what for...

I’ve met God across his long walnut desk with his diplomas hanging on the wall behind him, and God asks me, “Why?” Why did I cause so much pain? Didn’t I realize that each of us is a sacred, unique snowflake of special unique specialness? Can’t I see how we’re all manifestations of love? I look at God behind his desk, taking notes on a pad, but God’s got this all wrong. We are not special. We are not crap or trash, either. We just are. We just are, and what happens just happens. And God says, “No, that’s not right.” Yeah. Well. Whatever. You can’t teach God anything.

Negative, Ghostrider, the pattern is full...

New Post Coming soon.






How's that for keeping you on the edge of your seat?

CSI: Phoenix

There are few things more bewildering than waking up without clothes on and not knowing why. It doesn't help the confusion when you find your keys in the refrigerator.

Go West, young man

On the side of the road across from Cadillac Ranch, on the outskirts of Amarillo


We ran across the field to get a few shots before the sun dipped down


This photo is amazing for a few reasons. Matt's friends went to Miami for New Year's, and had a little fun teasing us about it. We passed through many towns along our way - Brazil, London, Cuba, and even Miami. We got out to take a picture for Jim and Renee, but the sign was very high up. This shot is a work of pure perspective genius. (That's why it looks slightly photo-shopped. The flash gave Matt a shadow.)


Lots of big giant crosses in fly-over country. No offense, mid-Westerners.


cousins

Check out my blog for some cross-posting in the next week or so. These were mostly photos from Matt's phone. I'll fill in the details, as I do, on my blog. Thanks for checking on us. It was quite a haul.

Take your pick: strawberry, pickle, sled, white or red rose, kiss

Arrived in Harrisburg around 10:30 on Monday night, exhausted. I was particularly cranky for the last 30 miles or so. K and Dan greeted us with cookies and tea, until we were all really, really exhausted.

Spent Tuesday with my mom, sister, and cousin. Rallied some friends for free pool and some new brew at ABC (Appalachian Brewing Company). I'm still feeling a bit run down from the long drive and the numerous climate changes that I've been through in the past month. My allergies have never been very forgiving. Spent Wednesday with my dad - finally consumed some Neato Burrito - ahhh. Introduced Matt to the amazingness that is 5 Below. It's like a dollar store, but w/ a $5 limit. I got a new skin for my ipod, as opposed to paying $30 - $40 anywhere else. They have almost any car charger you could want, Matt stocked up on $4 sunglasses, and a few other random things we probably didn't need, but couldn't pass up for $1. We grabbed some Troegs to add to our holiday brew collection that seems to keep growing.

Brooks played two brief sets at a church, so we couldn't pass that up. Then we crashed Banks' party with some of the Whitaker kids. Matt finally met the rest of my crew. He seemed to be a hit, even with the handful of people I didn't know at the party. I walked in on several deep discussions that involved Matt passionately waving his hands and lots of raised voices. He debated men twice his age about an extremely colorful variety of topics. And even though they sometimes disagreed with his views, they were impressed with his enthusiasm and vigor.

I got to visit with the Mallon family on New Year's Day, then Matt and I headed to the Burlews for what proved to be a heartbreaking Penn State game. But I wanted to get Matt warmed up to the tailgate crowd he'll inevitably have to see again next fall. Finished up the night at my mom's for some kielbasa and sauerkraut and other Stamm holiday traditions. I think Matt enjoyed the "reminiscing" that occurred between my mom, sister, and me. It involved a lot of laughing, loud overlapping chatter, and ultimate submission to the fact that my memory is a steel trap.

We had intended to leave Thursday night, but didn't until Friday morning. We stopped for a cup of tea and a hug from Tiff in Brecksville, OH. The tea was much needed - my allergies were waging a war. From there, we headed for Columbus, or more specifically, New Albany. Mel and Cindy, who I worked with on the Diego tour last year, were gracious enough to cook us dinner and visit with us before we commenced the bulk of the driving. It turns out that Matt and I really don't know anyone between Ohio and Arizona, other than Buttons, who was not home. We could have detoured north to visit more people, but we needed to keep to a straighter path.

Other than some high winds and some snow in Flagstaff, it was a fairly uneventful journey, alternating sleeping and driving. Oh! Except for this exchange between Matt and I, which had me in tears:

M: Hey, look at this. I think I have some mustard under my skin from this morning [Steak and Shake].
E: Well, just bite it out then. It's right next to the nail.
M: (nibbles on finger tip) ..... EW! BLAH! THAT'S NOT MUSTARD! IT'S PUS!
E: (giggles turn into uncontrollable laughter)
M: OH, THAT'S RANCID! OH, MAN!

Eventually, Matt began laughing as hard as me.

