Days 11, 12, 13, 14 - Western North America

I'm just going to take this opportunity to fill in all the gaps of what we've been doing and where we've been and all that.

Monday I woke up after a second night sleeping in Stockton, KS. As I turned on the shower faucet, I hear an excited pounding on the door. I knew right away what the knock meant. I quickly washed and dried myself off and walked upstairs. Paul's stuff was already loaded into the vehicle to go pick up our car, so I threw my bags in as well and we took off. The bill was more than any of us thought it would be. But whatever, we were back on the road, finally!

That day was spent driving to the Grand Canyon. We traveled through several hundred miles of southern Kansas, the Oklahoma panhandle, and the Texas Panhandle, all of which are relatively similar: brown, beige, tan, sand-colored dirt. Then there's the occasional group of cattle, oil pump, fence, or trailer home. Although the open plains and empty, cloudless, blue sky are both gorgeous, it was nice to see urbanization when we stopped for Chick-fil-a in Amarillo.

I drove next, and I spent the night going through New Mexico. What is sweet about driving at night in New Mexico is the lights. Since it's dark, you can't really determine the gradual slope of the land, but when you reach the peak of a "hill," you often look out onto a large lightscape signifying a town coming up. Also, Albuquerque is an enjoyable driving experience.

I slept for a few hours as Mike drove toward the Grand Canyon. At around 3:30 AM, we arrived in the McDonald's parking lot closest to Grand Canyon National Park. Paul and Mike fell asleep in the car, but I couldn't because my feet were freezing. I tried so many methods to try to get another few hours of sleep, but I was simply to cold to fall asleep. Keep in mind that the heat in Paul's car is still broken.

We hung out for a few hours at the Grand Canyon. I'm not going to describe it because if you haven't seen it, my words will simply lessen the value of its majesty.

We left that morning for San Francisco. Another 15 hours of driving, just like the day before. This is about the time that my video camera stopped turning on. Also, Paul's digital camera stopped working. Therefore, we now have nothing to document our adventures besides our memories. I kind of like it that way, to an extent.

The first legit town when travel west from the Grand Canyon is William (or is it Williams). Paul stopped in town for an oil change. While they were doing things to his car, I walked across the street to a pizza hut to order wings since I had two gift cards. A new employee, Theresa, asked is I was a traveler. I took pride in the fact that she made that assumption about me simply by looking at me (haha). Anyway, the wings were great.

The majority of the trip west was through the desert. The landscape is beautiful, but definitely redundant. I was just glad that my feet had finally thawed after several miserable hours. The towns are very interesting, though. Every 50 miles, one comes across a town of a dozen trailer homes. Many towns' economies revolve purely on the finances brought in from the interstate (such as a fast food restaurant and a gas station).

Crossing into California was not much different than the long drive through Arizona. After assuring the lady in the booth that we were not carrying any fruits or vegetables from Pennsylvania into her state, we took a long trek through the Mohave desert. It was at this point that I realized something about people and being west. We are naturally attracted to big things. Vast plains, large mountains, deep canyons, large monuments, those giant metal windmill power-generator things, cities, rivers....I think this somehow points to the fact that we're always in need of something bigger than ourselves. For some, Jesus is the perfect match. Well, by "some," I should say "everyone." But not everyone would agree.

Perhaps my favorite driving experience so far was through the mountains of 158 (I think that was the road number) in southern california. I felt like I was driving through an open pink wormhole or something. Animals grazed on the mountains, and there was actually green flora for the first time in a long while. The entire experience was so surreal, especially because a long song by This Will Destroy You came on when my iPod was on shuffle.

California, in the city areas and suburbs, is a very foggy area, especially at night. We finally made it to Morgan's house around 11 PM. Finally, time to be warm and sleep. Her family was entirely hospitable to us. The lasagna they had prepared upon our arrival was incredible. (I'm sure this is partly due to the fact that I had been munching on snack food in the car for the past two days, but it's also definitely due to the fact that it was just a wicked good lasagna). We talked for a little, then slept.

The next day we didn't really have to drive, and what a relief it was. We chose to experience San Francisco for the New Year, so Morgan, McKenzie, and Mallory drove us to the city. I've never had so much exposure to public transportation in one day.

The city was unique and great. I love urban areas, and I think San Francisco helped me discover why I like them. Some reasons are pretty obvious:

1. There are people in cities.
2. The people in cities have something to say, something to stand for, some direction and some goal for their actions.
3. The people in cities are transparent. I can't overgeneralize here, but one does not need to over-analyze the city types. You can tell who is shallow, why people panhandle, who is hurting, who is arrogant, etc. There is no reason to lie, mostly.
4. Things clash in cities.

