Everything's up to date in Kansas City.....they gone about as fer as they can go...

My little sister celebrated her twenty first birthday this weekend.  She and about thirteen of her friends drove up from Springfield MO to Kansas City to celebrate.  Since I got back from quest early I thought I would drive a couple of hours across the state and surprise her.  I got in touch with a couple of her friends who gave me a place to stay and set me up to surprise her.  

When we did finally meet up she was very surprised even though she claimed she suspected my arrival.  (apparently my attempts to throw her off only increased her suspicion) We had a blast though.  All of my sisters friends are really cool and we had a ton of fun together. 

We visited a few choice bars in the Kansas City plaza district, enjoyed some dancing and topped off the night at a karaoke bar.  I know my sister was glad to see me and we all definetly had a great time on her birth day.  It was well worth the drive.

A simple woodsman...

I had an interesting experience this past couple of days in the woods with my new co workers.  Both the americorps education team as well as the emergency response team participated in an event called Quest.  This is a time honored americorps tradition that is stooped in secrecy.  I'm really not sure if I am supposed to be putting such classified details on the internet.  Alas, I would be really surprised if any future americorps members stumble across this lowly blog.  So I assume it's secret will remain safe.  Anyway...our group of thirty was not given any details about what the trip would entail, only that we needed to pack for five days, two of which would be spent in an "uncivilized" location.  The journey began Wednesday afternoon at the americorps office.  We were quickly separated into five groups and given various random items of which were to be packed with our two day bags.  The items were composed of various camping paraphernalia and first aid supplies.  At this point my suspicions were confirmed that we would be spending at least two days in the woods.  After some ice breaker games we were all loaded on buses and shipped out.  Three hours later we arrived at a national park in Illinois.  My group the purple team "team awesome"  a motley crew of 12, was given some basic food supplies including salami, cheese, bread and some cereal of which we had to pack with our camping equipment.  The journey itself began with a short bus ride across the park to the edge of a lake where some canoes awaited us.  Before embarking we were given a compass, map and a quick briefing on how to use both to navigate ourselves.  On the map was marked two X's.  The first of which was where we were to dock our boats on the lake.   The second X ( placed ominously far away from the first) was were we were supposed to make camp for the night.  I volunteered to steer one of the canoes because I have extensive navigation experience (one trip down the Cape Fear River when I was ten).  It turned out to be a blast even though we got lost four about an hour.  When we finally docked our boats at the correct location it was getting to be dark.  We pulled the boats on shore and began making our way through the woods.  There was no trail to speak of as we made our way along in the dark.  I tried to lead our little crew with my mag light flashlight, but only managed to get us into thorns while getting face fulls of spiders which seemed to have infested every tree in the park.  Two hours into the trip we found the edge of a lake we could use as a backstop.  Four hours into the hike, still following the lake line my group began to get a little nervous.  Six hours into the hike we were I was sure we were lost.  However, we all came together as a team, reexamined the map, took a careful survey of the surrounding area and realized that we were actually going in the right direction despite our uncertainty.  After 8 hours of hiking in the dark we finally found our campsite.  The location was along the edge of the lake.  The clearing was enclosed by a large rock face that created a natural overhang that we used as a shelter.  No one had any idea what time it was because our phones and watches had been taken away at the beginning of the trip.  Only when we got back to civilization the next day did we realize that we had made camp, cooked dinner and gone to bed between 2 and 3 in the morning.  After spending the night in the open night air with my sleeping bag as the only buffer between me and several jagged stones I was greeted by a glorious sunrise over the lake at the sweet smell of fresh dew.  The trek back to civilization was much easier in the daylight.  Furthermore we actually found a paved road which led us straight to our destination.  When all five groups reconvened the director of ERT made an announcement that our team would not be staying three more days at the camp lodge as was the plan.  Because we would be leaving for Montana soon she wanted to give the emergency response team enough time to pack and make necessarily preparations for our month we would spend there.  This trip gave me a chance to bond with our little group of twelve.  It is interesting what sorts of things you learn about people when you are lost in the dark woods for hours.  Overall, I had a blast.  It was a great time and was just a little taste of what is down the road i'm sure.

Stairway to heaven

I was looking for places online to attend mass when I stumbled across this cathedral located right in the center of the University of Saint Louis campus.  I decided to hop in my car and take a drive down just to have a look.  The campus itself is right downtown and it was an adventure trying to find a parking spot.  The college kids with their iPod headphones in walking from building to building definitely made me nostalgic of my own college experience.  The church stood out in the midst of the academic buildings surrounding it  with its semi-Gothic points and steeples.  

I found a couple of college kids inside that directed me to where daily mass was held downstairs below the cathedral.  Downstairs was a brand new student center complete with chapel.  The place was really really nice.  There must be a strong catholic presence on campus to demand such a good student meeting place.  The inside of the cathedral was really beautiful.  The lighting effects from the stained glass windows were awesome.   

Here is a little video I took of the inside.  (I was trying to stay as quiet as I could) 

Have a Drink!...Have a Drink!...

Yesterday we got bored after lunch and decided to walk about four blocks from the apartment to the St. Louis Anheuser Busch Budwiser factory.  It turns out that they give free tours during the day complete with two free drinks at the end of the tour.  I didn't really know what to expect having never been on a beer factory tour.  It turned out to be really cool.  They had a tour guide take us through the different parts of the factory giving us some interesting facts about how beer is made and the processes by which Budweiser brews theirs.   

