DaveandkaraUStour2011: Days seventy-six through eighty.: zeroenthusiasm

zeroenthusiasm

DaveandkaraUStour2011: Days seventy-six through eighty.

Sep 23, 2011 00:12

A baby pigeon I found on top of an ATM.

I woke up around 11, moistened by layers of sweat. My beard felt more like a scarf the way it allowed sweat to choke my throat. Cameron had made a status post on Facebook about how Kara and I sleep too long. Of course, that piece of shit they call Lusy in Kentucky had to put in some two cents and jump at the opportunity to talk negatively about me. It's so pathetic. We did nothing at all that day. All Cameron seemed to want to do was play Brawl, but I just could not for the life of me get into it. What the fuck is the point in Fox McCloud turning into a tank that is as big as the platform itself? What the fuck is the point in a special move that causes a puppy to block the entire screen with his kisses? So lame. I sat around, bored, on my laptop, with a little fan blowing right on me. A little later, Cameron called Elizabeth and invited her over. When she got there, I went out with her to the grocery store to buy the ingredients for mac and cheese. From far away, I spotted two baby pigeons cheeping on top of an ATM, which I climbed up just to get a picture. I had never seen a baby pigeon in real life before, as their parents usually keep them as hidden as possible. I was still refusing to put my shoes back on so as to avoid destroying another pair of clean socks with the pungent odor that one of them was laden with. Shortly after I returned and started making food for all of us, Cameron started saying he was leaving, with the shit-eating grin he commonly fashions while intentionally being mean or just being sarcastic. At that point, we had given up trying to read it, as it accompanied a multitude of different Cameron personalities, moods, and meanings. When I heard he was leaving us all of the sudden to hang out with some girl he had a crush on, I didn't even believe it. We had been planning on watching Adventure Time together at 8, he had just invited Elizabeth over, and I had just started making us all food. But, no, he was actually leaving. And he refused to tell us why, where, and with whom. As usual, we had no way to decipher whether or not he was joking and whether or not he was telling the total truth. He was being a total dick about it. Eventually, I said, "I'm over it. Leave." He joyfully said, "Really, dude? So you're cool with it, then? Cool. See ya!" in the most sarcastic manner possible. It sucked and we felt ditched. I guess we had just thought our visit would mean more to him than it apparently did. Elizabeth stayed with us and her and Kara ate the majority of the giant bowl of mac and cheese I had made. We went up to Chris's room, which sent Elizabeth into what I thought was a pretty obvious attack of nostalgic mourning. She left a little later and Kara and I just sat around, bore out of our minds. Elizabeth promise us she'd wake us up in the morning and ensure that we have tons of fun.

She picked us up the next morning and we went with her to pick up her seventeen-year old freckled male friend, Clancy. He was thin with a plaid button-up, but his personality was neither. He was young, and it was obvious, but he was very receptive to new information. He too had mentioned noticing how mean Cameron had become in the last couple of months since returning home to El Cajon. Elizabeth kept saying how bad she felt for us and even went as far as to say that she was through being his friend. The first stop of the day was at a no-kill cat rescue center, sanctuary, and adoption agency called Friends of Cats. It is open to the public and we were able to just walk right in and start visiting the several separate rooms filled with cats. We went to the room of sick and injured cats first, since they clearly needed love the move. One of the most truly incredible things about animals like cats is how resilient they are; how they can go through unspeakable things and still come out with an unbelievable tenacity and maintained pursuit of love, companionship, and fun. We saw some sad things there, though the cats were stronger about them than we were. There were a few cats there with both eyes missing. They still ran and played with a zest for life though they couldn't even see it, helped slightly by their heightened senses and exclusively feline determination for independence. We spent more time in the room of sick and injured cats than any of the others. There were points where I wanted to cry, knowing I couldn't single-handedly rescue each and every individual there. Instead, I made sure to give some love to each of them, even the ones who were a little anti-social. It was nice to know none of these creatures would be given up on or disposed of. In between each room, you were to wash your hands. I was able to give some affection to at least fifty cats that day and it was a beautiful thing. In the last room, after a failed attempt to get the one misanthropic cat to let me into his life, we got caught up in a heated discussion about our generation, alcohol, veganism, and medication. Clancy was at first defensive at every criticism Kara and I let out, while Elizabeth sighed with relief and slapped her thighs, excited that she finally had people who were saying the things she often times was thinking to herself. It was a long, talkative discussion that digressed into several branches. Clacny eventually got over his knee-jerk reactivity to our unpopular ideas and started actually listening. I think he may have learned a lot that day. I thoroughly enjoyed the kid's company and his willingness to take new ideas and concepts in rather than instinctively reject anything that isn't traditional.

