no more bedhead

Probably the biggest issue with “Mojave Desert Breakdown '09” was that we spent two days stuck in California. This meant that we weren't sticking to our (albeit flexible) schedule, and so over the last couple of days we could tell that the kids were getting kind of squirrelly, and we (the adults) were ready to start heading back home. (Well, at least I was. Keep in mind, I've been gone since the 6^th.) That's why we decided that today would begin our big push straight home.

Our original plan was to go from Farmington to Fort Worth, where we would visit Ellen's cousin Julie. While there, we could have seen Enzo, in Dallas, and had already touched base with Eric in Austin in hopes that we could get together for at least a little while. It has been way too long since I've seen any of them, and I was looking forward to it.

From Fort Worth we were to follow Route 10 to New Orleans, where we hoped to do our part to help the rebuilding effort by having lunch in the French Quarter. Then we would continue along the Gulf Coast to Jim's house in Georgia. From there we would head back home.

Instead, we looked at the push home and determined that we could go straight from Farmington in three days, but that one of them would be an 11+ hour (drive time) day. We decided to start with that.

So, we left Farmington bright and early today, with our sights set on Oklahoma City. We headed out on Route 550 toward Albuquerque, and passed through some interesting countryside. As we were nearing Interstate 25, I saw a water tower that read “Bernalillo, The City of Coronado.” Having spent some time in the southwest, I am familiar with Coronado, but I wondered why this town had this moniker. Again, be careful what you wish for (although this time in a good way), as Munchkin announced that she needed a “potty break.” I followed the signs for the Bernalillo Visitor's Center, and while the family visited the rest rooms, I talked with a gentleman who answered my questions.

It seems that there is a state monument – Coronado State Monument, as a matter of fact - that is in Bernalillo. I was told that they believe that Coronado mustered his army there during his exploration of the area. Of course, what really is (was) there is a pueblo that had 1,200 dwellings, and the finest example of pre-contact wall paintings in the United States. Coronado came in, killed the people, and took over. The guide and I lamented the fact that so many things in the southwest are named after Coronado. (“They say he discovered this area. What he did was follow the roads that connected the pueblos. There was no discovery.”) So, that was why Bernalillo is “Coronado's city.”

We continued on our way, passing through Albuquerque. It was intriguing enough that I would like to visit and see what is there. Some day. The rest of the day was spent on Route 40, heading east. There isn't much to mention about our travels. Long day. Not much to look at, other than noticing how the vegetation and landscape changed as we traveled east.

We did make one stop of significance. Cadillac Ranch. I had seen this art installation from the highway when Dave and I had driven across the country in 1986, and I thought the kids would enjoy seeing it, so I checked for directions before we left. Just outside Amarillo, Texas, are 10 Cadillacs buried nose first in the ground. They are spray painted different colors, and people are allowed (if not encouraged) to add their own graffiti. We didn't have any spray paint, but each kid added their own name with a pen that I had with us. My kids first juvenile delinquent moment (awww, I think I'm tearing up).

A while later we passed the (self-proclaimed) Largest Cross in the Western Hemisphere. I think that qualifies as the kind of cheesy place my sister would be searching out. Of course, we didn't stop, but we did get a picture as we zipped by.

After traveling through a hellacious thunderstorm, we ended up safely in Oklahoma City.

We backtracked today to Four Corners. It was about an hour back toward Kayenta. I guess the theme of this part of the trip could be “going backwards”. But I digress...

The thing that surprised me the most about the Four Corners Monument was how many people were there. We actually had to stand in line to get to the marker. The thing is that you really have to be going there to be there. It's not “along the way” in any sense of the word. It is 6 miles from the nearest town, and as far as I can tell, that town (Teec Nos Pos) consists of a trading post, and that's about it.

The monument is really cool. It's pretty much what you think, just a marker in a slab of concrete, but the concrete has the names of the states, and the flags for the states and the nations fly over the monument (in the proper quadrants, of course). The cool thing is that you can say you were in six places at once: Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, the Navajo Nation, and the Ute Nation.

Circling the parking/monument area is a host of stalls where Native Americans sell all kinds of arts and crafts. We wandered up and down the booths, and purchased a few things. Ellen got a beautiful corn maiden pottery piece, and a gorgeous necklace/earring set. Beenie got an arrow, while Stewie got a pottery turtle. Keke got a turtle necklace, and Munchkin got a bracelet and barrettes.

Part of our search when we set out today was to find a place that served Navajo Tacos. Ellen was jonesing for one big time, and she also wanted the kids to be able to try them. We had heard that the KFC in Farmington served them (believe it or don't), and that there were some places in Shiprock where we could get them. Fortunately for us, there was a Navajo Taco stand at Four Corners.

We got our Navajo Tacos and lemonades, and sat in the shade to enjoy them (did I mention that it was 107 degrees?). While we were eating, two dust devils blew up and their paths came right through the area where we were trying to enjoy our food. After that, some of us enjoyed our food, but with a little more (sand) crunch to it. Stewie lucked out, as my plate blew across the table and propped itself up against him. While that may not have been the most desirable, it did serve to cover his food, so he had the least sand going forward.

After leaving the monument, we worked our way back to Farmington. While I was at General Convention, I went to the Navajoland booth in the marketplace and asked about a church in Farmington, as I anticipated us being there on a Sunday (the breakdown threw that plan all off, though). I was given directions to a church that is part of the Navajoland Diocese (the other one nearby is part of the Diocese of Rio Grande). On our way back from Four Corners we followed those directions, and found the church. Then we went to the grocery store, loaded up on supplies, and spent the rest of the evening in the hotel swimming pool (and the jacuzzi!).

We got up this morning, and very reluctantly (very reluctantly) left Flagstaff. But, not before hitting the Flagstaff Visitor's Center. Noting the irony in stopping there on the way out of town, we picked up some souvenirs and some information about cool things to do in the area. So we'll have to come back. And, if you get a chance, check out the Visitor's Center's website. It rocks.

After dragging our feet, we were a little behind in our schedule for the day, which was to take us ultimately to Farmington, NM. We headed out of Flagstaff and stopped in Cameron at the Navajo Arts & Crafts Center. It is a store owned and operated by the Navajo Nation, and all jewelry and crafts are guaranteed made by Navajo, and the money spent goes directly to them. If you want to buy authentic Navajo arts & crafts, and aren't in the Navajo Nation, I suggest purchasing through them. Quality is excellent, price is fair, and there is no middleman.

We also stopped at the Cameron Trading Post, which is the antithesis of Navajo Arts & Crafts. Tacky tourist schlock abounds! Sadly, the Trading Post was packed full of people, while at NA&C we were the only customers.

