Vast Nothingness

The majority of Wyoming, excluding the Yellowstone and Grand Teton area, is a wasteland of vast nothingness without change from the 350 miles or so east to west. In fact, it is the least populous state in the union and from the moment I crossed from Nebraska to Wyoming, I could see why. I drove about 50 miles on four separate occasions without seeing a single man-made structure (sometimes because of open range, not even a fence line along the lonely two-lane highway) as far as the eye could see in every direction.

I was a little apprehensive heading west from Iowa. The last three states I had visited: Illinois, Missouri, and Iowa had all bored me with their landscapes. Slight rolling hills and corn. Oh, and some soy. Over and over again for hundreds of miles weaving through the tri-state area. This is the first time I have traveled and been bored by the scenery. In fact, I even prided myself in loving the states that were least loved like the Dakotas and Oklahoma. Upon entering Nebraska, everything changed from corn fields to cattle grazing land. So beautiful!!! I ended up driving at night trying to make it the rest of Nebraska and I could drive MILES without seeing any light from anything. (I kept checking my brights because they just didn't light anything it was so dark)

Wyoming is desert mountains high desert plains. This territory is ancient, God-forsaken, eerie, peaceful. The mountains, where you can see the layers of earth jutting out at an angle tell of earthquakes and disasters occurring millions of years in the past. One almost expects a triceratops to emerge behind a hill, or even to see a UFO crash site in a field. I stopped the car and got out. Since it was still early, there was little wind so I couldn't even hear THAT. The only sound were my ears ringing. If you ever have a chance, I suggest you go hang out by yourself in the desert out in the middle of nowhere to hear yourself think. If you can't stand the silence, make some changes.

Silly Wyoming...that isn't a road.

Off to interview in Cokeville, WY, on the southwest corner of the state. The dot on the map was pretty big so I was expecting something pretty decent-sized.

Population: 506. Even in the center of town there was deafening silence. How did I end up at all these small towns?? The people turned out to be pretty friendly, for the most part. In contrast to Stuart, NE that has a similar population, they were much more welcoming to "move-ins" I interviewed a girl who had moved to Cokeville from Nevada. The town natives agreed that "Once you move in, you're one of us...whether you like it or not!!" On the other hand, Stuart-ans talked of another resident saying, "Well, he's just a move-in." "Oh yeah? How long has he lived here?" I asked. "36 years." Which goes to show you how different towns are even if they have the same industry and population.

It was nearing sundown. I was sitting at the bar with a glass of water in my hands. Suddenly the doors to the cafe swing open. The barmaids gasp and flee to the kitchen. A baby cries. The silhouettes of four large men, their cowboy hats casting shadows over their faces, linger in the door way. "Well?" One barks. "Are we gonna git service?" The waitress shuffles around the bar to show them to their table. They swagger in a slow mosey in their chaps and tight Wranglers. I could hear the sound of the spurs hit the old wooden blanked floor and tried not to make eye contact with them.

Ok, so that's an exaggeration of what happened, but I snapped a picture of two of them heading back to their truck. Wyoming ranchers make Texans look like frail city boys.

Now I'm surrounded by Mormons in a Salt Lake City suburb. My next destination was going to be Hanksville--located right between several national parks but i think it would be more interesting and better to get a larger city as I have done interviews in so many small towns. Oh yeah, landscape-wise, Utah blows all the other states out of the water...hands DOWN. Ok Wyoming has a lot of beauty as well in the northwestern part and Montana too. But Utah wins. Visit there.

Homeless Turf Wars

Finally I have a chance for internet access for the first time in nearly a week. Often times there is internet at a McDonalds (where I am now) but there are rarely outlets so I don't have a real chance to take advantage of the facility.

