Hey all! I am very happy to turn this zygote of a journal into it's next phase of life! But, before I begin, a couple things to mention.
1) To those who may know me and my situation, in the process of moving while I was away my bf had to leave my 32" TV behind at a respectable friends house on the west side.It was $500, including 4 year warranty that has about 2 and a half left. I'm looking to get 2-250$$. I AM VERY BROKE at this moment in San diego, so anyone who may be interested PLEASE e-mail me to discuss details.
Notes to special people:
EMILY- I love you soooo much! You were so right, this trip was amazingly POSITIVE and all forces were working in our favor. I felt you there in spirit, especially with KT (who went nuts cuz i kept forgetting her name is THUMBELLINA..LOL) and baby Orizon. Maybe next year we could share the experience together.
MIKE H- Thank you so much for gathering the energy to overcome the experience directly before this trip, and encouraging me to take this journey despite the doubts either of us may have had. I hope that you had as great a time as i did, and i hope your journey to vancouver and wherever else you may have found yourself was equally satisfying.
I really hope you take the time to record your expereinces as well, especially because I'm excited to see how we both came out. Talk to you soon hun!!!
Ok, now for the first part of my trip. Mike and I got on the greyhound in buffalo. After a pretty relaxing and meditative 2 and half day bus ride, we arrived in Reno, Nevada. By the time we got off the bus, there were 9 of us headed to the Rainbow Family Gathering in Madeline, CA. ( Me and Mike, Melissa, Lavina and Clyde, Travis and SY, Mandy, and another Mike) We take the city bus to where the driver says there is supposed to be a motel, but it turns out the motel is like 2 miles down a highway. Madeline was over 200 miles away. Knowing that we can't all hitch together we break up into groups of 4 (minus the older mike, he found a place to crash out for the night and would hitch out the next day)
Travis, SY, Mandy and I decided we would try to hitch to this motel, but then thought splitting a cab would be better. Well, there was no motel even there, but the cabby was cool and took us into susanville, where it would be easier to hitch a ride to the gathering. He knew we were out of towners, and had fun telling us wild stories about "cuyots" and to beware of bathrooms for black widows, because "they kill more people than cancer"
he drops us off at this rest stop where we find shelter under a pavillion. "Out of sight, out of mind," they say. We had a teddy bear picnic with chips and trail mix and Travis's hummice and crackers. All set up and ready to sleep in our sleeping bags....until Travis freaks in the dark. We're like, whats going on? He shines his flashlight under the little picnic bench to reveal a big black spider crawling around on a web. "has anyone ever seen a real black widow?" The cabbys lighthearted scare came back into play and we all got the heebie jeebies. since we don't know for sure we wont take any chances. The girls douse themselves with bug spray while the guys joke about being eaten alive. Eventually we settle down and go to sleep.
The next morning we awoke early. it was cute to find that 2 other "kids" (All rainbow family are considered kids) had sought shelter in our pavillion as well. Mandy and I find a couple, Jen and Brian, who are willing to pack us two and all our gear in their tiny car and drive us with them to the Gathering. Travis and SY leave before us to go to the road and hitch out.
Its important to my story to explain a little about Mandy and her situation, especially since it turned out to be our trip in a weird way. It wasn't her intention to attend the Rainbow gathering, she knew absolutely nothing about the family or really even any of the under
ly
ing concepts that gatherings are built on. She got on the bus in Ohio and she was on her way to San Francisco, basicaly because she had never been there and wanted to see the city. after talking to her at various rest and layover stops, we had learned that she had no place to stay in San Fran (with her whole life in her suitcases) and she had just quit the carnival after being on the road for quite some time. it was evident that she was mature beyond her 17 years, but still we were concerned about her safety and what she might experience being alone in a city like San Fran. So, we took her innocent ignorance of the Rainbows and used our different extents of knowledge to recruit her!!! At this point we were sure that she was about to experience some things that she has never been shown, including TRUST and LOVE exchanged amongst thousands of complete strangers. I myself had never experienced anything like this, but she had no clue. So she got off the bus with us in Reno ,where we began this journey together.
So we rode with Jen and Brian, all cramped up until they took us to the post office, where mandy was able to rid herself hundreds of dollars worth of clothes and beauty supplies. Stripped down to her necessities, we got back in the car A LOT more cumfy and rode the rest of the way to the gathering.
This is where I'm going to end pt1 because i'm not even sure if this whole entry is going to publish. Stay tuned for pt 2!!!!!!