My bike came in the mail yesterday. Words can not express the excitement of Krysta. I immediately took it to the scene shop and put it together. The brakes got a little wonky and Higgs showed me how to fix them. I did a few victory laps between the house and the theatre before the show. It was raining, but that probably just made it better.

People have been questioning why I spent $100 having my bike sent out here. I don't have a car and this is a such a tiny, secluded place, I've felt really trapped. The bike offers me a different kind of freedom. I often want quiet time to myself to just get my thought together, and I haven't had much of it lately. Now that my bike is here I'll be able to take off for a while after work. I like to go and do things by myself, so I can bike myself to the quarry or hopefully to Manchester. Plus I need the exercise.

I've been spending my work days int he basement of the theatre cutting up 50 foot cables that w don't need and making shorter ones. There are no windows down there, and it's damp, and I can hear the base of the music from the shop and the theatre over my own headphones, so after a few hours I start to get a little crazy. I've had a headache for a few days and I'm not sure if it's weather, or lack of sleep, or the basement, but maybe all three. I'm thinking taking off for a few hours on my bike really help a bunch. Anyway I've got some things on my mind that need to be addressed.

I'm hoping my next update will have a little history of Colony House and some pictures as well. I'm also hoping to get some pictures of the set and lights. They're both quite amazing. As usual.

Here is a little back story of the theatre I am working for all summer in Dorset, VT:

First of all, we have to start this out right, by explaining a little about Dorset, VT. Dorset is a fairly old New England town known for one thing: the oldest marble quarry in the country. There is marble all over this teeny town; sidewalks, curbs, houses, patios, everything. The quarry is no longer used, however, because as it was being mined an underground spring was hit and the quarry filled up. It is now an awesome swimming spot for locals, and those of us part of DTF.

Dorset is so tiny, it has no grocery store, just a general market. There is one gas pump, one post office, one bank and a library. There is no cell phone tower, and thus, no cell reception. It is also the home of three upscale inns, The Dorset Inn, The Barrows House, and The Dovetail Inn. Dorset relies mostly on tourism, but due to the economy, it hasn't been doing so well. Luckily, everyone who lives here is pretty much loaded. Including our wonderful board members, who adore the fact that the population of young people in this town doubles over the summer when DTF is in full swing.

The theatre itself has an amazing story, which our artistic director, Carl Forsman, loves to tell. The Dorset Theatre Festival was founded in 1970 by Jill Charles and John Nassivera, who were married at that time. The theatre was made up of two historic barns pushed together. One held the audience, and the other was the stage. Jill served as the artistic director and John was the associate Artistic Director and it stayed that way for years, even after their marriage ended. The festival was wildly successful.

I'm guessing it was about 7 years ago that they decided to start a huge renovation to update the theatre. While the renovation was in progress they ran into a major groundwater problem which doubled the cost of the renovations. DTF needed to take out a 1 million dollar loan to cover this cost. Jill Charles was then diagnosed with very advanced breast cancer and given only a few months to live. The new theatre was completed that spring and Jill directed the first show that summer. She was taken to the opening night in an ambulance. She did not live through the summer season.

After Jill died John took over as the artistic director of the theatre. As the economy struggled, so did the theatre and productions started to go downhill. The theatre now had a multi million dollar debt and had lost half of it's subscribers. In order to try and save the festival the board asked John Nassivera to step down as artistic director of the theatre.

Last year Carl Forsman, the artistic director of the New York based Off-Broadway Keen Company, which I have worked for in the past, was asked to come in and head DTF. He brought in all his own people from NY, including myself and several other Keen Company regulars. We ran the entire season with 8 regular staff members and 7 interns. Our job was simple: Save the theatre. That's it. We came in, worked our asses off and pulled off an amazing season. We broke even last summer, which was the only goal. If we had not been able to operate in the black, the theatre probably would have ended.

This year we have increased the staff and intern count considerably. We earned back many of the theatre's subscriber numbers and have started the long process of earning the trust of this community. The people of Vermont are nice people, but they keep an eye on us and keep track of what we do. I think with every year, they will begin to trust us more and more.

