Getting that prepared

At the beginning of summer 2011, I made a vow that I would do something cool by the time school started again. I knew that I wanted to go somewhere, but where? I thought about New Orleans for a while, and I even got a job at a creole restaurant (Rotagilla Creole Cafe in Tucker - go there right now). But after some number of weeks, I started wanting a hollow-body blues guitar. What would that have to do with where I decided to go? I researched hollow-body guitars, and found that the best option for me (an Ibanez Artcore AGR70, of course) was not available in any store in Georgia. I looked on the internet, and nowhere had it. I called every music store I could think of, but the same thing happened every time. Eventually I complained enough that word got around to Joe Palese, a regular musician who plays at Rotagilla. He recommended a store he had some history with. I got their number and called - and 'lo and behold, the guitar had already been ordered from Ibanez!

Only thing is, the store was located in Kansas.

After roughly eight seconds of packing, I thought I was ready to start my arduous trek across the eastern US to Kansas. Look at how excited I was!

That's me, gazing out into the distance, ready to face the entire world head-on. You can tell by how determined I look.

But then my mom kept me a while longer with advice - don't get beaten, don't get mugged, don't get killed, things of that nature. But after a few hours of lecture, I was ready. Just look how ready:

That, ladies and gentlemen, is the look of someone ready to take a Honda Element across the country to a music store in the middle of nowhere just because he can.

So I started out. I would be spending the first night in Saint Louis, the second night in Kansas City and the third night in Nashville. The drive to Saint Louis was a bit longer than I expected it to be - but the feeling I got when I first got there was ridiculous. I had to take pictures from the car - and before someone gets mad at me for taking pictures while driving, I can assure you that I was extremely safe when doing so. Don't ask how

. Chattanooga, going over the Tennessee River.

Passing through Nashville on the way up.

The only way to eat raisins that makes sense to me, obviously.


After something like seven hours, I finally arrived in Saint Louis. Someone told me before I left that driving into Saint Louis is always fun - first you see the arch over the horizon, and then before you know it, you're there. He was totally right. Not knowing where I was gonna stay that night, I parked the car to call some hotels. Little did I know, actually, that I had parked at the Boeing headquarters, where this building is:

Which is weird, because here's the shirt I had on:

What a coincidence, right? I tried to get into the building and pretend I worked there, but once I realized I couldn't figure out how to get to the front door, it became clear to me that I was probably too much of a moron to pull of such a ruse.

Shoot, more cool stuff happened later - stuff that involves not paying for a place to stay, and celebrating someone's 21st birthday. At the time I'm writing this, though, it's 2:00 AM, and I'm busking in Nashville in the morning.

So hang on a sec.