The talks continued on our way to San Diego. We ate at an amazing Mexican place called Pokez that had a decent amount of vegan options, really big burritos, and bottomless nachos with salsa. Kara and I got the yummiest burritos either of us had ever eaten before that day, stuffed with tofu fried to perfection, among other things. I offered to buy Clancy his food since he didn't have money and he responded, "No hobo." It was hilarious. We stopped at a Whole Foods and wandered around for no good reason. Kara stole a bag of coconut macaroons and I stole a bar of all-natural soap so I wouldn't have to worry about breaking out due to unfamiliar soaps at other houses. I bought two things of doughnut holes, though and we all finished them in the car within minutes of leaving. We walked around Balboa Park and were distracted by a beautiful girl playing songs on a harp and singing. It was so captivating and everyone who overheard her had to stop in his or her tracks just so stare in awe. Her name was Kelsea Little and she was just so stunning, we all had to sit down and take it all in. She did some amazing original songs and covered popular songs by Mumford and Sons, Regina Spektor, and (of course) Joanna Newsom. We returned to the fountain, where we all got in it and swam around like lizards in the shallow end. It felt so good under the warmth of the sun, which we knew would dry us off eventually. Kara and I took all the wishes out of it, too, and made almost $3. Eventually, we had inspired a legion of children to do the same and got out to start drying off on our way to the dog park. Later that night, we headed to a coffeeshop called Lestat's to hang out before their late-night free comedy showcase. The place had a lot of cool art on the walls, but their menu wasn't very vegan and everyone who worked there was a fucking asshole. One of them, some douche with a black ponytail, saw me holding a soda I got from a 7-11 and addressed me as, "Hey, boss-man," before telling me I couldn't have it there. We watched as he was rude to each and every person there. The comedy show was great, though. Half the comedians there sucked, but the other half were really great. The host wasn't funny at all and I almost felt bad for him, though Elizabeth insisted that he's usually funnier. It was a really fun day and night. We hadn't heard from Cameron all day, so I sent him a neutral text.

A crazy person's van, completely covered in religious figures, Disney memorabilia, and Christmas decorations.

The beautiful Kelsea Little, in the midst of stealing the hearts of every person in Balboa Park.

Elizabeth in the fountain, petting someone's dog.

The next day, we spent most of the daytime sitting inside, sweating and waiting for someone to rescue us from boredom. There wasn't much food in walking distance and it was nearing the hundreds that day, so we got some fries from an In-and-Out Burger, a place neither of us had ever even been in before. They have, like, four things on the menu. Elizabeth eventually showed up, though, and we all went to Chad's by night fall. Kara and I had decided we needed to talk to Cameron face-to-face about how he'd been acting and how we aren't going to tolerate it. It was the right thing to do, we figured, rather than letting is well up inside of us until it manifested in bitterness and hatred. He had told us once that he, "didn't want people to like him." So I wanted to know... did he want us to hate him? When we got there, we stood around outside of Chad's apartment until I just out and asked Cameron, "Do you want us to hate you? Because we can if you really want us to." We walked down to the lawn downstairs and talked for a good half hour in the parking lot. Apologies were exchanged and hugs were given. The rest of the night was good after that. I didn't want to fall out of love with Cameron, so I was glad we had that talk. I just hope he overcomes whatever demons in him make him act so aberrant towards his friends and the people who care enough about him to tolerate how mercilessly mean, rude, and selfish he can sometimes be. We sat around that lawn for a little while, tricking Cameron with the "Umbrella Game", a stupid game that confuses people that Zach Rappatoni had shown us in Bloomington. It was hilarious to watch him squirm to try and figure out the trick to winning it. Chad figured it out on his own. We went to Denny's to hang out and the girls both wound up feeling really sick for one reason or another. Both thought they'd puke, but neither of them ever did. They left early and I stayed there for a few more hours with Cameron, just exchanging stories about how we were introduced to DIY, punk, Plan-It-X, and stuff like that. It was a lot of fun.

