I'm sitting in a small cafe alongside a road that winds through a town in Utah called Springdale. Wppi has come and gone and I didn't have much time to write. I guess I could go back and write about how inspiring it was, but the current emotional state I'm in is moving me to just write about what is happening now. I think I made it clear that my trip to lake mead on Saturday came up short of my expectations, and I really hadn't made a final decision on where I was going for the rest of my trip until last night. I ended up in Zion National Park, and I think its safe to say that the whole self seeking/spiritual part of my trip has begun. Actually, it's probably more accurate to say that I'm in the midst of it; in the midst of something that started Saturday, and was really set in motion by a string of interactions with someone that I had never met before. I'm realizing how true that is now as I sit almost as nothing below towering landscapes of the truest majestic beauty. The heights of geographic wonders the word 'mountain' fails to accurately convey in my mind have, without words, reinforced my feelings of unworthiness and humbleness to be alive and, in a very big way, covered under the umbrella of God's favor. This comes only hours after believing that the purpose of my trip was to be reminded that who I am is good, and I should continue to be me in order to find the happiness I'm looking for. Amazingly, there actually are people out there who respond to that, and act in a way that makes me feel happy.
So now what? Within twenty hours I am left reminded to be myself, followed by an awakening that I am as small and insignificant as a fountain next to a waterfall. To top it off, I am thankful for all of it.
During times like this in my life, I usually find it necessary to eliminate a portion of things in order to make way for new. I'm thinking that probably means I should let go of the one thing I've held onto more than anything in my life. I mean, I've set sail from it before, and then a couple more times, but I think it's time to pull the drain plug and watch it drown. It's hard to drown dreams, especially when they do nothing but float in your mind, even when you're not conscious of it.
There is one day left, however, and I'm game for another aspect of it all. It's just that sometimes I grow tired of pins and needles. Facades are a fire on my skin. And I'm growing fond of broken people as I see that I am one of them.
I'm one of them.
I'm all settled in at mgm with sarah and aurelia and we're about to sit in on some print competition judging. So far my expectations have already been exceeded. It is amazing to be surrounded by so much photography culture. I also ran into jesse and mat from finest moments, so it was cool to see familiar faces!
So maybe it sounded like I was talking down about the boulder dam hotel. It really is a nice place, but it's historic, so don't expect modern hotel type stuff. And, I did tell the crazy front desk lady that my assessment of my stay would depend mostly on my free breakfast. If that's the case, they get an A. I got to pick any entree I wanted off the breakfast menu, plus coffee, and didn't have to spend a dime. That's what I'm talking about. Steak and eggs and soudough toast. And home fries. I'm stuffed.
I was in the shower this morning, and right before I endured the most painful experience of my lifetime when I haphazardly loaded my eyeballs with a product labeled 'complextion soap', I realized I hadn't planned to go to church. Perfect. I'm in sin city, and I skipped church. I'm going to hell. So I decided to bring up todays readings on my phone and read them while I waited for my delicious meal to arrive. I wasn't even through the first reading when I received a tap on my shoulder from a gentleman who obviously was by himself as well. He asked how I was, if I was staying there, and what brought me to vegas. Without much more questioning as he took his seat at a closeby table, he said 'its too bad we didn't meet last night. We could of met up, gone out, had some fun, if you'd be into that kind of thing'. Wait a second. I'm going to pretend like you didn't say that. So he asked where I was from, and some other small talk questions, and I tried to get back to my readings. It wasn't long,however, before he started asking me questions I had already answered. Weird. So I answered. And then again... 'yeah it's too bad we didn't meet last night. We could have met up, gone out, had some fun, if you're into that kind of thing'. Okay its official. He's gay, and he's totally hitting on me. I threw up in my mouth. I continued to politely ignore him, and tried to eat my food quickly. Then he asked what time my sister was landing. I was like...right now. I gotta go. 'Oh okay, because I was going to invite you up to my room, have a little fun, if you're into that kind of thing'. I gotta be getting the heck out of here. I ran. Didn't even stop to pee first, and I was full. I guess my hopes were misinterpreted. Oh well.
Ill write more later, when I get the chance, if you're into that kind of thing...
