Alarm clock doesn’t work. It was broken during a stealth pillow fight at camp. What bothers me is that the perpitrators of said pillow fight didn’t bother to take responsibility for breaking my $5 clock. It’s not the clock. It’s the principal of the thing. Walking off and leaving a broken alarm clock. When I tried to find out who did it, they all said “Well we were all in there.” So that must make it alright, huh? Let me come into your house and break your alarm clock.
Kentucky Kingdom with the kiddies at church today. Some kind of service project reward trip. There are some that will always get to go on these reward trips. Others will just barely get to go. Still others will just go based on some quark or ripple in time. Kentucky Kingdom must be some kind of quark itself. What a terrible place to build a park. There’s a bridge over a major road that you have to cross in the middle of the park to get to the other side of the park. Poor planning on behalf of the Monarcy of Kentucky.
I wonder if Todd worked the night before and is planning on staying up all day with us. He usually works from 4PM to 3AM or something to that effect. He asked off, which I guess might mean for the following day, but not the day before.
Josh Hunter has been writing in his blog alot more lately. Seemingly every other day or something.

Holiday World with Jason and Zack today. It was sorta a spur of the moment type thing. I wasn’t sure if I was going until Thursday night. Arrived at Zack’s house at 6AM and we were up at the World by 9:45 or so.
The weather was better this time around. Not so cool. Better for the water rides. Sometimes the lines for the water slides were slightly longer than usual. At one time I saw a pregnant lady get on a water slide. Was this dangerous? I don’t know.
I saw a guy with a Chevy tatoo in the wave pool. Someone loves a corporate brand so much, they have it tattooed on their arm. It’s not that unusual. Harley Davidson tattooes show up everywhere.
And the wave pool was an experience. It had been several years since I had gone to Wave Country in Nashville. Holiday World’s wave pool is similar. The problem is that the waves can go over your head in a 5 foot depth. To compensate you have make an effort to jump just as the wave comes your way. This can tend to get very tiring.
For the most part we didn’t wait in the coaster lines for very long. And a few times the water slide lines were
At a Kroger store in Owensboro there is a place announcing “Cooking for Jesus.” I don’t know what it means exactly. I just saw a large barbecue grill near the entrance of Kroger. I picture Jesus in a chef’s hat cooking a loaves and fishes dish which would serve 5,000. (Thanks Zack for the visualization)
And it is good that other people have the same or similar frustrations which I have toward organized religion in general. And some people have trouble fitting in at church. Just like me. My church problems are not unique. Everyone at one time feels this way. Some more than others.
When you do return to church from being at college for an extended period of time, it is not unusual to find that things might have changed. Old friends from high school are no longer attending there. You have to learn to make new friends. Unfortunately churches tend to cater toward married people and youth, and unknowingly they leave others behind. Otherwise if you are single and twentysomething, you have to learn to stay busy at church if just to think to yourself that you are needed. (Even if you truly are needed or not)
I am going to Short Mountain Bible Camp today to help a friend setup for his church camp. I’m planning on coming back sometime Sunday afternoon, then coming back sometime on Wednesday. I’d very much like to stay for Sunday morning worship on the mountain. Partially because I enjoy the informal worship outdoors.

