This Is Getting Out Of Hand

This week will mark the last leg of The Vagabond Tour... Wyoming, Montana, and South Dakota. With that said, I still haven't finished writing about the previous adventures. I get writing SO MUCH, that it is exhausting. So, I think I will just do bullet points to finish... That way, everything gets done AND nobody gets exhausted writing/reading (hopefully). Here goes!

Day 25 - July 5:
- Took pictures in Cemetery
- Volunteered rebuilding a home ruined by Hurricane Katrina through the St. Bernard Project.

Day 26 - July 6:
- Volunteered @ same home, this time meeting the owners of the home. What an experience!
- Hit the road to Angleton, Texas to visit with an old friend (shout out to Jovana)! While there we went to dinner, and visited a farm where I got to pet a horse and a cow. So cool!
- Went home and watched Invisible Children's  "Black is for Sunday" Documentary

Day 27 - July 7:
- DROVE! I must brag that I drove from Orange, TX to Angleton, TX to Dallas, TX on one tank of gas... I felt pretty accomplished!
- Visited with the Wisemans (Mission companion)! We watched a documentary on some street artists (Sorry IC). Good stuff!

Day 28 - July 8:
Today was a great day for picture taking, but I didn't take pictures... I drove through a couple dozen little towns that didn't even have a stop sign - let alone a stop LIGHT!
- Met family descendants of Geronimo at a gas station as I was trying to get into Fort Sill (My map led me to a dead end...)! What an honor!
- At Fort Sill, I saw where Geronimo's jail cell was, as well as the burial site of many Native Chiefs, including Geronimo.
- On the road again, I followed Route 66 to Amarillo. Before I made it there, I stopped in Groom, TX to see their infamous leaning water tower and giant cross!

Day 29 - July 9:
- Made it to Albuquerque, NM
- Visited with the Sanders (friend from mission).
- Went to do FREE HUGS, but was rained out... :(
- Visited Old Town, including attending a church service in the oldest church in Albuquerque! Holla!

Day 30 - July 10:
- Woke up early so that I could make it to Thoreau, NM for church - It was a cool little town in the middle of nowhere. Loved it! One of the missionaries there tried to hook me up with his sister.
- Hit the road again and ended up driving through a bunch of forests and national parks in Arizona, trying to get to Mesa. I have some super great family in Mesa that I got to stay with for a while! We played pool and a bunch of card game. Good times for sure!

Day 31 - July 11:
- Visited another friend from my mission (Reidheads)
- Then, my aunt's family came over for dinner, which was a blast. They had thick New Yorker accents. I don't think I have ever heard a real New Yorker accent... and it was great!

Day 32 - July 12:
- Headed off to California
- While stopped by border patrol, I shared some Vagabond Tour flyers and talked about what it was all about. Schweet.
- BEACH!!!

