Manifesting Sunshine

It's been a while since I've written and updated my situation. My season as a tour guide with TrekAmerica ended at the beginning of October. Since then, I flew back to Tulsa, moved out of my apartment and packed all my belongings in my car. I decided I hadn't had enough of traveling yet and wanted to continue on my own schedule, without the responsibility of passengers.

I took a road trip that lasted five weeks. My travels took me to Denver, Boulder, Salt Lake City, Boise, Seattle, Vancouver, Portland and all down the coast of Oregon continuing through California until I hit San Diego, where I am now.

I hiked in the Boulder Mountains and the Red Woods. Had a great picnic in the vineyards of Napa Valley, sipping on a bottle of wine. Rode my bike to the famous Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake. Went spelunking in a lava cave developed by Mt. St. Helen. Did a nighttime hike through a canyon and slept on a rock slab next to sulphur hot springs. Went to see a few jam bands at local venues. Danced with some Burning Man advocates on Halloween. Drank beer at the Coors Brewery. And Bridgeport. And Deschutes. And, well enough to have the trip dubbed as the "Views and Brews" tour. I watched the seasons change all over the Western part of the country. My days were filled with bright colors, great people, and never ending sunshine.

I had a few friends join and couldn't have asked for better traveling buddies, specifically Sheena, who, when asked me at the end of the trip to name my rose and my thorn of our adventures, I hands down named her my rose. Everyday, all day, this girl exudes good vibes to anyone and anything she comes in contact with. She's the most enthusiastic, positive person I've had the pleasure of getting to know. Also, she has super powers, as you might expect of one named Sheena.

She introduced me to one of the best aspects of our trip: couch surfing. The idea behind couch surfing, taken from the website is: "Participate in creating a better world, one couch at a time. We make the world a better place by opening our homes, our hearts, and our lives. We open our minds and welcome the knowledge that cultural exchange makes available. We create deep and meaningful connections that cross oceans, continents and cultures. CouchSurfing wants to change not only the way we travel, but how we relate to the world!"

Basically we stayed with strangers we connected with over the internet. I was a little skeptical at first, thinking we might run into some dodgy people, but I was quickly proven wrong. Each of these strangers we met quickly became friends. They were very welcoming with open minds and big hearts. Some gave us spare keys to their home, some introduced us to their friends, took us square dancing, cooked us breakfast and dinner, and all offered local insight we wouldn't have likely found on our own. Meeting people so welcoming to strangers without any expectations or judgments gave me a renowned faith in humanity. There are a lot of people out there are who are inherently good, fun, interesting, and worth getting to know. And if we open our eyes and ears, we shall see them.

I had a lot of great experiences during the trip. I breathed in nature and watched the changing of the seasons. I said yes more than I said no. I was blessed with many moments of bliss. I truly fulfilled my mission: to gallivant. And for now, I'm still enjoying the sunshine.

Seminole Canyons

"Nobody's sleeping in the van. That's my space," I sternly said to them. As Sarah's eyes began to fill with tears and she turned away, arms crossed, I realized that they actually were scared. We had been driving for eight hours across southern Texas, passing through small forgotten towns of the past. Long, slow roads with old abandoned buildings mixed in with the occasional church. These were the kinds of places that were so deserted that you would expect something bad to happen. A band of Mexicans making a run for their freedom. A mass murderer lurking in the fields. A bank robbery. None of it would have surprised me.

The sky had been dark gray all day, and it had been raining buckets. The flooded ditches that lined the single lane highway through Del Rio were threatening to pour over to the street, prohibiting advancement through the town. We were getting closer and closer to our campsite. Most of my passengers were sleeping, luckily, and were none the wiser of our less than ideal camping weather. I turned off the radio to be sure and rob them of any knowledge of thunderstorm warnings, flash floods, or any other inclement weather they were surely broadcasting. It was for their own good. And, who am I kidding, mine.

As we continued on our journey, we approached a rather unofficial road block with very official business. A number of suited officers along with a large German Shepherd stood next to a sign that read "Border Patrol." I slowed the van to a halt, which caused my passengers all to awake, full of questions. "Why are we stopping? Where are we? Did we cross the border? Will they ask for our passports? Are they going to search our stuff?" Although I didn't know what to expect, I assured them this was all routine and everything would be fine. I rolled down the window to greet the officer. If my passengers seemed apprehensive about our location, the officers disposition was the same. I guess a large van full of foreigners driving along the desolate Texas-Mexico border, heading for a campsite during a thunderstorm seemed rather out of the ordinary.

After the inquisitors were satisfied with our story and passports, they let us on our way. The land became even more scanty as we progressed past Del Rio. Miles from civilization, I spotted the turn-off to the dirt road that led us up to our campsite. It was after 5:00 when we pulled up, and the small, one man office had closed for the day. The entire campsite was deserted. As we stepped out of the van and got a good look at our surroundings, the reviews were mixed. We were in the middle of a long stretch of land that extended as far as the eye could see. The only signs of human life were the occasional lonely headlights from the very distant highway. And this would bring us to the point where the tears began.

While the majority of the group thought the beauty of the terrain was intensified by the absence of civilization, a few of the girls did not concur. Uneasy with being so alone (nevermind the fact there were 14 of us) they felt certain this night would be their last. Surely they would get attacked by a lethal spider, or pillaged by a psychotic sociopath. Sarah lifted her hand and called out, "I'm sleeping in the van." Several "me too's" followed. Thinking they were completely irrational, I vetoed their requests.

As the tears began to pour, I took a deep breath and reluctantly followed Sarah and the other frightened few. I rationalized with them until they felt comfortable enough to stay the night, having to give in and agree they could sleep in the van. To prove a point of my assurance of our safety, I stated I would be sleeping outside, under the stars. And so they took my spot in the van, I layed atop the picnic table, closed my eyes which brought an end to an eventful night in the Seminole Canyons.

