South on I-5

Well, turns out that I did decide the internship in Arizona would be a better situation, so I set off this morning on my second long haul of the month.  That’s all a long story and I’m not sure how much good it would do rant it on the blog.  If you’re really curious, drop me a line or leave me a comment and I’ll get back to you.

I pulled into Redding, California, this evening and the first words out of my mouth upon getting out the car were, “Holy Crap it’s hot!”  Thus, my first concern is that I am going to melt in Arizona.  I can handle heat, but I packed for a summer in Seattle, not a summer in Phoenix.  Looks like somebody might need to go shopping.

Before arriving in Redding, I stopped at a truck stop for some dinner.  Bought myself some gizzards and an energy drink.  The gizzards rocked.  Gizzards have to be the best gas station food ever.  The energy drink was the first one I’ve ever had and it was sick.  And it gave me the shakes.  Not that I advocate drinking and driving, but I think with my body chemistry and personality in general, it might be safer for me to drive with a Heineken than with an energy drink.  I think I’ll stick to Mt. Dew and water.

Last but not least, I hereby declare Oregon the home of the strangest people in America.  This declaration is based solely upon the impressions I have of the people at rest stops in various states.  The Oregon rest stops were kookier than Montana and Idaho combined.

So that’s the latest.  Aiming for Bakersfield tomorrow and then on to Phoenix on Sunday!

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Accounting for the last 3 1/2 weeks

5/24-26 I finished moving and prepared my new pad for the folks subletting.

5/26 The above took much longer than anticipated, so I had to take the ferry across the lake to get back to Minnesota in time. I forgot preaching clothes, so stopped at Macy’s and spent too much money. Between Macy’s and my folks’, I choked on water and nearly drove off the road. I had to spit the water out (all over myself and the dashboard) in order to avoid dying.

5/27 Got lost on my way to preach and arrived just as the first hymn started.

5/29-6/2Drove from Minneapolis to Seattle.

6/2 Went to a cage fight.

6/3 Got to see my best pals west of the Mississippi for the first time in a year. We went for a run. I almost died again, but it had nothing to do with choking or water. Mostly to do with hills. I also forgot my toothbrush, so they took me to Trader Joe’s of all places, where I bought a “new” one made from recycled yogurt containers.

6/4-5 Had two days of orientation for my summer internship.

6/5 Met Deb and her husband, their friend who has some really fat cats and a bunch of other crazy folks from Pennsylvania.

6/6-12 Went to Iowa for my denomination’s big annual governance/worship conference.

6/11 Marched my little seminarian butt down to the floor during a plenary session at the conference in order to defend the needs of torture victims. The body wasn’t even voting on whether or not we should join an alliance to support torture victims. The vote was to decide if we should take a year to study this. Throw me a frickin bone.

6/12 Flew back to Seattle and strongly considered taking a different summer internship in Arizona.

6/13 Had my first ‘real’ day on the job. The day started at 6:45a.m.

I am tired, but I have a million stories to tell and just as many phone calls and emails to catch up on. We’ll see what little stories and tirades I can pump out later.

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