We were sure that we needed to get out of El Cajon soon. But each day was more tiring than the last and we found one reason or another not to leave yet, even when we had nothing else better to do. Our bodies were definitely reaching a point where hitchhiking around and across the country had reached a certain toll. Daily fatigue and mental exhaustion always having to talk to strangers and worry about getting three to five hundred miles away was setting in hard. We thought the week or so of rest in El Cajon would pay off, but it just made us even more tired. We decided the next day we would try and leave. Gene, Chris's dad, offered to drive us to a grocery store to get some food, since there was nothing vegan in the house for us. He was a really nice guy and talked a little like Homer Simpson. We went to one place that had literally nothing vegan to eat at it. Then he realized he had to pick up his daughter from school and brought us back to the apartment, promising to take us back out when he got back. While we waited for him at the house, his daughter showed up. Then the electricity went out. A little while later, we found out that there was actually a huge black-out throughout what we thought was just the El Cajon and San Diego area. What had actually happened, we found out the next day, was that an employee in Mexico had hit a wrong switch that somehow set off a chain reaction that caused over four million people in the surrounding areas to lose their electricity. It really sucked. It had reached 104 degrees out that day and we had no fan. We tried to get through it patiently by eating PBJ sandwiches and drinking the remainder of the cold sodas, while watching movies on our laptops until the batteries finally died. The entire apartment complex, which is actually a very neighborly community, was loud and impatient with the whole situation. Little kids were hyper with flashlights when night came and Sheila heated up food on the grill outside. Kara and I swam in the pool for almost two hours, nice and warmed by a day of being under the sun. It was beautiful out. By 9, we both went to sleep, our wet bodies exchanging water for perspiration throughout the night, hoping to wake up to resurrected electricity. I had placed the tiny fan right in front of my face just in case it came back. Around 4:30 in the morning, it did. It was such a relief to wake up to that thing blowing in my face.

340 miles.

We slept until 9 the next morning, one of those long sleep sessions where you soak the pillows beneath your head with sweat and don't use a blanket no matter how badly you want to. Gene kept his word and brought us to the grocery store again so we could get some food to eat. The pigeon babies that I saw on top of the ATM the day before were suddenly gone. The momma pigeon was on top, though, seeming to be a bit confused about where they had gone. To this day, I worry that someone, probably someone who owns the ATM, did something to get rid of those babies. They definitely were too young to start flying on their own. Gene said he could bring us to a nearby on-ramp later. Until then, we had to wait for Elizabeth to come by and drop some stuff of ours off that we had left in her car. She took forever, though. After she showed up, we then had to wait for Sheila to get back with the car so Gene could take us to the on-ramp. We dozed off while waiting until Cameron called and asked me, "Why doesn't Gene want to take you to the on-ramp?" I had no idea what he was talking about. I crept downstairs and saw Sheila sitting on the living room floor, talking to Gene about how he should just, "tell us he doesn't feel comfortable bringing us." No one had informed us and we had fallen asleep until 6:30 in the evening. We were sort of pissed that we were about to waste yet another day not headed to our next destination. Apparently, Gene just didn't feel comfortable dropping us off at some on-ramp where we could potentially be killed by a stranger whose car we would get into. Cameron talked to Sheila, though, and persuaded her to bring us. It wasn't the best on-ramp in the world and there was very little shoulder for the scarce direction of east-bound traffic to pull over at, but we tried anyway. We told ourselves we'd at least try until nighttime. The green road sign had LITHUANIAN ANTICHRIST 666 and ANOTHER GREAT WORLD SERIES etched into it. Soon after, one car did pull over, right next to the bend where the ramp begins. Just as he was trying to talk to us, a cop pulled in right next to him, blocking him from us. The guy stayed and tried to ask us where we were going, but the cop eventually yelled to him, "Keep going!" and told us we had to move because we were too close to the ramp.

