Wednesday, January 16, 2013

December road trip day 1 - Mile 0 - 829: Slip-sliding away...

After a full day of activities Christmas day, including dodging torrential downpours and tornado warnings, stuffing myself with the usual trappings of a holiday feast...turkey and warm rolls...I found myself laying in bed....counting the seconds...tic toc tic toc...till "go" time.  As tired as I was from a full and wonderful day spent with family and friends, getting much needed sleep before the 3:30 a.m. alarm comes at me like a freight train seemed like an impossibility.  It may sound crazy but the anticipation of knowing I'm going on a road trip feels about the same as a kid waking up Christmas morning knowing that something new is awaiting him under the tree.  You know that feeling...think back to being 8 years old and when you wake up Christmas morning, you smile as you realize today is the day.  Today is the day your life will change.  You know there are new adventures waiting for you under the tree.  Maybe it's something you always dreamed of...or maybe it's something you totally didn't expect...or maybe it's a pack of white ankle socks and some new underwear you get to open in front of your entire family.  Either way, the feeling that takes over your body between the time you wake up to rounding the corner to see all those special gifts waiting for you to tear into...that's how I feel when I know I'm about to get on the road.  Parked in my garage is my truck with all of my gear pre-loaded...like a tree with new adventures under it.  It's difficult to sleep, but I try hard to clear my mind for the long drive ahead.  Finally at some point I dozed off.  Don't remember exactly when but I damn sure remember that alarm going off.  As I get out of bed to do the usual wash up, brush teeth, and get dressed routine, I'm that 8 year old kid again anticipating what is under the tree.  I can't get ready fast enough.  After checking and double checking everything, I make sure everything is loaded and climb into the driver's seat, knowing that my butt would be here for quite awhile and my truck would be my home for 5 days.  No way anything in the world can wipe the smile from my face.  I open the garage door and the wheels start turning.  I'm happy to be alive and feel absolutely blessed and thankful that I can get out and see the world.  Happy that later this day I will be chugging down Hwy 287 on the same route (for the most part) I traveled down so many times since I was 6 years old.  After a quick stop for some McDonald's breakfast I was headed west down I-12.  I'm still happy, but I have to admit the first 8 hours of the trip are the worst part.  Not that it's a bad ride, but between home and Dallas just feels like I'm still at home.  I'm not exactly sure why...maybe it's because there is not much to see or just that east of Dallas and all of Louisiana looks pretty much the same...like home.  But once I got about halfway between Shreveport and Dallas, the landscape was quite unfamiliar this time.  Unlike I had ever seen in this area. 