We got to see the famous Clydesdale horses and the dalmatians from the commercials.  Those horses are massive.

These are the huge fermentation tanks that hold all the beer in the factory.

And here is a room that kinda reminded me of the Willy Wonka factory.

The gateway to the West

I have been in St. Louis for about a week and a half now and its been a great time already.  My apartment is a bit dank and dirty but my roommates are all good guys and we've been having a blast.  My only real complaint is that we have some tenants who do not pay rent.  Im referring of course to the mice and spiders that call our apartment home.  Luckily most of them are in the basement which is far away from my humble second story bedroom.  We do have a nice park right across the street and are within walking distance of a ton of young people bars.  I feel like I've been here for a month already.  Its hard to imagine that our job hasn't even started yet.  Some of the second year Americorps St. Louis members planned a few events around the city to help the ERT(emergency rescue team) and education members get a chance to meet one another.  On Sunday Sept 11 several of us ERT members joined a group of over 200 volunteers from around the city to help restore a historic African American cemetery that has been completely overgrown.  We spent several hours taking down weeds that were over my head and clearing away debris from gravestones.  We made a lot of progress in the short time my group was there but there was still a lot of work to be done. Here is a pic of me and Kayla with our weed wackers!

      

On Monday our group took a trip to the St. Louis Zoo.  It was a beautiful day, however, I was unimpressed by the zoo itself.  They didn't even have polar bears! That's the best part of the zoo...  We did get to see some other cool animals but overall it didn't stack up.  I guess i'm just spoiled by the Henry Dorley Zoo in Omaha NE.  I did get a chance to meet a lot more people, especially those on the education team.

On Tuesday we loaded on some buses and took a ride down to the St. Louis Arch and the city botanical gardens.  The gardens had a bunch of really cool statues including this interesting head structure.... thingy.....and yes I did climb inside it and stick my head through the eye hole.  The gardens were right downtown surrounded by the St. Louis skyline.  It made for a really striking visual.

The Arch itself is right on the Mississippi River and overlooks the city to the west.  Hence its name "Gateway to the West"  On the east across the river is Illinois and infamous East St. Louis.  Our small group decided to pay the toll and go up on top of the arch to check out the view.  Five of us loaded into a small four foot by four foot bubble elevator with no windows and no room to move then shuttled 630 feet up to the top of the arch.  At the top was a short hallway with windows on either side for viewing.     The arch is the tallest structure in the city and the skyline look great from up above.  This video give an idea of what I am talking about.   

"That DJ is so clumsy, he always drops the bass"

While I was in Chicago visiting my brother over labor day weekend we attended the North Coast Music Festival in Union park.  This is a three day event dedicated to jam bands, eletronica, and a little rap sprinkled in for good measure.  Brian and I attended this event last year and had a great time, so we decided to do it again.  We are going to try and make this a tradition and come every year.  The mic on my camera phone make the music kinda sound like crap though so plz excuse that.  

The Hood Internet:  This first video is of a group of DJs who have possibly the best name I have ever heard of for a group "the Hood Internet"  Before they began playing they brought out a huge card board disk drive and CPU (yea i said it) and proceeded to insert a huge floppy disk into the slot.  Then the electronica and Dub step began.  AND YES....THOSE ARE DANCING COMPUTER MONITORS ON STAGE.

I got lost from my brother for about and hour in the crowd.  I did however meet some interesting people including the fellow in this video.

  

ITS KARL COX!!!....and my brothers dance moves....

"Illinois: only morons pronounce the "S".....

On the Road to Chicago:  

I took this video about seven hours into what turned out to be about a ten hour drive to Chicago to visit my brother.  At about this stretch through Illinois the only stations you can find on the radio are crackly preachers and country.  So I decided to turn off the radio and take some cool video as I drove about 80 down the interstate while not paying any attention to the road whatsoever...The sunset looked really nice over the horizon because the land was so flat and you could see for miles in any direction.  Sadly my phone camera is not the greatest and It really didn't pick up how nice the scene looked.  

The Dirty Dirty South

Springfield Mo Raceway:
Before leaving for St. Louis I had a chance to spend some time with my parents and sister in Springfield.  I love spending time with my family and was glad to be home after a hard summer of work in Nebraska.  One can only stand so much dirty cat pee drenched carpet (obligatory Stanley Steemer reference).  I left my job in Nebraska a couple of weeks early to enjoy the wonders of Springfield MO.  I this was a good idea because who knows how much time off I will get as the year progresses with Americorps.  Anyway...  My dad really enjoys going to see these amateur dirt track stock car races that take place just outside town and he invited me to go along.  It was a nice night despite the rain sprinkling off and on throughout the race.  What would have been a two hour experience turned into a four.  Other than the drizzle, it was a great night for racing (the announcer made that blatantly obvious every several minutes).  It was a pretty cool experience watching the cars duke it out around the track at breakneck speeds.  There were several crashes throughout the race. One particularly bad resulted in a full sized car flying end over end down the home stretch across the finish line (the driver was OK).  Having your eardrums blasted out by the roaring engines as the dirt from the track swirled around blinding the crowed at every turn added to the experience.  Despite my temporary loss of hearing and slight sogginess I had a great time and will definitely go to see something like this again.