Day 33 - July 13:
- First thing in the morning, I headed over to the Invisible Children office, and had the time of my life. SERIOUSLY. Story time:
When I got there, I visited with my "tour guide" (Holly) and explained the Vagabond Tour. While we were talking, one of the founders (Laren) of IC casually walked by. It was crazy! It was like I just saw a superstar or something! We joked about it, and then were on our way with the tour. Our first stop was the Roadie Intern area, where all the interns were planning the Fall tour. Holly gets everyone's attention and introduces me and explains what I have been doing on the Vagabond Tour. They were all stoked and tried to get me to be a Roadie, while I casually laughed it off... not thinking too much about it. We go on with the tour and I meet a bunch of fantastic people in the various departments. We stop by the shipping department (where all the merch is), and as we are leaving, I ask about getting a new bracelet, since I lost mine in Florida. We go back and I ask them about it... and they commence giving me a TON of stuff! Bracelets, flyers, stickers, etc. So, now I can do stellar major screenings!
Next, we were in the hall looking at pictures of past events, talking about how we both got involved in IC, when another founder (Jason) of IC walks by! This time, Holly stops him and introduces me and tells him about my tour. Not only was he impressed, but he asked if I would be down for an interview! AN INTERVIEW IN AT THE INVISIBLE CHILDREN OFFICE! The next thing I know, I am in a room being interviewed... What is going on?! SO COOL!
But it gets better...
I finish up the interview, and am about the head out, and figured that it would be cool to get some pictures! I ask if I could get a Vagabond Tour picture with the Interns. They agree to it, and we get a way cool picture in the office. Then the thought came to mind to get a picture with Jason and Laren. Holly wasn't sure about it, but decided to take me to find out if it were possible. We go back and... IT WAS. We take the picture, and then Jason explained to Laren what I was doing. We started just talking about random stuff, and then Jason stopped and said, "Hold on, I will be right back." He runs into his office and comes out with a book. He hands it to me and says "This guy is one of my favorite authors, I think you would really like this book." I had recognized it as a book talked about by the founder of To Write Love On Her Arms, Jamie Tworkowski. It was called "Blue Like Jazz." I told him I would check it out, and tried to hand it back. "You keep it." What??? The founder of Invisible Children just gave me his book?! OK?! How cool is this?! Then to top it off, they (along with everyone else in the office) tried to get me to be a roadie. I asked lots of questions, and was ready to do it... Seriously, it all felt like a blur.
A little more conversation was had, and then I was out the door - walking on a cloud. Thank you Invisible Children for such an amazing experience!
- After leaving the IC office, I headed up to San Pedro to see another friend from the mission (Arie Santana).
- We went to the Hollywood sign, Hollywood Blvd, and to the Hard Rock Cafe

Day 34 - July 14:
- Headed to Santa Monica to see the TOMS Headquarters.
- Back into Hollywood, I visited with a friend (who was on Broadway, mind you) for a little bit, and then was on the road again.
- Landing in Las Vegas, I spent the rest of the day and night (till 1:30ish) on the strip with another mission buddy, Sam Tualatamalelagi.

Day 35 - July 15:
- St. George!
- Visited some family (the Rogers)
- Visited a friend, Anna, and played some racquet ball, mini golf, etc. at her family's day spa
- Went to the St. George LDS Temple visitors center and as I walked in, the missionary that greeted me ended up being the sister of one of my missionary companions! What are the odds?! Small world...

Day 36 - July 16:
- Headed north to visit my first mission president and his wife, which was such a great time! Shout out to the Brimhalls!
- Then to Hurricane to visit some family of my neighbors. We even got to go hiking a little bit!
- Lastly, I visited some more family who happened to be in Hurricane as well. Its nice to have everyone so close by!

Day 37 - July 17:
- Woke up early so I could make it to Sandy to hear my second mission president and his wife speak in church. After the service, it was like a mission reunion! There were a TON of missionaries there, and it was great to see them all!
- Then... I drove home.

Isn't It About... Time?

So... it has been 2.5 weeks since I have been home from The Vagabond Tour, so I figured I better finish writing about the last half of the adventure. Sorry it took so long, but here goes!

Day 19 - June 29:

If you remember, I had just picked up my car from the shop yesterday (June 28th). As I was driving around, I noticed a strange humming sound... So, the first thing I did was take my car back to the dealer that fixed it. I told him what the problem was, and headed into the waiting room to spend my day... HOURS PASS... The guy comes in and informs me that he checked, double checked, and triple checked, and found nothing wrong. The good thing was, I didn't lose any money over it!

I return to my trusty vehicle and hit the road to Chipley, FL to spend my last night in Florida. When I got there, I headed over to the McDonalds and met up with Travis Nellums so he could get online. Good times at McDonalds. Thats about all I remember of that day!

Day 20 - June 30:

I slept in and then headed over to the missionaries place. I visited with them for a little bit - seeing as they just returned from doing some service and one of the missionaries wasn't feeling well. I interviewed them for The Praise Project and then was on my way. They were some way cool cats, thats for sure!

