Home

I arrived home on Friday, December 6th at around 5:00 pm.

I left San Diego on a greyhound bus at around 11:00 pm on Tuesday.

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After arriving in San Diego for the first time we spent a few days at Nick's brothers house unwinding and lightening our load for our coming trip up the coast. 

Over the next few weeks we walked/hitched up the coast line, staying a few nights on SoCal beaches, but mainly couch surfing with laid back Californians. Its almost like a different country out there.

We made it as far north as Pasadena, and spent some time cruising around the L.A. and West Hollywood area before returning south by train and spending the Thanksgiving holidays at Dave's house. 

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Its awfully odd being home. Everything that I have been doing for the last 100 days is now only a memory, and I am left to start something new and find some direction in the "real-world".

I want to thank everyone who helped to make this possible. Whether you contributed money, wished me luck, gave me someone to talk to, or just sent some positive thoughts in my direction, it was appreciated and no amount of support went unnoticed!

In a few weeks Ill do a final post about what I learned and what I am planning on doing next, as I am still very much in the reflection stage of things right now.

If you hosted me on couch surfing and I havent yet reviewed my stay do not worry, I will be doing that soon! 

Again, thank you all!

Almost 80

Alright, well it has now been over a week since my last blog update from Deming, New Mexico, and quite a lot has happened between then and now.

From Deming we walked North to Silver City, a nice town nestled a few thousand feet above the desert in a group of mountains. Despite being heavy laden with all sorts of living essentials, and despite our walking North away from the border only forty miles behind us, not a single border patrol officer ever stopped or questioned us. To be clear, that was certainly not due to a lack of border patrol officers in the area and along the highway; there were many.

To this day, we have not been questioned by a single officer since stepping off the bus in El Paso.

We ran into no Dust Storms, and are still questioning their existence.

There is a much more iconic feel about being stuck in the middle of the desert than being stuck in the middle of a corn field. Its also not surprising that more people stop and offer rides to individuals who are only half way down a 50 miles stretch of desert highway. 

The desert is a very empty place, and whenever you do reach a town, you can still sort of tell that you are in the middle of a desert. As hard as McDonald's must try to keep all of their restaurants equal across the country, the difference between a McDonald and a desert McDonald's is clear as day.

We rolled into Silver City on Halloween night, which is almost meaningless on a road calendar. Even if we had wanted to dress up and try to get away with trick or treating, we would have had to find a place to sleep, a place to put our stuff, and we would have to then carry the candy across the desert. Large bags of foil-wrapped chocolates don't mix well with sand and sun.

The next day found us in Lordsburg, a town that is even more desert-like than Deming. Not really trusting the streets we retreated to a motel near the outside of town. The funny thing about Lordsburg is that you never can really tell where the desert ends and the town begins. So our motel was very easy to recognize as... a desert motel.

On the way out of the motel one of the wheels of Nicks dolly busted. Our grief after the loss of such an important essential, coupled by the desert heat, lead us to a Denny's, where we would spend the remainder of the day and the following night.

The funny thing about Denny's is that you never can really tell the difference between a regular Denny's and a desert Denny's.

The next morning (in Denny's), we were approached by a man from San Diego who needed some gas to get back to the coast, and would offer us a ride to Tucson if we wanted it. Convinced that it must be a sign, and eager to get out of the desert, we accepted.

Our driver, Steve, was one of the more interesting characters that we have met so far. A professional bum who lives out of his truck with his older brother, he gave us an articulate lecture on the do's and don'ts of being homeless in San Diego.

Do: Hide behind dispensaries and steal old plants our of the trashcans when they are unlocked.

Don't: Smoke crystal on the beach.

A few hours later we were in a Costco, eating free samples, and taking advantage of being part of an exclusive, member-only, shopping center.

In the spirit of following signs, a few hours later we were on our way to witness the Tucson All Souls Procession. After a phone call from Jenna's cousin, Jalyn, who is enrolled at the U of A, alerting us of the event, we paid for a motel room to leave our stuff in while downtown.

The Lost Souls Procession is an event in Tucson where members of the community, and plenty of people from outside the community, parade through the streets to honor those who have passed. Many people were wearing black and had skulls painted over their faces, and others even made large puppets that loomed over the marchers below. The final estimate for people in attendance was 50,000.