About 5 hours into the trip, I started coming across other vehicles that were covered in varying layers of snow.  The temperature had now dipped below freezing, and little did I know it would be 3 more days before I would experience anything above 32 degrees.  There was no snow on the ground, but I had known from watching the weather (as I talked about in my previous post - to try and see which way I would ultimately go) that this area had some snowfall.  As I merged onto I-20 and pointed the Ram towards Texas, I ran across more and more vehicles covered in the cold white stuff.  Finally about an hour west of Shreveport I started seeing some accumulation on the ground.  This was anticipated, but I had no idea how much it would wind up being.  Pushing west the landscape turned into a winter wonderland.  It was beautiful.  This helped cure the stigmatism I have about this part of the drive.  I stopped to get gas and found the pumps covered in wet snow and the windshield washing stations completely frozen over and useless.  As I'm cruising towards, and ultimately around Dallas, taking in the wonderment of what looked like an alien planet (I had just traveled through here in November and everything looked both freshly familiar and unfamiliar at the same time) a thought started creeping in the back of my mind and grew stronger by the second...you know kinda like when someone farts in an elevator...the smell comes on slow and eventually takes over.  I started to worry about the road conditions as the accumulation grew deeper and deeper.  Knowing full well I was headed north and then northwest, for a time I started to wonder if I would have to break off the path and just drop due south and maybe take I-10 or I-20 to New Mexico.  But I kept on.  After leaving I-20 for Hwy 80, then I-635 around Dallas to I-35E North I came to the exit where I would say goodbye to the interstate system for awhile (except for a small section of interstate around Wichita Falls).  Hwy 380 in Denton is the spot where I mentally think of as the beginning of the trip.  This highway shoots due west to Decatur and then onto Hwy 287.  But here at this spot is the old familiar gas station where we always stopped on our way out west.  I remember it fondly.  Immediately next to it is the railroad underpass.  This is the exact spot where my trip begins, and ultimately ends when I travel back this way heading home.  It's always been this way.  Back in the day this marked the boundary bewteen big cities and interstates and country highways and small towns.  When I pass under that railroad I feel like I'm moving into a new dimension...a new world.  Today, this road is succumbing to urban sprawl.  It's much more built up than it used to be.  Back in the day this was sparsley populated ranches where cows ruled the landscape.  Today, while there are still a few ranches hanging on, there are huge houses in subdivisions and the old 2-lane blacktop is being replaced by a 4 lane divided highway.  A casualty of this expansion was the old picnic area along the creek we used to stop at and eat lunch so many years ago and so many times.  When I traveled this way in 2008 (which turned out to be the last vacation with my Dad) we kept the family tradition alive and stopped here for a picnic lunch among the creek and usual giant ass bumble bees.  It warmed my heart to stop and eat at the same place I remember from so long ago.  And it looked like a time capsule...same picnic tables and awnings over them...same little creek...and same awesome feeling of being out and about.  I wrote about this place in my 2010 blogs.  As I passed along I tried to find where this place had been and I think I saw the area...having since been obliterated to pretty much non-existence.  My heart was heavy.  I wish I would have known beforehand they would wipe it off the face of the earth because I would have tried to buy one of the picnic tables to put in my backyard as a relic.  My nostalgia for things like this may be hard for people to understand, but it really does hurt me to know I will never again be able to stop there and enjoy a sandwich while trying to keep from getting pelted by a pack of angry bumble bees trying to take my cold turkey on white.  Just a quick note before I move on...I stopped for gas in Decatur and the entire parking lot was iced over...cars and people trying to traverse the parking lot without falling and slamming other cars was quite amusing and worrying at the same time...and this scene would repeat itself a couple more times before I got out of Texas.  This was the first time I put my truck in 4-wheel drive but it wouldn't be the last.

So after passing the "starting point" of my trip and seeing all the new development taking over the landcape of Hwy 380 to Decatur, I reached the golden passage of Hwy 287 with 400+ miles of this road ahead of me.  I feel like I'm visiting an old friend as I merge onto the familar blacktop.  While the route still goes smack through some of the old towns of the Texas plains, more and more it seems as though they are being bypassed for speedier travel.  I love going through the quaint little downtowns of these places with familiar names like Goodnight, Chillicothe, and Clarendon.  I remember each and every little town.  I also remember that I've probably eaten at every Dairy Queen along this stretch of highway.  As the road takes me northwest, the snow accumlation varies from time to time.  But as I get close to Wichita Falls, it alarms me at how much I'm seeing on the road, and even moreso at the ice patches.  Since just before exiting I-35 at Denton I began seeing cars that have slid off the road.  I wasn't too concerned until now.  More and more tire tracks in the median (that's "neutral ground" to you and me) where people had gone off and some still there, waiting on a tow.  I'm sure some tow truck drivers had a hell of a day.  At this point I'm now in 4-wheel drive and slowing down so I don't wind up ruining my trip by having to be put on a waiting list to be dragged from a soggy, snowy trap.  But over time things got better.  The snow didn't go away, but the road conditions improved and thoughts were concentrated on my first little side trip to the ghost town of Medicine Mound.  I love little side trips.  It's Christmas morning again.