Upon leaving their apartment, I hit the road for my next destination: Tuscaloosa, AL. I had found a facebook page by the name of "Rebuild Tuscaloosa" and had asked about service opportunities while I was there (for those of you who don't know, Tuscaloosa was hit by a pretty big tornado a few months ago, and are in need of some service). I got a response with some direction, so I figured that I was needed there.*

*Side note: About a day or two earlier, I was planning on heading to Cocoa Beach and Miami Beach, FL, but one of the great things about The Vagabond Tour is that I had really tried to leave everything in Gods hands and let him direct me. I had been looking into opportunities in Cocoa Beach and in Tuscaloosa, and God sent me to Tuscaloosa instead - and thank Him for it!

I arrived in Tuscaloosa as the sun was getting low in the sky. I found my trusty golden arches and set up camp in the dining area. One of the first things I did was get on the Rebuild Tuscaloosa page and see if anyone knew about volunteer housing! Unfortunately that wasn't in the picture anymore. Fortunately, people are amazing and have hearts of gold. A wonderful lady got ahold of me through my "volunteer housing request" and informed me that she had paid for a hotel room for me to stay in that night to figure things out for while I was here. INCREDIBLE PEOPLE LIVE IN THIS WORLD! To top things off, when I got there, the hotel room was NICE! King size bed, a little kitchen area, living room space... DANG! God is good.

Day 21 - July 1:

As great as the the king sized bed was, I left extremely too early. I headed to the main volunteer center to register, and was lucky enough to be sent to the TES warehouse that does all the main sorting. Sure the sorting wasn't the most exciting thing to do, but it was definitely a rewarding experience.

When the time came for the volunteers to go home, I decided to take some time to look around the path of the tornado. Pictures don't do justice for what a tornado is capable of. I was shocked...

I found my way to Mr. Tree, who is a symbol of endurance and hope through all the destruction. Afterwards, I walked around the neighborhood and took some pictures, looked around, and prayed for the people affected by the tornado. Lets hope that the rebuilding is quick, and those affected will find peace.

When it got too dark to wander any more, I made my way to a church parking lot to get my rest for another day at the warehouse!

Day 22 - July 2:

Bright and early rolled around, and I headed back to the warehouse to work! It was a nice long hot day. As time went on, the volunteers slowly trickled out, until I was the only one there. At first, I didn't really notice it, but I just continued to work. Finally, I started to wonder... I grabbed something that I had a question about anyway, and headed to the front where to ask about it. When I headed up, I got a warm, "hey Utah!"

I asked my question and then we got chatting. The conversation slowly headed to where I was sleeping that night. When they weren't satisfied with me sleeping in my car in a parking lot, they insisted on me staying at the warehouse. AT A TORNADO RELIEF DONATION WAREHOUSE! How great is that!? And how great are they?! Amazing people; amazing experiences.

The warehouse lights stayed on all night long. The warehouse was extremely hot. I went around the warehouse and grabbed a few fans and a tie. The tie to block out the light, and the fans to cool things down. I set up the fans around my sleeping space - a pile of donated beds - and tried to sleep. Hot. Loud. Bright. Uncomfortable. But I had a smile on my face the whole night. :)

Day 23 - July 3:

Church time! Church was an interesting experience, since the main service was in english, and the next was in spanish. Too bad I wasn't learning spanish back then!

After the service, I had the opportunity to go work with the missionaries for the rest of the evening! We met some great people that night. I gotta say that everything is great.

When I got back to the warehouse, everyone was already asleep, so I decided to volunteer myself to do night watch. You see, there are things all over the place at this warehouse. The parking lot is full with STUFF. All around the building there is STUFF. One of the volunteers watches the place at night, but had fallen asleep, so I thought I would make a few calls and watch guard while I talked. It was great! While being a security guard, I also felt the need to move on to my next location... So, I headed off to bed so that I could get ready for traveling!

Day 24 - July 4:

Happy Independence Day!

I hit the road and landed in New Orleans, LA, after nearly dying in a rain storm in Mississippi. And... I have a funny story as I was pulling into Nawlins. I had my map set for the French Quarters, but as I was getting close, nature called. I kept driving into downtown to look for a restaurant that I could use a bathroom, but there were none to be seen! I kept driving and driving and drove right through downtown and out the other side into a rough looking neighborhood. I figured there would be no restaurant around there, so I turned to start heading back toward the city. As I turned, I noticed a great big lady out on the sidewalk with a cooking pot bigger than me. She was cooking up a FEAST in that pot right there on the sidewalk! I was desperate, so I pulled over and shouted over her music, "Excuse me ma'am! Excuse me, do you know where I could find a restroom around here?"