Let's take a moment to talk about my amazing morning.

I woke up today and it was pouring rain. It's been threatening to rain for the last three days, but didn't follow through until today. I was a little upset about this, because although I love the rain, today is Farmer's Market Day. (How much do I love a town with no grocery store, but it's own farmer's market?) I know the market always goes up, rain or shine, and that I am always there, show or no show. The only problem is that I was planning to walk there and I don't have an umbrella. Anyway this kind of rain really doesn't take heed of an umbrella.

Brandes was wonderful enough to let me borrow her car to take Peaches and myself over there. It was pouring off and on the whole time as we darted in and out of the stalls. We also ran into part of the cast of The Dining Room. I love running into people at the farmer's market. Something about it seems so fitting, even if you know you're going to see them at the theatre in a little while anyway.

The most wonderful part of today at the farmer's market was that today was the first day of fruit (other than apples). I purchased the most amazing tomatoes, cherries and strawberries. Peaches got some as well and had a little freak out over how delicious they were. I guess now he understands why I'll happily spend so much money on farmer's market food that I can buy for a third of the price at the grocery store.

I hate that I'm too timid to talk to some of these people about working for them after the summer is over. I know that the summer is the big season, but I really want to check out the other seasons in VT and I need to know more about farming in New England. I am never disappointed with any of the people or the food at any farmer's markets I have ever been to. It only fuels my desire to be part of it all. I've got to get on the ball with looking for farming jobs after the summer.

But right now I've got to get to the theatre.

I realized that I never posted any information about the company I am working for. Information about the Dorset Theatre Festival can be found here. I'll post more information about the history of the theatre a little later on. Like all old buildings in Vermont, it's actually quite interesting.

Last night was the opening for "Nobody Don't Like Yogi" here at Dorset. It's a one man show about Yogi Berra's return to Yankee Stadium for the first time in 14 years. I'm not terribly interested in baseball, and before this show I really didn't know anything about Yogi. That doesn't change the fact that this s an amazing show, and Teddy Coluca is an amazing actor to watch and to work with.

After the performance we had a little reception, which turned into a full blown party here at the Colony House. Dancing, drinking, and everyone in pretty clothes. I got myself a new red dress, which is, without a doubt, the prettiest dress I have ever owned. Of course there were a billion cameras and even more pictures. So enjoy these pictures of the Yogi Opening and Colony House Dance Party:

Our board members, Jake and Holly, have an amazing house here in Dorset. It's right on the side of a hill and this is the view from the backyard.





The pool is always the right temperature and the hot tub fits 8 people. Oh man, I'm so glad that Jake and Holly love to share. Every time we see them they are always telling us to come over. They know how wonderful their home is and they want everyone to be able to enjoy it. Plus they give us food. Who can argue with that? Not I.

As promised, here are pictures of the picnic table that was driven into the ground by a fallen tree. This table did not break. CRAZY!





People are taking pictures like mad around here. I'll attempt to get some posted. Tomorrow we are supposed to be going to a board member's house who has the most AMAZING view. We went there a few times last year. We are so lucky to have so many board members who are as generous to the theatre as they are. We wouldn't exist without them.

Vermont weather is such a welcome change for me. Last night there was a huge storm and a tornado watch. One of the trees at the theatre started to crack and we were afraid it would fall into the power lines, however there wasn't really anything we could do about it at that time. By the time we got back to the house (a 3 minute walk from the theatre) it was pouring rain. Denise and I immediately threw off our shoes and ran out onto the back lawn. I started yelling at the sky to give me more and it started hailing. We figured that was a good time to run back onto the lanai.

A little later on, when the rain dyed down a bit, we walked over to the Dorset Inn, where there is an upscale bar for the rich people who live here. The bar tender, James, was a rockin guy who had invented his own drink called The Little Red Corvette. I have no idea what was in it, but Alex got it and it was yummy. I stuck to a Tom Collins, because that's what people drink in swanky establishments.