Leaving Hwy 287 and turning onto Avenue H (FM91) in Chillicothe was exhillerating.  I love exploring new territory.  I had read about and seen pictures of the ghost town of Medicine Mound and I was excited to finally see it for myself.  I was also happy that I had planned my leaving time just right for me to get here before the sun went down.  Matter of fact I got there right about the time the sun was starting to cast long shadows and things began to glow a warm yellow...also known as the "golden hour"...as opposed to the warm yellow "golden shower"...but this is NOT that kind of blog so I'll steer clear of that.  Didn't take but about 20 seconds to leave the confines of the small town and be out on the vast plains along a tiny two-lane road again.  A sharp left, then sharp right, then sharp left again and then I'm finally here.  At the intersection of FM91 and FM1167 sits the nearly abandoned town I've wanted to visit for quite awhile.  I immediately found the old W.W. Cole building (old gas station with rusted-out gas pumps) and the Hicks & Cobbs building (was the old general store and now is a museum).  I stopped for some pics, being careful not to slip in the snow, and just enjoyed the fact that I was finally here.  I get giddy I'm tellin ya...can't help it.  Yes I'm weird but I don't care.  I love this stuff.  I took some pics of the historical markers for later reading and walked between the two historic buildings.  They date back to the 30's and replaced 1800's era buildings that had burned down in the late 20's.  The old general store operates as a musem, but it was closed at the time I was there.  Being that winter is not much of a travel season I imagine that it only operated during the summer.  After spending some time taking pics and just imagining how this place was full of life some 100 years ago, I was planning to drive out...satisfied that I had acheived one of my goals, when I noticed some large brick ruins about 50 yards off the highway.  I also noticed that there was a small, snow covered dirt passage way...wouldn't really call it a road...leading back to it.  No way was I leaving without exploring.  Back in 4-wheel drive, I headed to see what was waiting for me there.  I parked and started walking around and realized this had been quite a large building.  The brickwork on what was the front wall had some intricacies to it...kinda like an old school or perhaps a courthouse.  There were some pieces of other walls standing, but the ground inside and off to one side and the rear was covered in broken timber and tons of bricks...just a victim of time and neglect.  I sent some pictures and an e-mail to the website where I found out about the town in the first place to see if they, or any of their readers, knew anything about it.  My e-mail to them and my pics can be seen here:

http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasTowns/Medicine-Mound-Texas.htm

I'm hoping someone replies as I'm interested to see what it may have been.  After spending some additional time here, I pulled onto FM1167 and headed back towards Hwy 287.  After a couple more sharp turns, something up ahead on the right caught my eye and again, that Christmas feeling took over me.  I love finding old abandoned farm houses and barns on my backroad trips.  This particular house was larger than I usually find on my adventures.  It was a rather big abaondoned farmhouse being overcome by nature and time.  I stopped to get some pics and explore, hoping that I don't have that same luck that seems to follow me wherever I go...a wild, crazed dog will come from out of nowhere and give me 9 kinds of hell just for being in the same zip code and breathing the same oxygen as him.  With a weary eye I start snapping pics and walking closer and closer to the house.  Making my way through the thick grass, calf deep snow, and knocked down barbed wire fence (wasn't me I SWEAR), I couldn't help but get close enough to get a good look inside.  I could see the tattered walls and an old sofa turned upside down.  Just a mess.  And as I stare I cannot help but think back to a time when this was someones pride and joy.  Someone put a lot of blood, sweat and tears building this place.  Kids may have run up and down these stairs thousands of times.  Maybe there was lots of love here, and maybe lots of tears.  Either way here it sits on this cold winter evening, exposed to the elements and dying a slow, slow death that will ultimatley come.  The sound of silence is deafening.  It's a sad sad sight.  I love stumbling upon these places but it also breaks my heart.  I question what happened...why is this once grand place left to die?  Why is there no more life here?  As a sign in the window just a few miles up the road at Medicine Mound asks, "Where did all the people go?".  I mean it when I say these old abandoned places make me think all these things and more.  My curiosity runs amuck.  At times when I see places like this I have to collect myself and get my head back in the game.  I know that one day this place will be long gone and forgotten, but for today it is alive and well in my imagination...kids running and playing...and perhaps walking down stairs in their pajamas with anticipation to see what is waiting for them under that Christmas tree...I know how they feel. 

Getting back on the road, the sun is now barely above the western horizon and my visit with the old town is over.  Knowing that I was not going to stop anywhere else for pics today and wanting to be as far west as I could to set up my travels for day two, I pushed on westward on 287.  I ate dinner at Pizza Hut (big surprise there!) in Childress, Texas.  I've visited this same establishment many many times over the years.  Last time I was here (on that same trip in 2008) we stopped to eat here and it had been a week since a tornado had come through the town.  There was still lots of damage everywhere and even this building was undergoing repairs.  There were only a few other people trying to eat there but things were a mess.  They were out of some things and, after having only receive a part of our meal for the 6 of us on the trip, we ultimately left and ate dinner at the Sonic up the street.  Ironically when I stopped here for dinner tonight, the place was undergoing renovations and was quite torn up.  At least this time I was able to eat my delicious pizza and not have to go find food elsewhere.  Have I ever mentioned how much I love pizza?  Yum!

