that suggestion come on its on.
After the tour I walked along the sea wall until I got to White Point Gardens on the battery. I'm sitting next to the gazebo in the center.
Patriot Point bus leaves at 9:26am so I take the 7:45 Ashley River, must be back by 9:20pm.
Sad to say but I've done very little this evening. I ate dinner/lunch at the Charleston Pizza Grille. I walked over to the Independent Movie Festival that is part of the Spoleto Festival but I didn't watch anything. I came back to the hotel and walked over to the mall nearby(around 7:30pm) and just meandered, and when I turn on the TV I got sucked into the Miss Universe Paegent. Best of all I have to get up around 6:30am to make it out to Patriot Point and the Yorktown.
My parents called about 10pm and so we talked a bit and I am for sure going to Savannah on Saturday.
We all have our struggles with sin, and there were some that I hoped to avoid for the next forty day, but tonight I gave in. With the grace of God I will get back up though and He will lead me through in the end.
I woke up early but still managed to miss the early bus by only a few minutes, so I went to McDonalds, which left my stomach feeling bad(the grease, disgusting). I walked around downtown(lots of clothing shops) on King St. I'm still going to go to the Yorktown today, I'll get about 4 hours there and then I'll head to the Isle of Palms for a couple of hours.
Right I'm drinking a Hazelnut/Vanilla milkshake in a coffee shop on Market St. in the hopes that it will settle my stomach and make me feel better, today is kinda overcast and muggy and I just woke up feeling kinda blah. I'm sleeping late tomorrow!
How appropriate, they're playing "Sheep Go to Heaven" by Cake. I'm going to try to mail a postcard to my parents and Rebecca Hill today.
I won't say I hurried through the Yorktown, but I've managed to see most of it, the sub, the destroyer, and the coast guard ship. I guess its because I'm an engineer, but the engine room on the Yorktown was the most impressive part. The main shafts were painted in candy stripes, it let the crew easily tell the direction of rotation and if the shaft was actually stopped. The pragmatic, simple, and efficient solution.
I might add the Yorktown's hug, yet the Nimitz class nuclear supercarrier's dwarf this boat. I also realized I'm too big to ever be in the Navy(and probably Air Force as well) all these small passageways, stairs and doors.
I also managed to go in the wrong end of the sub and had to go against the flow of people in very tight quarters.
I'm sitting underneath an airplane at
the Snack Bar on the Yorktown in the Hangar. Its cool that snack bar doesn't have straws or lids because they don't want kids tossing them the ocean. I'm really tired but feeling much better than this morning. At 4:30 I'm heading to the Isle of Palms, I may eat there, but not here(too expensive). I'll probably putz around the Yorktown a little longer and then go back and check out the Vietnam Naval Support Base.
I am looking at the Atlantic Ocean right now. I went down and waded in(I took my shoes off first). Its been years since I've seen the Ocean. I'm sitting on the deck of Coconut Joe's where I'm eating dinner.
My parents called after I got back from downtown, after that I vegged until now. I need to get back on track with my readings. Anyway, this
evening was pretty cool. There were a bunch of street musicians in downtown as part of Spoleto(a one man band, drummers, a violinist, brass band, and others I'm sure I didn't see).
The ocean was really owesome too, I may go to the beach in Savannah to just swim. Tomorrow I'm sleeping in the only big thing I plan on doing is going to Fort Sumer. I saw part of the C.S.S. Hunley(a Civil War Confederate Submarine) and I'll check that out and go to Vespers at the First Baptist Church and then back here to pack.
I got up fairly late this morning and didn't get to downtown until noon, I walked around a while after getting my ticket to Fort Sumter(boat left at 2:30).
This Spoleto Festival is mostly local artists showing their stuff, I browsed through but didn't really look at most of it.
Fort Sumter is a manmade island and mostly a pile of rubble, due to the Civil War bombardments(14' foot walls post war, 50' pre war), I didn't know that they used it continuously until 1947 or so(when it finally became obsolete).
Seeing all the quotes and history has helped me realize how seriously some people thought slavery was okay or even a good thing. I also realized how... um... warped South Carolinians can be; you almost get the idea that they still have a chip on their shoulder about the Civil War. Lots of monuments to honor Confederates who died in the war(not a bad thing, but disconcerting).
I finished rereading "Mere Christanity at dinner(at Ruby Tuesdays). I am such a horrible Christian; some sins I do(willfully) no matter what; and then I don't let go the fact that I don't feel enough guilt. Rereading it only makes me more aware of my grave inadequacies(which I do despite having just read what I did tonight). I know that Christ was there ready in my time of challenge and I could have resisted and overcome. So far away from him and salvation.
Yet those emotions and moods are just that. I think that this is a good spot now. I'm closer to truly breaking through to the idea that apart from Christ, I'm screwed. I just can't do it. The Bible doesn't say you'll "feel" saved, but the only thing I can count on is
my rational belief that if I call out to God(even if it doesn't "feel" like I'm doing it right) he will answer and forgive me. That takes care of the past. As long as I Get back up and take up my cross daily.(and this is what I mean) Opportunities to submit to him will come, and by turning my mind to him I will resist and overcome temptation. By prayer and reading of scriptures and fasting I will seek his face. That takes of the present. The future? (quasiquote "Today has enough trouble, Tomorrow will come soon enough. Take no thought I take care of the birds and you are a heck of a lot more important than the birds...")
When I get home I'm going to construct a timeline of Christ's life by putting the four gospels together
so you can see what they have in common. I'm sure its been done but hey, there's nothing new under the sun.
Anyway, I'm about as much packed as I can. I've got to figure out the bus route to get to the Greyhound station(one cab is expensive enough).
Tonight is my last night in Charleston, Its been fun, but I need to work on patience, on how to savor each moment for all its worth, otherwise the remaining 35 days will go to quick).
Woe be unto you, ye sons of men for life is short and hard and sins wearying the heart
And yet each breath, moment comes of God a gift. It is enough. I exist by your will alone.
Glory be to God, for one is in
this place who holds heaven and earth in his hand.
Rejoice, though life is hard and short for this present beauty is enough as the light of him who holds my breath comes closer every day. Amen, even so come Lord, Amen.
I do not understand the buses in Charletson(although they do not compare to the confusion of the Paris Metro). It seems like they're always late, until I get there at the wrong(right?) time; then they're early. Most of the drivers are nice though.
So I checked out and Tara and another girl at the front desk try and help me figure out what/when routes to ake.
I just barely miss the(for once) early Ashley River Rd bus, so I hike over to Citadel Mall(not fun) to catch the 10:17 North Bridge.
I saw a bus a leaving the stop while I'm too far away to run, and I presume it was the North Bridge early as well, but then about 10:30 it comes by again and so I make it. After that it was smooth sailing, and I got to the Greyhound station about 11am. So I went to Hardees for lunch.
I've discovered a big part of my overeating problem: Boredom. I eat when I get bored. Now, I haven't been bored on this trip, but its incredibly easy to turn around and find a place to eat, or get candy or junk food. No wonder Americans overeat its so easy.
I might also add, in downtown anyway, there are lots of girls, attrictive, and dressed decently skimpily and most are roughly my age. I know its the heat and vacation locale, but compared to Morristown and Cookeville, its quite different.
I told my dad lots of things about Hostels. How they're safe, clean, minimalist places designed for someone travelling like this. I really hope I wasn't lying.
Oh, I stayed in a hostel in Toronto, but the other five bunks were occupied by other Wesley members, and we were such a large group that we didn't really "get" the whole hostelling experience, so tonight will be my first real night in a hostel.
We're off. I'm excited, more roads I've never been down. I also have to go to the bathroom. Anyway some cool ideas just came together. C.S.Lewis's description of a more complete Christian so unencumbered by the world, by his "needs" seems remarkably close to Maslow's description of a self actualizing person. Both discuss how you might be lead to believe all these
would be alike, yet both point out they would be more truly individuals than others, and I understand a lot more of one of Ulysses gripes in the Illiad & Odyssey. "O this cursed belly" my appetites and physical needs(including going to the bathroom) want to reduce me to a creature of reaction, an automaton whose only goal is to fulfill its most current most pressing need(computer game AI's have implemented this and while interesting the behaviour is often quite stupid). Alwys giving makes you less human, not more.
I should fast more on this, maybe, just daytime fasts(until sundown). I also thought an interesting devotion to try sometime would be to count each breath in a period of time and to thank God for them at the end. (guess about number of breaths per day 6/min x 60min = 360 ~= 400/hour x 24 hours = 9600 ~= 10,000 breaths/day).
I am an idiot. Way too trusting, but God protects me. I walked maybe 10 blocks to the Hostel, and rather than take a bus; I was guided by a black man named David, who said he was 43 and had 6 kids. After we got here he also told me he just got out of prison, whether he intended to mug me or what I'll never know, but I gave him a $5 tip. I would have done something(or at least offered) but I realize I should have been more careful. I will pray for him though and perhaps I am in the wrong for casting aspersions on his motivations after the fact. He did get me here safe and sound.
Anyway, I guess I'm going to try to get into downtown for a few hours. Tomorrow I'll take a grayline tour I think.
The river walk is really cool, and feels very authentic, but since I don't get into shopping and don't have enough if I did, its not quite as fun as it could be. Savannah has really neat architecture but it feels less refined than Charleston... definitely a lot meaner and more dangerous.
I think I'm going to mass tomorrow, the cathedral is the easiest and most obvious church I can find. Then I'll probably take a tour and take another good walk around.
I'm eating at the Fiddler's Crab and getting the "Low Country Boil" bot Bud and Julie Myatt highly recommended the dish, the restaurant is just the most convenient one I could find. I think they suggested a certain restaurant, my dad said it had a pirate in front it, but I didn't see it.
The hostel is interesting, its an old house built in the late 1800's. There are about 7 beds in the male dormitory, and the whole thing is fairly small. The people seemed pretty nice, and the guy running the place was much nicer in person than over the phone.
At the same time I checked in another guy who said he was biking around the country checked in.
I'm going back to the hostel as soon as I'm done eating; I kinda think I want to meet some of the other people if they're around. Well my food is here.
I like being in the moment and open to experiences. As I walked back from dinner past the cementary, a group was getting ready for a ghost tour so I ended up going too. Apparently Savannah is the second most haunted
city in the country. Since New Orleans is the most, and I was just there, I feel pretty secure about things.
The guide was a very nice college student named Naomi going to a nearby technical school majoring in Marketing. She said she was a Christian but didn't go further. Her boyfriend is a Southern Baptist and she goes to church with him and his parents(I found that out when I asked about a good church to attend).
She said she was from San Antonio, but only because she lived there the longest. Her dad is a government employee and they have moved up and down pretty much the whole East Coast. I mentioned that she must be pretty well travelled and she said she was ready to settle down someplace.
Dave also came through just
now(I'm sitting in the hostel common room). He's bicycling around the country(starting up the east coast) for four months, he said he quit his job to do this. He's originally from Michigan and he's planning on being there the fourth of July.
The Low Country Boil was pretty good. It had shrimp and I remembered why I always get popcorn shrimp(too much work getting those shells off). It kind gave me gas though(polish sausage, red beans and rice, boiled potatoes, and cole slaw, go figure). It was descent, but basically a southern dish not unlike what I would have have at home(add sea food because this is a port city).
Savannah is a pretty city. I almost think I like it better than Charleston even though there's less to do and perhaps less historical significance.
I am going to have to check out some sights tomorrow. Apparently John Wesley was here for a while and that makes for an interesting connection with the Wesley Foundation.
I also realized I need to do better finding out who the people I meet are. I want to find that uniqueness God gives to everyone. To see the wonderful diversity of people God has made and appreciate them for who they are, where they've been, and their hopes and dreams. The longer I live the more I find myself liking people and trying to know and care about them. I know that this is from God.
Sidenote. I also got a lovely blister on my right foot on my second smallest toe. I hurts, but I busted it with my knife. I hope it doesn't get infected, or happen again.
Way too much to say. Last night I meat a woman stay in the hostel named Connie. She's an artist from California living in Orlando Florida now to be close to her daughter who lives on St. Thomas island. She was supposed to come here with a Korean friend who was going to tour some before heading back to Korea.
This morning I wandered around for a while looking for a church until some ladies in Forsyth Park directed me to Welsey Monumental Methodist Church.
I went to the College and Careers Sunday School class, which was pretty small since schools out and everyone went home. It was by a man named Pat McGlone and the only other people were a couple named Mike and Cathy. The leasson was about pathways we use to communicate
with and worship God. The sermon was based out of Like 9 and about Jeses fedding the five thousand. After church I also met a student of Svannah College of Art and Design named Ted. He was doing Masters work in computer graphics(from the art end) so we talked a little bit of shop, and then we were all going to go out to eat but the wait was real long and several of them had to leave town pretty quick this afternoon.
If Charleston is big for Baptists; Savannah is bigger for Methodists. John Wesley was the pastor of this parish for a while and I think he even gave a sermon from the park I'm sitting in.
I'm currently sitting beside the fountain in Johnson Square, which is basically the center of the city. Savannah was a planned city and the plan included lots of little green,
tree filled parks(or squares) and each one of these parks is filled with history, folklore, and monuments and lined with historical buildings, churches and shops.
There is not quite as much in Savannah as in Charleston(I'm glad I elected a shorter stay here), but I really like the atmoshpere, I think the planning lets it have a more free and "open" feeling than chaotic bustle and jumble of Charleston which is ironically more quaint and more cosmopolitan that Savannah. I wish I knew more of the history. I'm definitely going to pick up a copy of "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil".
I saw the "haunted" house of one of the principle characters last night when I also learned Haint Blue paint resembles water(which ghosts won't cross) and glass fragments on top of a brick wall are techniques the
Gullah builders used to keep the ghosts in the house.(more frequently used to keep them out.)
Althought the people in church seemed impressed by my trip, having met several people engaged in similiar ventures has been a profitably humbling experience. Although the spiritual dimension of my trip does seem to be a little less common(sffice to say I'm pretty sure I was the only person in the hostel that seemed to be planning to attend church this morning). Next time, I may invite some fellow hostellers(correct term?). I figure being out on my like this I basically have two options. Either I'll rely on myself or be forced to turn totally to God and rely on him for my every need. I also think Psalm 27(last nights readings) has a lot of bearing on my goals for this trip.
I just finish three post cards. One to Honey, Julie Myatt, and my parents.
I decided to call my parents early tonight. Everything was ok at home and I told them where I went to church and what I had been up to.
Well, I just met Simone from Indiana. She was looking for advice about guys(and she came in here and found me, talk about bad luck). Anyway we're both Christians and this guy she met isn't, so she wanted to know about dating nonchristians. Now I consider marriage to be a separate matter, and so I see nothing wrong with it. Now that I think about it, I figure if you stick to your morals(e.g. no sex before marriage) the matter will resolve itself eventually(prayer helps too). She apparently just came down here via Greyhound for a few days vacation. She is 25, works for Estee-Lauder(I know I spelled it wrong, the perfume company). She
majored in Theatre and French.
Back to whatever I was going on about. Oh yeah. I stopped by the Cathedral and went through the stations of the cross. The receptionist(an older gentleman) explained the windows for me(a couple of Irish Saints, the Assumption of Mary, and Jesus giving Peter the keys to the Church, I think we know why I had to be told what those were).
Anyway as I trudged back to the hostel(I think I might have another blister but I don't want to know so I haven't checked) the free CAT Shuttle(Chatham Area Transportation?) came by and she let me ride the last loop, which conveniently enough dropped me off at the Krogers across from the Hostel.
I came in and called my parents then found an English couple watching soccer
and just kinda vegged out. England and Sweden in the World Cup tied and the couple left so I came to journal which brings to the present.
I'm sure some people must question why such lavish resources are devoted to building a pretty building rather than ministries and missions. Its a valid question. Some men of God must praise him with the work of their hands. David wanted to build a temple. Others do works, but the majesty of a Cathedral and all the artistry of windows, altars, and statuary combined with the arching heights and spires leaping toward heaven are an attempt to express the ecstasy and majesty that many believers must feel. God gave men the gifts and abilities to build these structures and so men build them, not because God will love them for it
or that it will be worthy of God, they build it to use their skills to lift up an expression of praise to the most High God
Oh yeah, after leaving the square this afternoon I bought a good(but *cough* expensive) lemonade from a street vendor in the park. I explained I was journaling. He said he didn't do anything creative and I better not say making lemonade, but it was good one and I compliment him on it anyway(it was fresh squeezed, and its fairly hot around here).
I might add the Hostel only has AC at night, and I'm sweating just sitting here in the common room. At least they have ceiling fans and windows.
