Between Charlotte, NC and Richmond, VA

When I took the bus down to South Carolina on Monday the craziness of the whole ordeal got me talking to some of the passengers. I sat next to a woman named Robin. She was on her way back to Atlanta from Maine, where she had just buried her mother. She was an older woman, but she had no home and was staying with her son. She used to have a husband and a steady job, but she divorced him a few years ago, and then was laid off. Suffice to say, she had seen better times. I told her about what I was doing and the farm job I had lined up. She said she had been thinking of doing something like that, but she didn't know where to look. I gave her the WWOOF website and told her that it was worth the $20. She seemed excited and I hope she uses it. Who knows, maybe I'll bump into her again. I'm a little annoyed with myself for not getting her email address.

I am now back on a Greyhound bus. I'm heading back to Richmond to see Cory for a second and then leave for NY on a Chinatown bus at 1am. This Greyhound experience has been a lot like the last one, in that it sucks. The bus took off thirty minutes late, but this was understandable because the weather was pretty bad. We were running about an hour behind when the bus suddenly turned around 60 miles north of our last stop, Greensboro, NC. One of the passengers had gone up to the front of the bus, talked to the driver, and without explanation, the bus turned around. Finally one of the other passengers asked what the hell was going on. The driver told us he was going back to Greensboro to drop off that passenger that he had been talking to, and then we would turn back and drive straight to Richmond without making any stops. He expected we would get there on time, which should have been 5:20pm.

When we got back to Greensboro he dropped that passenger off at a rental truck place, not the bus stop. If I had known this bus was actually a cab maybe I would have asked to be taken to the Bronx instead. Lame. I have no idea why that guy did not get off the bus the first time we were in Greensboro, or what he said to the driver that made him turn around and drive back an hour and drop someone off at a place that was not even a real bus stop. It is now 5:50 and it has started raining again. We're not in Richmond. We're not even in VA yet.

The one good thing that has happened because of all this is that suddenly everyone on the bus is chatting with one another. The three people in front of me were talking about conspiracy theories for hours and have just changed to relationship advice. The people in the back of the bus are playing music. This young dude in a leather jacket walked up to me while at a rest stop and said something I could not understand. I asked him to repeat it and I still couldn't understand it. I was worried that it was his accent and I really didn't want to be a jerk about it. I told him that I was sorry, but I could not understand him. He said "Oh, I'm sorry, you don't speak Russian? I thought you did." I laughed it off. Now I would like to know what it was that he said, but he is several rows in front of me, talking to the elderly southern woman next to him. Maybe he's getting off in Richmond and I'll have time to ask him about it while I wait for Cory.

I wonder what made him think I spoke Russian? I know people often try to place my heritage, but no one has ever assumed I spoke another language based solely on what I look like. Interesting.

Grace's place - Austin, TX

Here I am in Austin, TX. Even more strange is where I am specifically. I am on an air mattress, currently sharing a bed with a dog, in a house that belongs to Joe's girlfriend, Grace. Yesterday he suggested that we sleep here because she has more room and an air mattress. This was before I had even met her, but it sounded ok. They are both at work and she's fine with me hanging here for a while, sleeping in.

But, it's better to start from the beginning. Marty turned out to be a hell of an annoying person by morning. As soon as the sun comes up, I'm ready for quiet time, even if I haven't slept. Actually, more so if I haven't slept. Not Marty! Talktalktalktalktalk. And about things I don't really want to talk about. On top of that, a 13 hour drive turned into a 16 hour drive because he just kept pulling over and spending far too much time browsing at gas stations.

We got in at 8:30am. Joe delayed going to work, which is apparently not a big deal at all for him, but I still don't like the idea. When I finally got there we chatted a bit, then I crashed in his bed when he left for work. It is my opinion that Joe needs to wash his pillowcases. I'm glad he gave me my own pillow, because sharing a dirty pillow is not my idea of fun. Sheets looked ok though.

Little power nap I guess, because he called me 2 hours later and we went to lunch at this vegan Thai place. Oh my god I love wheat gluten, and I love it better spicy (love it better?). Then we went to this coffee house and had vegan peanut butter cups (basically cupcake-sized peanut butter cups, but vegan, and BETTER) and chocolate beer. I am not convinced that beer tasted anything like chocolate, and I stand by not liking beer.

I told him I wanted to see where he worked, so he took me on a little tour. Joe works for a company that rents out cameras and equipment to movie productions. When they rent out something that requires a technician, they also rent out Joe, or his co-worker James. The place is an old airplane hanger at the old Austin airport. Most of the area has been turned into a strip mall, the rest is used for movie production. Robert Rodriguez has his studio in there and the new Friday the 13th is being shot there as well.