It's my Birthday!

Well, it was my birthday. I turned 2(?) during my last trip, and my group made it really special for me. I was excited to be able to spend it in San Diego, a city I absolutely love.

We arrived in San Diego the day before my birthday, and we camped at a popular campsite on the beach. There were several other TrekAmerica groups staying at the camp that night, so we pulled them together and challenged them to Trek Olympics. Our competitions included a sock-wrestling match, an egg toss, and an obstacle course to name a few. Each challenge was sure to get everyone wet, dirty and sweaty, which was our idea of fun.

The second night we moved to a hostel in downtown San Diego. This worked out ideally because I didn't have to drive, which I really was hoping to avoid on my birthday. We went out for dinner at the Yard House, a cool pub in the Gaslamp district with a great selection of beer. My group surprised me with a cake, got me a Padres shirt which they all signed, and a really nice card. Then we went to a Padres game, which they all really enjoyed. They had never been to a baseball game and were really excited to see an American sports game. They showed up to the game decked out in Padres gear, which I found quite amusing since they didn't know much about the Padres or baseball. One of them was pulling for the Padres to win the Superbowl. Hee hee! I loved their spirit and enthusiasm. This group could have fun doing anything anywhere. They were a really great group, my best one of the season.

I got a pocket full of sunshine

Currently, I'm on my third day of a Westerner 2. New group of people; 14 days long. Today we're in San Francisco. It's been sunny all day. Last night we went on a sunset sailboat cruise followed by dinner at a restaurant in Chinatown. The restaurant was called Sam Wo's, notorious for an odd atmosphere and rude service. Everyone loved it. Today I wandered around, visiting different parts of the city. San Francisco is a great place. Tomorrow we leave for Yosemite where we will hike up Half Dome, a 17-mile round trip hike, gaining 4,800 feet in elevation. I told my group it's extremely hard, scary, dangerous, and ridicoulous, and they were all in. I like these guys.

Somewhere in Texas

Getting tired of driving across the country, I thought we could give hitchhiking a go.

Southern Sun

Right now I'm on my second tour, called the Southern Sun. It started in New York, and ends three weeks later in Los Angeles. It's AWESOME!!!! I have thirteen passengers again; all but two are from the U.K.; the others are from New Zealand. They are a great group of people. They all participated in an organization called "Camp America" where they came over to the states for ten weeks prior to coming on this trip and worked as camp counselors. They're all really easy going and fun to be around.

So far the highlights have been Washington D.C., white water rafting on the Ocoee River in Tennesee, and today we have arrived in New Orleans, after barley dodging a tornado in Alabama. We've been camping, and will be for the majority, but we have a hotel here in New Orleans. When I went to check in, the office guy gave me a tour and showed me their rooms. I came back to the group and said they were "BAD ASS!!!" and they were like, "Is that good or bad?" Ha! Apparently that's an American term.

We have two days in New Orleans, then we do a swamp tour west of here and camp the night around Lake Charles, Louisiana. It's hot and muggy here, but we've been lucky enough to avoid any rain (and tornadoes). I'm really excited about this trip overall. There's a lot of cool places and things to do on our itinerary. I'm starting to get the hang of things better now, so this trip seems easier than my last one. When I checked into my hotel, got a suite all to myself, and was presented a bottle of wine at the front desk, I just thought, " I can't believe I'm getting paid for this."

This is not my beautiful wife

Right now I'm midway through my first tour. It's incredible, just like everything else that's happened since I started this job. I feel like I've crammed a lifetime of lessons, new experiences, and memories into one very long, yet also short, month.

The tour that I'm on right now is called the Western Wonder, and the route covers San Francisco, Yosemite, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, and Los Angeles. I have 13 passengers: Anika and Kolja from Germany, Jennifer and Choi from Korea, Kate and Lindsay from Scotland, Rikke and Therese from Denmark, Angelica from Colombia, Ben and Bec from Australia, and Adam and Paul from England, age ranging from 21 to 28. Not only did I get lucky enough to have such a great group of people; it's also a budget lodging tour, which means hotels and hostels rather than camping.

This has been the hardest I've ever worked at anything in my whole life. I'm constantly "on."Being responsible for 13 people is no easy task. My role as the leader is to essentially organize every detail of their vacation. I have to figure out how to grocery shop for 14 people, tell them what time to wake up, decide where and what time they eat, show them on the map where we're going, how long it will take, what the distance is (in miles and kilometers), what they should wear, the weather report (in Fahrenheit and Celsius), check them into their rooms, find out prices of activities, times of events, safety warnings (ie. what to do if encounter a bear) let them know what kind of food may be served at any/all of our hostels...the list is never-ending. It's overwhelming, exhausting, stressful. But the rewards are so indescribably wonderful. Getting to know these people, hearing their excitement, visiting incredible places...it's a dream.

This tour ends on Saturday, when we will leave the Grand Canyon, drive to Los Angeles, and say our goodbyes. I just found out I fly out on Sunday to New York, and will start my next tour on Wednesday, which is a three week long tour called Southern Sun. It starts in New York, driving across the country ending in Los Angeles. I have two days to plan out my trip. Eek! I'm super excited (and stressed)!

This picture was taken last night in Vegas. This was our stop in downtown, where we were let off our party bus limo to catch the light show, then returned to cruise down the strip and get dropped off in front of the Bellagio to catch the water and sound show.

"And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack
And you may find yourself in another part of the world
And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife
And you may ask yourself-well...how did I get here?"

-Once in a Lifetime, Talking Heads.