I don't feel like looking at my watch. Anyway, I spent the evening watching TV with Sam and Alan. Sam is originally from Birmingham, AL but has lived all over and work in California during the boom(for a newspaper, a recycling place, a bakery, etc.) Apparently he met a lot of weird people on the West Coast and has moved back to the South to Atlanta, GA.
Alan is from England and he's touring the states similiar to what I'm doing. We talked about politics and culture while channel surfing through a Larry King Live 45 year special, a western, and a reality TV cop show(which prompted a lot of discussion, especially about stupid people). Most of the people in the Hostel are very well travelled.
Dave got cooked on the beach today. This morning he biked by while I was waiting for church. I suggested he
try the Low Country Boil, which he said he enjoyed.
He just gave me the thumbs up. We have a new(female) guest named Tamara whose from Ohio. She was very inquisitive about who I was and where I was from. I told about what I knew about to see and do in Savannah as well as Charleston(she's going there next). Tamara's looking for a job. She's just graduated with a degree in Education, she's certified to teach English grades 7-12. She travels a lot and just came from Atlanta(where she had several offers). Last semester she spent in Austrailia where she did her student teaching and also toured New Zealand(Alan mentioned going there as well earlier in the night). Anyway, she came in while I was doing my nightly
readings.
Dave is listening to the news and just informed me the temperature was 101 degrees today. What more can I say?
All the guys left this morning, I left before Dave and said bye to him while he was in the shower. Sam left before me, but I caught up with him at the Greyhound station. We talked for about an hour before his bus got here(politics, travelling jobs, West Coast "dilletants" who apparently don't actually have jobs, and even a tad bit of philosophy). Why is it that saying good bye is so hard to bring proper closure too? The real world is always so much meassier than fiction.
Alan left before any of us were up. Last night I explained some
of the spiritual nature of my trip to him. He asked me if I expected to be tempted. It's a question I've asked myself... I guess I'll know in 32 more days(although Charleston had its difficulties and moments of weakness).
I have decided I like hostelling. While not the most comfortable way to travel, its a lot more socialable. You meet interesting people and it doesn't have the same lack of emotional depth that chains of hotels have(ironically we prefer that mass produced aspect and the compromises are what it takes to guarantee that "standard" which is comfortable and unsurprising).
The bus is moving, there was an earlier bus to St. Augustine than I had planned(but I also was going to sped just one night instead of two).
Two hours later...(1:05am) There are several people from England, a guy from Ireland, Tucson, and two girls from East Tennessee here(Emily and Amy). I went to dinner at a pretty good Mexican place(Alcapolco) and basically talked with the all the people about absolutely everything. Two girls from England have been working their way around the world for fourteen months. One of the girls from East Tennessee is from Rutledge and knows Jonathon Beckwith, Pepper Spradlin's mmom, and Eric Stallings and is Carol Rouse's cousin. I may hang out with them tomorrow. Anyway, I'm tired and will have opportunity to tell more later.
I spent the morning with Amy and Emily. Emily is from New Orleans and owns horses.
We went to the Lighter Museum which had a lot of glasswork and stuff from the period in which the building was hotel.
We went to the Presbyterian chuch which was built by Henry Flagler in memory of his daughter. He was a very rich man who built the first resort hotel in Florida, the Ponce de Leon, which is now a private liberal arts school(Flagler College).
We took a tour of the college led by a student named Amy. Very intricate artwork and 24k gold
was used for some of the ornaments. He was a very superstitious man and made them add an imperfection in the floor.
The girls made me pick a place to eat lunch(since I was the only guy). We ended up at the Florida Cracker Cafe. My stomach is giving me some trouble. I think its the heat. Anyway we came back to the hostel and I've napped for the past hour or so.
I spent the rest of the day with Amy and Emily. We had seafood for dinner and walked to Eckerds and then ended with ice cream. Emily used to be a vegan. Amy and I talked a lot about home, people, and East Tennessee culture.
The two girls from England have been travelling 14 months as of today. They had a little celebration tonight and grilled out. They've been in Europe, Egypt, Asia, Austrailia, and the U.S. Elaine(her sister is Judith) made the comment that travelling so much more accelerated, you meet people and get to know them and get attached to people quicker, but then you have to say goodbye, and it never gets easier.
Bob(from Ireland) cusses, but he is hilarious doing it and the accent makes it incredibly entertaining to listen to.
This hostel is a million times better than Svannah. Its amazing the mix of foreigners, there's maybe 4 Americans in the hostel now.
I think Amy and Emily are
going to the beach tomorrow so I'll get to hit the tourist stuff pretty hard.
They have free pancakes here for breakfast but you have to cook them yourself.
Bob just told about Fabio getting his nose broke by a goose on a ride in Busch Gardens at Virginia Beach. Earlier he saw a dolphin and told a guy it was a shark and how he's going on about going to Disneyworld later. He bought a car and has been driving down the East Cost.
My stomach's doing better, but its cooler now.
None of the girls think Fabio is attractive. I guess there is hope after all.
No one here has good things to say about the Savannah hostel, but we all chipped in info to the Irish girl who came this morning and is heading there next.
Bob left this morning. A few days ago they saw a dolphin and told a guy it was a shark. Yesterday CNN had a headline about a frustrated dolphin trying to mate with swimmers off the British Isles, we told him it was his dolphin and he was looking for him.
Last night me and Emily ended up talking till about 5am about anything and everythig.
This morning I got up late and so missed pancakes, but thats okay. I set out on my own and check out the oldest house. The tours weren't that expensive, but I didn't go in.
I went to the wax museum. It was kinda creepy. Several of them looked incredibly likelike. I watched their little movie, but iwas targetted at kids and not
very informative
After the museum I started up Saint George Street which is basically a shopping mall. They have a store that sells swords, chainmail, and other medieval stuff. I ended up in candle store where they hand make and carve candles. They had cheaper postcards(5 for $1.00). I watched to woman make a candle. Her name is Sarah and she went to Savannah Art College(SCAD).
The drips off the bottom of candles have several colors so they can't usually remelt the waste so they make these little psychadelic looking mushroom candles from the waste and sell them for .99 cents. She gave me one just for watching and talking(I explained to her about my trip). The really neat thing is they have to do all the carving in about 8 minutes before the candle cools too much and becomes brittle.
I spent most of the afternoon in the Colonial Spanish Quarter. Basically its a bunch of artisans doing crafts and construction with authentic 1790's tools, techniques, and materials.
I talked the guys about what they did and Appalachians and a lot about horses. I explained my trip, and one of them had been on a similiar trip when he was in his 20's.
From there I drifted over to the "Castillo de San Marcos" which is the fort guarding Saint Augustine. The Park Ranger on duty had a long discussiong about horses too.(I work my Show Horse Times t-shirt today).
Elaine and Judith went to
Cape Canaveral today to watch the shuttle launch. In hindsight I should like to have seen it. Anyway, when I came back to the Hostel they were back. Emily had also left a note under my door requesting to learn how to dance.
I went to eat dinner with Amy and Emily tonight. It cooled off a lot this evening so we ate on the ratio rather than inside. I parted ways to get a ticket for the ghost tour.
My stomach has been bothering me. I think its the heat, tongiht I've had diarrhea.
Anyway, on the ghost tour I met Scott and his wife and daughter(Heather age 11) and mother and aunt I think. They're from Knoxville and Jefferson City. Scott also happens
to work with Allison Gosnell.
I still feel kinda ill, but since I was a little constipated I'll probably start feeling better. There's also only one other knapsack in the room right now. Lots of people checked out today.
I've also discovered other people aren't nearly so gungho about seeing the city as I am(Amy and Emily have spent a lot more time in the Hostel than I).
In some ways I'm being very touristy, but at the same time I also like to get perspective on a place and see its history and understand it. Its so much easier alone. I'm not actually in a hurry(I spent 3-4 hours talking in the Spanish Quarter). I'm just into history more I think and I study a place more like an anthropologist.
Just about everyone leaving today was headed to Savannah, I gave them all directions to catch the free shuttle and which stop to get off at.
I had a discussion with Elaine and Judith and an Austrailian lady about iced tea, and I think they're going to try some(although there was some skpeticism)
I left my stuff in a locker and hiked up to Ripley's, which was pretty neat. Its the original, but it was basically like the one in Gatlinburg(a couple of the neater exhibits were matchstick sculptures)
I hiked even further to see the Fountain of Youth. It was in a park and was basically even cheesier. The Fountain itself was filtered to EPA requirements but they left all the sulphur in. They passed out cups, what can I say? It tasted like sulphur water.
In East Tennessee we have squirrels. Here they have lizards instead.
I sat in the hostel a while reading. I just missed the 3pm bus so I had to wait five hours.
A guy named Roy(I think) from Israel checked in. He just got out of the army and its tradition that Israeli's travel between getting out of the army and starting college. My pens are dying. I'm going to get new ones, they wouldn't sell one at the Jacksonville Greyhound Station, not enough employees.
Roy and I talked about politics, terrorism, and culture. He keeps kosher but is not a practicing(or Orthodox) Jew. We talked overweight Americans and all the fast food joints.
At the bus station I talked with Greg the station manager. As a parent he liked the fact that I'm calling my parents. He likes to meet people and loves his job. We talked about the crew that all headed to Savannah this morning(and how I gave them all directions).
He used to be in the military and loved parachuting. He's always wanted to ride a horse and milk a cow. He has yet to milk a cow though. We also talked about travelling and poverty. He was a really neat guy.
I broke down and used the internet this afternoon to check the bus schedule and ended up checking my email just to delete some spam. Oh well, only Christ was perfect I've succumbed to temptation several times on this trip.
I'm getting tied and unfortunately a little impatient and cranky.
I think Emily was kinda getting interested in me. I think temd to "fall in love" on exotic vacations, its a kind of romanticism.
I mailed all my postcards today. I sent one to my parents, mamaw, and Honey.
The bus ride has been more stressful this time. Lots of weird people. In Tallahasse the bus to Texas was full the first time so several of us got bumped to the 2:35am bus. That pushes me back getting to 8pm. The other bus is still pretty full, I had to sit with someone until Pensacola. That wasn't so bad, but because I couldn't stretch out, I didn't
sleep at all. I'm pretty tired, and I know its made my patience wear thin. I also have to do laundry in San Antonio.
I thought we might go through New Orleans, but we go through Baton Rouge instead.
One of the people who got bumped is a guy from Columbia going to visit his father in Houston. We haven't talked much, I'm not sure how good his English is but he seems nice.
Oh, in Saint Augustine, the park ranger told me they have tons of plain clothes policemen walking the streets and thats part of why its such a safe city.
Also Roy told me if you leave anything sitting in Israel, someone will call the bomb squad and they'll come blow it up(his sister lost her guitar that way).
Well, I'm on Central time now. My mood has gotten better, but the buses have been full. In Baton Rouge we crossed the Mississippi River, I don't think I'll cross it again until leaving St. Louis(although with Greyhound routes you never know).
Daniel was the guy from Columbia. He's a civil engineer. He really likes being able to travel so freely and safely here. In Columbia its dangerous. He lives in the capitol city and we are both from mountainous areas(and both of us probably have neighbors who grow pot as well). Anyway he really liked seeing our bridges and road construction(especially this long low raised roadway through the swamps and bayous west of Baton Rouge). There is also a dearth of females in engineering in Columbia. He's also Catholic, and I explained
a little about what a Baptist is(there's not a lot of other options in Columbia). He also gave me some Columbian coins. He was really nice although there were times that the language got in the way, he spoke fairly good English but his vocabulary was sometimes limited; he seemed like the kind of guy who became an engineer to make the world better.
Apparently customs and immigration are hard on Columbians trying to enter the U.S. he said it took several hours and searches to get in. We traded email addresses, so I hope to keep in touch with him.
Hopefully I'm only 1 bus stop and less than 3 hours from San Antonio. We're in Houston now(where Daniel's father is). So we're less than 200 miles now.
I finally got to the hostel just before the front desk closed at 10. Lots of interesting people in the hostel. Joe from Austrailia has basically been around the world in parts. He hitch hikes, buses, or whatever. We talked about religion for a bit. He grew up Catholic but doesn't practice anymore. He's got the travelling bug bad, and its neat to hear about the rest of the world.
Well I'm really tired, I may talk some more, but I need sleep. I'm glad I did my readings earlier on the bus.
I didn't get up until 10 and then I took a nice long hot shower. Two girls staying in the hostel were already at the bus stop. I can't remember their names, but they are sisters from Wales. One just graduated college and the other quit her job. They actually lived in California for a while because of their dad's job, so this isn't their first time in the U.S.
We had a discussion about tipping, in the U.K. people don't tip unless its good service and they had run into the fact that here we tip all the time.
So we were wandering around just happened to find the Alamo. I told them all about Davy Crockett and Tennessee's contribution to the Alamo. What was really cool though, was the fact that there was even a guy from Wales in the list of defenders.
Quite by accident we got separated in the museum. I waited and looked for awhile, but I didn't see them. I'll have to apologize tonight at the hostel. The visitor information center was across from the Alamo(and after finishing off an icee slushee or whatever from a street vendor) so I went in there to get a map of the city and wait there(they were looking for it as well).
After that I went down to the River Walk which is below street level, there were stairs next to the Alamo. The River Walk is beautiful. Its mostly restaurants and bars, but there are lots of huge old oak trees and such and tones of neat little fountains. I bought a Hard Rock shirt, but decided I wanted Mexican(this is the closest I'll get to Mexico). So now I'm eating at "The Original Mexican Restaurant & Bar" on the River Walk
There was a street preacher in front of the Alamo. I didn't listen to him, but partially because there was this woman near him running around with her hands in the air doing the whole "Praise Jesus, Hallelujah, Amen" bit, which kinda set some kind of warning off in my intuition.
A guy from North Carolina named John took a picture of me in front of the Alamo. He's living in Austin now(I think) and ironically his boss is from Morristown.
Anyway, now that I'm awake I should mention some about the bus ride. The landscape stayed incredibly flat the whole ride, but it ever so gradually "dried out" between Baton Rouge and Houston. Although its greener than I expected it didn't look like I thought Texas would until halfway between Houston and San Antonio. It actually reminded me a lot of middle Tennessee. The
land around San Antonio is noticeably different though. It also has a gentle roll to it rather than the more total flatness east of here.
My mom asked about laundry last night. I told her not to ask questions she doesn't want to hear the answer to. Suffice to say after my visit to the Hard Rock Cafe I now have1 clean t-shirt.
The waiter just came by. His name is Bill. He explained that this was the first Mexican Restaurant aroudn here, founded in 1899. They still serve the food the same way. BAck in the day, my meal would have cost 35 cents. He thought the travelling was pretty cool the way I'm doing it. He also said to visit the market square and the folk festival going on right now.
579 feet or 58 stories, that's how high I am right now. I'm in the Tower of the Americas which overlooks San Antonio. Its only half as high as the CN Tower in Toronto, and no glass floor, but its still enough to take your breath. Heights always make me nervous; its very easy to visualize falling for me. I looked over the edge on the outside anyway. They also took my knife, I guess thats a post 9-11 thing(even though its only a swiss army knife... I guess they watched MacGuyver too). If you look down the crack between the elevator and the buidling you can see all the way to the ground(now THAT is unnerving).
I've explored pretty much the whole River Walk at this point. Very beautiful, its mostly Restaurants and very few shops. Apparently many people thought it wasn't possible to build it due to flooding, I need to find out more.
I went to the City Market at the suggestion of the waiter in the place I ate lunch. It was pretty neat, lots of "junk" though. It was different than say Charleston or New Orleans. It had a lot stuff oriented at Catholics, Mexican imports, traditional Mexican/Texan clothing, and more leather products.
I tried to see the Cathedral, but there was a wedding the first time(on the way
I wrote some postcards while I was up here. One to Jacob, Julie Myatt, Rebecca Hill, and my parents. I've not felt so good this afternoon. I think its a combination of the heat, lunch, and maybe too much caffeine. I've felt faint, and had a headache. I also had some diarrhea just after lunch. I also didn't eat much yesterday, maybe that is at fault too. More water in the future anyway.
Well, I must be about my father's business and its a 24-7 job.
Anyway, I went back to the River Walk via the World's Fair park, and saw some kids swimming in a fountain. Didn't seem like a bad idea, but not today.
Went to get an ice cream at Justin's on the River Walk. The guy working there had a Texas Engineering shirt on. Turns
Afterwards I finally found a mall and a bookstore. I bought a book about the River Walk for myself and a book called "Horse Traders" for father's day and had them both shipped home.
Then I caught the bus back to the Hostel. Ironically, the two Welsh girls got on shortly after I did, and so I apologized. Anyway they got off near a Snoic(which they really seem to like), and its walking distance to the Hostel, so I got off. We ended on a conversation about the metric system(which hasn't been as smooth a transition as some lead you to believe). They still think in pounds and feet.
