One day five people;
Namgyal, Karma, Julie, Benjamin
And Jeff
decide to drive across the country from Indianapolis to San Francisco. Oblivious to the fate that was to befall them.
We drove like hellcats through 24 hours of the great nothing that extends from Indiana on through to Wyoming. Eating bad food, drinking questionable energy drinks, and hibernating in the womb-like confines of the 15-passenger van we've dubbed "The Love Boat."
Inbetween extended bouts with boredom,
and experiencing weird moments, like wandering underneath a sign for the Jamaica Bobsled Federation in a small town called Evanston,Wyoming, we finally arrive at the Tibet Café Shambala in beautiful Salt Lake City at the suggestion of Karma.
Once there, we eventually wound up at the home of two of the Shambala's co-owners, Jampa and his wife Rinzin.
Benjamin, Namgyal and I decided to go buy the hosts some beer, and before we got three blocks, The Love Boat lost her transmission. A few hours, phonecalls and bit nails later, it is revealed that the Love Boat needs a new transmission, and that it won't be until Monday afternoon until she gets one. So Julie, Benjamin and Namgyal rent a car and drive on to San Francisco. Leaving Karma and I behind to somehow drive the Love Boat, full of banners, signs and flags, to San Francisco in time for the start of the walk Tuesday Morning. God help us.
And so that is the story of how the Member At Large is stuck in the heart of Mormon Country with tibetans on Easter weekend. And to think, the walk hasn't even started yet.
