11/19:
Eagerly anticipating my departure from the LA scene. Must pull myself away for awhile to gain perspective. It has been so long since I treated myself to a vacation. Plus, I have never traveled alone, so...this is definitely going to be new and different. A little nervous about it, but I am sure it is because I am heading off into the unknown.

Need to do something about mainly spending most of my time programming at home. I love it so much and find that it is becoming successful, but I have to try to balance being social vs. being the computer nerd circa 1982. So much change has happened this last year.

11/20:
530 a.m. arrived to the bus. Greeted by the driver of my next chapter, Tim. Wow, his eyes, such a sweet soul. Star and Rebecca dropped me off and like true best friends, we were all running late, slightly intoxicated and laughing the whole way. Star continues to crack me up. For well over a month, she was talking about inspecting the bus for freaks. As for Rebecca, she came to see my manifestation of all those years I talked about doing this when we were together. Kind of funny how Star had never heard of the bus before; talking about taking names, photos if need be, wanting a road map to every destination. I guess in her mind I was joining some type of hippie commune where I would never be heard from or seen again. Tim gave us all a bear hug, which cooled Star immediately, well, after she took a photo of the license plate. Funny girl. Talk about Scorpios being loyal and protective friends, I love her for it. Looking over at Rebecca…my first love for 10 years, wow...10 years, something was different. I found myself residing with the emotion that it all felt like someone else’s dream. I never thought I would be balanced about our transition into the single life. God I love her, but somehow it is different now.

As I got onto the bus, Star and Rebecca honked the horn, yelling.."We love you!" I love them so much.

11/21:
Woke up on the front cushions of the bus with several bags about me. Totally excited about what this adventure has in store. Peter was the first passenger to greet me with such sincerity in his tone. Everyone else were still sawing their zzz's. I know this trip will be amazing, but somehow I feel a bit like a shy schoolgirl. Guess it has to do with my not knowing anyone yet, or maybe some residue 5th grade issues.

As the morning broke into the windows of the bus, I glanced back at everyone waking up. Who are these people? First people I noticed were Celine and Patti. We smiled at one another. Strange, at that moment I felt like I had known them before.

Later we all went to the markets for breakfast and gear for the trip. I sat alone in the restaurant; damn…talk about be shy. So I sat at this booth, alone and content when Patti came over to ask to me to join their table. Guess she could see the shyness tip. So off I went to enter this new chapter of my experience. I started to bond with some of the other people on the bus. Realized there are many teachers on the trip. Joshy was there too. He seems like a big teddy bear of a guy.

Enter Jeremy a.k.a. Jeremy Spoken…him and I immediately hit if off. We talked and talked about what we do, where we are going, etc. He is funny. Got my way of talking and mannerisms. So much so, I noted his as well. (Must be a New York thing to speak with your hands.)

Back on the bus… drowning myself in one of my many spiritual books, looking at everyone, smiling as I read about numerology, being immortal, and the chants we all say. I wonder if people trip like I do. Kept paying attention to what people say, their body language, etc.

There is this crowd of people in the back of the bus. Who is that crew? Peek-a-boo faces bobbing up and down. They seem like the have done these trips before.

11/22:
Spent the day in Ensenada. Not really a city I like. Kind of saturated with vendors selling the same things. Oh well. Back on the bus.. started to connect with many. Oh no! I am realizing that I am attracted to several on the bus. Is it because I am now back in the swing of things since the break up? Wait...am I just the horny type that digs everyone? This is horrible. I really do dig everyone! What a nightmare! Let’s see…how many are there...1..2..3..4..5, oh god...Must drink!

Slept on a bunker, looked at someone with a more curiosity than the rest. Kept it to myself though, can’t be too obvious that I feel someone, let alone many.

Read a few palms today. Didn't realize it would spread. Noticed some skeptics in the crowd, funny they asked me to read their hands too. Never really understand those types that fail to see that signs are everywhere. Guess I am not meant to. Interesting sharing some vital points with each individual. They were all so cute with their reaching out to me to share what I see on their palms. Got to know people more intimately as a result. Really like Allison. Loved what her hand told me. She is so set.