After we got back to the hostel, Stuart(from England) and his girlfriend got back. Apparently some stuff was stolen today. I haven't checked yet, but all my valuables were on my body so I'm not too worried.
The conversation split into girls and guys and I ended up
talking about culture with Stuart. He's somewhat of an agnostic, and so I started talking about Christianity. He was very inquisitive and looked like
I had five cellphone messages so I didn't even check them, I figured it was my parents. I still haven't checked but they said it was Doug about an apartment.
Well, I'm going to bed now. Hopefully I'll find a church in the morning(there's always Mass).
I got up kinda late this morning but I still managed to make it to a church. I went to the First Baptist Church and got there about halfway through their 11am service. They were renovating their sanctuary, so it made it even harder to find where the service was. A really nice guy finally showed me where to go.
After the service, I went and found the pastor to get him to sign the bulletin, and he liked that idea. He said they were having a lunch for single adults
and invited me. It was nice, but I met such a flurry of people I can't remember names or faces. I explained my trip, including the spiritual dimension, and they all thought it was an interesting thing to be doing.
Its awkward going into a church, you don't know the people, and it feels awkward to just barge into their business. I tried the strategy of looking profoundly lost, coupled with my attire(shorts, t-shirt, and backpack) and long hair I suppose I looked suitably out of place. They were very friendly though and welcomed me with open arms.
Afterward, I hiked back to the mall, and ended up at the IMAX theater. They show 3D movies, and the technogeek, I was pulled right in. I even explained how the glasses work to the poeple behind me(these were polarization filters).
In a lot of respects 3D movies are still in the early stages of cinema. Wowing people, camera "tricks", and spectacular views to impress, but they have changed, this was a little more plotted. I watched one which was a documentary on construction of the space station.
I could never do a space walk, I would probably freak out in fear. However space still has the call its had from youth. The same spirit of exploration and adventure drove me to this trip. I see a big division among people on stuff like space exploration. The pragmatist who ask "Why", and the people like me who ask "Why not?".
Yes, there are benefits and useful things to learn, but space IS the final frontier. That yearning to go beyond and reach out to the
stars is a divine impulse, a gift from God. It is a similiar drive that causes us to yearn for God, someone larger than us. We go into space and do "frivolous" things because this is what makes us distinctly human.
Well, I'm going to call Doug about apartments and Jackson about tomorrow. 931-529-2102
I called Jackson, and everything is ready, they were expecting me. I really don't want to inconvenience the, but I'm looking forward
I also bought a book by Stephen King, just in case I have a lot of downtime next week.
I ended up talking to one of
He also talked about the less "idealized" story of the Alamo. Most of them had a drinking problem, Bowie was a psychopath, and Crockett no saint. Some of them actually gave up(Crockett included). Although it is
important to know the truth. The ideas represented are important, and besides, only God will never let you down, even martyred patriots are only human.
Anyway, I just finished eating dinner at a place overlooking the River Walk. I'm going to get some supplies at the drug store and head back to the hostel. I may go swimming this evening.
I ended up at a dance recital at the amphitheater on the River and got delayed there. It was actually pretty cool. They did traditional latin folk dancing from Mexico, Spain, and Texas. Unfortunately I had to leave early.
I still haven't got hold of Doug but I left a voice mail. My dad is going to Atlanta tomorrow, so I'll
have to keep in touch pretty good. My parents said Sierra sang an awesome solo at Church today. 8 kids got saved during Bible School last week.
On the bus back to the hostel I met Jerry from London. He's a high school woodworking teacher who took off for the past nine months and has basically been going around the world. I also keep getting told that because of the high value of the dollar and pound it is cheap for Americans and British to travel.
Well I'm going to do my readings and pack up for tomorrow. I also need to clean out my backpack.
I checked
I also read on the book I bought yesterday. It's kind of a fairytale(told in that tone). It's pretty good.
In Killeen, the bus got full and Vicky from Decatur, Alabama sat down beside me. She came to see her son graduate high school and now they're both riding back to Alabama.
My mind has wandered today. I've thought about ballroom dancing, Wesley, and the coming school year.
A bus driver is riding as a passenger and him and the driver have bantered about all day.
At first I was grumpy that someone sat down beside(she was a portly black lady). I realized though that I'm not nearly as patient or as humble as I think, but rather than simmering at not having two seats, I took the effort to talk to her, and that made all the difference in my attitude(after all she probably as displeased as I was), but she was nice and it worked out. She's now sitting
Lots of interesting, weird, different, and even senile people on the bus.
Also, just outside of San Antonio, we passed over "Woman Hollaring Creek."
I made it to Dallas without incident. As I got off the bus, I had left a compartment on my backpack unzipped, but a very nice girl picked up my stuff and
told me about it.
Jackson drove me around the city and took me by his campus. Its very beautiful. It also has a wonderful library with lots of old manuscripts. I also just missed Zahn Holmes of Disciple Bible Study giving his last "official" sermon.
We went to a steakhouse that doesn't allow ties(they cut them off with your permission). It also had a slide for little kids. I got a 20oz T-bone, but they had steaks as large as 50oz. It was one of the best steaks I've had.
Me and Jackson came back to their house and I met their dog Ellie, today was her first birthday, she's a very sweet golden retriever.
I checked the Greyhound schedule for Thursday, and I'm probably going to take the 6:45pm bus.
Jackson and I had a good
talk about theology, drinking, multiculturalism, and homosexuality. We talked about baptism too(infant baptism). He loaned me a book to read on for the next few days.(Baptism: Christ's Act in the Church, Laurence Hull Stookey). He also showed me his new guitar(its a nice classical guitar).
I caught him up on current events at Wesley.
His wife, Katy, came in. We sat around and watched TV for a while and talked. Come to find out Katy is distantly(well not really, I'll have to get her to explain again) related to Henry Flagler of Flagler College in St. Augustine.
Well, I'm tired and tomorrow is laundry day(courtesy of their washing machine), and I still have my reading to do(I also finished that Stephen King book today, "Eyes of the Dragon")
Today was a pretty good relaxed day. This morning I Finally did laundry while Jackson mowed their yard. After I got done we set out.
I toured through the Church of the Disciple where Jackson is music minister. I mailed my San Antonio postcards.
We spent most of the afternoon at the Sixth Floor Museum in the Dallas Book Repository, and saw all the stuff from the JFK assassination. I think I got some good pictures from the outside, including one from where Kennedy was shot looking toward the window.
The seventh floor was a gallery of Pulitzer Prize winning photos. It was a very solemn experience. Most involved inhumanity, massacres, starvation, trauma, and violence.
There was a picture of an Iranian execution in progress, the prisoners all lined up, some already dead, others falling, and only one still standing. All because their religious beliefs were considered heresy. Very few pictures were of positive topics. It concluded with a shot from 9-11-01.
After that we went and got some ice cream at the Marble Slab. I had a bannana split. It was good.
Katy cooked dinner when she got home from work, and then we went to spend the evening with some neighbors of theirs that go to their church. They have a pool, so we played around for a while, and played a good game of keep away with a ball. I stil remembered how to dive and even did a flip. I haven't swam for fun in years.
When we got back, Katy got caught up on her soap opera Guding Light.
A couple of notes. I got Jacob a postcard which shows the view from the window where Lee Harvey Oswald shot JFK. He was reading the Warren Commission on choir tour, so I figure he'll enjoy that.
Jackson said to get some kind of custard dish from Ted Drews in Saint Louis. He also suggested that Wesley get a supplement thats been published to the Methodist Hymna, so I'm going to mention that to Jacob as well.
I've also beeing reading Psalm 27 at both my daily readings. In some ways it captures my trip.
I also used the internet today to find where the museum was, and to clarify where Id Software is. I also deleted some spam and looked for any urgent newspaper emails I might need to forward. I kinda wish I hadn't, but it did need to be done. Over 500 messages.
We went to id software this morning. The first address I had was right but we ened up at both buildings. A guy at the second building corrected me.
Very discreet. They weren't on any directories or signs in the building. There wasn't even a plaque on the door. It was only by peeking through the window and seeing the Quake 3 logo that I was able to determine which room they were in.
The policy is no tours according to id mom, Donna Jackson, so no tour. I did manage to get a picture with one of the guys, and a t-shirt. John Carmack hadn't come in yet anyway(to early in the day). I got to hear about how John Carmack freed John Romero from his office by hacking through the door with a battle ax. Mrs. Jackson said they were all really quiet and nice boys.
She thought they ought to do tours(people come by like this all the time). They seemed to think that there's no reason. Oh well. It was cool. I have pictures to prove I was there.
We then met Katy for lunch at a really good Mexican place in the Hispanic part of town. It was pretty good. We all had fajitas.
After that we came back. I read for a minute, but the benedryl I took this morning(an allergy attack) finally kicked so I napped for a little bit.
I just woke up, so I decided to write my postcards. I'm sending Jacob and my parents a postcard. Jacob's is the view from the snipers window in the Book Depository. I figured he'll get a kick out of that one since he was reading the Warren Commission on Choir Tour.
I'm going to Jackson's Choir Practice tonight. So that should be cool.
I went to choir practice tonight. The music was good and it was neat to see how Jackson has improved at being a choir director. He introduced me to the choir and told them what I was doing, and that we had gone to college together. I met Becky who is from California and the wife of the church's intern. The couple from the other night was in the choir too.
We came back and I ate but neither one of them was hungry. Katie talked on the phone with her mom a while. We talked about pet discipline and watch Katie's Soap Opera. Jackson and I talked about 9-11, and then ended the evening talking about salvation. Its been a good visit.
I'm feeling better, but I'm afraid I might have a head cold. Oh yeah, Ellie(the dog) attempts to "dig" out of the kiddie pool they got her.
Actually, its technically day 19 and the 14th, but I haven't really slept yet. Katie flew off to Cancun today so this morning we watched "Vertical Limit" while waiting around. Mountain climbing is NOT for me.
We all loaded up and dropped Katie off at DFW airport and Jackson took me by this semi-famous statue of mustangs. We ate at this burger joint near SMU campus and got to see some stupid rich kids. We talked a lot of theology.
Jackson dropped me off at the greyhound station around 4:40pm. I called my mom to let her know what was going on. Flagstaff is before Williams, and there's a hostel there, so I may change plans in Flagstaff.
The true irony and surprise of the day happened when I got on the bus. Just behind me, Alan from Savannah
hostel got on. He's going from Austin to Denver. So we sat together. He's decided we're not so weird and that there's reasons why we all have vehicles. Everyone (myself included) is amazed at the size and diversity of this country. We talked about other cultural differences, ahd had a pretty decent time of it. He told me about the hostel in Flagstaff(he's headed there after Denver).
Well, we're both waiting for our buses in Amarillo, so I guess I'll write more tomorrow.
Oh yeah, its ironic that my assumptions about always having to merit or earn love from others is an impediment to earthly relations as well as a roadblock to my ability to accept God's grace.
Another sleepless night on a bus. The bus out of Amarillo was so full, they put two buses on the same route. I'm sitting beside a fairly nice guy. But my seat keeps going back and there are lots of noisy, rambling babies(which really can get frustrating when you haven't slept).
At daybreak, I got to see mesas and desert. The landscape is weird out here, but its more like what I imagined. The trip for most of the morning was through a flat wasteland.
We're leaving Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the only thing I can think of is that I hope I didn't make a wrong turn like Bugs Bunny. We're now in a beige wasteland with occasional hills(it was more pink, purple, and read). We came down a canyon or hollow off a plateau I guess to get into the city. I'm getting close to Flagstaff. Only a few more hours.
I have officially deviated from my schedule. I got a room in the Grand Canyon International Hostel in Flagstaff, AZ. I think this will be a better though. The bus ride was like a day care this afternoon and I was greatly relieved to get off the bus. For most of the afternoon the terrain was the same with minor variations. Then we went straight up the mountain just outside of Flagstaff. I found the Hostel in the phone book and made sure they had a vacancy before hiking over. Its a pretty nice hostel, and with the climate, I would say better than St. Augustine.
They have a Grand Canyon tour package tomorrow for $43, so I figure thats the best way to get there. I already got more film and I'm finishing dinner at
Presto Brothers restaurant which is across the street from the Hostel. Tonight I'm going to hike up to Lowell Observatory.
The girl who checked me in(Dallas?) is from Louisiana, she liked my accent. I guess I have truly left the South(Arizona, well duh!) She was cute though.
It was a good long hike up to the observatory. You can tell you're closer to the sun, the altitude(~7000') left me winded.
The observatory was pretty cool. I got to look through the big Clark telescope. Its neat to actually see the stuff and not just pictures.
I met a girl who works there named Halley. She's originally from Iowa, but her parents moved out here and so she's in college here for elementary-education.
We talked awhile, and I told her what snipe hunting was. She's into something called Slam poetry(I never quite understood, she didn't really explain it).
Several people I talked with about astronomy were impressed with the whole backpacking thing.
I ran into two foreigners who are also staying at the hostel. A French guy(who can barely speak English and doesn't like our food), and a German guy named Joe who didn't talk a lot. We used my flashlight to get down the mountain. It worked really good, and it was very powerful.
I'm staying in a coed room, which is different. I also got in touch with Doug today, and I have to decide if I can afford the house.
My dad got his father's day gift according to my mom and really like it.
"Be still and know that I am God." I have no words. The guide made us cover our eyes until we got to the edge. No picture can do it justice. It took my breath. My mind could not even comprehend the view for a few seconds. 12 miles across. It is immense. I regret calling it a big hole in the ground. Even the rocks cry out at your holiness.
I'm crazy. We're about 1400 feet below the rim of the canyon. The trail is steep and there are lots of drop offs. At lunch we all went out to the rock for a picture and it was a pretty good drop. Lots of overcoming fears. We're at Coconino Saddle. I'm dreading the hike up. It's time to go. The view is awesome though.
I guess this marks halfway. The canyon tour was worth it. Its so sudden and dramatic, rolling pine forests, and then you step out and there it is. The hike down and back was exhausting, with a steep drop off. It wound its way down. Its so odd, I'm used to going "up" the mountain but the flat plateau is up and the canyon down.
I met a bunch of neat people on the tour. A girl from Taiwan studying biomedical engineering. Two guys from Sweden named Sam and Michal(I think?) A pretty cool guy from England named Mark. There was also a Matthew Moore on the tour, but he was from England and not the guy I knew in high school.
When we got back I took a shower and ate dinner at the hostel.
Dallas suggested a good ice cream place for desert when I asked, so I'm here right now eating ice cream.
I explained the interstate system to Sam when he asked about mile markers.
Mark and I may go for a beer later. Of course, I won't drink alchohol, but I want to go hang out, maybe some people will go. I think it would be fun. Mark has travelled through Southeast Asia and is headed for Central America next.
The two Swedes(there's actually been quite a few here), are watching the World Cup match tonight for Sweden. They've been through southeast asia as well, and now they are riding through the U.S. on an Ameripass(like me) before heading home in July.
I still need to mail some postcards. I'm going to write my parents, Honey, and Rebecca Hill.
Last night Mark and I went to a couple of bars; I of course had root beer and water. We listened to a band in one, and once we got bored of that(they were pretty good, but a little too loud) we went to another place to play pool. The first bar had a wall covered in one dollar bills with people's names written on them.
Mark taught me how to play pool, and we played three games. I lost all three, but I didn't do so bad. Pool is actually a lot more fun than I thought. Mark paid for everything because I'm a student; I tried to offer once or twice, but he wouldn't let me, so I decided I wouldn't say anything else in case he might have taken it as an insult.
When we got back I sat around in the common room. Several people
were there telling jokes. They made me tell one, so I told the one about 3 engineers and 3 business majors getting train tickets.
I got up around 8 this morning and checked out. The hike to the bus station seemed longer. Mark was going on another tour today, and I saw him as I was leaving and said goodbye.
Well these two guys on my bus were accused of smoking dope in front of the bus station (not too bright to smoke it there). The polic came and got them without incident, they said it was just a cigarette. On the plus side, I have a seat all by myself(I prayed for those boys).
Since I missed Church this morning, I read the book of Jonah in addition to my normal reading. I wrote Jackson & Katie a thank you card last night and mailed it and the post cards.
Our route takes me through Williams, AZ and eventually to Las Vegas before heading to Salt Lake City, since its a 4 hour layover, I'm going to probably look around a bit.
Viva Las Vegas. I'm not impressed. The people aren't very friendly, and everything has a sleazy undertone. Yeah, its not expensive if you don't gamble, but I haven't seen any of these dramatically cheap prices you hear of. I think Hotels aren't real expensive.