"A restaurant?" she asks in her scratchy Nawlins accent. "Oh, like a... a..." as she made a flushing type hand motion.

"Thats the one!"

"Oh, son, you can use mine! Just pull over here."

So I pull over and she shows me to her bathroom. As I am walking to the door to head back outside, I just had to laugh at the situation. I am in Nawlins, using a strangers bathroom, while she is cooking on the sidewalk out of a pot that I could fit in. Things like this JUST. DONT. HAPPEN! It was too funny.

After a little chat, I was on my way to the French Quarters. Let me tell you, this place was PACKED! I should have known, but whatever... I drove around for a while looking for a free parking spot, and I think that if it werent a holiday, I never would have found one. Nevertheless, I parked a block or two off of the infamous Bourbon Street in a nice little neighborhood. The architecture was AMAZING! I loved it. I walked around to take a look at what was happening (I also snapped a few pictures), and was planning on getting my free hugs sign, but I just had a feeling that I shouldn't... So I didn't! Instead, I headed back to my car and had a little dinner. When it was late enough that I could go find myself a spot on the river for fireworks, I got out of the car, and was going to leave, but got sidetracked visiting with some nice people who were out visiting and enjoying the nice evening weather. The sun went down, and I made my way to the Mississippi. I found my spot, sat, and waited. I wasn't going to bother with the fireworks, since I am not a fan, but I kept hearing great things about the firework show that is put on every year... the Dueling Barges. Two barges come out on the river and put on the exact same firework show, a half mile apart. I wasn't too impressed...

After the show, I headed to my pre-determined sleeping space: A church parking lot. When I got there, I was quickly disappointed with a fenced off parking lot. :( Ok... I will just find another one... not. Every church that I could find was fenced off. Who does that?! It was getting late, and I was getting worried that I wouldn't find anywhere to sleep. Then I found it! Free parking! Granted, it was on the street and right outside a cemetery... but it was free! I pulled over, laid the seat back, and sweated myself to sleep (it was HOT and HUMID!)

Since I am so far behind on writing, I will break up my updates a little bit. Hopefully this is a good long update that will keep you entertained until I get around to my next one... I also hope that it will go a little faster than the current speed! I write too much! Sorry!

Anyway, God speed. I hope I haven't bored you to death... and... g'night!

Today Is THE Day

Day 18 - June 28 (Pt. 2)

TODAY is the essence of The Vagabond Tour. Today was so smooth and perfect and great! After leaving the McDonalds (see previous update), I headed to the Humane Society of Bay County and spent most of my day serving the homeless animals of Panama City. They had some AWESOME animals too. As I took each dog out for a little time outside, it was inspiring to see how each dog had an incredibly unique personality. From the way they interacted with me, their surroundings, the heat, the toys, etc. It just goes to show that though they cannot speak English, they have personalities, emotions, and deserve respect and appreciation. And though they are dogs – animals we interact with often – they are an example that God created all things individually and regardless of the name and shape of the animal, we should treat them all with a sense of compassion and reverence. Thank you Humane Society for helping me increase insight of the Animal Kingdom and how they relate to God’s plan.

After leaving the Humane Society, my next big adventure was at Pier Park. Pier Park is a tourist hot spot in Panama City Beach. It is a giant outdoor mall at one of the piers. I showed up with my FREE HUGS sign, and began walking! I got a lot of smiles, strange stares, hugs, and pictures! I felt like a celebrity as I walked down the street with all the people that wanted to take pictures with me! A few people offered me some money, but I was successful in keeping it in their own pocket… except for one persistent lady. It was a fun time at Pier Park. Good times for sure!

