The Desert Moon Begins to Wane

Our trip is coming to an end as the mountain (& then desert) moon that led us along begins to wane.

We were able to spend some time in San Francisco

but with a lack of free parking

we had to skip town before seeing an old friend of mine.

A detour was taken, solely for my sake.

I had wanted to see a ghost town while we were in the Southwest.

No fee was made apparent online.

So we went a good distance out of our way (a full extra day on the road).

After arriving we realized that we were to be charged $21.

($7 per person)

I thought that it would be a good plan to have Benjamin hide in the backseat.

Thus saving us $7.

Bodie, California.

Quite the sight.

Perfectly preserved.

The town folk abandoned their houses, furniture, all of their belongings.

 

We continued to head South and decided to skip over the larger cities (San Diego, L.A.).

This being due to our lack of ability to locate free parking.

I am a cheapskate.

We did see Santa Monica, however, which was great fun!

We swam in the ocean with scuba gear we dumpstered while still in Michigan.

The waves were unreal, nothing like what we see at the great lakes.

The water was also saltier than I would have imagined.

I headed inland after a large wave caused my goggles to vanish. 

After swimming, we laid in the sun.

Then Benjamin decided that he wanted to walk the shore.

This was fine. But he had to be back in half of an hour.

He was not.

After running up and down the shore, along the sidewalks, making desperate phone calls,

I decided to wait where we had been when he left.

Somewhere between overjoyed and angry was how I was feeling when I spotted him walking towards me.

We continued on our way, making it to the Grand Canyon by the next morning.

What an incredible sight it was!

Ben and I did some free-hand climbing off the beaten path.

The best part was hiking down into the canyon for a few miles.

We could see storms making their way across the desert.

Absolutely beautiful.

In the end I was glad the we had stumbled upon the Canyon in monsoon season.

We spent around 8 hours total in the park

witnessing the stark difference that light quality made throughout the day.

Night fall was upon us soon enough and we were just leaving the park.

We made the heart-breaking decision to pass the Pueblo Ruins

A lot of road had to be covered in the next few days.

We hoped to make it to Colorado that night.

Which we did, with me behind the wheel.

I was usually the late night driver.

The plan was to see our Grandfather Jim by tonight.

We should be to Greely by this afternoon.

It is very difficult for me to believe that we've been on the road for close to a month.

I guess that this is what traveling and living in a car can do to an individual.

Headed Out West, Fourth Day, Spirits Are High

It is our fourth day into our first traveling stint across the nation.

Plans changed abruptly when my partner's mother voiced her concern for her daughter hitchhiking.

She "resolved" the situation by offering us her car (& credit card to cover gas!).

This amendment would change more aspects of our travels than I would like to admit.

It would dramatically decrease the adventurous, as well as spiritual, energy of our experience.

Thus causing the trip to feel less genuine to myself.

It would hinder the personal interaction with strangers that we would usually be forced to endure.

I could continue with the negatives, including the hypocrisy that would come coupled with my personal philosophy on life and travel.

But this was an opportunity of a lifetime and I felt that it would be

foolish to not accept.

Accepting the car keys and credit card would (almost) ensure that we did make it to the West Coast.

That we wouldn't get stranded in the desert.

This would also be a chance for us to "give back" by giving rides to fellow hitchhikers along the route.

Safety is usually something that I am completely content to sacrifice for absolute freedom.

But after much prayer and thought on the subject, we were headed north from Kalamazoo,

Autumn, Benjamin, & I.

We made our way up through our home state & were able to sneak into Sleeping Bear Dunes.

With our tent and gear on our backs.

We met a couple from South Carolina that took a genuine interest in our travels and philosophy.

We watched the sunset over lake Michigan, as a summer storm made it's way over the waterfront.

The wind was strong and we were silent.

Our tent was pitched in a basin carved inbetween the dunes.

The wind turned out to be more than our little tent could handle...

So we made the two mile hike back to the car.

It was dark and the rain fell hard on us.

After we reached the shelter of our vehicle, the sky opened and displayed the stars in a beautiful way.

We would be air-drying our clothes in strange places for the next few days.

The next morning we hit the road at 5:30 a.m.

Ended our driving in a familiar Traverse City.

Free breakfast for the needy was located shortly.

Solitude time was spent in chapel that we came across.

We also took in a 25cent movie.

The 75cents were spanged and the film was an old-time classic based off of a Hemingway novel.

We continued on our way.

Across the Mackinac Bridge and to the U.P.

This is where the sight-seeing truly began.

We visited the Tahquamenon Falls, both high and low.

Then proceeded to the Lake Superior shoreline by way of a a network of narrow, dirt roads.

We thought that we were lost many times, but the Almighty pulled us through!

It was a race with the sun along the swerving country roads.

We made it to Pictured Rocks just as the sun was setting.

Ben and I found a hole in the barricade that was keeping us from the rock formation...

we made the ascent, right past the sign forbidding us to do so.