I met a guy on the bus from Prescott(?), AZ named Dean. He doesn't gamble, but enjoys the shows and large amounts of stuff to do. He was a really nice
the bad part of town. I've stayed on Fremont St. which is near the Greyhound Terminal. Its a covered street lined with Casinos, and it has air conditioning if you'll believe that. He said there are laser light shows once it gets dark.
I've seen a lot of advertisements for naked women and a few strip clubs. I think alcohol is pretty cheap too. Of course these are all reasons to like it less. I even saw the cops arrest a guy who was acting pretty crazy.
Oh yeah Dean went around the country like this when he was younger. I called Doug and got Mike instead, be he'll pass on the message that I'm up for being roommates and that I got Doug a Grand Canyon golf ball. I'm writing Trey and my parents a postcard.
I ate dinner at the snack bar of the Golden Gate Casino. It was good, but again, I was greatly underwhelmed.
Last night was crazy. The bus was late, and then it filled up, and so we had to wait until they could arrange a second bus, and we didn't leave until 3 hours after we were supposed too.
You might think this was bad, but it actually wasn't. I met some interesting people. Everyone on the 2nd bus had a seat to themselves, and we were only an hour late(the first bus made all the stops, so we were an "express bus").
A sidenote. The altitude, humidity(actually lack of it), and heat have torn my sinuses up. I've not had a bloody nose, but
lower elevation, so that helps. I'm also still stiff and sore from the Grand Canyon hike.
I met a guy from Belgium in the bus station. He was backpacking around, but on his way home. His wife is a school teacher and 3 months pregnant with their first child. He got delayed because of forest fires in Denver. I hope Alan is okay, thats where he was headed. The guy was also reading a Dutch version of Lord of the Rings.
I also met a woman named Stana from Echo. She's a Mormon. We talked about theology. I didn't argue or accuse her of not being a Christian. I tread very carefully. She told me some about their beliefs. They believe the head of the church is a prophet and receives authority from the Apostolic Succession that was revived with Joseph Smith. The book of Mormon, which details
Jewish exiles coming to the New World and the revelations Christ brought to the New World. Lots of lifestyle stuff(which is actually pretty sensible); no alchohol, caffeine, tobacco, drugs(non medicinal). Also, you should have a year's supply of food(which isn't unlike the reccomendation you have a few months salary on hand). They think people should get married(no one is called to be single), but you don't go to hell if you remain unmarried. They think a woman is to be a wife and mother. They, of course, don't accept baptism outside their church, and I suspect they have strange ideas(and very concrete ideas) about the afterlife.
I wouldn't be surprised if ther are Mormons in heaven, but it isn't because they're "right".
Most of the people here are incredibly nice, they are cult like, but I think they are too big to be cult, and so I guess
I would say they are a "religion". I wouldn't say Christian, but they would. I would also say it takes a specialist to talk to a Mormon to really get at the differences, because they have a lot of stuff jumbled together in a really complicated way.
Anyway the public transportation here is a combination of light rail and bus service. I found my way to the hotel easily enough, but then had to wait until 2pm to check in. I talked with the clerk, Nellie, from Hawaii, who is of course Mormon. She was nice and gave me lots of info, and even helped me look up some Hostels for NCHC. I steered away from religion.
I finally got a shower and hiked about a mile to a Quizno's on the map I got. The guys here are cool. One is a nonpracticing Mormon. I told them about my trip, and they thought it was pretty cool. Oh yeah time wise, I'm all screwed up. Arizona doesn't use Daylight Savings Time, so they are Mountain Time
part of the year, Pacific the rest. Utah, however is on Mountain Time, so I went East Coast, Central, Pacific, Mountain, and then tomorrow Pacific again.
Well here in a bit, I'm going to head downtown and check out the Temple Square, get a tour, probably get prosyletized(after making one too many comments), and then escape. Actually, I'm behaving. Oh yeah, Mormons have to do stuff in a temple, but there is more than just the temple here. Stana pointed out the oldest one in St. George last night(you can see it from the intertstate).
Sidenote, my neck is killing me from laying in awkward and weird positions.
I'll probably also head to the Hard Rock Cafe and get a shirt. I'm taking a tour tomorrow of Bingham Copper(a strip mine visible from Space) and the Great Salt Lake.
I also wrote my parents and Rebecca Hill a postcard. Today is kinda a down day as
well. I'm tired and disoriented, and I've got a guilty conscience over some stuff, part of it is sleep induced delusion, the rest is an opportunity to trust in God's grace and mercy and get back up again. I'm also worried about saying the wrong thing to any Mormons, because I doubt I'm going to convert any of them, but I don't want to poison the way for anyone who comes after me.
At least I've got some downtime, and I can get caught up on journalling and stuff. I also took the notion to number the pages in my journal just now. I'm really stiff and tense too.
It's about 4:15, I'm not in a huge hurry, but I probably should head out. There's a Mailboxes etc. nearby, I'm going to mail my postcards from. Man, I'll sleep good tonight.
I made it to downtown just fine. I met a girl named Emily who is a Mormon and had a short conversation about religion. I got off at the Temple Square.
There was a Christian missionary giving out a paper on Mormonism. He was with a group of friends. They all told me to take a tour and ask tough questions. An Elder came up and engaged the guy in a "vigorous discussion" about differences.
I went in for the tour, and it was three guys, and two female missionaries. Very interesting, huge, beautiful. They have massive works to demonstrate their faith, which is based on works. Anyway, I felt really uneasy and I tried to ask some good questions, but overall it was a weird experience.
The two guys, Mark and Dan, were from New Jersey, and they're on a road trip checking out national parks. Dan is Jewish and just graduated from Brown in biochemistry(I think). Mark just graduated too, and was planning on Med School, but isn't so sure now. We all went and got something to eat and talked awhile about travelling, our plans for the future, religion, and other good stuff. Mark mentioned writing, I suggested a travel book based on their experiences with room for exaggeration.
After we went our separate ways I set out to find the Hard Rock Cafe. I passed a street musician who was playing Baroque pieces on an old Cello(or something similiar, maybe a little smaller). It was good, with a very moving, despondent, longing character. I thanked him and left two dollars. He seemed sad that more people weren't listening.
I went about a block but I felt God calling me to go back, and I thought I didn't really have anything to give him, but I thought of Peter and the beggar and realized I have faith in Jesus to share. I went back after lots of trepidation. I asked him if he was hungry(I had half a sandwich in my backpack). He said no, and that the playing was harder emotionally than financially. He was very into his music, but he didn't seem to be altogether there. He said most people who leave a tip thank him. I said music puts me in closer touch to God, he nodded. I asked he had religious ideas, he said he did and that was enough about that. He then started playing again because people were coming out. I thanked him again(and touched my hand to his shoulder).
I left feeling confused. I almost think God has taken care of that man and
the lesson and gift was for me. I really felt how horrible I've been to God at times. Peter wept bitterly at his betrayal of Jesus. I went down the street crying too. That man was like the wind. You heard him, but where he came from or went was beyond me.
A man was angry with a tree because it had no shade. The teacher said to him, "Apologize to the tree, and forgive it." "But it is only a tree," he replied, "It has no intelligence." The teacher replied, "Why then are you angry?". Upon hearing this the man was enlightened.
I finally found the Hard Rock Cafe. The planned city blocks here are huge. I walked a long way. The girl at the counter was nice and helped me pick out a shirt. She just got married and has only been in town for three weeks or so. She thought the backpacking was cool. She wants to go around the country on a moped.
After a lengthy walk and a train ride, I had to face the fact that the buses had basically stopped running at this time. A driver was nice enough to take me as far as he could(bus driver). He used to be a trucker and has been up I-81 a lot and know the vicinity. I told him a little about my trip and thanked him for the ride. I still had to hike about a mile. BUt this is one of the better neighborhoods in a fairly safe city.
I called my parents. I didn't even check the 3 voicemails. We talked a bit, and then I journaled, and I've still got to read my Bible, but hey, I'm sleeping late.
I got checked out just fine and made it to downtown without incident. There was this new ager on the bus reading a book of spells.
I talked with her for a minute(she started the conversation when she noticed me checking out the title). I told her we differed in view of the world, and that I would not be surprised if they worked, but that I wanted no part of the being who made them work. I got a dirty look.
Anyway, I checked my bags and put them in a locker. I went to a shopping center across the street to the food court and ate chinese, and got two books at Borders. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and Lila(the "sequel" to Zen and the Art of of Motorcycle Maintenance).
I hiked over to the Hotel where the tour left from to wait. There were only 3 others on the tour; a couple and their friend, all from New Hampshire. One spoke really nasally, and probably said every single though that entered her mind.
The reason the city is so far from the lake is more obvious now.
The land beside the lack is unsuitable to development, and is subject to spring flooding. The lake is about 25% salt and has tons of brine shrimp, hordes of alkali flies(an annoying species of fly that swarms thickly at the edge of the lake, they don't bite though), and algae. I got covered in flies when I went to waters edge. I gave up a few feet from the edge though. The lake has no outlets and lowers by evaporation only, in the spring snow melts are responsible for its rise in level. Its deepest is about 30 feet. The ocean is only about 3% salt for reference. We stopped at a place that was a replica of the Saltair, a waterside place where big band concerts were held in the 40's. The original burned down. The river that feeds the lake is, ironically, the Jordan river.
There are 10 islands in the lake.
Flooding covers 3 of them. One is called Antelope island, and due to several freshwater springs has lots of wildlife including a herd of antelopes and wild buffalo.
The mine and its attendant buildings were impressive. The smelter doesn't use it anymore(all exhaust is caught and recycled or cleanly disposed of), but it has a smoke stack 1000' tall and 40' diameter at the top. The waste rock is mised with
The mine itself, however, deserves to be called a hole in the ground(that used to be a mountain). A really huge hole, visible from space, with the unaided eye. Its okver a mile wide, and over 4000' deep. It will only get bigger and deeper
for the next 30 years. They constructed a 17 mile conveyer through the mountain to deliver preprocessed ore to the smelter. The equipment used is as massive as the mine; trucks that can carry 240 tons of material. They do try to be environmentally conscious, but the limits are there, after all, this was the world's first strip mine, and they pioneered the technique. They did modernize in the 90's, which made it possible for them layoff half their workforce, and run dramatically cleaner. it cost 2 billion for the effort. They provide 15% of the annual copper used in the U.S. They also get gold, silver, and molybdium out the ore and sell that too. The sulfur released by smelting is captured and used to make sulphuric acid.
On the way back to the city,
the bus driver explained that the rooftop AC units(called Swamp coolers) work by drawing air through the filters that have cold water circulated through them. The valley averages 25% humidity with bounds around 10% and 40%.
I got dropped off at the bus station and got my stuff. I got a sandwich in the snack bar and headed for the line. Everything was fine about time, and of course we left an hour late.
I called my parents and left a message saying that all was well, and I got on the bus without incident.
Morton's Salt is located out here on the salt flats, we just passed them on the bus. On the tour we passed the yoplait yogurt factory.
The bus ride will have no transfers but we're going to Reno, NV and Sacramento first. The little girl in front of me
seems like a real chatterbox. She's with her grandmother, who is the bus driver's wife I think. I also think he's the same driver I had from Vegas. It should be a good trip. Right now I have a seat to myself. I'm going to check and see if we go through Donnor Pass.
I also called the Salt Lake City Hostels to make sure they exist and are open year round, they are. I'm going to email Dr. Barnes and let her know about them for NCHC.
I did spend a lot today, and I got a t-shirt at the mine, but it will all work out. No more Hotels unless something comes up. I may try to go to Yellowstone park. The guy I met yesterday was named mike, not Mark, and the weird thing is he kinda looked like Mike Murray and had planned on being a doctor.
We passed through the salt flats this evening. It was like driving through a field of snow. At one of the stopsa guy named Kyle moved up to the seat behind me. No one was sitting there, and he had been sharing a seat. He is from Wyoming and graduated high school in 97 even though he's 24. He's bounced around a lot, and isn't sure what he wants to do. We talked about books and movies for a bit. He's reading A Clockwork Orange. We also talked about religion; he said he tries to be spiritual, but doesn't go to church. He said he's going to San Francisco for a vacation. This is horrible, but I have the vague notion he might be gay. Its unimportant though, he's nice enough and it was a good conversation.
It stay light a long time now. At 10:20 it was still light. Psalm 115 was really neat. I wonder how this journalling discipline is going to affect me after my trip is over.
I read in "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" for awhile, but still no sleep, so I'm going to be insightful.
One of the most interesting phenomenon on Greyhounds are the smokers. If the bus halts even for a second out the door they go cigarette in the mouth and lighter ready to go before they get out of their seats.
I'm also profoundly arrogant. You can see this mostly in my motivation and habit of signing and dating things. Oh, I do it to make it more personal, but there's also the though that one day I'll be famous, and that those things will be valuable or studied or both. It's really sad in fact.
A cool thing about my trip is the way it follows history(however unintentional) from the first colonies on the East Coast I've kinda followed the westward
migration; by tomorrow night I will have climaxed part of that by having travelled from sea to shining sea, when I hopefully look upon the Pacific Ocean.
Maybe one day I'll even learn to sleep on a bus.
On the tour, I found another case of my ill temper that arises against other people. Those older people thought my trip brave. But I also wondered if they were thinking about me being a dumb hick. I wondered this because a couple of times I found myself thinking damn yankee.
And of course, if I write up a book about this trip, even though I didn't go to Hoover Dam, I will probably have a section titled "Another Dam Tour."
Oh yeah also, "Donnor, Party of 50" because the driver said outside of Reno, we do go through Donnor Pass. And I may start the book like this;
Jesus once asked the people, "What went ye out to the wilderness to see?" And I find myself asking that about this trip, and if you, dear reader, haven't asked that question, you should, because thats what this story is about.
And before we start, I'll even tell you the answer. To seek the face of God. That's, at least, the simple Readers Digest Version. The reality, as everything else, is much more than that...
I also don't think tonight will be the night I learn to sleep on a bus. On the other hand, I'm feeling good, a little indigestion the past few days, but my bowels are working good. Probably the cashews. Well, until the morning.
Back on Pacific time. Its been a wild day. At 4am we entered California, at 4:30am we crested Donnor Pass, but it was too dark to see anything. We finally got here about 2 and a half hours late. The bus terminal did not appear to be in the best part of town, and there were lots of homeless. San Francisco is not the worst for obvious poverty, but its certainly more noticable here than lots of places. After several confused starts I finally found the bus stop and made it to the hostel, two old ladies on the bus figured that was were I was headed and gave me some good directions from where I got off the bus.
Of course the hostel wouldn't let me check in until 2:30, so I went and got some lunch and read on my book. Its pretty good, but it constantly reminds me of
the differences between the East coast and the West coast. The street performers and hucksters are pretty diverse. I got accosted for not smilling, and informed I would be pardoned for a small donation to charity(I took my chances and didn't pay). I finally gave in to a somewhat talented magician, and gave him a dollar. I also got tickets for an Alcatraz tour on Friday(none were left for today). I may try for the beach tonight and watch the sunset(as opposed to rise) on the ocean. I also need to figure out time to get to Palo Alto tomorrow.
The hostel is in a decent part of town walking distance from the Fisherman's Wharf area, where I ate and got the tickets.
I finally got checked in and used the bathroom and took a shower. I feel a lot better now; although the lack of sleep and sinful thoughts are getting to me(there are lots of cute girls here).
Well, I never was upset about the heat, but I am officially out of it now. Its probably in the 60's here, and I'm glad I finally have my blue jeans on. The climate is nice and the fog hasn't rolled in(yet).
I'm going to write a postcard for my parents, Honey, and Julie Myatt.
On day 4, I looked upon the Atlantic Ocean, I'm pretty excited that tonight I'll see the Pacific if all goes well.
Oh, I forgot to mention most of Utah is a wasteland... owned by the government. Only 22% of the state is held by private interests. No wonder they have all the nuts and conspiracy theorists.
From sea to shining sea, I've seen both, touched, and waded. I saw the purple mountains majesty above the fruited plains.
I also met some people on the way
to the beach. A guy from here, who went to college in Boston and is now some kind of broker for stocks and bonds. His dad went to Vanderbuilt. He was on his way to a birthday party.
I also met two Scottish girls who are staying in a different hostel. They were nice, and talked a lot about how the little things were different here. Emily and Adyll I think.
I walked along the beach for a while and even waded in. People were running or playing with their dogs(including a tipsy black man who tried to talk to me incoherently). I din't watch the sun set, it was too cold and getting too late.
When I got back to the hostel, I was told to go down Lombard street for Chinese(they said there is a better place, but it was too far for me this late).
I went in the first open chinese
place I found. It was pretty decent food, but I was the only dine in customer; they delivered too though. I like the place a lot, I don't know either. I liked my fortune cookie. Its kind of ironic, "Good news will come to you from far away."
