ABlairican Pie
01-04-2002, 09:49 PM
I have heard the sound of all of you drooling over my getting to see FOL being taped, so I am going to back up and give you a COMPLETE RUNDOWN of the Summer of '87!! In one post I wasn't sure if I should tell it, but I think it's TIME. So let's step into the time machine to that wonderful summer...
In June '87 I decided to find some summer jobs out in Eastern Washington. I hitched rides over the Cascades to Yakima, where for the next several weeks, I slaved away in the orchards, pre-harvest work. The temperature was in the 100's... After a while I saved up enough money to go down with a church group to an event in Vancouver, WA. called Jesus Northwest. Down there I happened to meet som friends back home, so we spent the weekend watching Christian bands (Imperials, Russ Taff, Petra, etc.) and eating junk food. Then on Sunday morning, I decided to continue my trek southward with an Oregon-bound church bus. My purpose was to see places in Southern California that were the stuff of legends--Robert Schuller's Crystal Cathedral,Sunset-Gower Studios (where "Facts" was filmed!!) and other legends 'n'
stuff.
Since hitchhiking on I-5 was legal ion Oregon, I took my leisurely time thumbing my way down the coast in the hot sun. It was so much fun, I couldn't believe that after living such a relatively sheltered life, I was free to fly around! It was so exciting! It was in mid-July at this point. Soon after Medford and Ashland, a beautiful hilly area by the California border, I was finally in the Golden State! The sunshine was golden, the mountains around Mt. Shasta were green--it was all too splendid. In Yreka, a fellow picked me up who was driving all the way to San Francisco to his job--and proceeded to tell me all about his type of hardcore "Bible
based" religion, which I felt was a little too legalistic for me (based on the teachings of the founder of Jehovah's Witnesses, which he said they had corrupted). We stopped at an AM/PM, where I bought a bottle of orange juice. A couple miles down the
road, the juice was hot. We stopped at a park where he napped for a bit before going on. I was a little impatient--it was now Tuesday and I could be down in L.A. watching the show being taped!! Isn't it just a couple hours drive down?? Soon after driving through the Bay Area past Oakland and Alcatraz Island, we were in downtown Frisco. I was a little afraid to be out alone there in a big city like that. What if I got mugged? So I practiced looking and walking "tough". I went to the bus station and took a BART all the way far south as I could go--to Gilroy. As evening was coming on, it was interesting to see all the lights and sights of the area through San Jose and the areas south. "When the lights go down in the city..."
So in the next couple days the cities and towns flew by. And sometimes I'd be stranded...waiting for the next ride, some rural place north of Los Gatos in some very hot hills... then Salinas,
Santa Maria, Monterey... One night I took the Greyhound to San Luis Obispo and saked out in front of a church, having the HAPPIEST dreams of meeting Lisa... Then there was the spectacular view of the ocean in Santa Barbara, Ventura...and soon..the hills, the sprawling city blocks lined with palm trees, the smokescreened sunshine--LOS ANGELES!!!! Swimming pools, movie stars...LISA BABY, YOUR BIG BAD MOON DADDY HAS ARRIVED!!!!:D
Now if only I could find one particular golden-haired cherub in a city of 3 million angels.
(to be continued...)
In June '87 I decided to find some summer jobs out in Eastern Washington. I hitched rides over the Cascades to Yakima, where for the next several weeks, I slaved away in the orchards, pre-harvest work. The temperature was in the 100's... After a while I saved up enough money to go down with a church group to an event in Vancouver, WA. called Jesus Northwest. Down there I happened to meet som friends back home, so we spent the weekend watching Christian bands (Imperials, Russ Taff, Petra, etc.) and eating junk food. Then on Sunday morning, I decided to continue my trek southward with an Oregon-bound church bus. My purpose was to see places in Southern California that were the stuff of legends--Robert Schuller's Crystal Cathedral,Sunset-Gower Studios (where "Facts" was filmed!!) and other legends 'n'
stuff.
Since hitchhiking on I-5 was legal ion Oregon, I took my leisurely time thumbing my way down the coast in the hot sun. It was so much fun, I couldn't believe that after living such a relatively sheltered life, I was free to fly around! It was so exciting! It was in mid-July at this point. Soon after Medford and Ashland, a beautiful hilly area by the California border, I was finally in the Golden State! The sunshine was golden, the mountains around Mt. Shasta were green--it was all too splendid. In Yreka, a fellow picked me up who was driving all the way to San Francisco to his job--and proceeded to tell me all about his type of hardcore "Bible
based" religion, which I felt was a little too legalistic for me (based on the teachings of the founder of Jehovah's Witnesses, which he said they had corrupted). We stopped at an AM/PM, where I bought a bottle of orange juice. A couple miles down the
road, the juice was hot. We stopped at a park where he napped for a bit before going on. I was a little impatient--it was now Tuesday and I could be down in L.A. watching the show being taped!! Isn't it just a couple hours drive down?? Soon after driving through the Bay Area past Oakland and Alcatraz Island, we were in downtown Frisco. I was a little afraid to be out alone there in a big city like that. What if I got mugged? So I practiced looking and walking "tough". I went to the bus station and took a BART all the way far south as I could go--to Gilroy. As evening was coming on, it was interesting to see all the lights and sights of the area through San Jose and the areas south. "When the lights go down in the city..."
So in the next couple days the cities and towns flew by. And sometimes I'd be stranded...waiting for the next ride, some rural place north of Los Gatos in some very hot hills... then Salinas,
Santa Maria, Monterey... One night I took the Greyhound to San Luis Obispo and saked out in front of a church, having the HAPPIEST dreams of meeting Lisa... Then there was the spectacular view of the ocean in Santa Barbara, Ventura...and soon..the hills, the sprawling city blocks lined with palm trees, the smokescreened sunshine--LOS ANGELES!!!! Swimming pools, movie stars...LISA BABY, YOUR BIG BAD MOON DADDY HAS ARRIVED!!!!:D
Now if only I could find one particular golden-haired cherub in a city of 3 million angels.
(to be continued...)