Our second day in Tucson was spent slowly making our way up to the downtown area from our motel. I bought some new clothes at a Salvation Army so that I wouldn't have to wear month-old clothes into the homes of a half dozen people all over Tucson.

Dinner was at Lindys, a burger joint on 4th that definitely rivaled Big Buns, the burger joint in El Paso. We ate with Jalyn, and were then treated to a quick tour of 4th and the downtown area.

That night was spent with Brett, a really chill guy who we connected with through Couch Surfing. I spent a large portion of that night playing his Warwick Thumb, which is pretty much my dream Bass. I am very much looking forward to getting home so that I can play again.

Brett is a grad student at U of A and was very excited to show us some of campus and explain the history of the school. It was by his direction that we ended up in the Poetry Center, a building on campus paid for mainly by Robert Frost that houses one of the countries largest poetry collections.

Keith and Nick hosted us that night and directed us to the Brooklyn Pizza shop, a pizza place on 4th that operates entirely on solar power, and makes a really good pizza while doing it. They also offered us showers and a comfortable place to chill and sleep for the night.

The next day, after sleeping in and grabbing a bite to eat, we made our way to a park in town and sat away a majority of the day playing guitar and enjoying the sun. A few hours before dinner we headed to Michaels house, where we would sleep that night.

Michael, and his son, showed us around town on a small urban-biking tour of the local art displays. Afterwards we went to a civil rights meeting at a local Occupy headquarters and learned about the poor way the natives of the area are being treated, despite laws that have been passed by the U.N. to end exactly the kind of situation that is present.

The next morning we were chauffeured from Michael's house to Corey's and spent most of the day watching Breaking Bad and Kung-Fu movies. The Man of Thai Chi, directed by Keanu Reeves himself, graced our evening with its thoughtful character development and precise plot procession.

Our final host in Tucson was Adam, a man who is still, truly, a kid at heart. The walls of his living room were plastered with quotes and posters of famous Jazz musicians, his walls were stacked with a very impressive book collection. The three of us went exploring the first night and ended up at a deep-dish pizza place outside of town called Little Chicago.

That night was the night of the Clutch show at the Rialto, and it was also the Friday night before the big college homecoming game. Needless to say, the downtown and surrounding areas were in full party mode. The show was great, and the people we met on the streets on our way back to Adams were almost just as good.

Saturday was spent at Adams, just reading and doing not much of anything at all.

The next night, after lazing around the whole day, we received a phone call from a man who was driving to San Diego. A worker for Enterprise, he spends most of his time driving parts of their fleet around the country to wherever it is needed next. He offered to give us a ride there, and we accepted.

With less than twenty minutes notice, we found ourselves in a huge luxury van headed in the darkness to teh California coast.

We arrived in San Diego last night and spent the evening in and outside of yet another Denny's. Early this morning we were picked up by Nick's brother, Dave, and driven to his house in San Diego.

We spent most of today downtown, admiring the bay and basking in the wonder of outdoor malls. The weather was brilliant and it was cool to see the salt water at last.

To all who had to deal with snow today... I am sorry.

Tomorrow we are going to relax, and then Wednesday we are going to hit the road again, this time heading north up the Coast towards the L.A. area.

We plan to spend Thanksgiving back in San Diego, and then will head home in early December, some time after the 4th, which will mark 100 days on the road.

When I'm...

As soon as we stepped off the bus it was clear as a Texas that we were not in Kansas anymore.

Ha.

Thanks to couch surfing we found a welcoming place to stay for two nights in El Paso, at the home of Larry, Alanna, and their three daughters. With everything going on I completely forgot to take a picture of them, but they managed to snap a few. So, if you guys are reading this, you should send a copy of those my way!

They kept us well fed and we had a chance to do our laundry. Evenings meant some Bob Dylan jam sessions with Larry, who is an excellent singer and player!

During the day we wandered El Paso, running errands, seeing sights, and eating eats. Perhaps our favorite meal in the city was the one we had at Big Buns Burgers. Two patties, two sausages, bacon, peppers, avocado, onion, mushrooms, pickles, ketchup, mustard, tomato, mayo, and whatever else I am forgetting, sat between two huge buns, next to French fried, and diagonal to a jumbo soda.