When I finally got back to the hostel, I talked to the clerk awhile. Her name is Joyce, she's an environmental studies major. We talked about cultural differences; she's originally from Conneticut but moved here for the climate. I told her about snipe hunting, and the environmental foibles of east Tennessee; Oak Ridge, the Frozen Lake, the cunstruction of the Secret City and its prominence in the Manhattan project, or rather participation.
We talked about snow, 4 wheel drive, and why me owning a truck is still environmentally sound(unlike all the SUV's out here).
She and a friend took a roadtrip
around the country too. I told her about mine, and showed her the result of being an engineer with my travel folder.
She was in Palo Alto for a while, and even got to play around in the dotcom boom(which relates to why she is now back in school). She also informed me that PARC is a good 10 miles from the train station, so I'll gave to get another bus or shuttle from the station.
There are a lot of big groups here, including a group of girl scouts. Its a pretty decent hostel. I emailed Dr. Barnes about the Salt Lake City hostels this afternoon too. A guy just asked me the day of the week, how ironic, I'm as clueless as he is. Actually, we figured out its Thursday.
The Pacific Ocean was also incredibly cold. My feet got numb and stiff very quick. Well, time to go to bed.
Oh yeah. I told Joyce about the "Primer", she thinks its a wonderful idea.
I forgot to mention the Mormon missionaries I met on the bus ride home. They were really nice; we talked a little about religion; mostly to explain the purpose of my trip. They seemed to think it was really cool. I wonder if "How to Win Friends and Influence People" is part of their missionary studies. They seem genuine enough, but you could tell they would love to proselytize. They offered me a copy of a the Book of Mormon. One of them is aspiring to the NFL, I wished him luck.
I had a spot of weakness with the internet yesterday, I browsed $5 worth.
I got up at 8 this morning, and after a shower, went to the ATM at the Safeway, and now I'm finally at the SF Caltrain Station for an 11am train to Palo Alto
The Caltrain was uneventful to the point of boring, just one big suburb. Anyway, thanks to several nice bus drivers, I made it out to PARC, which was nestled in the middle of several high tech companies, including an HP facility.
The trip to PARC was... unfortunately a bust. The receptionist informed they don't do tours, and really don't do anything at all without an appointment. She tried to phone someone who handles stuff like that, but no answer, so I left my information. As I sat waiting at the bus stop across the street(almost glaring at the place). I got a return phone call from a Tracy. Even if I did get in, they don't do much, because, well, its a business, and someone would have to donate time out of their projects, and they are very
busy.
I know this sounds bad, but after they hung up(and I have sounded pretty sad, she apologized a couple of times) I cried. I don't know why. I do thow this, I don't want to work at a place that doesn't have time to entertain guests, who think they're cool enough to come and see them uninvited. Maybe its because I've been raised on the idea of Southern Hospitality. Anyway, Xerox PARC is much less cool in my eyes now.
So I went on my merry way, shook the dust off my feet, and bus hopped my way to Stanford.
I talked to the admissions people, who basically said check for details via the web and apply there too. They told me I could walk around the comp sci building and talk to people. I got to see the digital Michealangelo project, and I talked to Steve Marschner(I think) who's doing his postdoc there and heading to Cornell in the fall. His work in rendering translucent material was the cover for this year's SIGGRAPH. I told him about my graphics class in the fall and how I hoped to do work on oversampling and he thought it was an area with plenty left to do(although a lot has already been done).
Back to the train station. I read the whole way back. As I was bussing back to the hostel. I decided to get off near Chinatown, Joyce had recommended a place on Kearny St. called House of Nanking.
I ducked into the Union Bank of California to check my map(windy & cold here, plus it seemed safer). The guy at the desk, Tom from Virginia, helped me out, and after a bit of confusion, realized the place, and said it was good too(all the locals go there), he also told me about an execellent Vietnamese place thats renowned too.
Well, the House of Nanking was really good. It was small and tight too, from the outside it was a hole-in-the-wall place you could miss... except for the huge line to get in. There wasn't a line when I got there, but it was probably 30 people long when I left.
I walked over to Grant St.(the main brag through Chinatown) and walked down to the gates. I bought a t-shirt on the cheap, and then went to get back
on the bus
I met a woman named Daniella who was waiting on the bus too. She's a broker for Morgan Stanly. She was born here and came back after college, she's only been a broker for a little less than a year, she orginally majored in political science with the intent of being a lawyer, but after school decided she wanted to do something else and ended up doing this. She said its mostly a saled job, building up a client base. She seemed to really like it, except right now, business isn't booming.
After she got off the bus, the girl scouts got on. There is a troop of girl scouts in the hostel, all entering the 9th grade next year(except one). They're from south of Los Angeles. I talked to their
Oh yeah, I have a rash on my elbows. I have a suspicion I got into something at the Grand Canyon, it doesn't itch a lot, but if it doesn't clear up in a few days, I'll do something about it.
Anyway, they were planning on walking across the Golden Gate bridge this morning and the leader recognized me when we all got off at the hostel. They said the walk was good, and I think they mentioned catchinga bus back across the bridge. One of the girls saluted me.
I dumped my backpack in my locker and walked over to the Safeway, I ran out of film again, and I needed something to drink so I got a coke and a donut too. I ran into Joyce on her way out of the store, and told her about Palo Alto,(the weather was warmer and minus the fog there). I also told her that I
had gone to the House of Nanking and really liked it. She's working again in the morning, so I'll get to talk to her some more.
Back in the hostel the girl who saluted me asked me where I was from. I misunderstood and told her all the stop of my trip, but anyway, her name is Jamie, and she was born in Nashville, so thats kinda cool.
I called my mom,(my dad was asleep) and finally got the number of my cousins in South Dakota(she's been trying to get it for me for a few days now.
I think I will go to bed early tonight. It probably won't happen. Oh well.
My biological clock is blinking 12:00. Oh I had a good nights sleep, but between the time zone changes, odd hours, and overnight bus rides I can't really tell the time of day or day of week without help.
I checked out this morning, but left most of my stuff in the Pack Room. Joyce was working, so I talked with her awhile. She said she liked my stories I told her, and said they were interesting. SHe suggested I check out the Maritime Museum, and it was pretty cool when I walked through this morning. I got a picture with her, and we swapped email addresses. I got a hug when I left.
So I walked down to Fisherman's Wharf and I'm eating brunch at a deli in Ghiradeli Square.
San Francisco is definitely not the warmest place in the world, it has been windy and foggy today.
Alcatraz was actually pretty neat. It was used as a fort during the Gold Rush and Civil War. In the early 1900's it became a prison, but it had always been used as a military prison. In the late 60's, while its future was being debated(it was closed in '63), some Indians took over the island and offered to buy it for $24 and some beads(as Manhattan had been bought). The also said its starkness and unsuitability to occupation made it the perfect Indian Rseservation, as it was very much like the others. They stayed for 19 months.
On the boat over, I met a couple from Pacifica, which is just south of here. They had never been to Alcatraz, so they are taking each of their 3 grandchildren, one at a time. It turns out though they have a neice who
went to Tech for a few years. I didn't know her, but it was cool.
Well, I decided to eat lunch on Pier 39. I got a Ghiradelli Chocolate bar for dessert. IT was really good, but I'm not into chocolate that big. Honey would probably like some, but I really doubt any of it would make it home.
Of course, I had a somewhat embarrasing incident too. I went into a shop for some postcards for my Mamaw and the preacher at my church. The guy claimed he was having a slow month, and by my repeated telling him I had no money(he thought I was bargaining) he ended up dropping a $300-400 lens to $150 even(no sales tax, he paid it). I felt bad, and it was a nice wide angle lens with a low light enhancing coating and a protective "filter". So I called my dad and said it was ok to buy it for our digital camera.
Well, I finished Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. It was a pretty good book. It involved Voodoo though, and stuff like that always makes me feel funny(I get indigestion from discomfort at it, .. that could be lunch thuogh...). As a Christian, its actually easier to deal with though. Christ will protect our souls . You can actually not be forced to dismiss their claims; you instead assumed it works from either some unknown physical principle or evil spirits(although they like neither idea, but as C.S. Lewis said, the devil is just as happy with a humanist as a magician, either error is fine so long as its not the truth).
I guess I'm going to head up to the hostel now and work my way to the bus station. I may try to play with the route to get closer to the coast. We'll see though.
Mark Twain once said, "The coldest winter I ever spent was a Summer in San Francisco." I'm not complaining mind you. It's the kind of cold that leaves your face red andhot when you come in and makes you want to curl up beside a fire in a room with the lights low, and someone you love. I'm alone though, and thats good too. I've realized I like hotels more than I used to. People are nice in hostels, and very friendly, but hostelling has its mores, and you can find space if you need it. Its what you pay for in a hotel though, that quiet, indifferent, anonymous, isolation. Space.
I stated reading Lila this afternoon. Phaedrus is talking
travelling alone.
I like meeting people too, but I'm curious to see how many will email me without me sending to them first. It will be interesting. I mean sometimes you trade stuff like that to be nice, knowing or at least hoping they'll never cash in the promise of future relationship.
I walked the back way into the hostel. It was a very nice walk and a good view of the bay. I also bought a fleece vest, partially for the cold, partially to do something different. The woman who sold it to me said they sell a lot to tourists who thought all of California is a warm, sunny beach.
At the bus station there was a large number of odd people, but I ended up behind this really neat black girl named Lucky. She thought my trip was cool. She graduated
high school a year ago and was in college, but she has decided to do massage therapy instead. She seemed to think the religious element of my trip neat as well, and said SF was the wilderness, and due to all the gay people Sodom and Gomorrah as well. She insisted I sit by her on the bus, and I would have enjoyed it, but she was on the 7:30 and I was on the 8:00pm bus. She's from Sacramento and was going to visit home.
Instead I ended up in line beside a couple from England, Chris and Amy. They're from Manchest, and they've both graduated and have been travelling for about 5 months. They went to southeast Asia, Austrailia, and here. We're on the same bus until they get off in Portland at noon. We've talked a lot about sports, football and soccer. They're also agnostics, and we
talked a little about Christianity for a minute. We also talked about politics. A black Muni bus driver accosted me for letting Bush win Tennessee(he was sitting in front of the English couple). We also talked about guns and why Americans can own a gun before they can drink a beer.
So its been fairly interesting. I still have that rash on my elbows, I'm probably going to pick something up in Seattle. I've had a lot of gas lately too. Thank God I've been mostly healthy so far on my trip. Its mind blowing I only have 4 stops left. I kinda think (hope) the rash is something I picked up from a mildly irritating plant in the Grand Canyon, and that a steroid cream will clear it right up.
I actually did sleep kinda decent on the bus, maybe 3 or 4 hours worth. At our breakfast stop I got some hydrocortisone for my rash, and it seems to have made a difference already. I've drifted in and out of sleep all morning, but the terrain in Oregon is very pretty and green, its similiar to the foothills at home. We've basically been Interstate 5 the whole way, which is disappointing, I wanted to be closer to the coast, but it will all work out.
Yesterday, on the way back to the hostel I got surprised by a black man on the sidewalk. He had two big handfuls of tree limbs with lots of leaves, so it just looked like a bush. He would scare people as they walked by. I asked him if people actually gave him money for that. He said for 22 years, so I dropped some pocket change in his bucket.
I read a little more of Lila last night. Its interesting to compare changes in me since I read Zen and the Art 4 years
ago. I've actually been a little nervous about Lila, and questioned whether I should read it on the trip or not.
Phaedrus is working on a book and he's putting all this thoughts on notecards(one per notecard). He's also treating code as data, and written his instructions on his system down on notecards as well. All this ties back to me. We're both Journalling so we can forget. My earliest journals seem like "junk"(not neccessarily from this trip), but I realized by getting it down on paper it let me get it the "junk" out of my head, and now like Phaedrus it lets me get the good stuff as well, so it can manipulated, organized, even better, forgotten to make room for new ideas.
His system also gave me ideas on to implement Alexandria. A system of notecards(hypercards, although not like the Apple program of that name).
The cards will be able to be hyperlinked by other cards. Some will contain code to provide whatever you want(transformations and views on the data). Also, any "fields" will allow for declarative and procedural semantics to be defined for them in code(again on a notecard).
Hopefully this will let me create a huge "public domain" database as well as several smaller private "thought" databases and then mix the two or not at will and have queries work on different sets and mixes based on what I want.
I've been reading in Lila again, and I'm on the dockside so its very ironically appropriate. We're on the subject of values and objective vs. subjective. In some ways, thats what Alexandria is to work with, a system to let you work mechanically with subjective insights and store and use them.
I also think Phadreus is on the Gordian knot of AI. He's also talking about American Indians being the source of the plain, free, democratic character of the White American. Even in our speech. I've thought about this. The roots of our "Indian" heritage have been at every stop of my
Well, after Chris and Amy departed in Portland I met another Amy. Her family is from Laos, but they live in Fresno now. She's 17 and will start her senior year in the Fall. Her brother lives near Seattle and she's going to live up here and finish school here. We talked about college some and I told her my freewheeling thoughts on how grades and "knowing what you want to do" are overrated, and its the free, cultural experience of college
that is important. Her parents are apparently non-practicing Buddhists and Mormons. I explained Christianity as best I could.
She seemed to be very aware of pop culture, but we do have similiar tastes in music: techno, rave, etc. She liked my accent which she picked up pretty quickly as being country. We talked some about travelling, and she's probably going to get to see her remaining grandmother sometime when they take a family trip to Laos.
I walked to the hostel, it was only about 12 blocks. Its a bigger one, and pretty nice as they go. Seattle seems pretty laid back. After showing, I tried my cousins in South Dakota, and got no answer. I talked to the Waterfront and ate outside on the dock at a Red Robin. I think I'm going to head to the Space Needle after this, and maybe watch Minority Report later.
Well, I guess I'll say more later, the weather is good. Clear skies, sunshine, and a mostly clear conscience.
I took the monorail to the Space Needle, I probably could have walked it, but someone at the hostel said the map was deceiving. The view was awesome. I watched the sun set. The tower is only about 500' high, so its not the tallest, and I wasn't as nervous looking off the edge. The wind also wasn't as bad as other towers I've been in. You could see Redmond and almost Canada. You can also see the houseboat from Sleepless in Seattle.
I met a woman and her neice(Kim and Kate). The woman works at Boeing and said the tour was well worth it due to the size and scope of whats going on. I stayed until it got dark. Since there isn't a Hard Rock Cafe here(they couldn't afford their rent) I got a Space Needle t-shirt.
It was pretty uneventful hike, but stuff was open late. Things seem pretty laid back here. I'm liking Seattle a lot right now(if the weather were different, probably not though).
Well, I found out about American Baptists this morning. I went to the First Baptist Church of Seattle under the presumption that a First Churhc is a First Church. They are an interesting group. First, they accept Baptisms and confirmation from other denominations, they have women ministers, and they are real big on practicing openness.
The first and the last I agree with, the second is a preference that I make no stand on yet; but they're big one is that I got the feeling that they considered homosexuality to be okay. Now I realize that I'm a bit neurotic and judgemental about that, and those are faults I need to work on and pray about. In fact I realized this morning, that its a sin, just like others. Thats the key in my mind to dealing with it. A practicing gay catholic priest has violated his vow of celibacy. Gays who sleep around are just as wrong as heterosexuals. Gays who hold church positions are sinners
just like everyone else. There's the line thought, in fact I almost find myself in favour of gay marriage(not in a church though) as it would at least encourage chastity as a virtue. In my mind though, its a sin, just like all the others, and no matter how accepting and loving we should be, we must make the mistake of saying its okay. Christ wants us to be perfect, no exceptions. Enough on that.
The preacher had a good sermon, and with the exception of a disparaging remark about a Southern Baptist Convention President(which although I would not neccessarily agree with myself, at least the wording, I think Christians should practice Charity and respect across denominational lines, no matter the strength of our disagreements. It was about Paternalism and power. How authorities need to practice giving back power they are handed, and how insidiously it can creep anywhere. He gave the scripture in John where Christ
called us friends, no more servants. He then preached on Partnerships.
After the service quite a few people took care of welcoming me, answering questions, and making sure I got a hot dog. They were good at openness and welcoming. I met a guy named Jimmy Sharp from Texas, who used to hop trains and was a "long haired hippie Vietnam War protester". We talked about the South for awhile; he said the accent really draws the women up here. Many people thought my "pilgrimage" an interesting thing. Jimmy has read Zen and the Art, but he hadn't heard of Lila(few have it seems), so we talked a bit about that. He's just getting into computers and so I told him about open source and free software as a hotbed of freedom and dissidence and openness. They had a "shem" there. I didn't meet "her", but I have never(knowingly) see one. Different. Jimmy was cool and excitable.