I am very sorry to tell you all that I forgot my camera on this trip. This is especially annoying because there were a few pictures I would have taken for sure. Joe's company rents out this Titan truck with a cherry picker-like thing on top for a camera man. The back wheels of the truck can be steered as well as the front, to make the truck drive diagonal, and also make -really- tight turns. The cherry picker is on a counter weight system, not a hydrolic one. Joe had me go sit on the camera end and then he sent it up into the air. It's not terribly high, but he made me wear a seatbelt. Ha. I got a pretty good view of the old airport, and the control tower especially, and of downtown Austin. I did request that he not drive the thing while I was in the air, as it might make me slightly uncomfortable. Joe is not the technician who knows about the titan and would not be called out to operate it normally, so it seemed better to stay stationary.

When I came down he drove me around the airport a bit and showed me the other studios. Apparently Rodriguez left up parts of the Grindhouse set and I would have taken a picture of it for my buddy Iggy. I did call Iggy and tell him that I met Rodriguez, which of course is a lie, and I told him so quickly. I think Joe is rubbing off on me in that way. He is a pathological liar. Luckily I've known him long enough to be able to tell when he's full of shit.

This is getting kind of long here, and I'm getting tired of typing, so I'll have to add the caving part a little later.

Between Tucson and Austin

I'm currently driving through Texas. When I turned on my computer it offered to connect me to the wireless network "Jesus is Lord." We also just passed a place called Zebra Show Bar. Sadly, I forgot the camera, so no pictures of this. Ah well.

I've never typed in a moving car before, it's kind of crazy. Lots of typos. Not really enough room for my hands,

The man I am driving with is called Marty. He has a bird named Max, who is, thankfully, in a cage. When I get to Austin I'm going to remind Joe that I got in a car with a bird for him. If that's not love, I don't know what is. But Max is a chill bird, so we're getting along. He likes to "sing" along to music with high notes. Marty likes to whistle along with him. I like to eat Twizzlers.

Marty drives a minivan, which gets surprisingly good mileage, even with the AC on and the back completely packed with stuff. It drives well too. He is a man who likes bumper stickers. He has not one, but two "F the president" stickers, which I fully support. I wonder if he'll want to keep those on there even after the election. Perhaps they are reflective of his feelings towards the office in general?

Marty is s biology teacher at high schools and community colleges. He lives in Austin, but will basically travel to wherever the job is. He is currently waiting to hear back from a position h applied for at an all girls school. He is unsure f they allow makes teachers, but the ad did not specify, so he applied. He's got wild hair and unkempt facial hair and he likes to drink tea on the road because "road coffee is the worst coffee."

He's the most interesting person I have traveled with to date, because, like me, he's seen a lot of places and he's seen most of them from the road. Traveling with fellow drifters is a pleasure. I drove through all of NM and he slept. It was nice. Sadly, Marty is not in a hurry at all and keeps stopping the car for all kinds of silly things. He did a u-turn for donuts and attempted to stop at a rest stop to sleep for a little while, but I took over the driving because I wasn't at all tired. No point in stopping when you have two drivers.

I'd like to end this with what Marty just said to me as I typed this: "Pretty fast for a pecker." Ha!

Parents' Place - Tucson, AZ

I'm back in Tucson. I've been in four cities over the past two days. I'm so tired!!!

My wonderful "husband" Tom drove me to Abq yesterday morning, where I met up with this guy AJ, who drove me to Phoenix in a Prius. Oh man, gas mileage is so great in that thing. The engine switches off when you go downhill and you get about 100 mpg. Wow. Crashed with a buddy in Phoenix, then caught a ride back to Tucson this morning with a guy named Chris.

AJ is a 23 year old married Christian. The odds of us having anything in common and actually getting along in a genuine, more-than-civil manner were quite slim. However, AJ was a pretty cool guy. Not crazy into God and not a right-wing republican with mediocre music tastes. However, we did talk about food shortages, not eating red meat (he brought it up, not me, I swear), and how awesome Ben Folds Five is. Then I stole some of his music from a CD of MP3s he had.

As we got toward Phoenix both of our phones died and he decided to stop off at his in-laws' house, which was a huge scary brick mansion. I felt a little out of place going in there to charge up my phone while he called his wife to meet him at the rental car return (the Prius was rented). We went into the kitchen and there was a roasted chicken on the counter, half dissected. There was chicken juice all over the counter and I was a little freaked out, especially because there were two small children running about. Something about having a chicken with all it's guts spilled over a kitchen counter in the same room as small children rubs me the wrong way. Anyway I ended up driving the car back to the airport and he took his mother-in-law's jeep. He then dropped me off at the airport where I et up with a buddy for dinner and a place to crash.

That night my buddy needed to go pick something up from a friend. He called a bunch of people to find this person. This was all while driving around downtown Phoenix, which is really a weird and redundant city. Nothing very pretty about the architecture or the landscape. Phoenix is a flat, flat city. Still, it was enjoyable, because I love the way my friend drives. It's weird that his speeding around at night is so relaxing. It's like he finds empty streets just so he can zoom around, though he has no real destination. Anyway we finally got a location and went there. And waited. He was supposed to be coming, until then we would hang out with a bunch of pot heads who talked about some amazingly stupid shit. And played video games stoned. I don't understand the point of that. Why can't we just lay outside and enjoy the amazing night?

