DStilled

Go West Young Man

July 2, 2007 on 1:44 am | In Blog |

Tuesday morning I woke up late and almost missed my check-out time. That’s what I get for updating late at night in a time zone west of my own. Tuesday was the day for Cowtown or Fort Worth, my (and Garrett’s) city of birth. I didn’t remember too much about the town, just little things about where we lived. My parents were never big on bike rides so even at 10 years of age, I just played in the back yard. Now visiting the area I see that area isn’t that nice but then again, 15 years have passed and nothing new has been built. The church is exactly the same as it was, only it feels smaller to me. Rebeakh, I saw David E. Smith elementary! Oh, and there’s this one other thing: OUR HOUSE ISN’T THERE!!! Both church houses next to the church were bulldozed a while ago and replaced by grass and a picnic table. I was saddened. The next place I went was one of the largest seminaries in the world: Southwestern Baptist. My visit there was multi-fold. See the building in which I was brought home from the hospital to, find Charis (a friend from ky), talk to the department head of the couseling center, see the old prof that Garrett was named after, and enjoy the largest seminary library ever. I was 2 for 5. Charis was unreachable, the counseling guy was a double doctorate and I needed to read his book before I spoke to him, and Dr. James Leo Garrett is 81 years old and only comes in a couple of times a week. I then drove by Rangers Stadium, Very cool, and decided to go to the famous Stockyards to eat a good steak dinner. I went to a place called Cattlemen’s. Very cool atmosphere and great service. The food is definately overpriced. I had what should have been the second best steak in the house and I was disappointed. It just lacked good flavor and a small part of it was almost burnt. I hate wasted money. Anyway, by now everything on me except my shoes were dry from the torrent of flooding rain Texas was getting. So I hopped in my car and drove to Wichita Falls, found a great cheap motel, and borrowed a blow dryer. Now my shoes are dry and I’m happy.

Wednesday morning I woke up and drove. I put the Bible back on the speakers and read Joshua through 2 Samuel. I felt much better during these five books. God is less personal because He’s not constantly talking and it seems more aloof. It seems like God picks one or two people to be with and everyone else just has to suck it up. Sometimes I felt like I couldn’t fault Israel for doing wrong becuase “wrong” is so absurdly rigid and tedious that it’s not even logical. So it got me thinking: God is so holy, not even the entirety of all human lives outweighs His holiness. David was awesome. If he hadn’t had Uriah the Hittite killed, I’m not sure God wouldn’t have deemed him holy. Santa Fe was not happy to see me. Everything down in the cultural district closed at 6. I got there at 5:45. As soon as I walked in I saw a Guatemalan shop. I talked to the lady running it for about ten minutes. She was from Guat and goes down there a couple of times a year. Santa Fe felt like a rich Guatemalan’s playground so I can see the attraction. Then a thunderstorm rolled in and it was awesome. There was more lightning than rain. I went to McD’s and tried to get their wireless. Wonderfully, they charge so I just ate my McChicken in quiet.

Thursday morning I woke up ready for the day. I went back downtown and saw some “miraculous” stairs, the oldest house in America (1200), oldest church in America (1630), oldest public building still in use (1610). The stairs were in a chapel and the story goes: The nuns who ran the chapel couldn’t get to the choir loft so they wanted to get someone to build some stairs. They couldn’t get anyone and then a worker mysteriously showed up and built these stairs. As you may have noticed, there’s no center beam or supports on the side. The stairs are simply just perfectly crafted. The day after the craftsmen was done, he vanished without payment. The nuns were convinced the worker was an angel of the Lord. They used the stairs for over 100 years and then ownership decided to section them off for preservation with all the tourists. After all the coolness I drove to Four corners. The west is STUPID big! I drove until too late thinking I was going to make it until Bryce Canyon. While there was awesome landscape, I just wanted to get there. What compounded my anciness way I didn’t know what local time it was. Arizona time is Mountain standard which means there’s no daylight savings. So right now they are on Pacific. However, Utah is Mountain. So I stopped in a town, went to Wal-mart, got some dry ice, and decided what my plan was. I made it to Kanab, UT, and found a pleasant/cheapest motel.

Friday morning I woke up once again ready. Going west sure makes mornings wonderful. After Grand Canyon, I will spend three weeks on Pacific time. Then I go to Florida. But that is SOO far away and Friday was awesome! I went Bryce Canyon first. I purchased my unlimited annual membership to the National Parks (which now is $80 and camping INS’T half price [still much cheaper than a motel]). Bryce was SOO cool! I got there and suddenly the landscape starts vomitting these red pillars everywhere. I drove the distance of the park and took a ton of pictures. I just couldn’t help myself. I was higher on land than I’ve ever been before: 9,115 ft. I tell you, hiking was killer compared to the very low KY. I was out of there by lunch and headed to Zion. When I arrived at the gate to show my cool membership pass, you have to show ID and the girl was like, “You’re from Kentucky!? I just moved from Richmond. Do you have any Ale-8?” A smile crept across my face as I said, “Why yes I do. Would you like one?” She said her husband’s birthday was very soon and she wanted to surprise him with the gift, so I gave her two. Thank you Andrew Fast for helping me make a nice couple’s day. Anyway Zion is REDICULOUS!!! It’s probably the most amazing place I’ve ever been. I was soo overwhelmed by its beauty and splendor than I grew sad. Sad because I care about so many people, and I couldn’t share that moment with anyone. I went to the serve-yourself campsite and got the last plot in the whole park. After that fiasco was avoided, I went to the visitor’s center and jumped on the shuttle tour bus. In 2000 Zion kicked off regular driving from a lot of the park and the only way to access it are the convenient prompt shuttles. So it took me around a lot of the cool areas and let me off at stops so I could take tons more pictures. At the museum there was a movie about the park and I nearly cried during it. I was overwhelmed by the innate spiritual nature of Zion. I enjoyed my campsite and cooked dinner, typed some of this entry, and went to bed.

Saturday morning I woke up later than I wanted. I cooked eggs and packed up my campsite. I went to the shuttle and took it into the canyon again but this time I hiked up a mountain called Angel’s Landing. The reason I wanted to get up early was that it was a 5 mile hike mostly in the sun. It was phenomenal! I met tons of people along the way (three from Livonia, MI, where my family used to live and Rebekah my sister was born). I could see how this pilgrimage I’m on could be training for evangelistic purposes. God likes working in my life at all times so I’m keeping my eyes open. After the hike, I drove to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Magnificence is the word for it. I saw a condor chillin’ on the visitor’s lodge too. I actually thought the canyon was going to be bigger. Wider, deeper, I don’t know. Maybe it is already intangibly big that I can’t wrap my head around it. I doubt it because I went to a better viewpoint and really enjoyed it. The drive to Point Royal (the best view in the entire canyon) was just as enjoyabe as seeing the lookout. The sign stated, “NARROW WINDING ROAD vehicles over 30 feet NOT RECOMMENDED.” I wished I could have spent more time there but once again, I had to move on to the next thing on this continent. So I drove to Flagstaff and reluctant paid for an overpriced motel because it was the only room left in town. There was apparently like 5 things going on in town this weekend.