A short drive up the road, and we turned from Route 89 onto 160 and headed into Tuba City. On a “potty break” we passed a modified short school bus that had the “sch” spray painted out and a “C” in its place – Cool Bus. On the side of the bus was an intriguing website address that we took a look at tonight, and it turns out that it's this group of guys who modified a school bus and are trekking around the western half of the country from now until the end of August. I heartily recommend following their exploits as they continue on their “Golden Summer”.

Our own trek continued on to Navajo National Monument. We walked along the trail to view the Betatakin ruins, which the kids found fascinating once they understood what they were looking at. The idea that people lived there really intrigued them, as did the fact that the people just up and left after a while. We also found out from the Park Ranger that we have been pronouncing the name incorrectly for the last 15 years. We've been saying bet-a-TAK-in, while it's actually pronounced beh-TOT-a-kin. Good thing we stopped in.

We got there late in the day for the Visitor's Center, and had about 10 minutes left when the kids discovered that they could do a Junior Ranger program here, too. Quickly zipping through it (fortunately not as complex as the Grand Canyon One), the kids became Junior Rangers at Navajo National Monument, too. I think this is even cooler that the Canyon, as I doubt they will find many, if any, people who have been to Navajo National Monument.

The plan from here was to go to Four Corners, then on to Farmington, where we would spend the night and leave tomorrow to head east. Well, by the time we got to the turnoff for Four Corners it was so late that the monument was closed, so we just continued on. Our plan now is to head back to Four Corners tomorrow, and stick around the Farmington area for one more night.

Must I leave Flagstaff? :-(

Today we spent the day wandering around Flagstaff. Mostly the “historic” downtown area. It is a several square block area with a whole bunch of little shops and restaurants. It was a lot of fun.

We found a store called Sacred Rites, and when we walked in the kids said, “It smells like our house!” The store sells singing bowls, drums, other musical instruments, buddhist statuary, wall hangings, jewelry, prayer flags, and incense (hence the reason it smelled like our house). We spent a long time in there, with the clerk and I playing all the different singing bowls. They carried some I had never seen before. They were either glass or crystal, and we played them with a rubber mallet. They were U shaped and the “walls” were at least as tall as the diameter of the bowls. If I were to guess I would say that they were probably 12”, 18”, and 24” in diameter. They had the most amazing sounds (and price tags!). The guy said that a number of new age healers use them for their healings, and each is tuned to a different chakra. All I know is that we had quite the chorus going. (Note: I found them on the Google at another online store - these be them.)

After purchasing some prayer flags and incense (trying a new brand of nag champa – very strong), we continued our wandering. Some great funky shops there. Ultimately we ended up back at the hotel where we ate lunch then headed out to Sedona.

Beenie wanted to go to Sedona to see the red rocks, and get a Sedona pin. I think he's been reading Arizona Highways and has seen the issues on Sedona, so was keen to get there. We took Route 89A into town, found a parking place amazingly fast, then wandered around the shops there for a good chunk of the afternoon. A friend of mine describes Sedona as “a bit full of itself”, to which I am inclined to agree. I would much rather go hiking, like Ellen and I did 15 years ago. I don't think it would have worked this time, with the kids, in the July heat, so we didn't. But everyone seemed to have a good time, and enjoyed looking at the views and the scenery on 89A both on the way in and out.

By the time we got back to Flagstaff it was getting into the realm of dinner/bedtime, so unfortunately we didn't get to one of the places I really wanted to go – Lowell Observatory. The guy at Sacred Rites said that the Flagstaff Symphony was having a chamber concert on the observatory grounds, and it would have been totally cool to see that in addition to all the doings at the observatory itself. Oh well, maybe next time.

Flagstaff is great! Got up this morning and joined the long parade of cars headed north to the Grand Canyon. One of my favorite drives is up through Coconino and Kaibab National Forests on the way to the canyon. You pass by Humphrey's Peak, and the rest of the San Francisco Peaks, and it is just gorgeous (especially so in the spring and fall, but this day in July was pretty nice, too).

We passed through Tusayan, and approached the main gate for the park. It was packed!! We finally found a parking place on the side of the road, and loaded everyone off (or “disembarked”, which has been Stewie's favorite word recently), and trudged through the scrub to the South Rim. Beenie's reaction: “Wow!”

We took the requisite photos of the family with the canyon in the background, and then worked our way over to the Visitor's Center. The kids got the information on what it would take to become a “Junior Ranger”, and we started to fill out the booklets. Part of the procedure was to take a ranger-led class, and the next (and most convenient) one was “Storytime” at the El Tovar Hotel. We bustled onto the shuttle bus and headed off to the hotel.

We got there in time for the last half of the talk, although by the time we found where it was, the ranger was on his last “story”. Since part of the booklet had the kids filling in something they learned at the program, we were pretty limited on that, so everyone basically put the same thing (“we learned that tarantulas build their webs underground”). Still, the ranger okayed them all, and signed off on that part of the program. A couple of exercises later, and the kids were all sworn in as Junior Rangers.

After an ice cream treat, we hiked down part of Bright Angel Trail. The kids wanted to keep going, but I got in about as far as I thought we should go, and told them that I wasn't going any farther. They reluctantly turned around, but they were all sucking wind by the time we got back to the top!

We headed back to the car, and along the way Keke made the comment (a couple of times) that the only part of the day that was bad was that we were going to have to leave eventually. We piled into the car just as it started to sprinkle. As we were making our way back toward the East Rim, it began to rain a little harder. At one intersection, the rain puddled up at the edge of the road, and much to our surprise, quite a number of elk appeared out of nowhere to drink from these puddles! It was all mother and baby elk, but they seemed to catch everyone off guard as we all progressed slowly and carefully through the intersection.

We eventually made our way through the rain to Moran Point, where Ellen and I got engaged 15 years ago. It was our first time back. It was still nice, although I couldn't figure out how we got to the place where the actual proposal was made so many years ago. Then again, if it hadn't been windy and about to storm maybe I would have had a chance to figure it out.

As we were already on that side of the park, we decided to keep following the road out the east end of GCNP, went to Cameron, and turned onto 89S toward Flagstaff. It was a good day. (And all the way home Stewie kept saying, “I want to go back to the Grand Canyon.”)

We pulled into Ontario VW and they made us feel more than comfortable while they looked at the car. The kids played on the Lego table, while Ellen and I looked at the different models on the lot. Jose (our service manager) brought us bottles of water, and was really kind and joking with us the whole time. Once they got the car into the bay, the technician took all of five minutes to determine that it was, in fact, the cooling fan that was giving us the problem. A broken blade will do that.

