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Stop Fatal Attraction
Day Twenty-Two – March 10, 2010
The first thing I saw this morning was a message on a nearby vehicle: “In the End, we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught.” It was the perfect message to start the day.
Next, I found a Target to replenish my traveling supplies. I had also decided that it was time to stop staying in hotels, once and for all, and purchase a nice, warm sleeping bag. The ten-day nighttime weather forecast for parts of Arizona and New Mexico looked chilly, so I had to prepare myself.
I had to choose the best sleeping bag for my size (6′ 5″, 250 lbs) and consider the nightly temperatures I would encounter. I purchased an excellent Eddie Bauer sleeping bag for temperatures between 15 and 40 degrees above zero. I figured if this didn’t keep me warm, nothing would.
After I set up my truck and ate lunch, I decided to explore Tucson. I arrived in downtown Tucson, which was extremely clean and very pretty. I stopped at the visitor’s center to see what they had to offer.
After a brief introduction, the lady behind the counter told me I should drive to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. Sam had also recommended this museum in Palm Springs, so I took it as a clear sign that I should pay a visit. The drive out to the museum was spectacular.
I spent the next several hours looking at mountain lions, wolves, coyotes, lizards, otters, beaver, coati, and bighorn sheep. I also took time to explore the walk-in aviary and hummingbird aviary. I had to remember that an animal offers no wisdom or medicine unless it pays a direct visit to the wild or makes themselves known undeniably. Unfortunately, I could not include these animals as messengers on this day. Their voices were silenced.
This museum was the number two attraction in Arizona, the Grand Canyon being number one. It was nice. However, I left the museum with mixed emotions. It bothered me to see my caged friends.
I eventually left the museum, taking with me the incredible love that the animals had offered. During my drive to downtown Tucson, I passed another hilarious sign on the side of the road. I circled back to take a photo for my journal.
I spent the rest of the day driving around Tucson, trying to determine whether I could see myself living there. There was something very charming about it, and I wanted to take a closer look.
That evening, I met some locals and stopped at a few bars for some speak. After a couple of hours of talking to people, I heard the same story that I had heard everywhere else, and not just from people in bars: No jobs! No jobs! No jobs!
After having a few fascinating conversations about Tucson, God, and various things, I looked up at the clock and noticed it was 1:00 AM. It was time to go.
To make a long story short, I got lost that night while driving out to one of the local casinos. The free campgrounds website listed this casino as an open place to park overnight. I drove 45 minutes out of the way before finally finding the casino. It was 2:00 AM before I went to bed, probably 3:00 AM before I fell asleep.
Frustrated for getting lost and staying out too late, I once again asked myself why I needed to take this journey. I still had no clear answer but wasn’t ready to give up.
I remembered the message at the start of my day, “In the End, We will Conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught.”
This message helped.