I landed in vegas, got into my quite spiffy hhr, and went out on my destinationless mission to find cool landscapes in the desert. Before I could do that, I ran into a chipotle and couldn't resist. I ate outside in 68 degree weather, under palm trees, with views of huge snow covered mountains. Almost perfect. Shortly after, I was on my way to lake mead. When I got there, I didn't even know it. It didn't take me long to realize that the lake the mighty hoover dam holds back was over a hundred feet low. It was basically empty, and didn't leave much to stand in awe of. I decided to cut my losses, and seek out the dam itself.
The hoover dam, albeit man made, is quite majestic. It's amazing how they created this thing so long ago without the technology we have today. There is so much concrete there, I think my grandpa would be in heaven. Anyways, I would have much rather seen something natural, but it was still worth it. I wasn't feeling all that good, and I didn't have anything else to do, so I sought out my hotel for a place to relax. The time change was actually affecting me.
The boulder city hotel is a nice historic building with a crazy front desk lady and a grand piano. The room is alright, but there are no blankets and the tv is relatively as small as the plane I took out of cleveland. Somebody called the front desk and said I had my tv too loud, which leads me to believe the walls aren't insulated. In any event, I walked into my room at four pm, and its 6am and I still haven't left. I was planning on getting some food and picking up some ladies, but my body needed to repair. I woke at 12am and swore it was 6am. Crazy. I'm going to take a shower and get some free breakfast. Sarah will be landing in three hours!
Minneapolis was exactly how I expected. The airport was real nice, but I think that is to give people the illusion that it's a place worth being. But there was a little excitement when I got on the plane and the flight attendant (not even close, in case you were wondering) and I found six cases of brown eggs in the stow away bin where I was trying to put my bag. Seriously? Eggs? I started screaming like Samuel L. Jackson....'who put these mother f'n eggs on this mother f'n plane!?'. I made that last part up. The flight attendant, Nancy (we're friends), got on the loudspeaker trying to find the hen who laid them, but to no avail. TSA got involved, and I got a purple heart award. And moved to first class. Some of that part is a lie as well.
Vegas in an hour and a half!
I knew this was going to be an interesting flight when the counter guy at the airport said that anything larger than a briefcase had to be 'stowed' (and just in case you were wondering, 'stowed' is one of my favorite airplane words. 'Friend, some of your foldin' money has come unstowed...'). Anyways, come to find out, I booked a flight, not on an Airbus, but on a tiny school bus with wings. I basically had to do a tuck and roll to get in this thing, and I still bumped my head. Things were quickly remedied (is it weird that the word remedied has the word died in it? Talk about oxymoron) when I was greeted by one of the top five most beautiful women I have ever met. Absolutely gorgeous. She had a slight accent which I later learned was portugese, and I was pretty much in love from that point. So I found 5D next to this rich guy with no personality and an intestine full of flatulance (at least I hope that's him. If its not him, he's going to think it's me...) and squished into my seat. The captain came on the PA after an abnormally long wait and told us there was a mechanical problem, but it was being taken care of. Is this something you tell a school bus full of passengers? Unreal. I don't know what they had to do, but I think one of those luggage tractors pushed us down the runway, and the pilot just popped the clutch. In any event, we were off. Oh, and we had to be de-iced! These sweet remote controlled trucks with booms on them came over and sprayed us down. It was awesome. If the whole zamboni thing doesn't work out for me, I'm getting a job at the airport.
So the family in front of me I'm pretty sure are returning home to Lameville after vacationing in Cleveland. Yeah, that kind of family. Dad is wearing the typical ball cap and glasses, sipping on his complimentary orange juice and peanuts, delivered by my future wife, without so much as taking his eyes off some book he's reading. He asked the portugese beauty fifteen questions before we even took off. His daughter is listening to her ipod, his son is playing DS, and his wife is like 'i can't believe I let him talk me into vacationing in Cleveland again'. The rich guy just farted again. I think I'm going to push him out somewhere in Wisconsin.
its not even six am. this place is full of people going somewhere, and planning something. leaving. which is fine, but one thing i know for certain is that none of these people are leaving Cleveland and purposly going to Minneapolis. I can't think of anything great about Minneapolis. Except Kirby Puckett. And Rocky Raccoon, obviously. Minneapolis is a place solely reserved for layovers and mediocre sports teams, I'm sure of it.
But alas, that's where I'm off to. I plan to make some observational posts outlining some of the fun,or funny, points of my trip out west. I invite you to check back often this week, and help me feel like you're there with me. Please enjoy!