Naturally, since we drive a Eurovan, they didn't have the part in stock, and needed to order it. I noticed that there was another Eurovan sitting in the garage, so I told Jose that he could just take the cooling fan out of that one and put it in ours. He said that that Eurovan had the exact same problem. Except that it had been in an accident, and up until we pulled in they assumed that the cooling fan was broken in the accident. I tried to talk him into giving us a bulk discount since he had to order two fans, but no luck.

So, the part ordered and paid for, and with fingers crossed that it would arrive at the shop this morning, we headed off to find a place to live for the night. Found one in the Holiday Inn Express, where we got a suite, free breakfast, and free high-speed internet. And an outdoor pool and hot tub! And, no, I still cannot fix the car, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

Jose told me to be back at 7:00 am, and I was waiting in his lobby when he showed up at 6:55. The part had arrived, and we just had to wait for the technician to arrive. Once he got there at 7:30 it only took about an hour and a half and we were good to go. As I said to Jose, “I like your city, I love your dealership, but I never want to see you again!” He could empathize, as he got stranded once when he went to visit his hometown in Mexico. In all seriousness, Jose Meza and the team at Ontario Volkswagen did a really great job getting us fixed up and on the road. They did it with good humor, kindness, and speed. I am very grateful to have been there. So, if you find yourself in Ontario, California, with a Volkswagen that needs service, drop in and tell them I sent you. (Likewise, if you're in Cape Cod, go to Tracy Volkswagen.)

By 11:00 we were on our way again. Back on the 60 to the 15 and headed toward Barstow. A great sense of deja vu. In Barstow, we picked up I-40 and headed east.

It was a little dicey (mentally) as we passed Call Box 40-592, but we made it and we set our sights on Flagstaff. Stopped for a lunch break in Needles, CA. Looked around a little for Snoopy's brother Spike, but didn't see him. Noticed with interest how the Mojave desert transitioned in flora and landscape as we approached Arizona. Climbed into the mountains in Arizona. It was beautiful. Stopped for gas in Kingman, home of Andy Devine. Finally arrived safe and sound in Flagstaff around dinner time. It is great to be here!!!!

My plan was to wake up this morning, drive the few miles from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon, and introduce my kids to the most breathtaking place I've ever been. Early in the morning, free from distractions, they would have an experience that they would remember for the rest of their lives.

Alas, my car had other ideas.

We left Anaheim, after four great days at the Disney theme parks, and headed out on the 57, the 60, and the 15. As we passed through Rancho Cucamonga we noted that the largest tortilla chip factory in North America is located there. (We discovered that on our Mission tortilla chip factory tour at California Adventure.) The next town was Ontario. All I know of Ontario is that it is the location where “Dave” films his “There Goes A ...” kids video series. It looked like an interesting town, and I remarked that I would like to know more about what happens there. We stopped for gas, and then continued on.

In Barstow, we picked up I-40 and headed east toward Flagstaff. About an hour later, and just 9 miles past Ludlow, according to the California Highway Patrol Officer (who looked more like Jon than Ponch, and was actually from Indiana), the car started shuddering like we were riding over rumble strips. Except we weren't. So we pulled over to the side of the road in the middle of the Mojave desert.

I recalled that we had Volkswagen Roadside Assistance when we bought the car, so I called them. They told me that it expired in 2006, but they would be happy to tow me to the nearest VW dealer (at my own cost) in Henderson, NV (almost 200 miles). Then she determined that we could go to San Jose instead as that would be closer (430 miles). Closer, yeah, you do the math.

We ended up using the call box, waiting two and a half hours and getting a tow back to Barstow. Spent the night there, and was pleased to discover that everyone was very very nice. Our hotel was right on Route 66, and it turns out that the next burg over, Newberry Springs, was the inspiration for Radiator Springs in the movie Cars. The lady at the garage gave me a map (that she ripped out of her phone book) of Newberry Springs for me to give to Jamie.

There's not much in Barstow, but a big railyard, and a couple of military installations. The Marine Corps have a big base there, and the Army has a training center, too (Fort Irwin). In Fort Irwin is the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Network Center, one of three such complexes in the world, spaced at 120 degrees around the globe. There is also a Harvey House and a Route 66 museum, neither of which was open, not that we had the time to go, but still... There is also the largest runway I've seen at an airport of just a couple of buildings. Turns out it is just a military airport. I remarked that it looked like you could land a 747 there, and was told that it was mostly used for Blackhawks (although they wouldn't need a runway, but I didn't get into that).

And a weird story. I was looking through the information at the Holiday Inn Express, and found a list of Episcopal churches in the “high desert” area. There were none listed for Barstow. This morning I was driving around looking for a garage, and I was going around the block to head back to one I had seen. I was going to turn right, but something told me to turn left, and I ended up smack in front of St. Paul's Episcopal Church. Weird.

The people at the garage confirmed that there was a problem with the cooling fan, but it would take them up to 5 days to get the part. His suggestion – we take the car to the VW garage in Ontario. Now, when I said I wanted to know more about Ontario, this wasn't what I meant. Be careful what you wish for.

So, we limped our way to Ontario. And here we are, 33 miles from Anaheim.

We hit every ride in Adventureland. Tarzan's Treehouse is here. The kids went in it a couple of times and had a blast. Back in the day it used to be the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. Nobody knows the Swiss Family Robinson story anymore, so they updated it. Well, they updated the name anyway. Now it's tied into the Tarzan franchise.


The Jungle Cruise was a hoot, with the water animals spraying, splashing, and “attacking” the boat. The guide had to use his cap gun to scare them off. The resounding “pop” from the gun wouldn't have scared the fly on the elephant's butt, but still...


Beenie and I went on the Indiana Jones Adventure, where we were in a jeep-type car that careened around the forest and the ruins in an attempt to rescue Indy (I think that was the premise). It was a lot of fun hanging on to the car to keep from falling out! Another cool part was the line itself. It weaved (“snaked”?) its way through ruins with idols carved into the walls, and flickering bare light bulbs. It was the best “themed” wait in the park.

But the highlight of Adventureland was the Enchanted Tiki Room. It was always a favorite of Ellen's when she was little, and it hasn't changed at all. The thunderstorm at the end had the little ones somewhat concerned, but they loved watching the birds and the fountain, and listening to the songs. Which they have been singing ever since. Great. (Everybody - “In the tiki, tiki, tiki, tiki, tiki room, oh, the tiki, tiki, tiki, tiki, tiki room.”)

We never actually did anything in Frontierland. Sadly, there was a roller coaster there – Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – and we never got on it. Beenie, Keke, Stewie, and I passed through there on the way to Splash Mountain, but that's as close as we got.