It started pouring again while we were there and we had to stick around for more than one cocktail. James told us about the two ghosts who live in the Dorset Inn. One is a little girl about 12 years old and the other is a confederate general. He did not know any back story on them, but he did tell us about some encounters he had while working. The freakiest one was when he was closing up one night and the basement door kept opening and the light turned on. Three times. After the third time James decided to go home.

James is a much cooler bar tender than the other guy, Patrick. Sadly, James is leaving Dorset and moving to Lake George to bar tend at Johnny Rockets. Lame. But he's all about it, so I guess that's all that matters. He's training a girl named Katie to be his replacement and she seems like fun, so I'm hoping many nights will be enjoyed there.

When it finally stopped raining so hard we walked back to the house and had a little drunk dance party. Everyone was a little surprised to see me dancing like a crazy person, and I guess I was too. I told myself I would not turn down any opportunities for fun, so I guess I had to rock out. Something about 99 Red Balloons makes me flip out with happiness. It felt pretty damn good to let loose.

This morning when we got to the theatre the tree had fallen over. Amazingly it did not hit the power lines, but it did hit one of our picnic tables. The table did not break, but it managed to get pushed about a foot into the ground. Pictures to come later. No really. I'll post them.

We had our first meet and greet today at the theatre. I'm hoping it will be a great summer. The people all seem to be genuinely nice, and all the unkind people from last year did not come back. There is also more volleyball enthusiasm, including my own. Last year I didn't really play much because I was so bad, and not into running about making an ass of myself. Lately I've been trying to let things like that go and just do whatever makes me happiest. So I played volleyball today and I was actually pretty OK, plus I had a really great time.

I've been having some trouble updating because I've been busy. I hope I can make more time for this in the future, because I enjoy sitting down and collecting my thoughts. My blog is important to me, because I will undoubtedly want to look back on it some day to remember these Dorset summers. It hasn't helped that I am always around people, and I usually blog alone. Writing with other people around causes a block for the most part. I'm going to need to get over this.

I can't wait for my bike to get here so I can start getting more exercise and exploring the area. This place is so beautiful and I miss a lot of it for lack of a better way of getting around. I plan to get out alone as much as possible because spending every day with so many people is difficult for me. On the other hand, having so many people around is working wonders on the loneliness I've been feeling.

Anyway, tomorrow is another day of wonderful work. I haven't done any really hard work for months and it's a downer. I'm looking forward to working my as off this summer.

Roommate going to sleep. Will post more later.

DORSET!!!!!! I'm so glad I got here early. It's a damn good time to hang out here and be with my buddies. I've missed this place. It's so wonderful and green. It rained on our drive up. Lovely.

Admittedly I'm a little worried about being stuck here for three month. I'm especially used to coming and going whenever I want. The past few months after I've left NY I haven't ever felt stuck anywhere. However, having good friends here should help me calm down about being stuck. My bike will also help. Dorset is so isolated, it can be hard to stay put. I need this though.

I've missed sitting around listening to music and having little chats. My anxiety is sure to settle down. I get a little uppity, but I think I'll be ok once we get into the work routine. I think I need down time to deal with myself right now.

I have got to learn how to sleep in hotel rooms. I hardly slept at all and I feel like crap. I did not sleep in the car because I thought I'd be sleeping on the floor tonight and I needed all the sleep deprivation I could get in order to pass out on a floor. Turns out I'm sleeping on a mattress, so woo-hoo to that.

I guess maybe I should explain where I am. I am currently in Cleveland, Ohio in the apartment of a med student named Min, who is a friend of Nick's. When we got here she took us to a barbecue with a bunch of other med students and we basically just chilled out and ate and watched some TV. Med students don't seem to understand the humor of singing Aquarius after losing your virginty. It's funny damn it. Plus that song is rockin.

I realized today that I forgot to mention one of the highlights of our road trip thus far. As we were driving towards Iowa yesterday, while in Nebraska, a red car pulled up next to us and the passengers, three high school aged girls, waved and giggled at the car. I didn't understand it, but Nick, being a guy, decided it would be a good idea to play along and pass them again. I suggested he raise his eyebrows at them suggestively, as a trucker had done to me earlier in the day. This caused the girls to start following us. This went on for quite some time with us passing them and them passing us. I was beginning to lose patience with the whole thing because the girls were so young anyway. I finally made a sign that said "Do you hookers got any blow?" and held it up just as the were exiting. Words can not describe the looks on their faces when they saw it. Funniest. Shit. Ever.