Noticing that I will probably not act on any of my attractions. Wow ...coming to terms that still appreciate women. Thought I was strictly men for awhile ...guess not.

What day is it?
Getting to really bond with Julia. The girl cracks me up. And from what I can tell, I make her laugh as well. Her energy is intoxicating. We just have this devilish side that comes out when we hang out. I see her and Peter hooking up. Peter doesn't have a tent, so I offered to share mine. Quickly kicked myself for doing so soon after as I can see he is too "on." I think I will retract my offer so he can hook up with someone he is meant to, he is so good to go! Hope it works out for him.

Patti and I accessed who is who on the bus. Had really good conversations with her. Finally, a stable lesbian. How refreshing! So, we talked about who might be "Family". Who is working the cute factor? Who we think will pair up, etc. She recommended that I go for someone in particular, but I told her naawwww…don't see it happening. Got her drunk later that night. Good times! Man...she is wild when drunk. What a great person. She states it as it is. Got to love that!

The first hook up can be seen coming into play. Allison and Trac. Wow! Never saw that one coming. They have fun together. Allison is a Salsa queen. Something happened as they danced together. How beautiful.

Bonded with Jon a.k.a. Tequila Sunrise. He's a trip and a half. Just what was he saying anyway? Great guy though ..something about him makes me smile. Also bonded with Samuel today. Well, only a little. Mainly, playful wrestling over who gets to stir the pot of food.

Got drunk by the Salsa hut next to the lagoon. Celine and Joshy, seem to be forming a bond. Interesting. Wanted to dance after the margaritas started to take effect. Didn't really feel the Salsa extravaganza though. Longing to shake my booty to some old school Michael Jackson or anything that screams “now dance”.

Next day:
Destination arrival. Got into the swing of things and read even more palms. Should stop as it is becoming a bit draining reading energy and palms consecutively. Grown to really love Patti and her vibe. She is good peeps. My lust factor for many is still in full effect, but trust that my watching rather than participating is best. Hiked and bonded further with Celine. I love to hug her. She is so sweet. Meditated today. Saw visuals from my 3rd eye. Threw out my hiking boots, they suck. So much for the $29.99 special at Target. My feet have blisters from them. Man, I am fried from the hike. Must pass out!

On campsite:
Greeted by the owner of GT. He is nice. Talked to us about the campsite in and outs. What's that you say about Sting Rays! What…if we get stung our screams will let them know ..jump in and have fun. They're crazy! I love the water, but there is no way I am in tune with fish and things that bite messing with my water journeys.

Set up camp next to the crew, which now consists of Patti, Allison and Celine. Love those girls. They helped me understand how to set up my tent. I am such a City girl.

Julia, Abi and Elisabeth are just on the other side of the bush. Man…if Julia didn't live in Sweden we would get into all kinds of trouble hanging out together. Parties galore. Elisabeth is interesting. She looks like she is carving a new way of life for herself. As for Abi, well ..there is something about her huh!

Drinking fest 2004! Shot of Tequila, endless beers for the remainder of the day. Taking in my new surroundings. Grown to love looking at people and what their eyes are telling me. David stands out in a good way. Beautiful vibe! Joshy is a Leo for sure. Got to find out what sign Abi is. I walked around soaking up the the awe of where I was at. Signed up for everything but the fish expo. Never rode a mule before. Wonder what that will be like.

Tuesday night:
For a majority of the day I laid out and took in some serious rays. Later, party night arrived! We started a fire, circled around it, sang and drank. Hook ups are now in next gear. I got so thrashed from the circling tequila. Just how many times was the bottle, well bottles, on our side of the circle anyway? I can’t believe I told Celine, Jeremy and Abi about my attraction to them. I mean really...what would I do if it was on? Oh well, good times were had. Shouldn't have kept pouring the tequila into Celine. She went down hard! Peter and Julia started the hook up factor by kissing. (hah! I knew it!) We all cheered as if we were welcoming the next chapter of what this trip has in store. The whole night was a beautiful mess. Slurs took over some people. Random kisses were everywhere. Experienced Jon’s butt in my face as he surfed the Green Tortoise Crew wave around the fire. Was he nude?

