Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Kansas

On Saturday at 10 p.m. we successfully completed our journey to Topeka. For the most part, the trip was uneventful. All of the excitement happened in Los Angeles. We got off the plane on Monday night and were met by our friend Adam, who is currently attending USC. We got all of our luggage and retrieved Oreo. We had to clean out his cage a little bit because he had regurgatated some of his lunch. Oreo was excited to be out of the cage and was walking around (excitedly) on his leash. Adam helped me round up our luggage and throw it on a cart. As we were walking to our car we entrusted Adam with Oreo and somehow Oreo escaped and was soon walking away from us into busy airport traffic! Luckily he did an about face when he realized we were chasing after him. After that Oreo didn't need a leash, Adam carried him to the car and escorted us to his apartment where we spent the night.

The next day at about noon we realized that the company that shipped our car for us had screwy hours (at least I thought so), 9-4pm. I thought for sure they would be open late into the evening in an effort to try and cater to their customer's busy lifestyles. Our dilemma was that Adam was our ride to pick up our car from the docks and he wouldn't get off work until late. So I ventured out into South Central LA to try and find a way to Long Beach, about 24 miles away. I thought if I could get to a bus stop and ask someone there how to go about it then I would be OK, and it turns out I ran into the right person right off the bat. The guy told me exactly how to get to Long Beach (which buses to take, where to get off, etc...). It required some walking, which I was glad to do until the blisters started to appear on my feet due to my newly acquired flip-flops. My adventure led me past the Staples Center and through Compton (Straight up gangsta Compton) and eventually to Long Beach where I was able to pick up the car (after having a copy of my license faxed to me because I foolishly left it back at Adams, no photo ID no car pick up), and made it back to Adam's for less than 5 dollars (and my life), pretty good considering a cab would have cost close to $50. After that it was smooth sailing to Topeka.

We are happy to be here and looking forward to what our future holds. Oreo is in Heaven. He has a big field to play in and is happy to play with all of the kids that come around. As soon as we get our things together we'll start posting some pictures. Coming soon: Pictures of Adam and his girlfriend, Erasha (sp?)