My night came to a close back at the one and only Noah’s Ark Beach Ministry (the place that let me use their shower about a week ago). Almost every night, they have a free concert, so I showed up to show some support! They put on a good show, and they had a nice mini sermon at the end, which was great as well. The quote that stuck with me the most was something like… “We can’t assume people are loved, but we do need to show it.” A lot of times we go through the motions of interacting with those around us as if everyone’s life is perfect, happy, and full of wonderful people.  We assume that people are in great situations at home, work, and school. But in reality, some people don’t feel loved. It is up to us to show love to everyone we come in contact with so that others may feel of their great worth. That they may know that you and God, if absolutely nobody else, loves them.

So go show the love and share the love.

Peter.Moosman.

Wow.

I don't even know where to begin... How 'bout the night of my last update.
So, I was giving my update of the day at McDonalds, right? About that time, I decided I might want to figure out what I was gonna do for the night. I figured that since I hadn't made any contacts that day, I better give up on the hope for a nice shower before bed on a comfy couch... I found a little Baptist church down the street and decided that it would do for a nice place to spend the night. I pulled in... it seemed safe enough... so I parked under a "TOW AWAY ZONE" sign and got ready for bed. I don't remember if I mentioned my state of being that night. I was sticky, sweaty, sunburned, tired, sandy, etcetera, etcetera. I felt worse than disgusting. I cracked my windows just enough to let some airflow in, but to keep bad guys out, and closed my eyes. Eyes open, eyes close... eyes open, eyes close. Open, close. It was ridiculously hot in the car all night long, the back seat of my car was covered in sand from the beach, and it was probably the most uncomfortable situation. EVER.

Bottom line: I didn't get much sleep.

Day 13 - June 23:
Morning came, and with minimum sleep, I took off to find a bathroom. I drove an awkwardly long time to find a gas station, and when I did, the gas station only had port-o-potty. There goes my chance for a sink bath! I was right next to the beach, so I figured I would walk down the beach to find a beach shower. I walked for quite a while before I found a shower, but I found one, nonetheless! Now that I knew where a shower was, I headed back to my car to get my stuff. On the way, I found a little place called Noah's Ark Beach Ministry. On the sign it said, something about a gift shop, free wifi, and concerts every night, so I decided to go in for a minute to look around. I met a couple nice people and took a look around the gift shop and was on my way. I got back to my car and started driving towards the beach shower, but decided to go back to the little ministry. I walked in and awkwardly asked for a shower. I told them what I was doing with the Vagabond Tour, gave them some flyers, and they showed me to a shower! I don't think I have appreciated a shower more in my life! I felt so so so disgusting, and to be clean felt like heaven!  I definitely owe Noah's Ark Beach Ministry some service! Great Christlike people that deserve many blessings.

When I left, I headed up to Panama City to meet up with Travis Nellums! We met at an LDS church, where it just so happened to have a zone conference going on! We went in and said hello to all of the missionaries, and I made some contacts to make sure the missionaries would let me go teach with them. :)

Then, I hopped in Sandy (Travis' car), and Travis drove around while I tagged along. We went to play frisbee golf, to the mall to find him some sunglasses - while there, we would talk to people about the vagabond tour and hand out flyers - and got something to eat. Oh, we went to every thrift store in Panama City... Dang! Then we went to play some volleyball with a bunch of strangers. When he was dropping me off at my car to go our separate ways, he casually says something like, "why don't you just come stay at my place for the next few days?" We discussed it, laughed about possibilities, and I ended up emptying my car and loading everything into his car... all at about 11pm in a church parking lot. I put my signs in the windows ("STAY POSITIVE, YOU'RE AMAZING," "The Vagabond Tour" and "Pray for the haters") in hopes that they would deter anyone from towing or breaking in. Once his car was full of my stuff, we hit the road to Chipley! I must say, while driving with Travis, we had some of the best laughs! He even laughed so hard that he spit his soda all over himself and his car. Today had one of the worst mornings of my life, and one of the best evenings. Funny how that works out! God is good.