On an unrelated note, it seems that the designated “smoker's corner” for Disneyland is in Frontierland. On a back path. Behind a rock.

Critter Country is the area of the park where, if I remember correctly, the Country Bear Jamboree used to be located. It's not there anymore. Nor is it anywhere, it's just gone. That is too bad, as I bet the kids would have really liked it. Now, in Critter Country, is The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. It is another one of those rides like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride where you are in a car and you go through a twisty, turny ride while looking at Day-Glo cutouts that illustrate the stories from Winnie the Pooh. Particularly fun was the psychedelic “Heffalumps and Woozles” section. Crazy, man!


Also in this area are Winnie-the-Pooh and Tigger characters. We naturally got in line to see both. When visiting with Pooh, Stewie was so excited that he wouldn't turn around for a photo op. Ellen yelled, “Turn around!” Stewie didn't move, but Pooh turned around so his back was to us. Ellen had to clarify, “Not you, Pooh!”, at which Pooh turned around again and if it's possible for a character to have a sheepish look, he had one. It was classic!


In the meantime, Tigger was bounce-bounce-bounce-bounce-bouncing all over the place. He would even leave the area when kids were visiting, bounce over to Pooh, and then bounce back to the kids who were waiting for him. They (and the crowd) loved it!


Critter Country also has a restaurant where we ate lunch a couple of days. I expected the food and other amenities inside the park to be outrageously expensive, but I was pleasantly surprised. We ate at the Hungry Bear Restaurant for about $50 for a family of six. That's about right. We spent that much at the IHOP outside the park, and that was with 3 kids meals for free. And, the ambience! We sat on the patio, overlooking the “lagoon” where the boat rides were. As we ate, we were passed by the Mark Twain Riverboat, the Sailing Ship Columbia, and the Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes. Also, the guys in flak jackets who were setting up the evening spectacular laser light show.

After lunch, the Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes looked like so much fun that we decided to give it a try. We all climbed into these large canoes, and we had to paddle ourselves around the “river”, staying ahead of the riverboats, of course. I shared a seat with Munchkin, who was not so adept at paddling. Ahead of me was Stewie, and we kept getting our paddles tangled. Behind me was a kid not much older that Munchkin, who couldn't seem to get his paddle in the water without soaking me! I didn't mind so much, but as I was holding the paddle with both hands, and then when Munchkin gave up (about 4/5 of the way through) I was holding two paddles, I really couldn't protect the camera. Fortunately, it didn't get too wet, and we all had a lot of fun.

Critter Country also has what I believe is the newest ride – Splash Mountain. It was the one with the longest line every day we were there. On the good days, the line was 45 minutes. On the bad day it was 90. Again, FastPass to the rescue. I got a FastPass for it and Beenie, Keke, Stewie, and I got to jump the line and go on the ride. It was fun, but I don't get why it is so popular. The ride is a boat that floats through a flume, and all around is the Song of the South story. It's calm and tranquil, except for a couple of short hills that the boat slides down. Right near the end of the ride there is a huge drop down toward the Briar Patch, that culminates in a big splashdown where everyone gets soaked. And then it's over. The ride was fun, everyone had a blast, but I don't get the appeal – definitely not worth an hour and a half wait.

The thing that I noticed first about New Orleans Square was how crowded it was. That was my first impression on a day that wasn't the “I can't believe how many people are in this park” day. It must've been a combination of the layout of this part of the park, or all the people trying to squeeze around the lagoon between Frontierland and Critter Country, where the newest, most popular attraction, Splash Mountain, is located. My first thought was that it was jam packed because NOS is where my favorite ride, Pirates of the Caribbean, is located. However, the line for PoC wasn't very long. Even on the “bad day” the wait was only 25 minutes. (The other days it was 15.)

One of the best parts of this ride is that it is cool. And I mean temperature-wise. So on these really hot days, it was nice to be able to climb into a boat, and meander through the pirate's lair. The only changes to the ride that I noticed was at the beginning where there is a creepy, disembodied voice intoning “Dead men tell no tales” over and over again. I don't know if that is new, or if I just noticed it as I was trying to look at things as the kids would.


The other new thing was the inclusion of Capt. Jack Sparrow. Now, maybe he was in it before, but this time the story being told was based around him, and there was a new animatronic character, that looked just like Johnny Depp. Creepily life-like. As a matter of fact, it was interesting to see how lifelike it looked compared to the other pirates, who had the old-fashioned jerky movements, and mechanical feel. I had to look a couple of times to see that it wasn't an actor playing the part.

One interesting thing is that as you embark on the ride, you pass through the “old bayou” on the left (with working fireflies, which was cool), but on the right was a restaurant. A real restaurant, where you could actually go eat. I so want to do that! Eating lunch INSIDE the Pirates of the Caribbean ride – how cool would that be!

The other big attraction in New Orleans Square is the Haunted House. That's always a hoot! The little ones didn't get as freaked out as I thought they would, which was good. Munchkin said that she didn't want to go on it again, but she did a good job on the way through. We packed her, Beenie, and me in one eggshell car, so there wasn't a lot of room for the “hitchhiking” spectre at the end of the ride, but it was still a lot of fun. (And the ghosts pretty much squeeze themselves in whether there's enough room or not!)

I almost lost my sunglasses in the Haunted House. In the first room, where the walls extend up (or we go down, whichever), I was looking up at the paintings getting longer while holding Munchkin. My glasses were perched on the top of my head. Near the end, all the lights go off and I felt my glasses start sliding backward. Then, pop, they were gone. Now, I'm standing in a room filled with other guests, in the dark, and my sunglasses are somewhere on the floor behind me. I can't bend over and start feeling for them, as I'm holding my daughter. I just had to hold my breath and wait for the lights to come on. Fortunately no one stepped on them. That would have been bad.

Toontown wasn't there when I was a kid, nor was it there when I was 20. I guess that's because Who Framed Roger Rabbit still had about 2 years before it came out.

Toontown is styled to look like the cartoon houses and buildings of cartoon history, in an homage to Roger Rabbit. Actually a large part of the “land” is taken up by the Roger Rabbit ride, and other attractions that are related to the movie.

Ellen and the kids went on the Roger Rabbit ride, while Keke and I wandered around. We got a chance to look at the fountain and climb on the firetruck, and detonate the TNT. A couple of days later, Stewie wanted to go on it again, so we got a FastPass (a great innovation – allows you to return within a set time frame and jump to the front of the line) to come back later. We got back about 10 minutes after our FastPass was set to expire, but we went into the FastPass lane, I acted like I was all out of breath, and said, “Are we too late?” The guy said, “You're just in time”, and ushered us in. Sweet.