So tomorrow we head out to Boston and then the next day I'll be in Vermont! Yeah! I'm so looking forward to spending time outside and taking in all the green surrounding. Oh grass, just two more days and I get to roll in you.

Hotel - Moline, IL

Well, I'm here in Moline. Don't ask me anything about this place, because I don't know. The hotel is pretty nice. Internet, third floor and a room you enter from inside the building. What more could a girl ask for?

Nick's been a great travel partner. We talk a bunch. We listen to a lot of the same music. He enjoys doing all the driving. This is all fine and dandy by me. Awkwardness avoided. He has a high tolerance for my disjointed social skills. That always helps.

I'm starting to think a little more on this whole wandering thing that I'm doing. I'm content now and marginally satisfied with the friendships I currently have with people, but I know it won't last forever. I know that eventually I'm going to need more. As I get closer and closer to summer, I get closer and closer to summer's end. I need to figure out where I'll go. I hope it will lead to somewhere I want to stay.

I can't have meaningful relationships while I'm running all about. I can't keep starting up these friendships and then running off again. I'll want something more than friends in the future. But I also know that I need to be around people who have the same ideals as I do. Where I go after summer may help me find those people. I hope it helps me find those people.

This seems random. Nick and I had some conversations today during our 12 hour trip, which got me thinking about my direction in life. It's crazy having someone to talk to so casually for such a long time abut these kinds of serious subjects. It gets me drifting off into my head for long periods of time. It doesn't help that I have trouble explaining my intentions, mostly because I'm still trying to figure them out. Transitions. Ugh.

Boulder, CO

I'm having some trouble coming to terms with the fact that I am so quiet around new people. Nick and I drove to Boulder today and met up with his two friends who we are staying with. I immediately shut down, as usual. It's terribly irritating and I told myself that I needed to open my mouth and just say something. But I didn't. I remained noticeably silent.

It's actually rather worrisome because I don't want people to mistake me for dim witted, snobbish, or think that I don't like them. It's never the case. The real problem is that I am a group observer. It must be some kind of insecurity that I become so shy around new people. It is especially bad when they actually try to include me and I still remain somewhat silent. How can I explain to people that I really am content to just observe? I don't feel left out, I'm just taking everything in I'm trying to understand who you are so I can figure out who I am, when around you.

That night Nick offered to do a Tarot reading for me because I had mentioned an email I got from Lisa asking me what my epiphanies have been. I thought it was rather interesting and worth writing down and sharing. The question I asked was "What's going to happen to me after Dorset?" Nick told me that my past has been associated with The High Priestess, who is a secret keeper. My past has a lot to do with secrets and hiding reality. The present is confusion, represented by the 8 of Swords. The future was the 6 of Pentacles, who has faith in the universe and is one with it. The focus card was the King of Pentacles, who will be a Virgo personality type. He (or she) is caring and likes helping others a lot, but he is also a strong and immovable character. There are 2 minor characters, who play a messenger type role in my life. One is the Knave of Swords, who is a logical messenger. He(or she) is good with words and persuasive. The second is the Knave of Wands, who is fiery and attractive and charismatic. My overall goal is Temperance. I strive for synthesis and balance of both sides.

Santa Fe, NM

I've been having a pretty nice time being alone lately. I've found that I really enjoy having the mornings to myself to be quiet and think while exploring, and then spend the evenings with friends. I guess I'm more social at night.

I remember when I first moved back to NY and I didn't know anyone, I would be ok during the day, reading or working, or whatever. At night I would get hopelessly depressed and wander around the city for hours in the dark. I see now why that was such a terrible time of ups and downs for me. Even today, though I am not in that state of depression, I find myself restless at night and even lonely sometimes.