I pushed on and finally around 9pm, after 15 hours of driving and 829 miles, I pulled into a rest area for the night.  I do this on occassion when taking these types of trips so that I don't have to haul my stuff in and out of a hotel every night.  I can go clean up in the restrooms so I don't stink too bad.  I pulled into a parking spot and with temperatures now hovering in the low 20s, get settled in, and drop a movie in the DVD to help me relax.  I didn't make it all the way through before I was eventually attacked and overcome by the sandman.  I went to sleep happy.  Happy about where I had been and happy about where I was going tomorrow.  Happy and blessed with my life.  Happy that I wasn't drinking too much Diet Coke or water because I surely didn't want to have to get up and pee in the middle of the night as the temperature continued to drop.  I was safe, warm, happy, and fulfilled.  Luckily for me the anticipation of tomorrow was not man enough to keep the sandman away.  Goodnight Texas and more on the way soon...

Sunday, January 13, 2013

December 2012 Road Trip - Pre-trip Thoughts and Planning.

"...and in the end, it isn't the years in your life that matter, it's the life in your years".  Out of the many, many quotes I love this one has got to be the most profound to me.  Just like my road trips, life is more about the ride than the destination. It's what you do along the way that matters most...the places you see and the people you meet.  As I have aged this quote has taken on a more significant meaning than I ever imagined.  Probably the biggest turning point for me was losing my Dad in 2010.  It was not something I was prepared for.  All the memories of our summer vacations came rushing back.  What I wouldn't give to take one more trip out west with him...eating lunch on top of Capulin Mountian...gazing at the mighty Tetons...sitting around a campfire while the entire universe of stars circled overhead...listening to John Denver as we drove along the wide open spaces of Wyoming...playing those road games to pass the time...him telling me "pull my finger" and knowing darn well what was going to happen next (but I did it anyway to get a good laugh).  I could go on and on.  All of this came crashing down on me with one simple phone call.  My life has never been the same.  By the time he passed away the fire inside me to travel (which had ALWAYS been there) was beginning to rise again.  I had taken several trips before then but that fateful day in April 2010 had turned my inner desire into a raging inferno.  Injecting "life in my years" took on a whole new meaning.  A month after his death I took a road trip and followed the path of the past to get to Colorado (I've posted about this trip previously - see entries from May 2010).  My personal life, however, has taken much longer to get back on track.  Another story for another day.  Fast forward to October 2012.  I knew that I would, as I have done for awhile now, leave town between Christmas and New Years.  One of the perks of my job is that we shut down during this time and that fits in just fine with my desire to travel.  I have recently taken a couple trips to Kentucky and Tennessee, which is unusual for me because my inner compass always points west when I'm planning a trip.  The areas out east are incredible, and I absolutely loved the adventures out there, my heart still aches for places in the west.  I knew I would head that way, but I know to plan and proceed with caution when going that way in the winter.  The weather in and near the mountains can be very unpredictable and dangerous this time of year.  With this in mind I began my search for places I wanted to go.  I knew for sure that I would follow the same route we have taken since our first trip in 1975 (for the first two days anyway).  I've blogged about Hwy 287 previously.  It calls to me like the ghosts call to Zak in Ghost Adventures (one of my favorite shows). During my research I found out there is a ghost town (which I LOVE) just a few miles off this main drag in Texas.  For so many years I've passed near this place and didn't know it existed.  Coincidently, it is near a natural feature in the topography that I always remembered seeing but never did any research on. Visible on the south side of the highway between Chillicothe and Quannah, Texas are 4 natural "mounds" in an otherwise pretty flat landscape.  I was alway curios but I never thought of this highway more than the path to greater things like Capulin Mountain and the Rockies of Colorado.  A quick review of the maps, some research on the town of Medicine Mound, Texas (on the website www.texasescapes.com) and I knew it was going to be a must stop.  Any town that has an abandoned gas station with old rusty pumps immediately goes up high on the list of must-sees.  But I also knew to get there with enough daylight to take pics, I would have to leave VERY early in the morning (traveling in winter to get pictures requires a lot more planning due to short days...ugh...cause I don't really like to plan out my trips that much!).  Every other day of the year I am not a morning person, but when I'm leaving for a trip, my alter ego kicks in.  Anyway, I didn't plan any other stops for day one because I knew it was going to be a very long day of driving. So I looked beyond day one and tried to figure out what to do once I got to Raton, New Mexico.  This city, which is just south of the Colorado border, had become a point where I had to make a decision based on the weather.  Heading north into Colorado requires going over Raton Pass which could close at a moments notice due to snowfall.  Leading up to the trip I had checked webcams at the top of the pass and have seen it completetly covered in snow.  So...wanting to survive this trip and not be found off the highway a month later living off of grass and drinking my own pee, I planned out two routes from Raton...one heading north into Colorado and then back east (on the backroads of course) through Kansas (I REALLY want to go to Dodge City!) and south back into Texas for the ride home.  The other heading south from Raton, cutting a path that would take me from the very north all the way south to the Mexican border (mostly backroads of course), then through El Paso and all of the nearly 900 miles of I-10 that would get me back to the Louisiana border.  Along both routes I had picked a few places to stop and see that I hadn't seen before.  I also chose mostly backroads and tried to stay clear of the interstates as much as possible (although that 900 miles through Texas would have taken me a lot longer on backroads, which I would have LOVED of course but time wouldn't allow this time).  So with plenty of internet time to look at Google Maps and various travel websites associated with Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, and Kansas, the anticipation was driving me nuts!  I'm always ready to leave.  Knowing that I'm heading not only to places familiar, but those gems that I have yet to see, puts a smile on my face and an extra pep in my step.  I have to admit I get giddy sometimes...like Larry the Cable guy in a Bass Pro Shop.  As the day draws near for me to go, I start looking at the maps and do what I always do..."hmmm do I have enough time catch this too?  What if I take this road instead of that one? Should I get Obierto or Jack Links beef jerkey?  Do I have enought Lemonheads?".  In the end, because of this being a winter trip, I decided to pretty much stick to my route plan based on what the weather would hold for me.  This is a bit of a departure for me but I wanted to get the most out of the time I had.  In the last few days I had my camera gear ready and the truck detailed and spotless (which is one of the things I have to do before I go...clean truck and all my stuff neatly placed inside...needless to say neither one of those things stay that way for long).  I'm ready to go...can't hardly sleep the anticipation is like taking a caffiene pill while funneling coffee and a couple six packs of Red Bull.  This man is ready to add that extra life to his years...3:30 am comes early...and I'm READY!!