The next days trek was to Anthony, a city that straddles the New Mexico and Texas border. We found ourselves sleeping at a truck stop in the Texas side of town.

I guess sleeping really isn't the ride word for huddling in the back of a McDonalds, trying not to draw attention to ourselves, and waiting for morning to come so we could set off towards Las Cruces...

We made it from Anthony to Las Cruces in record time, undoubtedly due to the vehicle we were riding in.

Almost immediately upon arriving in Las Cruces, at the home of the couple whose house we were going to stay at for the night, things started to get very exciting.

First things first, we accompanied our hosts, Melissa and British, to the county office to retrieve their marriage license. Not having any idea how the process worked, we were all momentarily disappointed when we were told that their marriage would not be official until they had a minister or judge sign the certificate and it was given back to the clerk. There is only a judge present on Wednesdays, and they don't belong to a church...

Luckily, I realized that I am a legally ordained minister, due to a couple if clicks on the internet that I made last spring. After a bit of research, we determined and decided that I would perform their marriage ceremony later that night and sign their license!

Before that however it was time for the next exciting part of our night, the Great Conversation! In Las Cruces members of the community gather once a week for a discussion on a preassigned topic. These discussions are open to all and follow a very Socratic formula, where everyone's voice can be heard, and all opinions are equal.

That nights topic was Allegiance, and our night was enriched by two hours of diverse and stimulating conversation on that theme.

It was really cool to see members of a community conducting themselves in that manner, especially in an age where open and polite public discussion is rare, if not taboo. If you are in the Las Cruces area and want to learn more about the Great Conversation, you can check out the website at www.greatconversationnm.com!

After using our school-brains for more than we had in two hours than in the last two months, we made our way back to their house for a marriage fiesta. Tacos, chips, salsa, and other party favors were all included!

When it came time for the wedding ceremony we all relocated to the back yard. Over the next ten minutes one of the most random, yet seemingly meant to be, weddings took place. Bob Dylan quotes, the tying if a shoe, and some J. R. R. Tolkien insight were all included.

It was definitely a night to remember! A night we in no way saw coming while sitting in the McDonalds at three a.m. the night before... life is funny like that.

The next morning we woke up and, after lunch with our hosts, were dropped off at another house in Las Cruces, where we were going to stay the night. Despite working that evening, John and Aaron were quite hospitable hosts, and we felt very relaxed and at home while staying with them! It would have been cool to see a little bit more of them, but either way we greatly appreciated the place to stay, let alone the shower, food, and access to Netflix!

Lunch the next day was again with Melissa and Nitish, this time also in the company of some of their friends, some comrades from Tuscon, and a professor from the college. Discussion ranged from marriage to the inherit flaws of capitalism and was even more interesting than the Great Conversation two nights prior. We were not at all looking forward to leaving this town...

To make a great stay even greater we attended a party that night at the home of some of the people whom we had lunch with earlier that day. There was tons of food and lots of good discussion all around!

The next morning came early, and we had to drag ourselves out the door, not much wanting to give up the good company and fun times for a trek through the desert...

By nightfall we were in Deming, and by about eleven we were both asleep in our tents, tucked away behind some trees off of the interstate. By two thirty our tents were full of water, all of our possessions were soaked, and sprinklers were flooding the large patch of sandy dirt that was for some unknown reason being watered. By three we were in a McDonalds drying off and contemplating our next move.

I type this from a cheap motel room, in which out stuff is spread out over every open surface. Hopefully its all dried out a bit by morning...

Super 8

We are in El Paso!

A longer update coming soon!

For all of you to the north, it was 80 today, not a cloud in the sky :)

Game Time!

Its time to play "Where is that bus taking Dylan"!!!!!

Hint One: I left Wichita at noon today, and I will be arriving at my destination around 9:30 am tomorrow.

Hint Two: I will be arriving in one of the safest cities in the country, despite what one might guess.

Hint Three: I may run into a gal named Felina.

I'll throw up another picture about every hour or so, and a hint when I can think of one.

Enjoy!