Toontown is where the main characters live. Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy all have houses there. (Although Donald's is a boat.) The nice thing is that Mickey and Minnie also make appearances at their houses, so after a time or two in line we got to see both of them. We went as a family to Mickey's house, and got to see him “on the set of his movie”. Beenie went back a couple days later by himself and got to see Mickey on the set of “Steamboat Willie”, so that was pretty cool.

Other than Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin, the only other ride in Toontown is a roller coaster called “Gadget's Go Coaster”. It was a smallish coaster, but it moved pretty quickly. Beenie found out from someone that it travels at the same speed as the Matterhorn. It is a much smoother ride, though. Even Munchkin enjoyed it – going on a couple of times.

There is a stop for the Disneyland Railroad just outside of Toontown, and we picked up the train there. It circled back through It's a Small World, then into the tunnel where you could see the Grand Canyon and the dinosaurs. It passed around through the Main Street station at the front of the park, and the next stop was New Orleans Square, where we got off.

Fantasyland was probably the place where we spent the most time. The carousel, excuse me, the King Arthur Carousel, is there, and everyone enjoyed that ride. Also Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, and the Matterhorn, both of which had mixed reviews depending on who you spoke with. But, the Mad Tea Party (the teacup ride) is there and that was enjoyed several times. Except by me. Spinning, you see.

The Storybook Land Canal Boats was surprisingly fun. It was a soft, gentle ride through the gardens that have been manicured to look like miniature replicas of various storybook places. We saw Geppetto's Workshop, the Three Little Pig's houses, Aladdin's castle, and the place where Prince Eric washed ashore when he met Ariel.

Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride seemed to be enjoyed by all. More spinning – not me. One time we got there and the ride was shut down, although there was still a line. Turns out that right below the elephants is water, and a duckling had decided that it would be a good place to go for a swim. The “pool net” was brought out, the duckling scooped, and carefully taken away toward Storybook Land.

We also went on the Alice in Wonderland ride, which was fun. I went with Munchkin, and she wasn't too sure about it until we popped out of the dark, fluorescent-lighted tunnel. That is, until she realized that we were about 10 feet in the air over the line of people waiting for the ride. Then we turned the corner and went back in the ride for the second half. It was because of things like that that we tried to alternate between “scary” rides and “not scary” rides. Still, everyone was a trouper, and tried different things.

The Bibbidi Bobiddy Boutique was one place that Keke really, really wanted to go. It seems that here you can get yourself made up in full princess regalia. Hair, makeup, dress, the whole nine yards. The downside – it cost something like $250 to do this. I don't think so. She did get to go in the shop, but didn't get the makeover.

I can't believe that I'm saying this, but, by far, the best bang for your Disney buck would have to be It's a Small World. While it may play the most annoying song ever, it also appeared to be the longest ride we went on, with the shortest line. The longest we stood in line for it was maybe 20 minutes. And the kids loved it!! Absolutely loved it, so that made it all worthwhile. However, one time, when I was taking Keke, Stewie, and Munchkin on the ride we got almost all the way through (I think we were in the second to last room), and the ride stopped. There was a big pileup of boats just sitting there. We were probably only stuck for about 5 minutes, but it seemed like much longer. But, we got out just as the clock was striking, so we got to watch all the characters in the facade do their little dances right from the exit line. It was like being in the front row!

Also technically in Fantasyland, but more nestled between Fantasyland and Toontown, is the Princess Fantasy Faire. What a racket! The only thing here is the Disney Princesses.When you get to the front of the line, you are taken in and get to visit with whichever three princesses are there at the time. That would be great, except they are all behind a big wall so if you are waiting in line you can't even see them. And the line is incredible. We waited for a half hour one day, and hardly moved at all. We bailed. The next time, we waited almost an hour before bailing. Finally, we decided that Ellen and Munchkin would wait in line while Beenie, Keke, Stewie, and I went to Splash Mountain. Naturally, at this time, the line moved very fast, and they got in in no time. Munchkin was thrilled!! She got to meet and talk with Ariel, Belle, and Jasmine.

After passing through Main Street, we veered right and went to Tomorrowland. There is a ride there called the Astro Orbiter that Munchkin was bound and determined to go on. It was a bunch of “rocket ships” that are lifted up in the air, then spin around. (It's like the Dumbo ride, but with rocket ships.) That was the first ride we went on. I say we, except Stewie and I just watched. If it spins, I'm not getting on it. It's better for everyone that way.

It was in Tomorrowland that we met Buzz Lightyear. He was the first character that we actually met, and Stewie was thrilled!! Beenie and I did Space Mountain. Although I had talked about riding it while wearing sunglasses, we didn't. Still, it was dark enough. Pitch black as a matter of fact.

We didn't do much else in Tomorrowland, except for the cars. Autopia is one of those tracks where you are actually driving the car, and steering. (Except for the track in the center of the lane to keep you on course.) Stewie and I went in one car, following Ellen and Munchkin, and just ahead of Beenie and Keke. Stewie was excited for the ride, but at the last second he decided that I should drive. Didn't help much as I kept stalling the car. The only way to keep it going was to floor it. I wouldn't normally do that in a car. Nope. Not me. Really. Prior to the ride we all got our official “drivers license”s, and they didn't take them away when we were done, so we must have been okay.

Tomorrowland is also the place where we got on our last ride and departed the park for this vacation – the Monorail. While I recognize that it isn't technically a “ride”, it's really transportation, I do remember it being one of my favorite things when I was a kid, and our kids really wanted to do it. It was a one way trip from Tomorrowland to Downtown Disney, so we left the park and walked back to the hotel on Tuesday night, saying goodby to Disney and the fireworks at the same time.

Disneyland is the first amusement park I ever went to. At least I think it is. At the very least, it's the first amusement park that I remember going to. I went there first when I was seven, and again when I was eleven. Those trips are probably blog posts in themselves, although I'm sure in the dark recesses of my mind one trip has bled into the other, so I might be a little soft and loose with the facts.

I was there one more time, when I was 20. I was in college, and we went to California for the University of Arizona – UCLA football game. It wasn't a great weekend – UofA lost the game – but a couple of us went out on the town, as it were. We went to Disneyland and had a great time. That was 23 years ago.

This trip was totally different than any other one. This one I got to experience through the eyes of my children. Their fascination, awe, and wonder was just amazing to watch. I'm not really sure I can do it justice in words, but I'll try a tour through the park to see what happens.