Loneliness is an emotion I've always battled with. I feel as though my need- which is far more than just a desire, but a true need- is something I should overcome. Ideally I'd like to enjoy the company of others as I do now, but not feel so restless when I am alone in the evenings. It's not as though I even need to have someone to talk to, though I do prefer that, I can be content sitting in a room where others are interacting.

Last night I went over to Tom's place and watched him play video games and barbecue. We watched a movie and then played Wii bowling. Nothing amazing happened, but I was immediately content when I walked in the door, though I had been restless all evening beforehand.

Eventually I left with Ryan and we went driving around outside of Santa Fe on the pitch black roads telling stories of supernatural encounters. I brought up La Llarona, but we decided it was best not to talk about that out there. Eventually, after what seemed like forever on this one road, the pavement ended. I immediately noticed that the paved turnoff was called La Llarona. Ryan didn't notice and started to turn on to it, but I pointed it out and told him to stay off the road. He agreed that it was a bad idea to name a street that and an even worse idea to drive on it in the pitch black night in the middle of nowhere.

I spent today wandering about alone, taking care of a few errands and making one last stop at Doodlet's. I wonder when I'll be back here again. I don't know what's going to happen after summer. It's frustrating to me that I love so many places, but have found no where I love enough to stay. I'd like to take all the people and places I love the most and put them all together so I can finally be somewhere where I am not conflicted about who I am and what kind of culture is my own. There are people all over the country I miss terribly all the time. There are sunsets, skylines, stars, hills, foods, traditions from everywhere I've ever been that I think about all the time. It's almost as though, the more I travel, the more trouble I have picturing myself in one place. I don't want to live the life of a nomad. I want to find a place to settle. I know I need to make my home somewhere, and hopefully I'll be able to make it in such a way that I won't spend my nights thinking of the people that I'm not around.

And now I'm back in Santa Fe. You'd think that because I am such a compulsive planner I would have timed my trips better to save myself the back and forth. It's got to be a good thing that I'm not, though. That's the point of all this drifting around stuff. I think.

I drove here with a guy named Zach. He goes to school in Tucson, but is native to Santa Fe and wanted to visit in order to consume as much chile as possible. I'm not kidding, his visit is based on food. I think it is a noble cause and I support it. Especially because his chile craving coincided with my need to get to Santa Fe.

Zach was by far my best craigslist ride yet. He's a very smart and progressive person, and we were close in age, so he was easy to get along with. I enjoy a good conversation and this was a seven and a half hour drive where the conversation didn't seem to grow stale or awkward. We discussed diet, politics, economics, books (though I don't think either of us has ever read the same book), movies, all that regular first meeting conversation stuff.

He actually began one of the conversations by asking me "What don't you eat?" which no one has ever asked me before. It was kind of funny, but a relief at the same time. Normally when a conversation veers toward food people want to know what I like and then they talk about what they like and sooner or later we're going to get to the awkward intersection where I have to explain that I'm a vegetarian. Starting the food conversation with "I don't eat meat or eggs and I avoid green peppers," was terribly fun for me. Zack doesn't eat processed foods like bread. He has a weakness for Red Bull though, which is mildly entertaining. I admitted my weakness for Twizzlers, even though I'm a no-junk-food sort of gal.

Now is a good time to mention that I am not a nervous passenger. I find that most people can get from point A to point B without causing a problem. I explained this to Zack as he explained that many of his passengers are uncomfortable. He isn't a tailgater, or an angry driver, Zack is a speeder. There were times when I looked over and saw the speedometer moving slightly above 100. This didn't make me uncomfortable because he wasn't being reckless or aggressive and he slowed down when he come up on a group of cars passing. I figured, if he gets pulled over, it's his ticket. He knows how fast he's going, so he knows the risk he runs.

About two hours south of Santa Fe Zack gets pulled over. He's been a very calm, chill person this whole time but he suddenly gets very panic stricken. He informs me that he may have a warrant out. Oh. Well. Umm. For unpaid traffic tickets and failure to appear. Phew. I'm so not about this guy having drugs or guns in the back seat. Yikes. He hands the cop his license and when the cop goes to check it, Zack is flipping out. I'm not a terribly paranoid person and I tend to play it cool all the time. What's the worst that could happen? The cop will take Zack in and make him pay the fines. Whatever. But Zack is sure he's going to get arrested, which has me wondering how much of his traffic violation story is true. It also has me nervous about how I'm going to get myself to Santa Fe if something happens. I'm having a right good time driving with Zack and I'm not in a hurry to change situations.