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Game Changer...my hour with a psychic medium

It's easy for people to get wrapped up in what's new on TV and social media.  Planking, Gangnum Style, Where's the Beef, I'm a Pepper She's a Pepper... and on and on.  And what is with Honey Boo Boo?  She sticks around because people tune in...like watching a train wreck...it's just hard NOT to look.  I don't understand what the big draw is with her but hey, it's not for me to judge.  I think back to where all of this "reality" began, and I keep coming back to "Real World" on MTV and perhaps later "Deadliest Catch" on Discovery.  Now, that is pretty much all you can find on TV these days.  Pawn Stars, Swamp People, Gold Rush, Ghost Adventures, Storage Wars, and so many more...and yes our favorite little overweight redneck child Honey Boo Boo.  I have to admit I do watch some of these shows, which I will talk about shortly, but first I have to get on my soapbox.  Seems like National Geographic, TLC, History, and Discovery have shifted programming more towards this instead of why I got those channels in the first place.  But then again, while I'm wishing they would create sub-channels geared towards the influx of "reality" shows and return the main channels back to what they used to be, I'm part of the problem I guess because I do watch some of these shows religiously.  My favorites are Gold Rush, Ghost Adventures, and Long Island medium.  The latter two shows have caught my attention in a way differently from the first.  I've always had an interest in what happens when we die...mostly what happens after...is that just "it" or is there more?  Just the thought that maybe, just maybe, we go on in some way, shape, or form has given me comfort and hope.  False hope maybe?  Am I just clinging to something to help me sleep at night?  And with these shows pumping out episode after episode of "indicents" with people who have passed, my curiosity has grown exponentially.  Ghost Adventures seems a lil crazy and stretched at times....OK a LOT of times, however I can't say as much for Long Island Medium.  Let me get this out there...I know it's just a TV show and I know we can't believe everything we see...otherwise we might truly think there is a fuzzy alien puppet named "Alf" hanging around at a neighbor's house.  But Long Island Medium just has a different feel to it.  I've heard many people say...and I admit I've said it myself...that I would love to either meet her on the street or make an appointment with her.  Either way I'd love to cross her path.  So while the chances of that happening are about as good as me winning the powerball, being struck by lightening, and doing a cartwheel at the same time, I figured I should at least do something.  And I did.

