interesting day

it started at 7am or so. Sunday. I woke up, realized I was at least an hour late, forced myself awake, and jumped in the car. I drove about 2 hours south to Cabazon, CA, on I-10, where we had stopped on the way into CA to see the amazing dinosaurs. (see Flickr.) my destination was the Morango Casino and Resort. I was planning to play a poker tournament, which I was late for.

Needless to say, due to my slightly adventurous driving, I arrived in plenty of time. played well, and enjoyed it, but didn't finish in anything that I find worth writing about. so back on the road I go, back to the Oaks. before I get there, I come across an overturned SUV, covering both lanes of the small road I'm on. as I drive up, I'm facing the undercarriage of the vehicle, as it's actually on it's side. there's a policeman, directing people onto the dirt on either side of the road. I passed it, and didn't give much thought until later.
about 5 minutes down the road, 3 policemen sped by me going about 85 or so, and we're still on a very small road. they get a few miles ahead of me, all turn their lights off, do u-turns, and, driving normal speeds, head back the other way.

when I got back to the Oaks, I got a call from Ben, who told me Sam was in need of E-vac. so back on the road, 3 hours north this time, to pick up Sam. after being 6 days in the mountains, he had badly sprained his knee, and wasn't able to keep up the climbing. on the way to pick him up, I once again, find another overturned SUV. this one is on top of an approx 8 foot embankment, how it got up there I don't know. there were no cops or other emergency services there yet. 3 or 4 cards had stopped, and were carrying a woman by her arms, apparently in circles. her SUV was completely on it's top, smashed flat. now that's 2 overturned SUVs, and 1 other incident with cops, all in one day. I'm not sure what to make of it. God's trying to send me a message, I'm just not sure what.
on an odd side note, I've noticed here in CA, the only cops I see are at the scene of an accident, or on the side of the road, giving someone a ticket. I've not seen 1 cop with a radar gun, or just driving. they're always at some important event. this busy schedule of theirs has given me even more of a freedom in my driving then ever before.

Sam was waiting at a Subway, in Independence, CA. he had me carry him to the car, (not really,) and then 3 more ours of driving, and that's the day. not anything amazing, just alot of out-of-the-ordinary experiences. I'm sure I don't remember them all, because I think there were several more that made the day odd. but this is what I have so deal with it.

so no Sam and I are both on the Oaks, tho not for long. more to come shortly.

PS. check out the Flickr. there are pics from the drive to CA, and Sam's hiking pics. more to come soon.

catching up.

alright, I'm way behind. some days, I'm just not motivated to write. especially when I have poor Internet. and I worked that day. which describes almost every day for the last 2 weeks or something.

as Sam said, from Lara and Kevin's place in El Paso, we drove to Tuscon, AZ. we have relatives there, cousins I believe. (I get confused, but I THINK it's cousins.) I hope to have pictures of them up soon. they were tons of fun. I'd never met any of them before, but I'm glad I did. very cool people.

then, we drove to my Aunt Becky's house, in Long Beach, CA. on the way there, we did stop at the dinosaurs, as Sam mentioned. supposedly the dinosaurs in Cazabana, CA are the largest in the world. I'm not sure if I believe that. but. they were pretty cool. I'll get pics of those up too, as soon as I can get internet that lets me do it.

then of course, we got into Long Beach. Dad had flown in a few days before, and they were hard at work painting. my Aunt was repainting her house, which is interesting to do, as there are very small spaces between the houses. Dan and Andrea also came in at some point, and after we did more painting, Sam and I followed Dan and Andrea back to the Oaks, where I currently reside. The Oaks is a camp in Lake Hughes, CA, which is a few hours north of LA. I've worked here the last 2 summers, and I'm staying here until my GF, Mary-Beth catches up with us, on the 26th.

Last but not least, Dan dropped Sam off in the mountains on Tuesday I believe it was. Tuesday the 11th. I got a couple pictures of Sam that morning as he was heading out. those coming soon also.

that's all I have for now. we're still out of date, but I'll catch you up the rest of the way soon.

go west young man

well, i suppose i'll copy this over from xanga. so I can say I contributed something.

Andrew can give a more indepth look into the last few days but here is my summary.

Trip is starting off well.

Hit Austin wednesday night. Ben W's apartment is on the top floor, so we were pretty high. nice views. Went to cheddar and ate supper. tasty.

Thursday night we made it to El Paso. Stayed with Lara and Kevin. charming folk. ate pizza and watched teh Virgin suicides. really weird movie. I got to the end of it, and couldnt really remember what the movie was about or if there had been a point to it. But it was fun. And their apartment is really cool.

Friday we drove over to Tuscon, saw the relatives whom we'd never met before. Nice people. Ate some more food there. watching some tv. did some sleeping.

Saturday we had a long drive to LA. mostly uneventful except for the dinosaur. I sat on its foot. Btw, I had a dream last night about an even bigger dinosaur. somewhere. It was weird.

We got into LA, well actually Long Beach about 5 or so, and immediately starting helping paint my aunt's house. Did that for a few hours, then went and picked up some food from Taco Surf. Basically mexican food... cept you can get it with fish in it if you want. I didn't. cuz that's disgusting. But they do have some amazing beef tacos. crazy good.

Oh, and a side note. There are alot of beautiful women in CA. i like it here.

This will probably be my only post as i will be heading out to the mountains tomorrow. most likely. But I will try to get some updates to andy when i have cell service.

wish me clear skies, light feet, and a trail free of carnivorous animals.

weeeeee

alright people, lets start this up again. traveling again. and as always, we've started this road with Willie Neslon, On the Road Again.

We left Lufkin yesterday, Wednesday, September 5th. we drove about 4 1/2 hours to Austin, met up with Ben W, our host for the night. had dinner with him and his brother, and then I drove my GF back to home to San Antonio.

We woke up this morning, left about 10, and drove until 7:30, when we arrived in El Paso. we're staying here with Lara and Kevin. just until tomorrow I mean. then we head to Tucson.



as for a quick over all plan, we're driving to CA, and then on monday, I'm dropping off Sam in the wilderness. and he'll hike for months on end. and I'll be around CA for 2 weeks or so, then head around CA, Oregon, Washington, and eventually, (hopefully,) Canada.

anyway, that's all I got right now. check back for more soon!