I faced more rejection than ever before in Illinois, a state that is now on my bad list. Not only was I kicked out for chatting with retired farmers at a McDonalds, a woman actually threw my survey out in the garbage right in front of me. I was so mad I nearly just left town right there. Seeing as I've been on the road for nearly two months, not stayed in the same place except once for more than two nights, and showered in the most embarrassing of places, I am VERY much at the end of my rope. But, after taking a few deep breaths and deciding to try again, I worked up the courage to ask permission at a local pub in town to let me do interviews. People there were great and had me leaving the town (after stopping by every shop in downtown) feeling a lot better about the place....UNTIL today where I found surveys by ACCIDENT that people had sealed away without filling out the majority of the questions. WHY would a person say they would help, then pretend to do so? Because I decided to save looking at the data until I got home, I am wondering...how many more people have done this? Is it just awful Monticello, Illinois or are there many more states and people who have failed to complete the 2 minutes of work they agreed to do?

A Starbucks in Columbia, Missouri the next morning kindly asked me to leave. They were much nicer about it but Starbucks was my one last safe haven and an easy starting place. Not that I've found too many Starbucks' in my travels, but the cities that have had them even the employees all ask to help out and fill out a survey. I ended the day at a McDonald's and made it out JUST in time before I was kicked out again.

-Keepin' in classy, Missourah: Bumper sticker says, "My Other Toy has HOOTERS" How does someone respond to this? No words.-

THANKFULLY, Iowans were extremely hospitable and helpful. A couple I had met while volunteering in Joplin, MO, invited me to stay at their house despite me giving them extremely short notice I would be in the area. I spent two nights there--including having Sunday completely off! Everyone I met in their church was so kind and welcoming (despite being LUTHERAN ;) ) They sent me off with a nice lunch and lots of hugs. Yeay!!

Now in last couple days I've put in LOTS more miles and going to drive another 600 miles tomorrow to get to the next town in western Wyoming. I can't believe that I'll be home in less than two weeks. I'm definitely feeling like it's time to go home. Last night, I thought I had struck gold being able to stay at a rest stop with clean bathrooms and outlets and a chair! I was able to charge my iPod while working on a craft project. Unfortunately, since the rest area was in-town, there were two other homeless people hanging around. I tried to work on my bead work, but one started going off about how the second Vatican council wasn't the true Catholic faith because the real pope was kidnapped and a free Mason took his place and made all the changes. "Stained glass windows and Latin...That's TRUE Catholicism...otherwise you are going to hell. I'm telling you this for your own good." Sadly enough, the rest stop reminded me a lot of downtown Everett. But cleaner.

So who won the homeless turf war? Ranting Conspiracy Theories vs. Stephanie....Crazy wins. I fled to the safety of my hobo fort (the Corolla) and fell into a fitful sleep. Funny, this man was not the first schizophrenic man I had run into in Iowa or even that day. The first was around my age and I could tell he was right away. I felt deep empathy for him and we talked for 30 minutes. In the end, he wanted my phone number though so I apologized and explained I had a boyfriend. I let him give me his address because he pleaded for me to return to talk to him more. I wonder where his family was. What had occurred in his life that he ended up in small town Iowa all alone, intensely feeling his solitude? There are so many "lepers" in modern America. The mentally ill and homeless (most go hand in hand) are 99% of the time avoided and ignored. Actually being on this trip, I have been given that look very often and lots of disgusted/curious stares. It is so OBVIOUS what people are thinking and it only makes a person what to hide away from society even more, away from help.

On a final, lighter note, in Iowa I saw a a trucked pulled up to a deer with two men getting out to cut it up. They themselves had not hit the deer as the truck was undamaged.

GOD BLESS 'MERKA!!!!!

Learning so much....but what again?

NOTE: I present a lot of questions in this entry--this does NOT IMPLY that if I question something or someone, I believe them to be wrong--it's because I want to know IF they are or are not.

A traveling couple I had an extremely brief exchange with in Goodman, WI invited me to stay at their home in Green Bay. Since the Packers are my second favorite team, I had to say yes! First, let me talk about Michigan.