The cop comes back to the car and tells Zack that his license is suspended. I mentally sigh. I've been through this before. I hand the cop my license so he can make sure I'm not offering to drive with my own suspended license. How sad to say that this is not the first time I've been in a car with someone pulled over with a suspended license. When he comes back he tells me that my license has been canceled by the Arizona DMV. Um, right, haha. No, he says, it's canceled. ?!?!?!?! How is that even possible?!?! When? Why? He doesn't know. All I can think of is someone messed up somewhere and allowed my NYID to cancel out my AZDL when it should not have. To be dealt with tomorrow. How are we getting out of here?

The cop, who pointed out that he was "not a hard ass" (kthx) and told us we should go. He warned us not to get pulled over. Right. Ok. Awesome. But he takes Zack's license with him. Poor Zack, all he wanted to do was go eat chile, now he's got two more tickets added on to his list, no drivers license and he has to drive to Santa Fe in a state of paranoia, knowing that if he gets pulled over, he's screwed. He goes about 5 over the rest of the way. It became apparent to me that Zack has trouble driving without speeding, especially if there is decent music playing. I have that problem too, which is why I love cruise control. But I'm not a worried person and we got in just fine.

Zack took me to this place called PC's for dinner. He insisted that I was not going to the best places for chile and that I needed to try this place. The red chile there was bright red, like the color of ketchup. I've never seen chile that red before, and it was crazy-yummy. Just the right kind of spicy. Clearly the kind of place I would recommend in the future, it was full of New Mexican diner atmosphere. It had a large stone fountain in the dining room, which was not running, a wall of displayed dishes, a wall of old movie posters, and a half empty gift shop full of the same crap you buy at every tourist shop downtown. Ah Santa Fe, how I love thee.

After that it was time for me to head to Denise and Ray's place, where Monty gave me a wonderful welcome. I told Zack I would email him the link to this blog so that he could sue me for violating his privacy. He did actually tell me his last name at one point, but I forgot it. So here's his email address: Just kidding.

Tomorrow starts another adventure. My mother is feeling much better and is walking around just fine now, so I'm no longer nervous to leave her. My father and brother have been spending all their time at the store and I was worried that they would leave her alone while I was gone and she wasn't even able to get to the kitchen for water. Today she's walking around like nothing happened, so I'm not worried about leaving her here alone. Of course my mother can take care of herself, but if she gets a dizzy spell, I wouldn't want her to be alone in the house. I guess I'm just annoyed that they would put an Ace Hardware ahead her. What kind of family do I have if they would just leave her alone all day while she's feeling so sick? But, like I said, she's feeling much better, so I guess I don't have to worry.

The current travel plans are to leave for Santa Fe at noon tomorrow. Then I'll spend Wednesday in New Mexico, catch up with a few people and a dog. Then on Thursday Nick and I head out to the East Coast. We'll be stopping in Boulder, Iowa, Cleveland, and Boston before he drops me off in NY. I've never been to Boulder, Cleveland, or Boston, so I'm excited to see these new cities. We won't be spending a ton of time in these places, but just a little peek might spark my interest to check them out more thoroughly in the future.

Packing for Vermont has become a nightmare. I don't know where I'm going after the summer, so I don't know how much to take in terms of warm clothing. I'm not sure what to do about my bike except leave my parents some money and ask them to bring it to a bike shop that will ship it. I can't do it now because no one is at the theatre to receive it yet. I also can't find my screwdriver. I don't know why I always have to feel so rushed when I pack. I have plenty of time. I think owning things makes me nervous and having to pick and chose what goes and what stays is annoying to me. I would be better off owning nothing, then I wouldn't ever have to pack.

I think I might give my brain a short break and go out and buy some fabric to make a case for my laptop. I always enjoy sewing projects. I guess I'll update again from Santa Fe. After I've consumed more red chile of course.