I met a couple of people who worked for Boeing. They all said the tour was cool.
I went buy the Original Starbucks and got an iced Mocha frappacino and a collectible mug which can only be bought there and is limited edition(thanks to the nice guy behind the counter who told me that).
Their public market is really cool here. Lots of fresh fish, flowers, fruit, and vegetables. They also have the usual assortment of junk and t-shirts. I'm sitting at a bench overlooking the water now. I'm going to walk down the water front
Lots to talk about. After I arranged everything about South Dakota(I'm staying with my cousins in Rapid City), I called my parents, but my dad was at choir practice. I walked uptown to the movie theatres to see Minority Report. It exceeded my expectations, and asked some questions. Lots of stuff about innocents paying the price of a "safe" and free world. Human fallability. Whether its better to have false positives beforehand or more truth after the bad has happened. Do we have free will? Lots of good stuff.
I'm getting tired, but its not physical. I'm ready in some ways to go home. Its nothing bad, just four weeks of being on the road, no "downtime". I have faith though and will see it through. It has been a good experience.
Some physical stuff too though. I think my rash is getting better. My stomach is in an "unpleasant" mood. I've had some boils too. Unfortunately, this is accompanied by a
mild paranoia. I am afraid of dying, and worry about having a terminal illness. Mad cow disease, AIDS, cancer, and other extreme, slow, and incurable diseases. Many of them, like AIDS, are all but impossible. For examle, I've never had sex, and no blood transfusions, nor injected drugs. Unless a doctor did something stupid, or there's more to the story, there's no reason. I mean, paranoid delusions can be very creative about disease transmission, but on the whole, very unlikely. The truth is, I have stomach problems, and the illness, both mental and physical is most likely stree-induced before anything else. I also get afraid of divine judgement for immral thoughts, especially about women.
Enough of that, sleep will cure most of it, and the physical when I get home will cure(hopefully :)) the rest.
Tomorrow, I'm going to hopefully go to Microsoft and Boeing. Tonight I'm
doing laundry(for the last time on the trip I hope). I'm going to do my nightly readings and hopefully get to bed early. I doubt I will get that lucky, but hey.
Seattle has a lot of visible poverty. It really bothers me to just pass by it. I justify this by saying some are faking it, some are going to just spend it on drugs and alchohol, and all of them should be aware of all the programs both public and private that I know(or at least think) are there to help them if only they'll make that first step.
It doesn't make it easier, but I'm not sure giving them money directly is the right way to help either. Its conscience candy. Sure it makes you feel good and charitable, but its a copout; dodging societies duty to try to fix root causes, rather than symptoms and assauging guilty consciences.
I also need a new pen(again). Time to go check on laundry.
Really cool stuff Lila. First off Pirsig said Quality is Morality and values, which is something I decided after reading Zen and the Art. I defined sin as choosing lower quality over higher quality. The whole of the law is to search out the highest, best, truth and quality. To find the pearl of great price.
Pirsig has just replaced "causation" with values. "Iron filings value movement toward a magnet."(Lila 119) He then claims that what bothers people is that this implies a preference, rather than perfectly predictable behaviour. Now C.S. Lewis talks of "The Law of Human Nature" which people are not absolutely committed to follow. Lewis thought that made it different from other Laws of Nature, except now we know Quantum mechanics and probability is a better fit than Newtonian determinism.
So much to talk about. Journals are so valuable because they let you forget.
Last night I met some cool guys while I did my laundry. Thomas from Denmark and Jaydee from Wisconsin. They both just graduated high school are both touring around. Thomas is with a group called TrekAmerica which is basically a bunch of foreigners, and a guide touring National Parks. Thomas was different though. He loves American football more than soccer and likes steak and such(he was one of two people in his group to protest their vegetarian day). College is free for him but he is thinking about moving here.
Jaydee is riding around on an Amtrak pass and was pretty cool. We told Thomas about rednecks, cow tipping, and rural America.
I talked to the hostel employees for a while too. They're pretty cool here and we talked about hacking, politics, immigration, farming, now the WTO riots were the mayors fault, and we were all less than keen about transnational megacorps.
This morning I headed off to the postoffice after checking out and shipped some
I ate breakfast at Quizno's(it was about 11am) and called my mom to let her know I shipped the stuff. Apparently a big stink at work netted my dad a DVD player to make peace with the quality managers.
The Boeing tour was pretty cool, but is also the reason I didn't see Microsoft(too little time and transportation). The evil empire also doesn't do tours, so despite the fun of being antagonistic, I opted for the intellectually more fulfilling and positive activity of Boeing.
The biggest building in the world to build the biggest planes in the world. No cameras allowed either, so I only have a few low quality outside shots. They have 7 phases of assembly and it looked like a lot of hand labor. They can make 21 planes including 3 different kinds in one month if they are running full capacity. Millions per place in cost, almost all riveted rather than welded(for thermal expansion stresses).
After I got back I meandered a bit
I read in Lila a bunch, and it has set off tons of correlations with Mere Christianity, and Godel, Esher, Bach. Lots of incompleteness, and chaotic fractal boundaries, code vs. data, and the ultimate realization that values are purpose are reality. Its a brain frying experience.
I also checked my email several times. Last night I found an email two weeks ago asking me to be a big sib for a girl who is into dancing. I replied explaining my tardiness and that I would, but I fear I'm too late. I know it will be right either way, but that really got me excited. So I've been checking for a response. I've also cleaned a little(deleting obvious spam, moving into folder, but most emphatically not reading it).
I have a problem lust. It has physical reactions that I get ashamed of and beat myself up with guilt relentlessly. I'm almost neurotic about it. Idon't use porn, but sometimes I look at pictures of girls(which are not intentionally porn, well within our society, you can't be sure anymore, sex and sexuality are everywhere, you can't help but see it). Anyway the problem is the thoughts linger and then its downhill.
It is natural to be attracted to women(at least for a man), and the precognition of an attractive girl is good in many respects. Its Dynamic quality(to quote Phaedrus), but the static afterthought of dwelling on and fantasizing is not good. With God's help, I'm getting stronger, but even the battle leaves me feeling dirty, and even though I lose ground, I must remember that it is grace which has already forgiven me and gives me the strength to
overcome this and make larger and larger victories.
I'm also going to switch journals after today. This one is bursting at the
Tonight also marks the beginning of my longest bus ride yet(two nights).
Also, I bought a pair of sunglasses yesterday. I told the clerk that I had no fashion sense and needed lots of help(this plea also committed me to buying something if we could find a pair).
I also realized I do have fashion sense. Sometimes it is weird and maybe too conservative, but I know what I like. In this case,
part of the problem was not knowing where to start. The other was my inability to easily distinguish men's and women's styles(some of this was further confused by styles that can only be labeled gay, neither truly feminine or masculine).
We ended up with some wide and narrow lenses that sit right on my nose. Wire rims and dark gary lenses with metallic silver(but very dark) frames. It looks very similiar to Neo in the Matrix(which I mentioned). I won't say they jumped out at me, but they are "right" I think. She "knew" it immediately, and I couldn't see anything remotely better and lots that were tremendously worse. I really do like them, its just they are much more modern and I had to reorient myself to see that.
They are conservative in the sense I won't have to buy a new pair every year
to stay in style. They seem a good durable construction, and even have pads which work very good at keeping them on your head(it even hurts to intentionally take them off if you aren't paying attention).
I'm also happy because, though I had help, I picked them out with the help of the clerk rather than including friends(in the sense that I was being a more healthy independent of people's praise and opinions for my self-worth. i.e. I could do this with only the help of a specialist instead of someone who I want to think of me as attractive and stylish. The clerk was a speciailist in that it is her job to know the hundreds of inventory they had and direct the customer to what they're looking for, to have denied her assistance would have tipped
into bad hubristic pride, i.e. know-it-all arrogant independence, won't ask for help when you need it).
Also, the durability and lastingness, and good "engineering" I mentioned are values I personal prize in things I own. I like stuff to be durable, to last, because its wasteful if it breaks or needs to be renewed too much. They are also, according to the clerk, glasses that "dress" well, i.e. can be worn with a suit or such as well as blue jeans.
Well, after this I'm going to do my readings, maybe talk to the other hostellers. I intend to get a cab around midnight and then wait and ride, and maybe even sleep. Life is good. Its good to remind myself of the Lord's blessings and how even my troubles and infirmaties give him glory.
Sleepless in Seattle is a good description of last night. Actually, I met a couple of interesting people before I left the hostel at 1am. Brenda, who was living there while apartment shopping, and Lee.
While sitting around waiting, Thomas came in, and he was talking with this girl named Lee, and so we all sat around for a while and talked until Thomas went to bed. It was still a while before I left and so I sat on the floor while Lee sat on the couch and we talked a while longer.
Her mother is Peruvian while her dad is from Ohio, they met while her father was in Peace Corps(I need to warn Will about not coming back with any Peace Corp love children). She came back to live with her dad, who later married an American. I didn't pry to deeply, but her family life seemed complicated. She talked like they all got along pretty well and there was a lot of love.
She went to Peru for a year to live with her biological mom, and graduated from Peruvian high school even. She is pretty fluent in Spanish now as well. We talked about language a lot too. She said Peurto Ricans do a lot of literal translations and their "Spanish" is almost a creole or pigdin.
She loves to travel, and so we talked about places we had been, and the trip I'm on. She was headed to Alaska to stay with a friend she met in Peru
We talked about the South. Her dad wants to be a reenactor, and those Southern roots are why she's Lee instead of Leigh or Leah. Her high school is in the backwater of Ohio near West Virginia.
She starts college this fall at a small private school in Maryland. She wasn't sure about a major, but she
had a wide variety of possibilities with linguistics as one of them. It was cool to talk with her about language. She knew that "ain't" is a valid conjugation of verbs of being in contraction form. She knew that Mountain folk speak the King's English, at least closer than any other English speaking group.
The thing I remember most is her eyes. She had very honest, pretty brown eyes. At times she almost stuttered in her speech like she wasn't confident, and her tone of voice made me wonder if she is shy or awkward around people. She seemed uncomfortable with herself. I don't think I had anything to do with it. I tried to be a good listener and very open. Some of it was probably her four day train ride too. She was a very nice girl.
So after that, I got a taxi to the Greyhound station. Easier than walking, and I'm not so sure about the streets of Seattle at 1am.
The driver was foreign born black gentleman who was fairly nice. He was listening to talk radio about Afghanistan.
The bus station was full of lots of interesting people, more than normal due to the time of day. I managed to get a seat by myself, and even keep it when we picked up people in Spokane. I'm sitting across the ailse from Jaycee. She's from Missoula, and is going home for the summer after spending time with a friend in Sacramento. She goes to the University of Hawaii and hasn't got a major yet, but she spends a lot of time having fun and doing stuff, and I don't blame her(and besides, I imagine a great deal of their undergraduates are there for the climate more than the academic excellency of the school).
She likes to travel, but hasn't been to the East Coast. I told her about my trip. She was going to something
similiar, but money was an issue so she hasn't yet. I actually didn't start talking to her until we were waiting to reboard in Spokane. She slept most of the night. An older lady is sitting with her now, and she's asleep anyway. Thats a good talent she's gifted with. She's pretty cute, and it basically took all night the right timing to talk to her. I'm getting much better than I used to be, especially about not being overwhelmed by a girl being cute, and being able to start a conversation with a stranger and not be awkward and/or scary.
I still hate my lust problem. Maybe spending an entire day on the bus will help. Probably not. Not only have I passed the geographic turning point of my trip, I'm also on the longest bus ride of my trip. We're also in Idaho now.
I will probably be able to sleep tonight. Its amazing the way all the smokers dutifully pile off the bus at each stop to get their fix.
We're in Missoula, Montana and Mountain time now. The bus got crowded for awhile and I had to share my seat with Gloria, a school bus driver from Washington state who is going on vacation, but their truck broke down. SHe has moved seats to sit with her daughter I think, I just hope we'll lose enough here so that I don't have to share a seat anymore.
The mountains were green pine forests for a while, but now they're slowly getting rockier. There are eagle nests on poles near the road every so often. We stopped in St. Regis for lunch and I ate at the Huckleberry Restaurant. It was good, and I ate light.
I don't know how much I agree with Phaedrus on "higher" structures(e.g. society) and their higher moral precedent, but I think there's an interesting correspondence between some Christian moral thinking and the results so far in Lila.
"It's the freedom to be so awful that gives it the freedom to be so good."(Lila, 257)
This seems to be another block in my attempt to understand the differences and agreements between Christianity, Humanism, and Science. I could
Also, Phaedrus is more circumspect in his dealings with the "high country", and its cool, we both are more mature in our journey's this time. Not to say I'm immune to madness, but my tools and relationship with God is in a different, I think, better place than before. I'm still a sinful man, but I've hopefully given more to God, Anyway it's all good, and I'm getting challenged.
Lucky me though. Someone is sitting beside me. It will probably be another long night. The bus is just as crowded and full. This is to humble me and teach me a lesson. I just wish the lesson included sleeping(but not really, because this trip is
as much about "being awake" as anything). I want to see the country, to understand the diversity and breadth of it. You can't do that when you're asleep. So I must resign myself. A guy just gave some people the opportunity to change buses, so of course no one went. We're packed in good. The person sitting with me is not small either, so oh well, at least these aren't airplane seats. Always look on the bright side of life.
Oh please, let me have an empty seat only 16 more hours to go. Well, I met Erica, a girl from South Carolina with a complicated family life. She's a Christian, but previously ran the occult gamut. She was visiting her biological mother in Montana, and is now going off to Job Corps or something to get her GED and study nursing.
I should be more charitable, but
I'm tired and just to relax and get there(just like everyone else). We made a dinner stop, at which I wouldn't have ate, but Erica was going to stay on the business, so I went in and got some popcorn chicken.
The USA Today had an entire section devoted to copyrights which leaned pro consumer(at least the press is coming over). It was very surface level and didn't dig too deep, but at least they're talking about it.
I've thought about all the pictures I've taken(over 480), and I realized its complicated why I take so many. The biggest reason I think is that I'm trying to capture the "Dynamic Quality" of the moment. Its quite paradoxical, by capturing the moment I have intruded on it, particularly with my camera and I have distanced myself from the moment. I am trying to Objective yet the whole thing is so subjective.
The framing, timing, choice of subject matter is all so very tied up in it. You have to take lots of pictures in order to "sneak up on it."
Memories and "proof" make up most of the rest. Like this journal, a way to productively forget. In fact my Alexandria project is an attempt to do the same for intentional random access recall of material that has been recorded.
Two others things. Montana is very beautiful, and I need a new pen.
Finally in Billings. I should apologize for all the griping about sitting with people. I've had extremely interesting companions today. The lastest was Thena(I think). She's originally from Montana but now lives with her husband, who is in the military
and slowly working his way to a bachelor's degree.
She was travelling with her youngest daughter and two cousins to visit home and her relatives for a month. She's been away a year and a half which is the longest she's been away from home. They have been on the bus 3 days now and it has been a less than positive experience(compounded by travelling with young children). This is her first time taking the bus, and probably last as well. At one point they even missed a transfer because the driver took too many breaks.
She's only a year older than me, which is kinda scary(married and has two kids). She's also an American Indian(Dakota Sioux I think is what she said). We talked about culture, both Indian and reservations and East Tennessee and the South.
I told her about my trip some, and they had been talking about a chicken soup
for the human soul story about a backpacker on a spiritual journey. I wish I could remember more details, but thats about it. She might enlist when she gets back. She also has a large extended family, and her children's great grandparents are alive still.
Well, a guy got arrested and taken off the bus at one of the stops. I didn't see what happened, just the dude being lead away in handcuffs by a deputy(who looked to be carrying what I assumed was a gun case belonging to the guy who got arrested.
I also met Mark and his son Nathaniel. Mark is a Seventh Day Adventist who is in process of moving to Spokane I think. He's pretty devout and gave me a handout on prayer and a booklet he reads a lot(he carries copies to give out). The booklet was something he read when he got back to Christianity. He
backslid into loose living for a while. He used to drag racing and then other stuff now he does finishing work and remodelling. He's really cool. I don't really know much about Seventh Day Adventist, but I think they have strong beliefs about Revelations. Anyway, I've boarded the bus and we're together until I transfer again in Gillette.
There were a couple of dudes jamming on guitar in the bus terminal. I hope this bus has a more sedate crowd. Its actually a Powder River Transportation Bus. The seats are a little roomier and more comfortable. I bet buses are ordered like Boeing Jets, the customer designs the interior, and some optimize for a little more greed, er, passengers than others. I also, at least for now, have a seat to myself. It probably won't last, but as long as God keeps sending them, I'll try to be open, warm, and friendly. I hope I made Thena's daya little better, but they're almost home now.