Main Street USA

Walking in to Main Street USA is like walking into another world, another time. The most amazing thing about this area of the park was the characters. (I mean the Disney characters, not the other visitors.) Each day when we arrived, there were at least three characters in the town square signing autographs, posing for pictures, greeting people. It was cool. Beenie got an autograph book and started a collection. Munchkin was so excited for some of the characters that I thought her head was going to blow off. Stewie surprised me with that excited look on his face, but holding it together until he got to the character, then giving them a big hug. Keke was 9-year-old cool, until afterward when she was very excited in her retelling of the encounter. Even Ellen was excited as she got to meet Cruella DeVille! (I later had that excitement when I got to meet Sully from Monsters, Inc. - another park, another day, another post.)

Main Street hasn't changed much that I noticed in the years since I've been there. Shopping, mostly, and the arcade with the machine where you grab the two metal poles and see how much electrical current you can withstand. I forgot to go back and do it this trip, but 23 years ago I maxed it out. Of course, my left arm twitched the rest of the day. Ahh, good times!

We found the Magic Shop, which was in, or at, the castle when I was little. Beenie spent time chatting with the clerk and checking out the card tricks. He ended up buying a deck of cards that glow in the dark, and have pictures from the Haunted House on them. That night when we got to the hotel, he discovered that the 2 of clubs was missing from the deck. I went back to the shop to return them and told the clerk that they must truly be magical, as they are missing a card. She looked at me like I was an idiot. But, she exchanged the deck, and that was the goal.

We seemed to have pretty good (or bad) timing, in that almost every time we tried to go down Main Street, there was a parade going on. It was called “Celebrate – A Street Party.” Designed to celebrate all the reasons people were visiting (“First Time!” “Birthday!” “Colonoscopy! Yay!! Good for you!!”), it is a parade with singing, dancing, and characters, and these confetti canons that shot Mickey-head shaped pieces of paper all over the place. Thanks to Munchkin, I have a whole backpack pocket full of them (inexplicably crumpled up, though). We studiously avoided the parade until the day that Ellen took Beenie on the Matterhorn and I took the rest of the kids to It's a Small World. We couldn't get there because of the parade so we watched the parade. The kids did really enjoy it, though.

My nightmare come true! In the middle of "It's a Small World" and the ride stopped. Sat there for 5 minutes, but it seemed like 5 hours!!

Ellen and the kids arrived at General Convention on Thursday. Jim was able to make the drive with them, so the driving and kid-wrangling wasn't so overwhelming. I talked to Ellen when they were about an hour out, and she said she would call me when they got to the hotel. I got the call right at 2:00, just as Bonnie Anderson was announcing that the House of Deputies would come to order in one minute.

After our session I went back to the hotel room and saw everyone. Was mobbed by the kids, actually. The idea was to come into town in time to go to the U2charist, so that was the next thing on our agenda. We got to the ballroom, the service started, and three of the four kids fell asleep. We decided to take them back to the room, and Jim offered to stay with them while Ellen and I went back to the U2charist. In the elevator on the way back we decided to skip the rest of the service, and hit the hotel bar. Good move.

Friday, while I was in the final sessions, everyone else wandered around the neighborhood (heading toward Disney), then they discovered the hotel pool, and hung out there the rest of the day. Dinner was at the New Orleans style restaurant in Downtown Disney, then some browsing on our way back. But the kids did get to see the fireworks from just outside the park.

Jim really wanted to see the Pacific Ocean, and Ellen and the kids had never been there either, so today we piled into the car and drove to Newport Beach. The beach was very different from the one we are used to (Nantucket Sound at Cape Cod). It went on for miles in either direction, and the walk from the boardwalk/sidewalk to the ocean must have been 400 feet (instead of the 4 feet at high tide in Cape Cod! - I exaggerate, but not by much.). The waves were pretty big, and the kids had a fun time playing in the surf. And getting their clothes wet even though we tried to minimize that. But the most amazing thing to me was that there was hardly anyone there. It was a beautiful Saturday morning and there couldn't have been more than two or three dozen people as far as the eye could see. I guess that's what happens when you have these enormous stretches of beach.

On the way to Newport Beach we passed the former Tower Records store in Costa Mesa. It's just sitting empty and falling apart. Sad.

Jim's flight is this evening – he is taking the red-eye back to Tallahassee – so we got him on the shuttle to the airport, then we decided to go visit Disneyland. We got these 5 day passes (for the price of a 3 day pass – what a deal!! Thanks, Mom!) so we figured we'd better get hopping as we are supposed to leave LA on Tuesday (although I'm thinking an extra day might not be so bad).

Our first evening at Disney was spent getting a feel for the park layout, what rides there were, and trying some things. We did some things like the Matterhorn, and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, both of which were met with mixed results, to say the least. I had promised Keke that I would take her on the Matterhorn as that was the first roller coaster I had ever been on. I thought it was great, but she was not a big fan. As a matter of fact she hid her head, and tried to duck down during the whole ride. Stewie wasn't a fan either, but I think that was because it shook you back and forth too much. Ellen didn't enjoy it because she spent the whole time keeping Munchkin from sliding down onto the floor of the car.

Speaking of Munchkin and rides, she got off Mr. Toad's Wild Ride and announced that she was never going on it again. What we were able to determine is that it wasn't the intensity of the ride so much as it was that she thought she was actually driving the car, and she wasn't doing a good job of it. Hmmm...better ride prep next time.

At the end of the evening we left Disneyland and went over to Disney's California Adventure. We went specifically for, and got there just in time for, the Main Street Electrical Parade. Of course, since it's now not on Main Street, USA, it's just the Disney Electrical Parade. Still, the magic is there - floats that are lit up and sparkly, and the characters are in lighted-up costumes. I think the music is the same as it was when I was little. The most fascinating thing in the parade was Elliot, the dragon from Pete's Dragon. Amazing, since the movie is not available (AFAIK), but the kids were mesmerized by the disappearing dragon. We'll have to see if we can rent it somewhere when we get home.

Once the parade ended, we left the park, watched the fireworks from the plaza in between the two parks, and then headed home (to the hotel).

I had a luncheon today that was sponsored by the Chicago Consultation. The theme was “Doing Justice, Building Communion.” As I walked into the room, Bishop Robinson gave me a nod and said “hello” from across the room. Once he had finished his conversation, he came over and greeted me and we chatted for a few minutes. I thought that was pretty neat, although I was aware that he was acting as greeter for the event. Still, he remembered me, and I'd only met him twice.