I visited a friend in a Detroit suburb. It was so WONDERFUL to connect with someone my own age!! It seems like those I really get along the best are usually 30 to 50 years older than I am which honestly, is a bit saddening to me. Why don't young people like to DISCUSS the meaning of life? I just had such a GREAT time there. She introduced me to her neighbors who were just wonderful women as well. We stayed up "late" drinking wine and discussing all the things people aren't supposed to talk about: religion, sex, and politics. If you can leave the night having different views on these subjects and still be friends, you're in good company!

One thing I noticed is the South is not as racist as we make it out to be. Ok, let me rephrase that. The South is just as racist as the rest of the country. I noticed just as much segregation in Michigan as in Georgia. I feel the racism in the north, which I considered to be only a Seattle thing, is that no one believes themselves to be racist as probably a Southerner might admit it more. And how can you solve a problem that no one believes exists? I am very curious to look up the history of Detroit now. My friend said that she's talked to people who have lived in the Detroit suburbs their whole lives and how in the 1960's, after the riots, the white people gave up the city to the African American population and it's gone downhill ever since. I asked her, "If you listened to the same story from people who lived in Atlanta suburbs their whole lives, would you believe them or would you write it off as 'those southern racists'?" I REALLY wish I would have been able to go in the city and talk to people. Would I just pin everyone in the city of Detroit as a victim? Probably not. I think to completely victimize people strips them of their power to help themselves. Grr--this has left me with TOO many questions and NOT enough answers!

Continuing on the topic of the Midwest, never has any group of people been so generous to me as those in Michigan and Wisconsin. Southerners were very hospitable and would invite me to their house, some would even buy me dinner. No one handed me cash, but I swear Midwesterners have just been throwing money at me. Obviously it's not a huge amount but it's been very touching and amazing to me.

My interviews in Goodman, WI went very well. It was the first time that I actually went to people's houses to interview people, and my first time to interview the oldest person in the town (she is 96 years old). One man, in his 90's, answered very high on his level of happiness. However, on the other factors that should contribute to happiness, he was very low. At the end of the survey when he started showering me with little gifts, I asked him, "Why are you so happy? Everything here states that you shouldn't be so." (I always seem to just blurt out what I'm thinking--gets me in trouble sometimes) He had lost two wives, one fairly recently, and his 11...yes ELEVEN...children all lived a fair distance away from him and he lived alone in a retirement community. After thinking about it for a moment, he had simple answer: "The Lord has been very good to me." Goodman is at the edge of its county, connected closely with Franklin county. This is the poorest county in the state. However, 4 separate people tried handing me money and gifts. Another bought my dinner at the cafe.

When I was in New Hampshire, I decided to splurge and buy dinner out to eat famous New England seafood. I sat down at the bar next to a CEO who had traveled the world and the country many times over. He was definitely well off. Now, I am hesitant to repeat this in words because I don't want to make it sound like I am looking for hand outs. He made no mention of buying me dinner, which actually was probably the first time that I had sat down and chatted with someone who hadn't. When I was in the south, I wouldn't find out until after they had left that they had paid so there was no way I could thank them. Those in the poorest county in the state were giving me the shirt off their back. Again, I wasn't looking for ANYONE to buy me anything. Thank the Lord people have been so good to me. Despite my rest stop showers, going extra slow on the freeway to save gas, and lunches consisting of tuna and crackers, I am starting to run out of money. If people hadn't been so GOOD to me along the way and before I even started my journey, there is no way I could have done this trip. It just cost so much more than I thought.

The couple from Green Bay showered me with typical generosity to a complete stranger. The husband and I sat down and he just started asking me over and over again how I was doing things. He said that it seems like the surveys and interviews are secondary to this amazing journey I've had. In many ways, I have felt very much like what it's like to be homeless, he commented. Obviously I have a car and I do have emergency money so it's not the same. I told him I feel like I'm learning something very important but I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS. Every day I talk to people and gain experiences and hear viewpoints I had never heard before. Then I get back into my car and digest it all. But I don't know what I'm digesting! Once I do figure out what I'm learning, I think it's going to be pretty intense. And once I understand that, where do I go from there?