I'm thoroughly exhausted, but the worst is over. This and Minneapolis should be restful and ought to bring me under budget again. I have help tonight in my journal; the Havener's have two cats and one of them is playing with my pen.
We got to Gillette, Wyoming about 5am and I actually managed to sleep a couple of hours. I had breakfast and cleaned up a little by shaving and brushing my teeth.
We watched "Deep Impact" on the way to Rapid City, which despite hokey writing and bad science affects me emotionally, I think its because of physical exhaustion. Anyway, I thought about my "calling", maybe even to be a "prophet" via my writings.
I got a call from Mary Havner to make sure everyhing was good and to describe Noah so I would know who was coming to get me.
Noah and his friend Scott didn't really talk a lot, but I asked a lot of questions. It was kinda awkward for me because here I Was with these people I'm related to but never met. I wanted to know stuff but not ask any dangerous questions.
Noah and Scott took me to Wall after I had a shower. We ate
spent some time in the Drug store and got some postcards and a t-shirt. We then went to the Badlands. They're weird. I can see why people thought they filmed the lunar landing there. The countryside out here is fairly green with occasional pine forests and rolling hills.
Noah was pretty quiet but he does like classic rock I think, we turned up the radio for "Money" by Pink Floyd. He's got long, curly hair, which is dark. He seems pretty smart. Tonight he and Scott went swimming with 6 girls. He seems fairly laid back.
Zack, his older brother, seems cool. He plays in a band and works 3 jobs. He was in and out for brief periods all afternoon.
I talked with Mary and Pat for a while. We had barbeque ribs
for dinner, it was really good.
Pat(Patrick) is Mary's 2nd husband. Her first(who was my 2nd or 3rd cousin and Zack and Noah's father) died several years ago. We talked about religion. Mary was raised Catholic and we talked about Search for awhile. I explained most of the dimensions of my trip.
Pat is an engineer, and is now in charge of a nearby oil refinery. We talked about environmentalism and waste and "good engineering" some. He explained how oil refineries work. 96% of a barrel of crude actually comes out as a salable finished product.
We sat on their porch and watched their dog chase squirrels, birds, and deer. They have invisible dog fence.
They also had a neat propane "fire pit{" out there too.
I wish I could remember more, but I'm impressed at how much easier it is to this and even how many details I remember. To quote Alice in Wonderland, the secret is to "start at the beginning and go to the end" and being willing to take time to expand details.
Anyway, good news. I have a Little Sib, Christina Carbajo, from Oak Ridge. She's into ballroom dancing and travelling among other things. Her father is from Spain. I wrote her an email introducing myself and talking some about school and telling her to sign up for the ballroom class, and apologizing for not being at the early registration in 2 days.
I also organized some email and played around for a bit. Anyway I still have my readings to do, and I'm exhausted and thinking unclean thoughts.
I now have to account for a missing day in my journal. Its actually a decent excuse.
Yesterday, I basically slept until noon. Zack and Noah stay up practically all night, so I was actually up early for around there. Mary had some errands to run, and since there wasn't a lot to do(Zack and Noah being asleep) I rode around Rapid City with her all afternoon. We talked a lot about family history, and how my great-aunt Carmi has Alzheimer's(who I may get to see in Minneapolis) and how Judy is the only one of the three(April, and Mark who was Zack and Noah's father) still "Jewish". We talked a lot about Christianity. I explained a lot about my trip and what all has happened and things I have seen. Mary has some Vietnamese friends who run a nail salon and she has basically adopted them and helps them navigate the weirdness of the United States. They're Buddhists, but they are questioning.
I went to Borders while she had her nails done. They had a book on Palo Alto which looked interesting, especially since the author didn't get nearly the cold reception I did. I didn't buy it though.
After a few more stops we got back. The Havner's got a season pass to Mt. Rushmore, and they insisted I take their car and go.
The mountain was pretty cool. I ended up meeting a bivocational Independent Baptist preacher named Gary from Westport, Indiana. We talked about religion. He and his wife have started travelling since all their children left and graduated. They were intrigued by hostelling and my bus pass and I suspect they will probably travel a little differently in the future. He insisted on getting me something to drink. So I sat with them and fellowshipped for a while. A sidenote, in all the pictures you see of Mt. Rushmore
you hardly see any trees. Well those pictures must be old, because those trees are big enough that they cover Teddy Roosevelt's mouth and mustache.
Anyway, Mary left her cellphone in Deadwood a few days ago, and since its a historic place I went over to get it for her. It was a 45 minute drive and I took the more scenic route on highway 385.
The bus just stopped in Wall. I dropped a few postcards(that had stamps) and a Thank You card for the Havner's. I wrote my parents, mamaw, Lee Cox, and Honey.
Also, one of the Park Rangers was a girl from Murfreesburo who goes to UTK and is interning here for the summer.
Anyway it got dark before I got to Deadwood so I didn't get to see much scenery. It was a neat little town, with a lot of casino's. I stopped at one, Tin Lizzie's, where I was to
pick up the cell phone.
They had good food, and it was ultra cheap, so I ended up eating there. I got a hamburger, fries, and coke for $2.00.
So I drove an hour back to Rapid City. I got to see crazy lightning displays on the horizon(those guys from New Jersey talked about the lightning out here).
I got a few gallons of gas when I got back to Rapid City. My attitude on generosity and accepting stuff from people is this. While not taking advantage of them, gifts should be accepted graciously without shame or false humility, but you should also do good turns to your neighbors as well. Not that you should expect a reward for giving or that the gifts will "balance out".
Anyway, I got in really late and checked my email to see if Christina had replied; she hadn't. It was then so late that calling the journal entry "Day 32"
would have been confusing, so I figured I would just wait until this morning.
My rash is all but gone now too.
Well, I also continue to have challenges with the sin in my heart. Part of it I know is to stop beating myself up and accept God's freedom of grace and forgiveness. But I need to stop doing this stuff too. Oh well, time to get back up and go for the gold, again.
Another interesting sidenote. The owners of Wall Drug and the Havner's are family friends.
That brings us to this morning, after getting up and getting everything packed, I again checked my email. I got eggs and toast for breakfast. I got some pictures of Zack, Noah, and Mary. I also sorta got the picture my mom wanted for her scrapbook of Mary "cutting" my hair.
After I got dropped at the bus station I called my parents and talked a while and told them my route; I go through Omaha, Nebraska, and Des Moines, Iowa(2 more states than I anticipated).
We're now on central time. The landscape goes forever out here. Sometimes it rolls, and in the vales there'll be trees. There's more agriculture as you go east too. The land is more suitable and the climate agreeable.
The person of Lila is odd. She's like someone whose perceptions are so twisted everything's collapsed inward. Her ability to understand other people is completely overwhelmed by her pathos. All her motivations seem driven by her past and biology. Its almost like the third component, the eternal soul, has been stunted and all but killed.
I think some of the roads I'm on were travelled by Pirsig in the first book. He started near Minnesota and I'm headed toward it now.
There's something of madness in his work. I'm afraid I'm going nuts sometimes.
I get paranoid about Mad Cow disease, and then paranoid that the paranoia is because I have it. I ate McDonalds for lunch, and that included beef, so it didn't help. I'm afraid of going crazy, of losing my mind. I shouldn't be. Christ tells us not to worry for anything, and that the evil of today is sufficient. Eternally, my faith tells me, I've got it all taken care of, so the death and disease of this world only have a short-lived temporary victory over me.
Phaedrus just talked to Robert Redford about movie rights. They talked about Minnesote. About how to teach English Composition. In some ways, I think this journal is a part of that way of teaching composition, a change in me brought about by reading what others did.
The plains didn't help a madman with sanity. Come to think of it, neither do long bus rides. I'll be okay though. I'll be home soon, only seven days. Wow. Just 7 left.
We're in Huron, but on the way in we passed this large statue of a Pheasant with the proclamation: "Huron, home of the world's largest pheasant."
Oh yeah, there are two girls who got on in Rapid City(15 & 16) who are headed home to Missiouri. They're nice. The bus is not their favourite way to travel. I told them some about college. They seemed incredulous when I answered the question that I do not and have never had a girlfriend. They're an interesting pair. I don't think they've travelled much, and, I don't know how to say it, you can tell they're in high school.
We stopped for dinner a while back and I got a milkshake to settle my stomach. I'm feeling better now, less crazy.
Still flat.
On the Road by Jack Kerouac is a work Dynamic over static quality according to Phaedrus. Its about transcendence over society and intellect, but it can also be anti-intellectual. In a sense thats why I didn't "understand" it. Its preaching against understanding in favor of transcendence by a mystic wannabe who idolized Dean's escape from the world that held him, and I would say was the sickness he succumbed to in Mexico.
The thing is, in my search for God, I have already realized that I am seeking a superational understanding. Some of it involves the fact that sin is opposition to Quality. In that sense that is how Dean and the Christ were similiar they flouted the morals or "law" of their day. Jesus did it by healing on the Sabbath, eating with unwashed hands at the table of sinful
men. He kept coming to the question "Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath?" While I do not think Dean's fast and loose living are good. It was men like that who received Christ gladly over the less "worldly" and antihedonism of the Pharisees, Sadduccees, lawyers, and scribes which lead to the more deadly sin of Pride which is perhaps the first chief sin. Hedonism is rooted in pleasure, and pleasure, properly partaken, is a gift from God.
So Dean flouted the social-intellectual Pharisees of Keroauc's world with his life that challenged their opposition to Quality.
Or something like that.
I should also remember to realize God loves me first, and his Grace will perfect me. Not the other way around. Be merciful, Lord, to me a sinful man.
(Lila, 349). Phaedrus has described our spiritual dark ages that seems to be the result of the 20th century and the triumph of biological, might-makes-right over higher forms.
In some ways its still the oscillations and after shocks of WWI by his analysis(my interpretation). Its also reminds me of Machiavelli's cyclical view of society. Our "virtu" allows a culture to make feedback loops of tension and violence productive(e.g. American Democracy) and causes a society to arise from ooze, but then structures can't preserve it, and the virtu turns in on itself and cause it to fall back into the void as the cycle climaxes elsewhere.
Oh yeah. Still flat.
(Lila, 351) Wow, Pirsig went straight from Machiavelli to Swift(at least by my interpretation). He claims that our intellectuals who were going to make our world right have let us down like Swifts scientist in Gulliver's Travels who scorched the earth to desolation while they tried to figure out how to build the perfect society, and ironically destroyed society in the process.
Christians are right to complain about intellectuals tearing our world apart morally. But they're right for the wrong reasons. I don't agree with Pirsig on everything, but I think he's fundamentally right. An encompassing transcendence is needed to integrate society, morals, intellectuals, and biology.
Unfortunately our intellectuals are locked in pattern of antagonism with forces they now need to cooperate wit(ditto for many anti-intellectual Christians).
Pirsig has talked of a progression, but the debate is far older than that. In the 17th century Jonathon Swift wrote about it. C.S. Lewis claims that all great moral teachers are teaching the same thing. I find that in this case Pirsig is saying basically the same things as other teachers have in the past.
He also mentioned Moslem's hate us because we have unleashed biological forces they sought for centuries to control. Yet it is through barbarians they are doing it, but the Islamic equivalent of our Victorians also. I have new respect for Puritans too, although I think Christianity is far more physical, earthy, and pleasurable than they perhaps did.
Also, Pirsig talks how the first generation post Victorians benefitted from their internal restraints they inherited and the freedom of their
deconstruction of society. It was only later generations which faltered from a lack of restraint.
I think that explains things about me, and actually modern Southern culture. We're backward by our more "intellectual" neighbors because our religious and moral convictions which we "arrogantly" judge and condemn and live our lives by. Yet we are also producing intellectuals who free themselves and still retain their moral heritage, and even the Christian "Wisdom" tradition. In some ways you can even see it. Our past few Presidents have been Southerners. We have a hotbed of social protest. Unfortunately, the intellectual productivity and concentration could be higher. Oh well. Interesting thoughts. Its keeping me from my paranoia.
Wow, I have lots to account for. The two high school girls(Lacey, 15, and Angel, 16) stayed on the same bus for awhile. They were nice, but immature, and I was kinda worried about the way some of the men might take them. For some reason I have been worried that kids on buses lack the skill and age to avoid predators like pedophiles. I've gotten to
I met a girl named Trina, from Sioux Falls who was coming home from JobCorps. JobCorps is kinda like a camp for kids get their life straightened out, get their GED and some job skills. She talked about getting things together afterward and earning money so she could go to college and become a psychiatrist.
After a long ride, with changeovers in Omaha and Des Moines(backwards route, but it got here earlier due to avoiding a 12 hour layover), I finally got here early at 9am. I went to the bathroom and cleaned up, and then got some breakfast. I did my readings and that covered most of it.
April recognized me and so we didn't have any problems. We stopped to pick up one of her sons from a sleepover and we picked up lunch at an Italian place. When we got here, the first thing I did was to take a shower.
After lunch, April's husband Jake, took me to his place of work. He does special effects and compositing for Crash & Sue's. They make commercials. I got to see some pretty sweet high end hardware and the top-of-the-line compositing program Inferno.
We talked a lot of technical stuff and I mentioned some of my work, and planned work in oversampling. He's been to Siggraph before, but probably won't this year(of course I want to go). He showed me a video their 3d guy is doing to submit next year.
This evening, some new friends of theirs, had invited them to spend the evening on their pontoon boat on lake Minnetonka(I think I have inadvertently gone through some locations from Zen and the Art).
The boys and I got pulled a long on an inner tube, and we ate, and went to some rope swings on an island. Whats crazy is the lake freezes completely in the winter and people ice fish and drive across it in cars. Its got a very fractal shoreline and narrow nooks expand into large harbors.
I talked some with April about their Jewish background(her father was Jewish, her mother my great aunt). They(Mark, April, and Judy) were raised free to choose their own beliefs kinda. Judy became Jewish(had to "convert" because her mother wasn't Jewish), and April Christian. I'm going to church in the morning. Probably more liberal than me but as long as the keep the gospel(Christs virgin birth, perfect life, death, burial, and ressurection for the remission of sins of those who call upon his name), its all good.
I got a reply from my little sib. She sounds really nice, and I'm pretty sure she got a ballroom section I'll be in. It doesn't matter though. She's not for sure about the honors dorms, but I have some ideas about how to keep her from bad dorm experiences. Well, its late.
You know the drill, It's actually July 1st. Anyway.
We went to church this morning. It was a congregational church, which is basically a more "intellectual and liberal" Baptist, sorta. It was pretty cool, they used a lot of older(Classical) church music. Their youth minister was leaving, so it was a goodbye service, at the end the youth came down the aisles singing "Down to the River to Pray". It was really cool.
Afterward we drove around and saw some of the city. Some protestors outside the church were upset about a transitional home for the homeless the church wanted to build(of all things to protest). We went to April's sister's house, Judy. Judy is the oldest of the three. I met her and her two adopted children, Jacob and Gaby.
After that we came back here and April cooked lunch, Judy went and got my great aunt Carmi and we all had a pretty good lunch. Carmi has Alzheimer's now. For the most it was okay, but every now and then she would ask about her brother, my papaw, and we had to tell her he passed away. She also asked about the farm, and that was hard because I didn't want to tell her we had sold it. She knew who I was though, and that was nice. I showed Judy and Carmi my Journal and Itenary and told about my trip. They thought it was interesting but wondered about getting lonely; ironically, most of the time I've wanted to get away from people. I got a couple of nice big family shots before everyone left.
I talked some with Jake about CG for a while, and I told April about my library and education project and "open source" software. After everyone went to bed, I checked the bus schedule and eamil in case of anything important. I'm going to mave back my departure to 7pm.
I also had problems with my thoughts again tonight, but I'll overcome it with God's help. It's crazy to think I only have five days left.
Oh yeah, Sam, April's oldest was painting a rocket today that he's going to launch tomorrow. Its good they're doing stuff like that. Sam and Nick have been pretty quiet and low key, but I've got to interact with them some. It's been a good stay here. But on the bus again tomorrow <sigh>. It's all good
4 days left, 1 city, and I'm even under budget. I got up around 10 am this morning. April had made plans to eat with Lila, who is related to me someway(Carmi's first cousin?) and her daughter-in-law and grandson. So we chauffeured Nick and Sam to their classes and picked up Carmi.
We talked about a lot of interesting stuff. Carmi repeats a lot of the same questions, but she knew who I was. Alzheimer's is sad, but its not as scary as I thought. I still hope I never get it. It makes you paranoid when you do have a memory lapse though.
We ate lunch at Applebee's. I had a hair in my salad(I've never been a big fan of Applebee's, and this is just one more example). Lila's
granddaughter is thinking of backpacking Europe, and so I told them a lot of what I've done planning wise.