Sadly, I am at the airport. I couldn't find a decent ride out of Austin. I would have taken the bus, but my mother got sick yesterday and no one has time to take care of her, so I want to get home as soon as possible to help her. Apparently she has vertigo, so she'll be fine, but she's stuck in bed feeling horrible for a while.

This also means that no one will be able to pick me up, so I'm going to take my chances with the horrible public transportation in Tucson. The closest bus stop to my place is about half an hour's walk, so that should be fun. So glad I packed light, because it'll probably be hot. It's not a big deal though, I could use the walk after all the eating out I've done this week.

This trip to Austin has been wonderful. The city has so many fun little local places that you'd never find anywhere else. We only ate at local restaurants and went to some interesting bars. Even the movie theater where we saw Indiana Jones was a local place and there's an amazing local ice cream shop.

Exploring these places with Joe was probably he best part. Our friendship feels so natural and easy, I'm sometimes surprised by it. He has infinite patience with the people around him, (which people around me tend to need). It's kind of like having a brother I actually get along with. He's such an important person to me, it's about time I came down here to visit his life a bit.

Today was yet another fun and interesting day. Joe had off from work and Grace took a half day so that we could run about and do some fun stuff. Joe had been talking about taking me to this place called "Camp," which is owned by his uncle. It's a piece of property outside of Austin with a little cabin and a creek running through the back. This creek feeds into a bigger river and there is a canoe there. Joe couldn't find his keys though, so we couldn't go in the cabin or unlock the canoe. Silly Joe.

The creek and river were super icky from the storms last week, which caused debris to clog up the water flow, so we did not go swimming. We walked around a bit, peeked into the empty houses of the neighbors (almost no one lives in any of these houses, they just keep them on the property), swung on some swings, and chatted. A good part of the day indeed.

After that we went over to Barton Springs Pool. This is actually a river that has been made into a pool. There are steps to get in, and cement sides, but the bottom is all natural and it is not closed off from the regular flow of water. Because of this, it is a public pool that needs no chemicals added to it, in order to keep it clean. This place was a right good time. Joe had been promising me swimming all week, and this place was exactly the kind of place I wanted to swim. Natural, but still big enough to allow for proper swimming. Grace also requested that I mention that this was probably the biggest pool I had ever swam in. I admit it is quite large.

Joe had also been telling me about the Congress Avenue Bridge, which is home to the world's largest urban bat colony. At night you can sit under the bridge, or stand on it and watch the bats fly out. I could not believe the endless stream of bats flying out of this bridge! We were there for a long time and there was no end to them. We left before the numbers had tapered off. It was so amazing to see thousands of these little creatures flying off. I can also say that while we were there I was not being eaten by mosquitoes, like I have been for the majority of this trip.

We headed back to Joe's place so that he and I could pack up. Joe is leaving in the morning for Mexico to go on a caving trip he's been planning for a long time. He's going to the worlds largest known cave shaft in the world, Golondrinas Cave. He is going to drop down on rope into this huge opening, which could fit the entire Empire State Building. I informed him that if he chickened out, we could no longer be friends. I also informed him that if he died, I would be very upset. He'll be ok.

State Capitol Building- Austin, TX

Written Wednesday afternoon:

I'm currently in the state capitol building in Austin, TX, which prides itself on being 14 feet taller than the white house in Washington D.C. This basically sums up the atmosphere here. The entire building brims with Texas pride. Everywhere you look there are stars, the shape of Texas and the word Texas itself.

I really wish I had my camera because the details in this building are amazing. I've gotten some links in order to try and supplement the writing better. The hinges on all the doors say "Texas Capitol," when opened. The tile work on the floors is all about Texas history and heroism. The front entrance has the names of all the major battles fought for Texas independence laid into the floor. The doorknobs even have stars in them, as well as all the lighting. The rotunda is topped with a star 8 feet across (though it's so high up it looks much smaller)with the letters of TEXAS in each gap between the points.