The more I travel, the more I find out I really don't have an idea of what it is like to live in this earth. The less likely I am just to say 'well, these people are this way' as I did when I was younger. The scary part of it is, I have seen more places and talked to and tried to understand the people of this world more than the majority of people...and how LITTLE we understand each other and really see what it's like. Especially since the more you learn, the more you realize you have more to learn. I was given such a tiny snapshot of American life growing up. I traveled the world and the view got bigger. As the pinhole of my experience expanded, the more I could see it was just a small piece of a much larger picture. What I find sad is that when people don't travel or try to understand their neighbor, they feel like they understand each other because they don't realize their life is just a tiny fraction of the human experience. There is so much more to learn.

I'm in Illinois now. Yesterday I came down with a nasty cold--worse than I've had in a long time. Thankfully a friend from Everett hooked me up with more of his family in Bloomington so I was able to sleep 14 hours last night. Even so, there will be no surveys today. Also, to those who keep on telling me, "Amazing you haven't had car problems yet" STOP SAYING THAT. I've had to deal with 3 ever since people made that stupid comment :D Gotta go pretty soon to throw down a couple hundred more on a brake problem because apparently brakes are important...whatever. Again THANK you to everyone who's helped me out. I haven't had to panhandle at all because of you!!

Amish Gone Wild

"I like your beard." I said to a man dressed in a jump suit with short hair and wearing no hat. He gave me an odd look as two toddler boys in blue suits and straw hats ran to his side. Oh. Yup, observant Stephanie just complimented an Amish man on his beard. He was camouflaged though, how was I supposed to know he was Amish?? I interviewed the majority of Pike and Hume, NY, included several Amish youth too. The vibe between the Englishers and the Old Order was very different than up north by Canada. Up north, the Amish seemed much shyer, traditional, and friendly. The English had great things to say about their neighbors and people hung out together pretty often. Here, they lived just as close in proximity but there was more tension between the groups. I sat in a barber shop in Pike where the people were talking about their Amish neighbors
"I just saw a group of Amish walk by."
"Were they staggering? Are they drunk already?"
That is NOT the first question I would ask about any group, traditional or non, about those walking at 5 o clock in the evening on a Thursday night. She then went on to tell the story how recently, a horse and buggy was getting stopped by the police for a DWI. The driver, in drunken logic, spurred his horse on faster to try to outrun the cops and when he realized it could not be done, he jumped out of his buggy and ran into the woods. Apparently the Amish around this area, who even hire drivers to go the post office, are not nearly as traditional and have a secret love for booze. Amazing.

I realized this trend of dissolving traditional values first hand when I doing interviews with young Amish who were buying Doritos and energy drinks at a gas station. I never thought I would be chatting with an Amish boy my age drinking a Monster talking about working construction. The girls just giggled and chatted in Pennsylvanian Dutch. I answered their questions in German they were asking each other about the survey and they looked at me with wide eyes and giggled some more. Strange, I thought the girls would be more comfortable to talk to me but I only chatted with female Amish a couple of times but I talked to a dozen Amish men.

That night I took side roads in Ohio and sure enough, I drove passed an Amish school. There's nothing cuter than little Amish boys and girls running and playing tag in straw hats and bonnets. A little later, I drove by a local store and saw a few horse and buggies tied up. Long story short, after I asked to take a picture of a man's horse and buggy, he offered to give me a ride. "You won't be too scared will you?" "Um, NO!!"

It was awesome. Totally made my year. Turns out all these talks and hanging out with Amish and even getting a buggy ride doesn't really happen too often. People are pretty surprised when I tell them I've interviewed a dozen Amish, "And they'll talk to you?" they reply. I guess so!

I apologize for this blog entry. I am pretty sure I have fully come down with a cold. My brain is clogged up so it's not working so great. I think I just spaced off at the computer screen for a full 5 minutes before I remembered what I was doing.

So many thoughts since I've been in the Midwest, continuing on ideas of racism, poverty, generosity, and purpose. Sadly this is my first chance at blogging in almost a week. I should have time tomorrow and hopefully my brain will be working by then. Well, as much as it ever is.