We dropped Carmi off and came home and packed. April told me the Mall of America is here, which I didn't know, so we went there. Indoor malls are a northern thing because of the harsh winter weather. It was cool, they had lots of stores including a Legoland store that had lifesize Lego statues.
All of this caused me to take a later bus than I intended, but that's okay. I caught a 7:10 bus. Apparently July especially the 4th of July increases loads a lot, and the bus was full. One guy got kicked off for being disagreeable and not wanting to share the seat beside him. There were other people lead off by the cops. Apparently Nick and Sam enjoyed my company more than I thought, and both of them hugged me goodbye.
Dhyana. Meditation is the word Pirsig uses as a rough translation. Its what his boat trip is about. It's what my trip is about. Emptying out, seeking Dynamic Quality by leaving, interrupting and destroying static patterns. Why I've tried not to get into a "trip rut". Its even a good cure for insanity. So why do I still feel crazy? I want to understand my hypochondria. I think some of it, along with my depression is about stress and lack of sleep. I may go see the shrink one more time when I get home.
But I do feel different, better, in good ways from this trip. Maybe a few good night's sleep will cure the latent stress and sickness of worry.
Giving up static patterns to seek Quality is suicide.
"He would lose his life for my sake shall save it." Christianity is death, repenting of static, choices of lower value over higher value(sin). to seek God's faith. Christ shows us how to repent, by faith God's grace saves us by killing us. I'm afraid of death, physical death, I get to be a hypochrondiac, but I know that I must die to self. I don't do it, and when I do, I don't stay dead. I get afraid, Lord help mine unbelief(fear). I'm almost done with my book. I haven't hand an emotional breakdown(yet) like I did with the first book(my King Nothing experience). This dhyana is about dieing to self. Here I am Lord, thank you for grace, Amen.
Good as a noun
God is Love(noun).
That
I ended up with a seat by myself most of the way to Kansas City, Missiouri. We did stop in some interesting places(I think both of them were in Iowa). Mason City Airport where Buddy Holly took off from for this last trip, and Ames(I guess thats the spelling) which the driver claimed to be the birthplace of the computer(I'll have to investigate that when I get home).
I've been in and out sleep all night and day, things were made more complicated at the bus station. There were too many people, so they made a second bus an express bus, but it didn't leave until 10am instead of 7:15am. There was a really fidgety, nervous nut job of a guy who made wild speculations about Greyhoud in front of me in line. I think he needs some Prozac. I should have been nicer to him. I just tried to ignore him.
I think I left some postcards in Minneapolis, addressed and everything.
Anyway, I had a weird dream on the bus today. Dr. Hood wanted to talk about the work I've done, but then ignored me, or just didn't think I had done anything. I just stammered and didn't know what to say.
I've been to Missiouri before when we've gone to Lambert's from Reelfoot. The roads were always worse in Missiouri. That's true still. I'm getting excited though. I'm ready to be in St. Louis(not until 2pm though).
When the directions to the hostel forget to include "turn down the narrow, dark alleyway to get to registration,"
you tend to get suspicious. It was probably okay, but it was near rundown buildings and the office was closed when I finally got there via taxi at 4:00pm. After touring the place with trepidation, I met another guest leaving the less than wonderful men's dormitory, I plugged in my cellphone to call home.
I told my mom the situation, and that since I was underbudget(not anymore) to find a decent place downtown via the internet. So my dad found the Hampton Inn and after a discussion with the desk clerk got a $99/night rate, and her call a cab.
The first cab driver was a nice, retired black gentleman. The second guy was a Romanian who had hostelled in his younger days. Both we're pretty cool.
The two receptionist are pretty nice too. Andrea is a couple of years younger than me and was who my mom talked too.
The other one is Steve, who's kinda weird(gay?) but very nice and helpful. I'm two blocks away from Union Station, which is the old train depot, and is now a minimall touristy place. There's a light rail to Arch and Laclede's Landing. There's a Hard Rock Cafe at Union Station, so I got my mandatory shirt. There was also a Chinese Buffet, which wasn't the best I've had, but was the first buffet I've found since leaving the South. I think it caused a mild case of diarrhea, but I'm okay(7th floot of the Hampton In). The arch closes at 6pm, so once I'd had my shower it was too late, but that's what tommorrow is for.
After coming back to the Hotel, I talked to Andrea and Steve awhile. They were curious about my trip, and so I
told them about the bus pass, hostels, and cities I'd been. Steve is heading to New Orleans for a vacation. Andrea said she's not brave enought to do something like this.
She goes to a junior college here and was majoring in Hospitality, but after working here and hating it, she's switched to Dental Hygeniest, but is getting raked over the coals in an anatomy and physiology class.
I came back up to my room and got a coke and some ice and watched the news for awhile. I kinda guessed, and have now realized that St. Louis is kind of a mean city, but I'm not going to ranging far.
Of course, its also on the list of places for potential terrorist strike on the 4th. Hopefully, my bus will be gone if anything happens.
Bud and Jackson told me to try Ted Drews, but Steve told me it was a 20 minute drive, so much for that. Its an ice cream place too. I'm going to sleep late tomorrow
I left the hotel about 11:00am, actually a little before. I walked through Union Station to the Metrolink Station behind it. I may go to Forest Park later today, or see a movie, but this morning, I rode out to Laclede's Laning to go to the Arch.
There's military or National Guardsmen swarming it the park aroun the arch. Its kinda weird, even though I know why. They're armed too. Security in the arch is high too, with metal detectors and the whole nine yards.
The trams to the top of the arch are pretty small, especially since they seat 5 people. I ended up behind a couple from Cinncinate and another family on a road trip across the country. The windows at the top of the arch are tiny, but the view is still good, and I got some good pictures.
I went up the South leg and down
the North. The trams and the museum and stuff are underground below the arch. Walking to the arch I walked along the Mississippi River and saw the Eads Bridge which is part of Union Station. It was one of the first steel cantilever bridges and is pretty cool.
In a lot of ways, I'm now at the heart of the country. I'm on the West Bank of the Mississippi River which divides the East from West, the frontier from civilization(used too anyway). I'm far from either end of the great river, and geographical this is close to the center as well. Tomorrow, when I cross that river, I'll have left the West and be back to the "ordinary" life. Of course, I still have many miles to go before I sleep, but this trip, like the river is a dividing point in my life.
Anyway, I ate lunch at Jake's Steaks
and I'm going to spend the afternoon exploring Laclede's Landing. I'll probably stop at the hotel before I go to Forest Park(if I go today). Tomorrow, I want to do some of the 4th Celebration and still get a bus ride home, so I may have to finagle my route some.
Its cool to be staying in a nice hotel, they left a USA Today at my door even this morning(a first for my whole trip). My cellphone minutes reset today(finally), it doesn't change the fact I'm over two hours over my 150 minutes. Well, I'm going to go explore now.
Laclede's Landing was okay, I found a neat costume shop, and the building's were cool, but not a lot to see really. I Went to the visitor's center to see if they knew about any ballroom
dancing or anything, utterly useless. So I walked to a mall nearby, but there wasn't much there. St. Louis kinda has a rundown feel to it. I'm having a good time though.
I rode back to the hotel on the Metrolink. I wrote postcards to Honey, Rebecca, Jacob, and my parents, and a Thank You card to April and her family. I took a shower and called my parents. I may change bus schedules tomorrow. Looks like Tennessee hasn't passed a budget so the state is shutdown.
I'm mildly curious about classes for the fall. If things go badly, um, I may not be graduating in the spring. I talked to Will last night about the same thing.
Doug had left a couple of messages on my cellphone, so I finally called him back since the minutes reset today. I told him I wasn't sure about moving in, but I told him I'd mail him what I owe him.
After all that, I mailed the postcards
at the frontdesk and headed for Union Station.
I finally had an idea for a travel novel. A guy wins a contest for a "sponsored" trip around the country by a new outdoor/backpacking store as a promotional thing. It goes good until he notices that his journal entries are doctored before being uploaded to the website. Then they won't let him get certain souvenirs because they're not sponsors. Then he reads the intellectual property agreement, all the while watching doctored videos, photos, and stuntmen get involved in the "adventure" and brands get totally changed in the video as well as making him "better than real".
I bought a ticket for Scooby Doo at 9:40, I may go back to the hotel depends. Right now, I'm eating at the Hard Rock Cafe. The food is okay, but I so rarely eat in one, it doesn't
matter. With the exception of a Britney Spears song(which I don't like on principle), the music is pretty much what I like. It's nice to just sit here and listen(I haven't listened to music pretty much since I left except for ambient or incidentally).
A weird incident getting seated. The hostess(who is cute) grabbed my hand. It is not something that happens to me on a regular basis, and I have to wonder if it has something to do with the fact that it was just me. Anyway, my waitress has been really nice too, her name is Katie. She's really cute.
My stomach has been bothering me some, and I don't think this has helped. I think I may have some kind of stomach bug, as long as I make it home, it doesn't matter. Its kinda weird, my stomach hurts like I've ate too much and I have to go to the
bathroom. I hope it wasn't that Chinese place.
I don't know if this is normal, but the skies here have been very hazy today. It may be the fires out West, or smog, I'm not sure. Its pretty overcast now like we may get an evening thunderstorm. It would do some good as hot as it is. The humidity is also more like home(i.e. really bad). The heat could be the source of my stomach problems too.
I suspect I'm going to blow my budget. I'm down to $5. I know I should be more conservative, really. Oh well. It's a once in everyone else's lifetime trip(I intend to travel more, the rest of you can do this sorta thing only once). The only regret I want to have is the bill at the end. It's all good.
On David Letterman, he's interviewing a girl, who was the only member of her graduating class. Her advice in her Valedictorian speech included "Stand for something, or you'll fall for anything." She's from some place in South Dakota and is going to college in Spearfish.
Anyway, to go back to the Hard Rock Cafe, I paid and left to go wait at the movie theatre and maybe even go to an earlier showing, but I couldn't handle it so I went back to talk to the hostess. I waited in the gift store to get up the guts. I'm glad I did. Her name is Emily, she's moving to London to become an actress. She's into Dr. Who, Red Dwarf, swords, and who knows what else. She's been to Gatlinburg and likes Tennessee. She likes the culture in England though. She knows the fifth doctor, and I think several others.
My converstational gambit was to ask if she often holds hands of people
she's seating. She said most of the time little kids, but she sometimes does for other people. She said she used to just grab them, but now she offers to see because of reactions. I told her I thought it was cool. She thought my travelling was neat. She wanted to know when I'd be back here, and I said I wish before December(that's when she's moving). I invited her to EAst Tennessee, and she's crazy enough she might take me up. She suggested swapping emails first, so I more than obliged.
After getting a picture with her, I headed over to the moview theatre. I thought I was going to be watching Scooby Doo at 9:40pm but the ticket was wrong. I talked to the manager a while before getting something to drink and to sit down, and that's when I found out. There wasn't anything
else except for Men In Black 2, but I will probably see that with my dad, so I decided to get a refund and hiked it back to the hotel.
Andrea was at the frontdesk with a girl named Libby who's going to backpack Europe in a few weeks. Andrea left to go to Branson and Tablerock on vacation, but I stayed and talked to Libby. I told her some of my good ideas and bad ideas. The good ideas included Journalling and my tricks for getting stuff wrote down and labeling film with a sharpie. I told her what I knew about hostelling and we talked a while. She just graduated in Advertising/Psychology but hasn't yet found a job(she graduated this May). We swapped email addresses and she might email me about her trip.
She got off work at 11 so I came on up to my room and called Honey, mostly because I wanted to tell her about my story idea. She's been getting the postcards and
enjoyed the mail. She seemed to like it. We talked a bit but she had to go.
Well, I still have plenty of readings to do. I'll probably sleep late tomorrow, but checkout is at noon. Somehow I need to get to Forest Park, the Greyhound Station and the fireworks if possible. The fireworks, I'm afraid may not be possible. The plus is that I'm hoping the buses will be empty on the 4th itself and that I'll miss the holiday rush.
Hotel rooms can be depressing. I'm sitting her by myself, after a great day, after having done cool stuff and met lots of nice, interesting people at the end of the coolest trip I've ever taken, and I'm kinda depressed. I mean, I've had my failures, purity of thoughts and actions, my hypochondria, and fear of death, laziness, ingratitude, stress, anger, and other forms of internal unpleaseantness, but I'm human, and more importantly
forgiven. The trip has been wildly successful despite my shortcomings. I should have no complaints. Life is beautiful, and I've seen so much of it.
I normally get depressed after Choir Tour, but I've been constantly travelling since then. I suppose I only delayed the inevitable. I'm tired though. It's not "soul weary". I want to live. But I need to take some downtime.
In brighter matters, the state of Tennessee is shutdown due to their dickering over the budget. Its kinda funny, I really suspect they've signed their political death warrant. The sad thing is even when they do pass a budget, who can say whether there will be classes to go back to in August.
Things are good; I'll feel better in the morning. I'm going to take it easy tomorrow. It will be nice to get home, 40 days is long enough. It was worth it. I think I've managed to achieve my goal, "No Regrets but the Bill."
I took my time getting up, packed, and checked out, and I didn't leave the hotel until noon. I bought an all day metrolink pass and headed out to Forest Park. I had left my stuff in the baggage room at the hotel.
The Missiouri History Museum was there and has a huge Lindbergh exhibition including a full scale mock up of the "Spirit of St. Louis." Very interesting. Lindbergh used his celebrity for environmentalism in his later years.
I meandered around the rest of the museum without looking at the other exhibits in too much depth. I got a postcard to send to my grandma; then headed back to Union Station for lunch. I'm so over budget, the hotel cost 227(I knew it would be more the 200).
I ate lunch at Houlihan's, and it was pretty good, but I ate too much.
I've been reading the "Idoru" by William Gibson. Its pretty good, I think it came out in 96 and he made a rip about "reality TV" which had to be nothing while he was writing the book.
T.S. Eliot was born in St. Louis I think(or lived here a while or something) according to the museum. They had the quote:
:"And the end of our journeying
will be to return to where we started
and know the place for the first time."
plastered all over the museum. Very appropriate for my trip, especially at this time, with me heading home tonight on an complicated fourth of July with fears of terrorism abounding and armed troops in the streets. I suspect my backpack will cause some grief when I head down to the fair in a few minutes.
I had to wait for 3 trains to come before I could catch a ride to the fair. The crowd was hugh. The security was heavy. Armed National Guardsmen, full search on the way into the park. I wandered around for awhile, but didn't spend any money. I watched the airshow at 5pm. Those pilots are crazy. The only thing they didn't do was fly through the arch or under a bridge. They had lots of stunt places, a C5 transport, and a Harrier. They played "Proud to be American" while a place did stunts trailing red , white, and blue smoke.
After the show, I wandered some more and a found a Ted Drewes booth and got a vanilla frozen custard and a lemonade. It was pretty good.
I also got a fair t-shirt.
After all that I headed back to the Hotel to get my stuff and catch a cab to the Greyhound Station.
Greyhound tried to play like they were secure tonight. The security men browsed through bags unthoroughly, and waved people down with a metal detector. They got anal about my swiss army knife and sent me to get it shipped. I left my money and had to go back and claim my stuff; they had totally demolished my ticket holder(which says Ameripass on the front and looks different from other ticket things) and finally figured out that it was an Ameripass. I think they lost my claim check. Not like they ask for it consistently anyway.
So I go back and explain that I've been riding a month and this is the first time anyone has said anything; the guy relents and makes me put it in my check baggage, and gives me a
Absurdities. After all this they line everyone back up behind the gate where anyone could have gone and picked up their stash, making the whole exercise pointless.
I'm on the bus now. We crossed the Mississippi River into Illinois. I called my parents and talked to my dad awhile. I missed the bus driver say when we're stopping for what, and there's not an empty seat in the house, but its almost over, only 12 more hours on the bus. I think we're going through Kentucky, which means I will have passed through 26 states on my trip(I think).
Oh yeah, the driver asked for my ID, which is maybe the third or fourth time ever. I'm going to read and maybe see fireworks, but probably not sleep.
It's been a long night, but I'm almost home. The buses have been grumpier than usual, lots of ill tempered passengers and bus drivers. All of the sudden everyone has been asking for my ID with my Ameripass.
Last night I ended up sitting next to a single mom from Illinois who has 4 kids. She's had some hard bumps, but mostly it was good to hear about her family. She has a 16 year old daughter who plans on going to college. I told her what I could about getting scholarships. Her name was Laura. Her family is from Clinton, and she was riding a bus for the first time to visit her family.
well, we passed through Cookeville around 5:30am, and now we're sitting on the bus in Knoxville. My trip has come full circle geographically(except for the spur home, the circle has connected though). I've finished all my readings except Mere Christianity, I'll get that this afternoon.