Pictures from the trip soon. Matt's glaring at me over the computer as he's eating pretzels w/ Herlocher's mustard. Time to post this before he protests.

Surf's up!

While Jim remains skeptical about our choice of destination, getting a hug, shower, and an hour with him is probably the reigning highlight thus far. We arrived just in time to escort him to the airport for his Miami New Year's va-cay with Renee. I can't help but smile looking at this photo. Recently, a lot of pictures have made it to Facebook from Jim and Matt's YLI trips in high school, and the difference between those two scrawny teenagers, and the above photo is amusing. I think they're a lot more handsome now, but Jim seemed skeptical of that too.

Phone calls have been made, save for one, about our pilgrimage. I'm hoping K will be the last to know, but perhaps the most excited. She's my Jim.

About four more hours and we'll be in the 'burg. I got Matt all excited for some Neato Burrito, ABC's new brew, and Troegs Mad Elf. My mom makes some bangin' bbq too. Even though I like to think of Matt and I as childhood neighbors, living in OH and PA, I'm always amazed at the regional differences in our vast country. We PA Dutch folk like to make pork and sauerkraut on New Year's Day, for health, wealth and luck in the upcoming year.

As it stands now, we'd like to stay in PA until some time after the Rose Bowl on Thursday, then begin our return journey west. While on the road today, we got a request from a Penn State grad student headed for the Fiesta Bowl to surf our couch. For those unfamiliar, couchsurfing is an organization for travelers who might want something friendlier than a hotel while away from home. You post a couple pictures of yourself, and your couch, and your general location, and then travelers far and wide can call on you for a stay. I know my mom is going to think this sounds incredibly unsafe, but you can also just put your status as "a cup of coffee" if your couch is unavailable for whatever reason. It means that you're willing to meet up with someone to show them around or offer advice about the area. You can set the parameters, politely refuse requests, disclose as much or as little info as you want. While it is free, the bigger picture is about hospitality, and trying to make the world seem a little smaller by connecting friendly people in all corners of the world - people who are excited to share their knowledge, heritage, current geographic location, and perhaps make a friend to visit in return. Check it out before you judge. I'm sure, like all organizations, there is the possibility for abuse and misuse, but you gotta have a little faith sometimes. Happy trails!

Just when you think there's nothing to blog about...

After an uneventful evening of driving and napping in shifts, I think both Matt and myself were unsure if we really had anything worth updating about. He drove for a large part of the day, so I napped after dinner in preparation for the graveyard shift. Buttons and I literally passed each other in St. Louis - her brother was taking her to the airport as I drove a sleeping Matt around the city to avoid morning traffic. Around 06:00 CST, I was feeling a bit sleepy but didn't want to wake Matt just yet. I crawled in the back and cuddled up for a quick nap. We hit the snooze button on the alarm once or twice, but I'm a light sleeper. So the sudden "honk, honk" of a highway patrol vehicle, which sounded more like a barge than a truck, made me spring right up. I quickly turned on the car and the lights to acknowledge his presence, and rolled down the window as he approached. Friends have told me stories of being approached in a parked vehicle, grilled about their presence, their destination, their automobile, and sometimes their activities. I expected some kind of hostile line of questioning, but to my utter amazement, the man simply asked us if we were the broken down vehicle that the police had called in. We said no, we were just taking a nap, and he actually told us to go back to sleep! I hope my "Thank you, sir!" sounded as sincere as I meant it.

Of course, neither of us were feeling sleepy, so we hit the road again. Matt took over driving duties, and I was looking at maps when a cop suddenly pulled in behind us, after approximately two minutes of driving. Very calmly and slowly, he turned on his lights - no sirens. Oh, crap. We were so close. Matt asked me what the speed limit was, but two hours had passed since I pulled the car over, so I really didn't know anymore. (Much of the desert and Mid-West is 75 mph, b/c there's so much open country.) Again, we rolled down the window and prepared for the worst. We promptly handed over all info before he could even ask us for it (not like we're used to this kind of thing). We explained that we had napped and switched drivers, so he said that as long as Matt's license came back clean, he'd just give us a warning. His parents can rest easy knowing we ended up with the warning. Matt even took a picture b/c he was so incredulous. I've seen warnings before - 5 of them in the summer of 2005 - but none since then. Oh, I've seen cops. Just no warnings. Please look up my posting from August from my blog about the "Move Over" law.

We didn't make it to St. Louis in time to see Buttons, so we're tigering through to Columbus to wish Jim a happy new year before he jets off to Miami. (Literally, maybe a couple of hours before, if not minutes.) I guess I should officially call my family and tell them we'll be arriving by the end of the day.




Outside of Tulsa, Matt was impressed with the price of gas. This is why a 72+ hour drive around the country is cheaper than flying right now.