The Good Samaritan

The good Samaritan is a pretty well-known parable of Jesus. It tells the story of a traveling man from Jerusalem to Jericho who is mugged: his money and cloak are stolen and he is left to die on the side of a road. A priest walks by and immediately moves to the other side and doesn't help. The next man, a Levite (a part of the holy tribe of Israel) walks to the other side of the road and doesn't help either. The third man, a lowly Samaritan takes pity on the man and dresses his wounds in expensive supplies. He even pays to put the man in an inn and covers all his expenses until he is well. This is Jesus' interpretation of a true neighbor, and the way to inherit eternal life.

9:30 at night. Pitch black, raining and in the middle of nowhere--with a flat tire. I was just thinking earlier that day that I was so fortunate to have no car problems so far. I guess pretending to be a New York City taxi driver in heavy construction was a silly idea to my poor old front tires. While I was at a Burger King trying to figure out what to do, a group of people who, by the way they were dressed, I could tell were very religious. I don't want to give away what religion it was as I think it might be unfair to the group as a whole, but I was NOT IMPRESSED.

They watched me try to put a can of fix-a-flat in my tire before the several-years-old can exploded chemicals all over my face, eyes and clothes.
They then watched me empty my trunk, only covering for a few moments my very out of state license plate, to get out a spare tire.
They watched me struggle to see what i was doing in the dark.
They knew I was a young female, in the dark, and alone far from home.
Even so, as one man returned to his truck, he walked briskly by with his head down to pretend he didn't see me. Another lady commented on how annoying it was raining before heading to her car.

Finally, I went up to them to ask them where a tire shop was. They had no answer. "How about Sears?" I asked. "Yes, but they aren't open til 10 tomorrow." "I'll just wait in my car then." I responded and they walked away without even a goodbye. Thank God I have an awesome boyfriend who taught me basic car care so I can function on my own. In the parking lot of an industrial area in front of an independent tire repair shop, I lay half the night shivering and worrying about another flash flood or police and also pondering the story of the good Samaritan. I never really believed a devote person to any religion would fail to help a stranger in need. Why would someone dress in such a manner that it was obvious what their beliefs were, and then fail to adhere to those very edicts? I felt like crying not because I was in dire need, because I managed just fine, but because I COULD have been and I was ignored.

Too bad in Pennsylvania there aren't any Samaritans!

(I suffered many chigger bites that are all over me now to get this stupid picture and none of them really turned out so dang it... one is going on this blog to make it worth it)

Homeless in the Northeast

It was sometime during my shower at a ranger station in Massachusetts that I began to wonder. What was the series of events that led me to being 25, living out of my car with no clean laundry or shower for a week and having forest service workers offering me boxes of granola bars and armfuls of water bottles because they thought me to be homeless? Where did I go wrong??

All I needed was a shower. I spent 6 nights in a row in my car which would have been fine, but I was set to do interviews in Boston and I probably smelled. Not the best for getting people to talk to you. In Pennsylvania, a homeless person complimented how clean I was for being homeless ("I never said I was homeless..." I responded sadly) and a couple tried to hand me money when I asked them to fill out a survey. Sad day, I didn't think I looked THAT bad. Anyway, after 5 nights in a car I thought that it was a good idea to get a motel room and have a real shower but Boston is the most expensive city to get hotels in. 100 dollars a night for a Super 8! Are you kidding me?? I would rather sleep in my car and shower at a state park the next morning. Which I was all set to do--until I found out the campground was closed. I'm on a time schedule so even though they kindly tried to direct me to another state park, I was pooped and whiny. A police officer had knocked on my window (again) in the middle of the night to check me out. Thankfully he let me stay but it disturbed my sleep. The night before I was not bothered by anyone, but it was so cold I was waking up every hour or so.