We finally had to go to some sketchy area of town to find this guy. The streets made no sense whatsoever and the numbered ones changed a bunch. It's like the people naming the streets just got lazy, or else thought the rest of the city was too consistent. Anyway we finally found him and my buddy got whatever it was that he needed to get in the sketchiest of ways and we moved on. Got back to his place intending to do a music exchange, but we were both so tired we just passed out. Fun night though. This friend of mine is an incredibly, intellectually stimulating person. I don't know why his friends were such idiots.

This morning my friend had to go to work early, so he dropped me off at the university to wait for my ride to Tucson. He was supposed to get me at 9, and I was there at 8:50. At 9 he calls to tell me he went a different way and is somewhere else. I got a little worried he was going to say he wasn't coming. It was rainy in Phoenix this morning and I had no where to go anyway. The coffee shop down the street wasn't taking credit cards and I had no cash. Turns out he was coming to get me, but he would be a bit late. No worries. He picked me up and he had a friend in the car, who I was relieved to learn is gay. Two college-age guys driving to Tucson to pick up some crap from a dorm room, or something. I don't like university guys. Shitty music, bad driving and all about impressing people with stories of sex. As though it matters in the end. But I didn't have to say much because they were entertaining each other. I was being entertained by the scenery.

And here is Samuel, the newest member of the herd:

Target forgot to charge me for him, but I didn't bother to say anything. That's how I roll.

Denise and Ray's - Santa Fe, NM

Actually having the choice of not driving is the best thing ever. I've missed the subway system, but the Santa Fe bus is actually pretty good. True it's never on time, but it does get you where you need to go and the stops are not hard to get to. Plus they're cheap. Tucson buses make me sad (read: I hate them).

I took the bus all over today for $1. That went like this:
Me: This is the #2 bus?
Driver: #2!
Me: I'd like a day pass please
Driver: OK, $1
Me: I thought it was $2?
Driver: Not if you're a student. Aren't you a student?
Me: I guess I must be.

That ticket was for people under the age of 18. See, looking 16 gets me somewhere after all!

I stopped at the college first to see the people at my old job. Quite nice. One of them adopted a baby. I was more than thrilled for her. I'm a big fan of adoption and I think she'll be a wonderful mother. I could not find Clare D., so I will go back tomorrow during office hours. There is a lot of crazy in the air while the college transitions, but everyone seems optimistic. I am too, for once. I wish that this had happened a few years before I had gotten there. Maybe I would have enjoyed college more.

I walked around campus a bit looking for my friend's new office. It's weird to be on the other end of the "you don't go to school here" looks from CSF students. It's such a small school it's easy to spot someone new right away. I used to give those looks! You were still in diapers when I was making those sideways glances!

I hopped back on the bus, after watching 2 ravens fighting in front of the school. I forgot that the campus was covered in ravens. Amazing birds. I should get better at this picture thing, because I didn't think to take one.

Once downtown I went to my three favorite stores ever: Doodlet's, Poem and Design Warehouse. I purchased some things that I *needed* (see below) and then went over to Atomic for food. A very good-looking waiter served me nachos covered in red chile, while I read The Santa Fe Reporter. It is a huge relief to be in a city where the waiters know off the tops of their heads what items are vegetarian. In many cases it is indicated on the menu. Not all chile is created equal. The nachos do not normally have red chile on them, but that's bullshit. You can not have Mexican-type food in NM without chile, so I fixed that. I'll also point out that natives are less likely to think you're a tourist if you order chile on everything. On this subject, it should be mentioned that McDonald's and Subway both have green chile on the menu.

I took the bus back to the house and on it I met a woman from VT and a woman from NYC. Needless to say, the woman from NY was rather rude and the woman from VT was very kind. Crazy how that works. The driver turned out to be from Jersey and was pretty cool. He used to live in AZ, but like me, felt that Santa Fe was a superior place to live. I'd like to now point out that conversations like this don't happen on NYC transit and I like it that way. However, being in Santa Fe makes me want to talk to people. Did NY make me an introvert, or did leaving make me an extrovert?

Ponder. Ponder.


Today's pictures:


A mailbox downtown. I have no idea. The web address on there is http://www.uspsjedimaster.com but it offers no answers.


It was rainy and windy and chilly today, but Santa Fe always manages to have views like this. I love the walk back from the bus.



A Magnet. The women in the store were nice enough to open a whole set, just so I could buy this one magnet. Thank you wonderful Poem women and your understanding of my love for Zebras.


A postcard


A zebra buying problem. But how could I resist?!?!? What is that zebra doing in a crosswalk?!?
This postcard is one of many that I own made by a German company called Inkognito.

I also bought my mother an Inkognito postcard of a mouse hugging an elephants leg, but I sealed it in an envelope before I thought to take a picture. She'll like it.