Holiday World is located in Santa Claus, Indiana. It’s pretty much in the middle of nowheresville. As a friend of mine commented, you’re pretty much driving in the middle of nowhere and lo and behold a roller coaster.
Holiday World’s novelty is the free drink oasises throughout the park. Step right up and get yourself a refreshing glass of Pepsi or some other Pepsico drink. This novelty ran its course by midafternoon when we all discovered that on cloudy days, thirst isn’t our main concern. Still, I think if they were smart, they’d give away free drinks, then charge for bathroom use.
Surfing Safari, as they call it, is the waterpark. Plenty of slides to the calibur of Schlitterbahn – the best water park I’ve been to. Many of Safari’s slides are fully enclosed and sometimes completely dark inside. Luckily the water was semi warm in an otherwise cool summer day (cool being mid 80s).
Holiday World’s problem is its lack of roller coasters. Bascially they have 2 good rides – the Raven and the Legend. The Raven was designed by the same person who designed King’s Island “Beast,” but unfortunately it isn’t as good as the Beast. The Legend is a bit longer and has that “Big Thunder Mountain Railroad” feel to it.
Holiday World can be seen within one day at the most. I couldn’t imagine spending a 2nd day there. Build some more roller coasters and you’ll have me hooked…sorta. The overwhelming feeling I got when I was there was how badly Nashville needed Opryland, and how lame it was that Opryland had to close for that giant eyesore of a mall.
I was glad I went. It was good to spend a day with friends who I don’t get to see that often. We all decided that Holiday World was a “good” theme park. Not jump up and down write home to your parents type good. Just good. It’s not something that I’d want to go to EVERY year. Kentucky Kingdom has more to do, just poorly designed.
In and around Santa Claus, Indiana, there are plenty of oil pumps. I never knew there was oil in the Indiana hills. There’s also some kinda of steel plant right outside of Owensboro, cleverly disguised as a nuclear power plant. Also, while we were driving back on the Hatcher freeway, we stopped in or around Morgantown. A Pamida store was nearby. Pamida’s owners make it a point never to build in a town that already has a Walmart. This is because they’d surely be put out of business by the ghost of Sam Walton.
I’ve never been inside of a Pamida. I’m told that it is a small Walmart, just more expensive. Can you develop film there? If not, Scottsville earnestly needs a film developing shop because somehow people aimlessly drive to the Bowling Green Walmart to get their film developed…..or to Lafayette like me. In fact Scottsvillians are constantly driving to BG as if to find civilization or because they reason to themselves “There’s nothing to do here.” Kinda like how we in Mt. Juliet constantly drive to Hermitage or Rivergate to get to our favorite restaurant/retail outlet.

Back from camping at Fall Creek Falls. It was fun. The 2 things which had been a downer last year – the rough sleeping and the cold showers – were eliminated this year. I came prepared. I got an air mattress…left over from my El Salvador trip. This made sleeping much more comfortable. Also I was able to get a warm shower each morning as long as I got up at 7AM.
On Friday night we found out a 61 year old man fell 65 feet to his death around the Cascade area. He was from Alabama. It was a sad story. I think the last time I heard of someone falling was when 2 student from Lipscomb High School fell a few years ago. That made big news in Nashville since there were Nashville ties. But I’d be pretty sure someone fell inbetween those times. Seems inevitable.
We had 120 for services on Sunday morning. We just had worship on a campsite. Everyone brought their own chairs.
During a ballgame Sean Speight pulled his ACL when stepping into a hole. Went to the hospital for it. Came back with a brace and crutches.
Rained on Sunday afternoon. It always rains. I guess that’s camping for you. This year the rain lasted longer than last year.
We did have racoons to visit us each night. Some of them were quite strong. We saw them tipping over the metal trash can lids to get food.
Overall I’d say I had a good time. It was great to spend some quality time with church friends.

I’m going camping with some church friends at Fall Creek Falls this weekend. Last year we had about 30 or so to go….maybe more. I couldn’t keep up. Usually not too much happens. We usually sit around and solve all the problems with whatever is wrong with the world/church/life and vow to make things better. We do have a rule that whatever is said at camp stays at camp.
It’ll be cold this weekend. Lows of 50 some nights. We’re bundling up and taking some hot chocolate. The problem with hot chocolate is that it is usually too hot to begin with, so you end up burning the roof of your mouth when you first drink it.
I’m glad to be going. I enjoy the comraderie. I’m not necessarily looking forward to the cold showers that seem to plague us.

I saw a sticker for sale at the Love Truck Stop. On it, it was written “Without Trucks, America Stops.” How true that is.
There’s a certain brotherhood/microculture whatever you want to call it – of truckers. The communication process happens through the virtual CB radios….or in person at truck stops. Its also unfortunate that most of America wasn’t made for these trucks. Then again, it probably is the best or all the restaurants would be 5 acres. Property values would be pretty high.
I had heard that RV sometimes use Walmart parking lots to sleep at. But unfortunately many times these parking lots specifically say “No semis,” so it isn’t much use to us.
These truck stops…many are like microcities. Giving you anything you could think of needing during a cross country trip. I was amazed at the amount of phones at those places. Several small rooms just for talking on the phone. I would have thought cell phones would have made these obsolete. Not so. Many cell phone companies offer local coverage, while roaming rates are outrageous, unless you havea nationwide plan. So phone cards and truck stop telephones are the best deal.
I had a plan to take pictures of people at these truck stops. Such as the people behind the counter. But I decided not to after arriving at the first truck stop in Kentucky. There were two women behind the counter and a creepy guy sitting on a stool watching my every move nearby. I figured if I took pictures inside the place, they would have thought I was casing out the place.
Actually manuvering around the semi was interesting. Many times I thought we’d clip the curve, but Jim knew what he was doing. The first time we pulled out of the Disaster Relief parking lot, I thought we had clipped the fire hydrant on the other side of the road. But we didn’t. Never had a problem hitting anything.
Springfield? Somehow that’ll always be the city the Simpsons live in. Such a generic sounding city. Nondescript. Yet this Springfield was the largest city within miles. A regional metropolis. And before this trip I didn’t know too much about it. After the trip, I still don’t know too much about it. I checked out the church’s webpage. Seems like a great church. People seemed pretty involved to arrive at 7PM on a Monday night to unload a truck.
We passed though towns in Kentucky…like Lovelaceville, Cunningham, Bardwell….I did see the church of Christ in Bardwell. And I found its webpage.
In Missouri, we drove though towns like Van Buren, Birch Tree, Mountain View…places like that. Litterally in the middle of nowhere – Halfway between Springfield and Poplar Bluff. Where did these people do their shopping? What did they do for a living?
We made good time back to Nashville. The night before we did drive about 2 hours east of Springfield before stopping at the hotel, so we did make up a little time coming back.