I looked down at the name card that I had been given to find that I had been assigned to table number seven. Since part of this event was designed to have us discuss the topic with our table mates, the Chicago Consultation, in their wisdom, sat those of us from the same diocese at different tables. I set off to find table seven. As I found it, I had to pass by Dr. Jenny Te Paa, the "ahorangi" or dean of Te Rau Kahikatea (College of St. John the Evangelist) in Auckland, New Zealand. She is one of the smartest people I have ever heard talk. I saw her speak at the General Convention in Columbus, and she addressed the House of Deputies yesterday, in a speech that can only be described as “transformational”. However, I digress...

So, as I'm passing by Dr. Te Paa, I realize that she, too, is assigned to table seven. Not only that, there is an empty seat next to her. So, I casually meander over to it and place my name card on the table, all the while thinking “Oh. My. God. I'm going to sit next to Jenny Te Paa for this lunchtime discussion.” It turns out that she was one of the speakers for the luncheon, and she delivered another brilliant speech about the Anglican Communion, justice, and the Episcopal Church.

Our discussion was really very good, with all of us at the table sharing our stories of how we came to be interested in the call of justice, or the work of the Chicago Consultation, or the issues facing the Anglican Communion. It was great, if not a little nerve-wracking, to have to tell my story to Jenny (she said I could call her Jenny – how cool), but she was very gracious and as I said, it was a good discussion.

I should mention that also at the table were Bishop Henry Parsley from Alabama, Bishop John Chane from Washington DC, Esther Mombo from Kenya, who also addressed the convention yesterday, and three other deputies.

The other thing that happened today was that we (the House of Deputies) passed Resolution D025, which is our response to Resolution B033. It is a very pastoral response that I believe spells out how we intend to remain in relationship with the rest of the Anglican Communion, while still stating/embracing who we are as an inclusive church. Gay Jennings (the chair of our deputation) is the chair of the World Mission committee, whose members listened to testimony about and debated all of the resolutions that had been presented about this. After the session ended for the day I told her that I thought the resolution that she had presented was a good one and that I had come to Anaheim with the belief that B033 should be overturned. Through the conversations that I had during the week, I came to realize that doing so could cause more pain, and potentially push people out, and the last thing I want to do is exclude anyone. I told Gay that, to me, D025 spoke to exactly where I was with the issue.

Now, will the bishops concur?

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, visited General Convention this week. He didn't address the House of Deputies, sadly, but he did participate in a panel discussion about the Global Economic Crisis, and met with various groups during his time with us. He also presented the meditation at our worship service on Thursday. By sheer happenstance, we had an event in the same space right before the service, in which we had assigned seats. The deputation from Ohio was seated two tables away from the main stage. This is a picture I took of the archbishop.

The House of Deputies meets in a large hall in the convention center. The deputations from all across the church gather together in part of the room that is cordoned off from the rest. At the gaps in the cordons, there are volunteers whose job is to make sure that only properly credentialed deputies are allowed in that area. They do their job really well. Sitting outside the area are provisional (alternate) deputies, guests, other volunteers, visitors, the press, and anyone else who has an interest in what the HoD is doing.

There is quite the "hustle and bustle" of convention with people who are running for office trying to hand you flyers, people rushing to committee meetings or looking at the schedule to see where their committee meetings are being held, vendors, convention center staff, etc. It's quite busy.

The one thing I have found is that once I am approved by the volunteers and enter that cordoned off area, I feel safe. It almost feels like I am in a cocoon. I know that there will be no outside influences or distractions, and that I can concentrate on the business at hand. All of the deputies are there for the same purpose, and while I may not agree with come of them, I know that all the discussion will be civil. It's a pretty neat feeling.

-----

Our worship services are bilingual. I was expecting that, as I had experienced that in Columbus in 2006. However, this year I made the conscious decision NOT to look at the English translation when we were praying in Spanish. I decided to let the beauty of the language cascade over me. I discovered that it allowed me to focus not on the words themselves, but the cadence and rhythm, and in doing so it provided me with a whole different level of spirituality. I don't know what I'm saying when I'm speaking the Spanish words (other than I know what part of the service we are at so I kind of have an idea), but I speak them to the best of my ability. It's a very transformational experience.

The other part of our worship services that I am struck by is the size of the service. Everyone is invited, so there are deputies, bishops, spouses/partners, friends, guests, volunteers, and more. I would estimate that there are about 3,000 people at worship together. When we pray, but especially when we sing, the sound fills the room. Being in a convention center it echoes off the walls and the ceiling, but it's not in a distracting way. My favorite part so far was yesterday morning, the first Eucharist, when we sang the Sanctus and Benedictus (Hymnal 1982 - S125). Hearing that many people singing "Hosanna in the highest" and having it bounce around from all directions before fading away was awesome.

5:00am – wake up (thank you jet lag)

6:45am – Coffee.

7:00am – Registration in the convention center
Saw Helen from Cape Cod on the way in. She had to drop off cd's at a marketplace booth, so we went over to registration together. Turns out they wouldn't let her in to drop them off, so we wandered off the the Marriott for New Deputy Orientation.


8:00am – New Deputy Orientation
Problem is, no one at the Marriott seemed to be aware that there was orientation scheduled. So, we were shepherded into a ballroom, only to be told a few minutes later that it was canceled. Oh well.
That just means more time to kill.



8:45-12:00 – wander back and forth through the convention center, doing my own orientation. I'm thinking the observation deck would be a nice place to have convention. Warm, sunny, you get the picture. End up sitting around and looking at all the legislation that I was given with my ginormous binder at registration.

12:00 – Marketplace opens.
A cadre of drum-playing dancing kids led the procession into the marketplace hall. I spent some time wandering around just to get familiar with what is there. As I'm walking by one booth, I hear someone call my name. It was Keith Owen, the rector in Lakewood. I was surprised to see him there! He is working a booth for St. George's College, Jerusalem. He did the same thing in Columbus, where it wasn't unusual to see a Diocese of Ohio person, but he totally threw me off guard in Anaheim. Ran into Brian Wilbert, who not only had a hellish flight out, but left his camera battery charger in Ohio. (Later Stephen ordered one for him from Amazon and it will be here tomorrow. Love technology!) Also ran into Lynette and Art Williams, who are very excited that Ellen and the kids are going to come out next week. Lynette says, “your family is so neat!”

12:30 – Program, Budget, and Finance Hearing on Budget Priorities
People would come to the podium and speak for three minutes on what they felt should be the priorities with regard to the budget for the next triennium. At first I thought it must be pretty boring for the committee members as there is a lot of people just saying the same basic thing. Then I realized that it's not so much what was being said, or how it was being said, it was the fact that it was being said. My takeaway from the 45 minutes I was there was that people want the 0.7% Millennium Development Goal line item added back into the budget, and they believe that youth, indigenous ministry, and leadership resources/formation should be priorities.