Some things I learned about San Francisco in particular:

1. Great street music, unexpectedly.
2. Not really that homosexual. In fact, much less homosexuality than in many other areas where I've been. There is just a general acceptance of homosexuality, which, if approached correctly and cautiously, is not entirely a bad thing.
3. It actually has hills! In the city! And although I think the upper class in America is shallow, especially in the developed west coast, they sure have pretty homes and condos and stuff.
4. Trendy fashion. I like that.
5. Drunk guys trying to pay for bus tickets on a free public transportation day are hilarious, especially when they almost trip over young females
5. I want to go back for an extended period of time. Maybe be a street performer. Maybe find an active arts-based commune. Something like that.

When I was walking along Pier 39 (touristy area with shops and seals - the area featured in a Tony Hawk video game, which Mike pointed out), A guy hiding behind two tree branches he was holding popped out at us, spooking us to amuse his viewers across the street. This shocked me because the book I just finished mentioned the "Bush Man" of San Francisco, known to make his money as a homeless man by scaring passersby by popping out from his self-created hiding spot. With a crowd of at least 30 people, this brought in a lot of dough for this homeless man. I asked him if he knew that he was mentioned in a book and he said he wasn't aware. I told him that the author accreditted him with the most hilarious panhandling method he had seen out of all of the cities he had been in. Bush Man just laughed a hearty laugh and redirected his attention toward his audience, telling one guy that if he's going to take a picture, he better donate again.

We walked the Golden Gate Bridge, down and back (had a beneficial conversation with Morgan).
We had delicious Thai food for dinner.

We decided to visit the Pacific Ocean. It took awhile to get there, but I enjoyed seeing some of the unique shops on Fillmore street. I like how San Francisco not only has a nice ballpark, but also has many restaurants, shops, and small businesses in almost any part of town.

The ocean was dark, but many people had gotten together on the beach with friends to make fires in celebration of 2009. We didn't stay on the beach long because we wanted to get back to Pier 39 for the midnight fireworks. While waiting for the bus, I explored a park. "Bus!" some yelled, and a few of us went sprinting back to catch it. This run back to the bus was very unfortunate for me, however. Out of nowhere I felt very sick. I had to take a number 2 and there was no way I could make it all across town. I was sick. I was immediately uneasy and miserable. I wondered if I got food poisoning again. We got off at Van Ness and I sprinted through traffic to find a shop open so I could get a bathroom. A pizza shop was closed, and I was desperate. I ran further up the street. Finally a Mexican restaurant/bar was open and after asking a manager if I could use the bathroom, he just laughed and pointed me in the direction. I realized that he probably noticed my desperate plea and by my facial expression, he probably judged that I was completely trashed on New Year's and needed a place to vommit.

When I was finally done business, the group had waited for me and missed the bus. They decided to walk all the way across town several miles to catch the fireworks. McKenzie and I fell behind and ended up chatting, although we did miss the turn of the new year. At midnight, we heard the fireworks from about a mile or two away next to a homeless man trying to fall asleep on the steps to a church. Morgan mentioned later that night that I was walking through San Francisco streets on New Year's, everyone around me completely wasted at 2 AM. I thought it was funny because neither me or my parents would've been comfortable with that position a year ago. Well, I can't say that my parents are exactly comfortable with it now; they'll have to speak for themselves. I can't say that I am physically comfortable with it because some bus routes end around midnight and we had to walk several miles back to the parking lot where the car was. Exhausting day, but realy, I loved every minute of it. Well, except when I had to take a massive number two. That was pretty miserable. But experiencing San Francisco, at least for me, must be done more than once. I shall return. Wish I had more time that day....

This morning we woke up and said goodbyes to the Lee family that we are so grateful for! I love being blessed by people, and no, I don't think that is selfish. We drove through northern Cali all the way to Antelope, Oregon (population 37). I will write more about Oregon later when I am not tired. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe whenever I can pick up wireless again.

The main theme of this post is that I want to spend more time in certain places that I have had the opportunity to experience. In this case, a place that I definitely will return to again is San Francisco. Albuquerque is also a place where I'd also like to stop and take everything in, instead of just driving through it.

Britain asked me to take his place on bass guitar and tour with his band in April while he is away and I am pretty excited for that possibility as well. Lots of musical opportunities are being presented recently and I'm really digging it.