Almost home. Jim and I are listening to Johnny Cash via my mp3 player. Good music. I discovered Johnny did a cover of U2’s One. Good cover.
We stopped at a Love Truck Stop around Jackson. It had a Hardee’s attached to it (as most do). While we were there; they were testing the truck scales. These truck stops seem to have these test scales so truckers can see how much they weigh before they get to the weigh station.
The highway between Dyersburg and Jackson might as well be an interstate.
And I’m still trying to figure out how Bucksnort got its name.
We’ll be home in 90 minutes or 2 hours.

We’re taking a different way back. Instead of Paducah, it’ll be via Dyersburg and Jackson. Mostly interstate. Might be a little longer, but its easier driving.
So we stopped at the Flying J in Matthews, MO. This place had everything – private rooms for making phone calls, a convienence store, a nice restaurant, and a barber’s shop. Pretty much blows my myth that truck stops are dirty dingy places. I got a slice of pizza to go.
We’ve seen catfish farms. Small holding lakes for catfish. They’re near the board with Tennessee near the Mississippi River. They have oxygenators or something that keep the water moving to keep things fresh so the fish won’t die. Don’t ask me who it works. I’m no fish scientist.

As seen on an interstate billboard:
“Gambling benefits Missouri. Over $1 billion for schools.”
Yes, but how many gambling addicts are you teaching?
This trip has given me a great respect for truckers. Jim pointed out that just about every consumer good you buy these days is transported by truck. Truck drivers are a intregal part of American economy.
The CB? We don’t use it much. At least not as much as what I thought. Just the occassional “Your right tail light is out.” That’s it. Definitely not some sort of chat room. It does have a computerized weather forecast.
Here we are stopping at the Matthews Flying J travel plaza.

I got up at 6:05AM this morning. The hotel restaurant didn’t open until 7. Jim’s coffee mug had a broken handle so he tried to find some superglue. No luck.
At the restaurant I ordered a ham and cheese omlette, but I couldn’t eat 1/3rd of it. Ate most of the toast.
Jim told me that the lady who works the front desk said she was Mormon. So it wasn’t too surprising to find the book of Mormon next to the KJV Bible in the hotel dresser.
Right now it’s raining and we’re going through Mark Twain National Forest. It’s got some hills to it, so this must be the Ozarks.
Just in case you were wondering what we’re carrying here it is:
4 Bedroom furniture.
150 blankets
420 128oz bleach
36 Baby Boxes
180 Boxes – Family Food
72 Boxes – personal care
290 bras
90 men’s briefs
48 chests of drawers
40 boy’s pants
50 men’s pants
3 boxes of men’s polo shirts
72 men’s t-shirts
2 women’s dresses
15 women’s pants
48 women’s robes
30 women’s shorts
5 2 piece women’s suits
64 women’s tops
20 dinette sets
48 leather gloves
25 gloves
108 6 pack of panty hose
24 box of 6 insect repellant
4 medical supplies
120 cleaning buckets
415 girl’s panties
48 pillowcases
48 pillows
25 sheets
1 box – men’s shoes
1 box women’s shoes
42 skirts
180 3 packs – men’s socks
324 women’s socks
336 1 gallon water
That makes $64,588.54 worth or merchandise. Also the truck weighs 65,000 pounds full of merchandise….36,000 pounds empty.