2:00 – Address by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and President of the House of Deputies Bonnie Anderson. Our deputation has pretty good seats for this. We're assigned to tables and we are right in front of the stage, in the second and third rows.

2:45 – Shift right into the beginning of this “public narrative” project we are supposed to be learning. Hmm. We'll see.

4:00 – Orientation.
For real. For all the deputies. We learned how to use the little voting keypad, and Gay Jennings had us all (the whole House of Deputies) watch a role play about how resolutions come to the floor, get debated, and get acted upon. It was really good. Included a resolution proposed by Deputy Hannah from the Diocese of Montana, and debate featured Deputy Eeyore from the Diocese of Pooh Corner, and Deputy Cinderella from the Diocese of Bippity-boppity-boo.

5:30 – Reception sponsored by the Chicago Consultation.
Free drink ticket (traded it for a $9.00 glass of Chardonnay), and lots of hors d'ouvres. Dinner. Met the Presiding Bishop. Met Susan Russell, the president of Integrity USA, and spoke with Bishop Gene Robinson for a few minutes. (Reminded him that we met at Bishop Hollingsworth's consecration, and that he knows my cousin.)

7:00 – Committee Meetings
Started in Communications, because that's the committee I would like to follow, except Stephen is on that committee so I should probably follow another one. I won't figure that out until tomorrow morning, so I went there anyway. After that one let out early, I went to Prayer Book, Liturgy, and Music, where I watched them discuss additions to the calendar of “saints”.

9:00 – Back to my room. Shoes off, feet up, and hitting the hay soon.

Tomorrow starts at 6:30 with a deputation and bishops caucus in “the suite”. Alan says that if I want to stay on his wife's good side, I'll knock on the suite door at 6:30, and not his room. Important safety tip.

On my flight to ATL we had the whole French National Football Team from the Jr. World Championships in Canton this past week. French Jocks, or French Jacques?

Arrived at ATL (a little late). A couple of collars, and a purple shirt waiting too.

So, I've got everything ready to go for convention. I've been cramming the Blue Book so that I'll have at least a passing familiarity with the legislation as it goes zipping by my mind in the next two weeks. I've gone through as many website things as I could in the time I had left. Everything is going just fine. And then I installed a Broadband Card.

You see, the hotel where I will be staying (*cough* Hilton *cough*) wants $12.95 per day for wireless internet connection in my room. Since I'll be there for almost two weeks, that's quite a chunk of change. Being nice, they offer a package where I can buy three days worth for $30. Better, but still... And then the Convention Center wants $12.95 per day for wireless. This convention could end up costing me my life savings just in wireless fees!

So, I found out that Virgin Mobile has a deal where you can buy the broadband usb card, and purchase a certain number of Megabytes of transfer without having a contract, obligation, or commitment. And the cost of the card plus the transfer is a little less than I would end up paying for just the hotel wireless. Sign me up!

I installed the card and everything was great. Until it came time to reboot the machine. Then all hell broke loose. The Dell Control Point Manager, which I'm not even using to manage my wireless connection seems to have an issue with the Virgin Broadband2Go software. Or vice-versa. Either way, my computer will not shut down without pressing the button, and it won't restore to a previous time because of that. So I cannot fix the problem. The closest I've gotten to a fix is to take the auto start off of the DCP Manager, and physically turn off my wireless connection. Then I can use the Virgin card. I'm not looking forward to the fix to make the entire system right.

But the real problem is that this happened yesterday morning. The day before I left for convention. I was faced all day yesterday with the prospect of not having any internet connection at all. Right now, things are working. But I know that could change at any moment. So, if you don't see blog postings over the next two weeks, that might be why.

Considering how many people live on less than $1/day, the Hot Dog Eating Contest just makes me sick. "Competitive Eating" morally should not be a sport.

Although I had my nose buried in the Blue Book, and my head swimming in resolutions and reports, for most of the day today, I did “come up for air” a couple of times. Two things came across my radar during those times.

The first was a prayer. On Twitter, someone tweeted that they were having difficulty figuring out how to pray for General Convention, but that they had finally hit upon something. The prayer is this:

Jesus, protect delegates from spiritual darkness which they are about to enter. Surround them with your glory. In His name I pray. Amen.

Now, as I read this, it struck me that I didn't consider General Convention to be a “spiritual darkness”, and I started to reflect on that. I considered the possibility that it might be.

When we gather together next week, there will be lots of discussion about some issues that are pretty fundamental theologically. It is possible that some of the discussion could be heated. It is also possible that the discussions will be very polarized/polarizing. In that sense I suppose one could interpret us as descending into the “darkness”.

I believe differently, though. I believe that we will be in exactly the opposite of “spiritual darkness”. I believe that we will be living in the midst of the Holy Spirit, who will be guiding our actions and leading us toward where we are to supposed to go. I am not a Biblical scholar, but I think this passage says it best:

I still have many things to tell you, but you can't handle them now. But when the Friend comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is. (John 16:12-13)

In the time of Jesus, we (humans) were not ready to hear the “whole truth”. (Think of that scene in Dogma, where anyone who hears the voice of God will explode.) I believe that the truth is constantly being revealed to us, and perhaps that is what we are experiencing with the debates that the Episcopal Church is going through right now.

I won't say much about the person who tweeted this, except that he is a priest. Based on his other tweets, and a quick overview of his blog, I think that “spiritual darkness” at convention is not the only thing on which he and I disagree.

The second thing I came across was a blog posting by Kristy Harding. In it she talks about Ubuntu (I am because We are) which is the theme of General Convention. It is also a flavor of Linux, the open source operating system. And that is where she starts drawing the comparison of General Convention being open source. She suggests that if the church were open source, the church would be accessible:

• Anyone who wants to can get at the church
  
• Access to theology and spirituality
  
• New work would be acessible
  
• Education would be accessible
  

and, the one that struck a chord in me:

• we would have more bazaars and fewer cathedrals
  

It is that image that I see when I look at the upcoming convention. It is truly a bazaar in the “marketplace”, but figuratively I think the House of Deputies (and to a lesser extent the House of Bishops) is a bazaar. When I think of a bazaar, I see in my minds eye wall to wall fabric topped booths that are explosions of color. Different colors and patterns, different state of repair, some things faded, some brand new, all contributing to the tapestry of the marketplace. That to me is the Episcopal Church. We are made up of individuals from different locations, with different experiences, different expectations, and at different places on our spiritual journey. All are welcome. ALL are welcome. Each one of us a different color or pattern, each in a different state of repair, some faded, some brand new.

Jesus sent the apostles out in pairs. Together. Each had a different viewpoint. Did they walk into a “spiritual darkness” or into a “bazaar”?