Day 14 - June 24:
I would like to think that I slept in, but I honestly don't even know what that means any more! I woke up at my regular 8am-ish time... got ready, and actually snuck out while everyone else was sleeping to go spend most of my day with the missionaries. We went to do some service at a Habitat for Humanity thrift store. After helping out there for a couple hours, we were on our way, refueled, and went knocking doors. It started to rain terribly bad, so we went back to the apartment and had a "family study." We talked about mission statements / mottos, the Second Coming, the book of Revelation, and a few other things. GOOD TIMES! I miss my mission like CRASY!
I left after the family study to go have some fun in Pensacola with Travis. As I was walking back to the house from the missionaries place, I was the witness of a tragic accident. A little puppy was running across the street and got hit by a car. I still cant get the sound of the experience out of my head... ugh. It made me literally sick and I was in shock for a while. I couldn't speak. One of the worst parts was that the car didn't stop... they just kept going. Before I could get to the dog (it was still alive), the owners ran out to it and took it into the house. I just slowly walked with my hands going from over my mouth to my ears, to my forehead, to my heart... It wouldn't stop replaying in my mind. Please pray for that little dog. :(

Other than the above experience, the rest of the day was quite enjoyable. The 2 hour drive to Pensacola was hilarious (for as much as I could stay awake for)! We got to Pensacola a little late, but got to see a bunch of owls at a sanctuary before the sun went down. After that, we went to Swing Night. I felt like I walked into the 40's. People were dressed up in their swing garb, swing music was blasting through the speakers, and they had clips of old swing dancers being projected onto a big screen. Woah. It was an interesting night! I played Wallflower and people watched in this strange environment. There are perks to being a wallflower, people.

Day 15 - June 25:
The Panhandle Watermelon Festival! Woot! There was a parade in the morning, but I decided to bypass the parade so that I could do my laundry (hooray for clean clothes!!!) and try to get some writing in. It wasn't very long before they were back and we headed to the festival. I brought my FREE HUGS sign and we walked around for a while. I got about 20-25 free hugs, which is pretty good for being a total stranger in a small town! I also got a free oil change. The first person I gave a hug too was at a booth selling cars. He thought the Free Hugs concept was brilliant, and wanted to show his support to The Vagabond Tour, so he gave me a card for a free oil change. SCORE! Thank you so much, good sir!
We got some free watermelon, watched a watermelon auction and the top selling watermelon went for $700! A WATERMELON! That was the first watermelon, with the rest dropping about $50 each watermelon. Those are expensive watermelons!
After we had seen what there was to see and hug who wanted a free hug, we headed back (I stopped by to see how the dog was doing. It is alive and mostly well - just a messed up leg), dropped off the kids, and headed down to Panama City. We got together with some other people (5 of us total), and played some frisbee golf. Then we went and hung out at an ice cream shop. We had the time of our lives - laughing, joking, telling stories, etc. After that, we went back to the church to check on my car to see if it had been towed, but to our relief, it was still there! We hung out at the church for a bit, and I tried to convince Travis to sleep down in Panama City as a bum with me... but he wouldn't buy it. Bummer. They went on their way, and I stayed at the church. They had a little picnic area, so I got my "bed" together on top of a picnic table, and drifted off to sleep.

Day 16 - June 26:
I slept surprisingly well on the table! I felt like I had slept through a rainstorm because I was so wet from the humidity and morning dew, but it wasn't a bad experience! The only bad thing: My phone somehow broke. I don't know if I slept on it and broke it that way, or if the humidity/wetness had something to do with it, but now when I push some of the buttons, it does random things. Like, when I hit the "return" button, it opens the camera first, then the phone keypad. It is just one big mess. I hope I can still get it to function normally (other than the few newfound kinks...).
I got ready for church in the parking lot, and waited and waited for people to start showing up, but to now success. Someone finally pulled in, drove around and then drove off... then they came back and told me that they changed the meeting time. Hmmm... So now I am in the classiest McDonalds I have ever seen! Seriously, people. Let me describe this to you: there is a fireplace, a huge flatscreen tv on the wall, an X-Box and Playstation, really nice marble walls and tiled floors, leather armchairs, fancy booths, A bronze statue of Ronald McDonald, a kiddie section with hamburger chairs, etc. This place is intense! Oh, and of course, free wifi! :)

And there you have it! I hope I didn't bore you!

Until next time,
Peace.Love.Music.
Peter.Moosman.