It started with my niece talking to someone and having them hit on some things, but miss on others.  Almost sounds like a waste of time...seems like someone who can manipulate and lead you down a path, or make you divulge tiny bits of information...enough to draw some conclusions, could make you believe they know things about you that you thought they didn't.  After all...we all know that magic isn't real, but professionals can make it appear that way.  Slight of hand, distraction, and manipulation, when done correctly, can lead you down a path of belieiving what you see.  I don't think my niece was manipulated...the things the psychic did hit on were pretty solid.  But she had some communication with a nationally known psychic medium and when we talked about it, I knew then I just had to find out for myself.  I made an appointment, using only my first name, an e-mail address that is not associated with any social media, and a phone number that was not in my name.  I did not have to hold the appointment with a credit card.  I wanted to provide as little info as possible so the ability to try and gather info on me would be all but impossible.  I am an analyst by trade so I'm always questioning information...thinking outside the box...and always asking "but what about this...".  I guess I am somewhat of a skeptic by nature and try not to get "led down a path" by having anyone pull information out of me without my knowledge.  With all that said, I found myself trying to find a place to park in a downtown office building for my appointment when my phone rang.  It was the secretary making sure I was going to make my appointment.  I jokingly said (not to her of course) "ask the psychic she should know".  We got a good chuckle out of it but I have to admit...it was a nervous chuckle.  I was hoping to hear some things that would be enough to validate things for me.  I was hoping for enough to make me believe that something...anything...happens to keep us around after we die.  I was hoping for some answers to unanswered questions.  I was hoping to believe.  And believe I did.
As we sat down she took my hand and closed her eyes.  She came up with sounds of names instead of directly calling them out.  In this regard I was a little disappointed because, as I had seen on TV with the famous Long Island Medium, I was expecting full names.  So right out the gate my skepticism was in full "yeah right" mode.  Then, little by little, things started to change. I had not told her my father had passed away, but she knew.  She began to describe the people who were with him on the other side and she nailed every one of them.  Uncle Jack, cousin Arther, cousin Vera, and a close cousin to my Dad who, as she described, had the most unusual knickname she had ever heard.  A name that no-one who didn't know her could guess and that was in no way part of her name.  She chuckled at the name and knew how she died.  My dad's cousin Vivian...or as we called her..."Aunt Tunie".  She described what things were like in my childhood.  She nailed it.  No way on earth she could have known some of the things she said.  She also talked about how my dad was on the road a lot with his job, his love for travel, and how that translated to my love of travel.  Throughout this process I kept my promise to myself...I said very little and offered up little or no information...only saying things after she said what she was seeing and feeling.  She knew my mom is a quilter...and that my dad told her as much.  She described my mom's situation with her house and her neighbors...and nailed it.  She described things that were going on in my personal life...and nailed it.  She described things going on in my professional life...and nailed that too.  She described things going on with my family and others close to me...nailed it.  Most of the stuff she said to me is stuff that is too personal to talk about here, like my personal situation and the circumstances surrounding my dad's death.  Skepticism was but a distant memory.  She got some of the things I would think of as "generic" right, but she also described intimate details that she could not have known about me.  Even though I'm not going into too much detail I will offer this...should anyone want to discuss this further with me contact me through Facebook and I may elaborate further on a case-by-case basis (depending on how well I know you).  This meeting was a game changer for me.  While she did answer some questions for me, I think I have more unanswered ones now that I am convinced we don't cease to exist once our heart stops beating.  Either way, while I certainly don't want to leave the land of the living anytime soon, I'm not as scared to depart as I had been.  This was actually a HUGE problem for me at times, but that is something else I'm not really ready to discuss right now.  Just know this...I am a believer.

I've purposely kept religion out of this conversation and I won't go into details as to my thoughts on that.  Way too touchy of a subject to talk about and it's getting late anyway...need some beauty sleep...LOTS of beauty sleep.  Again, if anyone wants further information, including the name and contact information of the medium, please send me a private message through my Facebook page. 

So now I enter 2013 with a new attitude towards life.  Even though I'm convinced we are still here even though we may not be "here", I'm not taking things for granted.  I'm actually more enthusiastic about doing things while I am living.  I had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends, and took another spectacular road trip, which I will be describing in detail here very shortly.  For now remember...for every minute you are mad, that is 60 seconds of lost happiness you can never get back.