A kind state park worker from Rock Hill, SC took pity on me and arranged for me to shower at the park. I was SO GRATEFUL. He saved me 30 dollars in parking fees and the time and gas to get to the other state park. And his kindness didn't stop there, he offered to take me out to breakfast and we had a good time chatting about wildlife and hunting. Speaking of people from Rock Hill, SC, the couple that took me in and we had SUCH a great time talking, I LOST THEIR INFO. REV. and MRS. STEIN if you are reading this PLEASE email me!! I have a thank you note ready to go but no address to send it to :(

With a shower and clean clothes, I was ready to start my interviews in the Boston area. One thing people in Boston all had in common: MEANNESS. I hope to NEVER visit the city again or get even close. After only 10 minutes of attempting surveys, I almost cried. When people would ignore me or just say "I don't want any." Finally I just started yelling at them as they walked briskly by, "I AM NOT SELLING ANYTHING!!! I'M JUST A STUDENT!" Not a good idea to continue I was acting like a crazy person. Despite how upset I was, I continued searching for people for 4 hours. After that 4 hours, I only got ELEVEN surveys. ELEVEN!!! I stopped a postal worker to ask him where the friendly part of Boston was. "Friendly part of Boston?" He responded in all seriousness, "Oh honey, there's no friendly part of Boston. You are completely out of luck. There's not a nice person in this whole city." Not only was Boston tiring for trying to talk to people, but the driving there was the worst so far in the country, behind Seattle and San Antonio. Utter chaos!!

So that night, I stayed in a 2 bedroom suite in the heart of Providence, RI in a beautiful section of town for the same price as a motel 6 in the area. (50 dollars as compared to 240 for the original price, thank you Charlie for booking it!) I enjoyed my free morning coffee in the sunshine from my balcony, people watching at the cafes below.

Danbury, CT was much better probably because I got a real shower and a place to sleep the night before...and because they weren't from Boston. A super kind yet walking stereotype as he was a hot dog vendor named Tony from Brookyln bought me a hot dog and chatted with me for a while. After wandering around, I ended up at a downtown cafe. The people of the New York/Boston area are so very different from Seattleites or Southerners. They are loud, in your face, sarcastic, and blunt. Even so, I enjoyed this friendly culture and had a good time talking with people. Almost everyone had a snarky comment about happiness and 100% of the interviewees commented on how awful of a place Danbury is. I even had a crowd of high school boys crowding around me begging to fill out surveys. What a refreshing change from Boston!

Then, I was off to visit my friend and coteacher I met in Taiwan who loves New York and Brooklyn with a passion. She's the only person I know who would say, 'I wish you were on the subway with me today! There was a crazy man running around with a knife trying to stab people...!" Sadly I only got to stay for a night and she was crazy busy so we didn't get too much time to hang out.

Driving through New York City is like playing a video game with incredible graphics and it was AMAZING. This morning I felt like making a U-Turn and going back into the city so I could weave through traffic and speed around again, carefully avoiding pedestrians and merging vehicles. Next life: Taxi driver in the big city for sure

Now I'm heading to upstate New York and am gradually heading my way back home. Thanks again to all those who donated and hosted me along the way, there is no way I could have done this without you. By the way, hiking in the Appalachian mountains was so beautiful. I could have stayed in Vermont and New Hampshire forever!

10,000 Miles and Counting

Statistics as of 9/14/2011:

View Happiness Ahead Project in a larger map
*10,029 miles driven in 38 days
*Average 264 miles every day
*5 hr 15 minutes driving a day (not including stops and in-town speed limits)
*24 trips to the gas station
*Cheapest gas: Oklahoma @ 3.23/gal
*Most expensive gas: New York @4.55/gal (I cried)
*Around 400 people in 18 cities in 18 states interviewed
*31 states visited

The sad thing is, I still have 13 more cities to visit. According to Google maps, from Orange, NJ to Bellevue, WA is 5,100 miles. That's if I stick to the main high ways (shudder) and take no detours. A long way to go!

Next entry: Experiences in the beautiful Appalachian mountains of New Hampshire, confusion with several people thinking I'm homeless, me yelling at strangers in Boston, and weaving the streets of Brooklyn, New York like I've been doing it for years.