The building itself is endlessly huge and I am grateful to be able to walk wherever I want. I took a short tour of the building to get a better idea of what goes on. It is clear that Texans have pride in their history and they have worked hard to preserve it. Most of this building has been remodeled to look the way it did in it's original state. The desks in the Senate and Representative meeting rooms are all original, as well as doorknobs, chandeliers and probably the hinges as well. One could spend hours in this amazing building wandering about lost.

My favorite part of the entire building is the underground areas that were added much later. When you are on those floors it doesn't feel like you are underground, because the windows were planned in such a way to let in massive amounts of natural light. There is an outdoor courtyard that has been dug out which flood the halls with light, as well as the skylights, which look up out of the ground. They look odd from the outside, because they are windows literally laid at ground level and surrounded with short hedges.

I'd like to spend more time in this building, but I've got to go meet Joe and Grace for dinner and a meeting of sorts with the caving group they are part of. We're to learn about cave fishing. I can honestly say I'm not interested in how to catch fish in a cave, but I am interested in Brazilian dinner and drinking with a bunch of crazy cavers. One of them owns chickens, which he is very fond of, and one of them is German, which I am very fond of, and one of them holds "Safety Meetings," which everyone is very fond of.

Grace's place - Austin, TX

Tuesday, after showing me his work place, Joe and I went around downtown a bit. We stopped at the river, but it was way hot and sunny yesterday and I had left my sunscreen at his place. Then we visited a friend of his who works in a headshop. Not a ton of excitement, but the best part was yet to come. Joe had plans to take me caving that evening.

I've gone caving with Joe a few times in Arizona. We've gone in some pretty cool caves and gotten plenty mucked up and bruised. I'm not claustrophobic and I'm relatively small, so the idea has always appealed to me. I am endlessly thankful that Joe is such a patient person, because I'm willing to try new things, but I ask constant questions and I take my time. I guess it's not all bad that I have the most interesting friends in the world.

The cave we went to is called Whirlpool. It is inside the city limits of Austin, right next to a shopping center, under the freeway. This came as a shock to me, because all of the caves Joe had taken me to previously had taken hours of desert driving to get to. Apparently the city of Austin has hundreds of caves, discovered when people try to build on them. This cave is locked to protect it. We went in with a guy named Matt as our guide, who gives tours of this cave regularly to beginners. There were 13 of us total, about half of which were not actually beginners, but I've noticed that cavers don't turn down a good cave just because it's not the most challenging one in the world. This cave isn't open for just anyone to come through, so they took advantage of the cave tour.

Whirlpool was given its name because it is in a stream bed. When it rained and the stream flooded, water drained into the cave and created a whirlpool, which is how it was discovered. It is a fairly straight forward cave with a pretty clear path of where to go. Some caves are like Swiss cheese, with endless passages to get hopelessly lost in. I have been in such a cave once with Joe, and gotten slightly lost, so this one was a relief. It was also a relief to have people who know the cave so well as our guides.

The cave was made up of many tight passages that required crawling, and often times slithering, to get through. These passages opened up into bigger chambers, which made the journey more comfortable. One of these passages was named the birth canal, because it was such a tight squeeze. It was best to go through on your back with your eyes closed, to avoid dust. You just have to feel your way forward and trust that you will come out in the end. It was about 6-8 feet of this, which is not so bad. I've gone through passages that seemed to go on forever and ever with nothing but sliding on your belly, using your toes to propel you forward, with no clear ending that allowed you to stand right up.

This cave had a lot of payoffs, in that hard work led to a comfortable place for the group to sit and chat, or amazing cave formations. In this case, the last room in the cave had an exploded geode, named Crystal City, that could be seen right up close. By shining your headlamp on it the little crystals glowed. Amazing, amazing the things that are hidden in the ground.

We entered the cave around 7:30pm and came out at 11:00pm. It was a long trip for such a small cave, but so worth it. I emerged covered in bruises and mud, but completely satisfied and energized. Starving, also.

After that it was off to shower and then meet up with Grace, Joe's girlfriend. Very nice girl, a little hard to read, but I think that's a good thing. We crashed at her place because she has an air mattress. She also has an awesome dog named Chloe who is currently laying on the air mattress with me.

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.