August 22nd – San Luis Obispo

August 22, 2017 by Chameleon22

Today is a hard day to write about. A lot happened, but most of the happenings were conversations. I woke up a little before 8 A.M. and had breakfast with my Aunt and Uncle. We continued talking all through the morning until we had a wonderful lunch of salmon salad and toast. During my stay, I enjoyed several kinds of fresh produce from my Aunt’s garden. I had cucumber, plum, heirloom tomato, and steamed zucchini. I was also given a bag full of plums for the road.

Eventually, it was time to leave. I drove the short distance to San Luis Obispo and met my friend at his house. He had arranged previously with one of his friends for a place I could stay. After we talked at his house for awhile, he took me to where I would stay for the night. The owners of the house only use a small part of it, so they rent out several rooms using Airbnb.

My room was wonderful and the whole house and residential development were beautiful. My friend and I continued talking while we had dinner on the veranda. I mentioned several of the destinations I have planned and he told me that he has a friend who lives in the northern suburbs of Chicago, so now I will have someone to visit while I’m there! We continued talking and I played a few songs on my guitar. A little before 9 P.M. he returned to his house to allow me a peaceful night of sleep.

Before going to sleep, I enjoyed the chance to relax and think. So far I’ve spent a lot of time visiting with people, so there are a lot of thoughts swimming around in the pond of my brain. Conversations are hard to turn into writing. I may come back and edit these entries, to add in the things I talked about. It will take time for me to process them though. In the meantime, I will keep moving forward on my journey. I’ve had a lot of fun so far and I’m excited about what is to come!

August 21st – The Beginning

August 21, 2017 by Chameleon22

After the excitement of my experimental run on August 7th, it felt strange to have everything go according to plan today. There were no detours, no engine breakdowns and nothing in the least bit unexpected.

I woke up at 7:30 AM and ate breakfast with my family before making sure that everything was packed up. On Thursday evening, I had started packing the Ford Expedition I would be driving. At the end of the night, I figured that I was almost done packing and would have plenty of extra space. Then Friday and Saturday happened. And Sunday. Each day I found a dozen or more little things I had forgotten to pack. Today was no exception, so I squished in the last minute additions and saw that I no longer had an empty car. So much for packing light.

Finally, I was ready to go. But my younger brother, Sam, wasn’t quite done with me yet – there was just one more thing to do. It involved swords, plastic shields, and helmets. Sam and I equipped ourselves with the aforementioned items and met in the backyard to fight a farewell duel. Our battle raged long and fierce (translation, we fought for five minutes, being very careful not to hurt each other or chip our swords), leaving both of us sorely wounded and ready to make peace. So make peace we did, and I ran off to get myself cleaned up before I left.

Now it was time to say goodbye. My family and I sat together in our schoolroom and they prayed for me, then they walked me to my car and wished me farewell as I drove away. Before I could get too lonely and start overthinking the fact that I would be gone for an eternity, I took out my audiobook and began listening. I am still working my way through Our Oriental Heritage, by Will Durant. During my long and uneventful drive, I learned quite a lot about India’s history, religions, and social structure.

I made one stop along the way – to stretch my legs, call home and update my parents on my progress. Then, I got back on the road and arrived at my Aunt’s house, just south of San Luis Obispo. I spent a wonderful afternoon and evening there. We ate lunch, visited, went for a two-mile walk (along the way we saw a really cool mailbox), visited some more, watched President Trump’s speech, ate dinner and sang a few hymns while I played the guitar.

And that was my day. Like I said, a peaceful beginning. I hope to enjoy some more adventures in the future. Hopefully, some will be a little more exciting. But not too exciting.