The image of us sitting in the lotus position atop the monumental rock face is burnt into my mind.

Then it was to far northern city of Marquette.

I drove through the night and we eventually found a wal-mart on the outskirts

where we camped in our car for the night.

The next morning we explored the city.

Most notably were the ancient ore dock

the People's Food Co-op

& Northern Michigan University

Autumn picked Benjamin and I upon campus and we made our way west towards Wisconsin.

I was navigating and fell asleep.

This ended in us accidentally going much further north than intended.

After many roads traveled through the Northern Woods we crossed the state border

& began our descent through Wisconsin.

I drove late through the night once more until we found ourselves at another wal-mart parking lot.

This time in Menonimie, WI.

We were asleep soon enough.

Up until this point we've sustained ourselves on dumpstered food and a large jar of peanut butter.

Mostly free traveling and our spirits are high.

And now we're in the Twin Cities, taking off for St. Paul's Cathedral!

Empty Arms, No Longer (Silence & Life)

When is one no longer considered alone?

Silence.

Deafening Silence.

Life-changing Silence.

Is my soul but a whisper?

I had been lying to myself the entire time.

It was only a desire for warmth, for intimacy.

That caused me to feel any need to speak.

But fingers have been put against my lips,

to hush, to caress. 

How can nothing have ever felt so right?

My bag is mostly unpacked.

When you live the way that I have chosen to,

Plans that work out are a thing of the imagination.

"Peregrinatio est tacere"
"To be silent keeps us pilgrims."

Hold your tongue, find yourself and the Almighty in silence.
Make no more plans, start living.

Atrocious Atmospheric Conditions in Ann Arbor

 

Our departure began with the rain.

It shows no signs of stopping.

The journey would have it that we were stopped

in the street by two gentlemen calling out to us,

"You are here now."

We were here now.

The conversation shifted from travel to sleep

And from worldly pleasure to spirituality.

A friend of theirs came outside

She invited us to spend the night on her couches.

Thus the story of our night in a dry, warm house.

Radar continues to show that we will not be

wandering dry

anytime soon.

Finger crossed,

we're hoping to cross

the Canadian border with no trouble.

Cheez-Its and Powdered Lemonade (Spiritual Rebirth)

The gratuitous comforts of a home

Are never enough to make me stay.

Walls and a roof over my head,

but I would rather take my chances.

As I have always said.

People will always speak of money.

Well, they can make their living,

but, me, I'll be living free.

I decided to drop out of school

to see what else the world might hold for me.

Anyone can be an exception to "the rule".

Could I live a different lifestyle

than the one that I had been taught was "correct"?

Still making it out alive, with a genuine smile?

I began to give away my worldly possesions

to those who needed them more than I.

I became involved with activism, small-scale rebellions

I began to stick my thumb out on the edge of highways.

Eating meals from the bottom of trashcans.

I'd growl and snarl at men in suits, in my early days.

I wore a dark bandanna over my face.

My clothes were ragged and sewn together.

I was happy to be out of place.

I began to study many subjects.

Religion intrigued me.

So much to learn, so many holy texts.

I had grown up loosely in the Christian tradition

but without much reason to believe.

I eventually thought my way out of it, through my "intuition".

I felt that conflicting answers made sense to different people.

Varying circumstances meant that

not everyone needed to worship underneath a steeple.

I still see organized religion to be a limitation.

The modern representation of Christianity, in general,

causes me to cringe. Even just the indication.

Christ's message doesn't seem to be represented well by the Christians.

Why isn't more focus put into action than vindication?

We were told to care for the widows, the orphans. To give away our riches.

Not to proselytize or to prove who was right, who was wrong.

The medium was love, the mindset was unconditional acceptance.

To come as you are, to join in the most rebellious of songs.

I have come to realize that my existence holds much higher aspiration.

To continue my search for beauty, for goodwill.

To be active in my personal liberation.

Most everyone seems to be searching for something more.

I've found it, but believe my journey is never-ending.

This fills my heart with excitement, more so than ever before.

What more reason is needed to walk the earth?

To learn, to explore, to love

What better way is there to experience spiritual rebirth?

sunlit fruit trees

The orchard has begun to burst with color and blossoms

I've had thoughts of searching for love

I am but the son of a farmer and the artist

I wake at a different time every morning

to work with my hands

in the soil

to walk in the forest

in the early summer sun

to tend to my carpentry

in the workshop

To Question All that Holds Us Together

Is to have a greater chance at living

If we are not to dispute the societal fabric
that encompasses our day-to-day lives
How are we to know what we could have a chance
at standing for, at believing in?

The most passionate of beliefs come from exploration
Promising results following abandonment
of what we've been taught to think.

There is no problem to return to what we were told,
But there is an undeniable issue in not making these beliefs our own.

It is every individual's responsibility
to tap into their personal ethical system.

Where is the excitement or authenticity
of preaching the same politics that we heard
from our fathers at the dinner table?

Question
all history
all science
all religion
all authority
all of the ideas
you ever thought to be truth