Excursions

2 April 2007

Greetings from the sunny (and often very wet) land of Texas! Specifically from Bulverde, which is slightly to the North and West of San Antonio. How did I get here? Why would I go there? Am I feeling quite all right? The answers to these and many other questions will be the subject of many posts to follow.

Most pertinent to the moment is what brought me to this place, both geographically and figuratively. As many of you know, I've recently been given the opportunity of exploring my employment horizon as the result of the past Senate election. God is good all the time, and while this is sometimes hard to see, it has proved visible in this situation.

Initially my foray into the realms of unemployed-looking-for-work was very discouraging and I began to realize the severe handicap that was mine in not having a college degree. I had enrolled with CollegePlus! back in July with the goal of completing my college degree from home through testing out of college courses. With all the hooplah and craziness that began to swell as my boss's election campaign hit some serious (and ultimately fatal) road bumps, I was not able to devote the time necessary to this program. I had however stayed in touch with the folks at CollegePlus! and they found my work for Senator Allen fascinating in conjunction with my being associated with their program.

Several weeks ago now, the Director of CollegePlus! (CP) called me with a request that I should consider working as an intern with them in San Antonio. To be quite honest, I was very surprised. In all my looking for jobs, I hadn't even considered moving outside of some select states on the Eastern Seaboard, much less Texas. I mean, that's where the cattle roam, the snakes bite, and tornadoes take folks out for a spin, right?

Well, I talked it over with my folks and after looking at their proposal, we decided that this was just what I needed and was obviously God's calling for me at this point in my life. You see, their offer of an internship was a little out of the ordinary. The offer as put to me was like this: I would work from 10-4 (Central Time) for them in a Marketing Liaison capacity and the rest of the day would be devoted to studying for CLEPs, DANTES, and TCEPS exams that would allow me to complete my degree in roughly a year. Oh, and they'd cover housing, and food, and gas, and testing fees, and coaching assistance. Basically, I was being offered the opportunity to work for the company that was helping me pursue my degree and what this all amounts to is that I will gain a year of work experience and come out with a Bachelor's degree in General Management, or something similar.

After the decision was made, there was a lot of packing to do. Initially I was going to leave for Texas from a conference my family was attending in Cary, NC. As it turned out, the intern housing situation in Texas was in a state of flux and they requested that I come down a week later than originally was the plan. This was fine with me, although a bit awkward, because, my family and church had already done a beautiful farewell for me. In consenting to come down to Texas, and the dates we'd talked about, at the time of the call I'd already had my last Sunday at my home church, what with some prearranged travel plans. So the farewell was held the Thursday before I was to head out and not small was the surprise on many faces when on the subsequent Sunday, there I was. It was all easily explained and it actually gave me the opportunity of saying "Goodbye" to several families that I wouldn't have been able to, had the plans remained unchanged.

Then there was a flurry of packing and rearranging rooms and loading the car and exactly a week ago today, I set off. I'd spaced the trip into two days, partly because this made the whole trip easier, and because the foolishness or insanity of my thoughts on doing the whole trip in one day was brought home to me in no uncertain terms from select sources I respected and admired, respectively. I took I-64 West to Staunton, VA, where I jumped on that great trucker route we all know and love, I-81. This I followed South to Bristol, passing the car carriers of Kasey Kahne, Mark Martin, Dale Earndhart Jr., and many more NASCAR note worthies. They were headed North from the Bristol Motor Speedway and I must admit they added a touch of color to the trip I had not been expecting.

I then crossed into the land from whence came the likes of Davy Crockett and Alvin C. York. The rolling hills of Tennessee were simply glorious to drive through and as I changed from I-81 to I-40 West at Knoxville, I saw why someone could want to raise generations-worth of a family in such a place. While I didn't quite make it to the Valley of the Three Forks of the Wolf, I do believe that I drove as much as anyone could possibly drive across Tennessee without visiting that singular location. I drove and I drove and I Drove and I DROVE across that state until I finally reached Memphis and the great Mississippi River, having already crossed that invisible dividing line somewhere into the land of Central Time. I barely crossed into Arkansas and at a little Rodeway Inn spent the night.

The next morning I started bright and early and drove on to Little Rock where I looped on over to I-30 West. I saw a great deal of farmland and more sky than I had seen in one place in a looooong time. I also saw an Armadillo on the side of the road that captivated my interest for several miles after I passed his forlorn little body. I guess that stuff they've got on isn't armor at all. Defectively soft from the looks of it and I don't doubt that many Armadillo mommies sent letters voicing their complaints to the appropriate address. Since there wasn't much that could be done, I'm sure the letters will continue to be sent unabated.

Not long after the Armadillo reverie, I crossed into the great state of Texas where I saw more Texas flags than I have ever seen in my life. Virginia is a great state with heaps of pride in its heritage, but I have seen more of the Red, White and Blue in Virginia than of the Sic Semper Tyrannus. In Texas they are everywhere, and when I say everywhere, I mean EVERYWHERE. They've got them on their billboards, for crying out loud. It's quite the site to see and I wish other states were as proud of themselves, at least visibly.

I proceeded on to Dallas and looped around the city to I-35 South. I even timed it so that I would reach Austin at the peak of rush hour and have the opportunity to meet thousands of happy Texans all in one place. The traffic actually thinned out very quickly and for all the bustle and in and out, the Texans I could see handled the situation better than most and favorably impressed me with their vehicular deportment. I continued on down to Bulverde and reached the terminus of my journey at about 18:30 (6:30 PM for the non-military types). My new roommates helped me unload and we all had spaghetti for dinner, a most welcome repast.

Since then I have been working and studying and have even passed a CLEP test on Analyzing and Interpreting Literature. Hopefully English Lit. will follow shortly in its wake. I'm sure that I will have more to tell later, and that y'all will have many good and interesting questions to ask that I can answer in kind. Till then, God bless and God speed!