During the hour that we stood there, the sun set and we got little attention from drivers. A highway patrolman passing by yelled, "HEY!" at us, but never did or said anything else. A guy in a truck gave us $2.40 in change. By 8, we finally received a classic, "Get a job!" from some kids in a car. We called Sheila and asked her if she could come pick us up. It would be a half hour before she got there, so we kept the sign up, figuring we had nothing to lose in doing so. Surprisingly, a car pulled over just as Sheila was nearing us on the highway, and offered us a ride all the way to Phoenix! We called Sheila and told her, then texted everyone to let them know, including Tristan all the way in Phoenix to let him know we'd be getting into his part of town around 1 in the morning. The guy who picked us up was a fit guy in his mid-twenties who spoke with what I mistook as a Hispanic accent. His name was Rudy and he had decided to drive to Texas to visit family after Strep throat got him a mandatory week off of work. He was really upbeat and sarcastic. He told us he had slept most of the day in between playing Call of Duty 3 or whatever. He was a Marine whose job was to, "mow people down," (as he put it) with an automatic gun from the back of a helicopter overseas. He said he enjoyed his job and shared with us that he got into the Marines as a teenager after getting into some trouble with the law. As he put it, "I may or may not have put a gun in someone's face and threatened to kill them." Pretty ironic, but then again actually pretty appropriate from the opposite's perspective, that they punished a kid with a gun by putting a military gun in his hands. He was very candid and open about the fact that he kills people for a living, though his future plans were more focused on professionally fixing helicopters and eventually making money off of contracting in war-torn countries, which he told us he sees in person all the time; these American companies that make millions off of cleaning up the messes the American military invasion has created. Even though he told us that it made him think of his ex-wife, who had gotten pregnant with another man's baby while he was overseas, he mostly listened to Mexican music on the radio as we drove along the Mexican border through the desert.

We had never seen or been anywhere near a desert before. So we were pretty surprised when we put our hands against the windshield and felt how warm it was, despite the air conditioner being on full blast in the car. I asked him, stupidly, "Why are the windows so warm?" Obviously, he told me, we were in the desert where it's nearing a hundred degrees even at night. He put the windows down, which let in a strong, powerful gust of wind into the car, so warm that it actually made the car completely toasty within mere seconds. We saw silhouettes of tall cacti with arms and biceps. We made a stop at some casino where we bought some Subway and stole our soda and barbecue chips for the road. He went out of his way by twenty minutes to get us right out front of Tristan's house by 1 or so in the morning that night. We were warmly greeted by Tristan and his girlfriend Erin, who we had never met. They quickly sat down and started having conversation with us, while we became acquainted with their adorable dog Quark, who looked an awful lot like Mitch the Champ, in dog form. Erin was really funny and sarcastic and it was only minutes before I felt like we had already known her for years. Their apartment was in a dry location that was primarily Hispanic and therefore cheap. The place was really big and spacious and we were given a bunk bed to sleep on while we were there. We told ourselves we'd sleep as soon we got there, but were instantly engaged in talking and briefly catching up with Tristan. It was the middle of the night, but as warm as daytime in southern California.