Sometime around 2 of 3am, Patti, Jeremy and I went on a “Mission Impossible” to get a condom to someone special. Our mission: do not stop things that is naturally meant to occur. Just make sure that all are protected if the party has them get their groove on. That was fun. Man if I was as drunk as those two were, I was in trouble. I hummed the theme song from the show the whole time we were meeting "the mission". Really wished I made a move on someone, but tamed it for fear of rejection and not really wanting to at the same time. God I am back and forth with flirting.

Wednesday:
Rode a mule totally hung over. Arrgghh! Loved the scenery and the hot springs though. Bonded with the guide; spoke Spanish with him all day long. We were all so fried from the previous night. I titled the evening “Part Deux”. It was a bit of a sluggish part deux though. They finally set up some tunes. All I could hear were some random 50’s cuts. Celine wanted me to D. J. so with a stiff margarita in hand, I went off to meet the mission. Success! Best visual yet, looking out over my quaint D. J. area watching people dance and have fun, including Lyle. Can Christine keep up with all this drinking? Jeremy was my co-DJ. Thank god! I was running out of options. Funniest part was when he said, "When in doubt, stick in the Gypsy Kings to help buy time". Great guy.

Thursday morning, Thanksgiving 2004
Thinking about becoming a driver. A hard debate in my head. Life of thrills GT style vs. everything else I am doing in my life. Spent the day kayaking. On the way back I rode out far ahead of the pack. Not sure how that happened, but I took the opportunity to chant, meditate, and release. I also sang as the sun was beginning to set amongst the rolling hills. "Everything She Wants" by Wham, of course. Feel a pull to Celine. Guess we have something to bond over. We ended up grabbing our sleeping bags and set them up by the beach under the moon. Talked quite a bit. She is an amazing woman. Told me something I needed to hear regarding my journey. What a good friend.

Thanksgiving! Tofu and mashed potatoes please. I ate quite a bit. Found out tofu had egg in it. Oh no…blessed it and moved on. Around 11pm we all packed up to go melt in the hot springs ..nude. Didn't work out though. Bummer.. I really wanted that primal bond with everyone. Well, actually I wanted to see what it would be like to be nude with others.

Friday:
It is all coming to an end now. Will I see these beautiful people again? Packing our stuff onto the bus. Trying to figure out if I am ready for it to end. Guess so ..I think many are ready. Stopped at Loreto and bought Patti a present to remember us all by. Finally showered, felt good.

Taking in what I have to return to. The band, my decision about becoming a driver and if that is really in the cards for me, clients, L. A. and the greeting of what is next in the story of my life.

Stopped in Ensenada for one last moment to hang. Started by going to a bath house with Abi, Celine and Sara. Got nude. Must confess…it felt kind of beautiful. So free. So open. That shy side had me covering my bum the whole time. Guess I couldn't let it all hang out after all.

Later, I bumped into Samuel and Sarah. They asked me to read their palms. Thought it was done, but with them… I had to. The tug to do so was to intense...how could I resist? They treated me to Italian that night. Mmmmm. It was so good and filling. (Wonder if I blimped out from all the meals.) Sarah is someone who surprised me at the last minute. She is such a sweet person. A good soul. Samuel too. He is so tender underneath that wall that I noted on first sight.

Later that night I hooked up with Peter, Julia, Trac, Allison, Darren, Celine, Abi, and Sara. Celine, Abi and Sara went to go eat. The rest of us went to get into one last stint of trouble. We looked for some disco bar that other people from the bus danced at the last time we were in this city. After walking most of the city, we realized that not only did we not know what the name of the place was, but we also had not idea where it was. So with about a ½ hour left until call time to the bus, Darren said, “Follow Me!” So with trust, we all did. Next thing we knew we are walking into some random strip bar. Comical. Shortly after taking in the visuals, Allison had to go to the bathroom and asked Julia and I to accompany her as back up. I mean, just where the hell were we after all. So, as we made our way to the women's restroom we realized that it was in the dressing room where all the girls were getting ready for their stage booty shaking job status. All these women had next to nothing on, layers of make-up, and glanced over at us as if we were going back there to join their chosen profession or as if they were ready to kick our asses. Funny man! So Allison made her way past the Mexican joy givers, as Julia and I stood with what had to be one foot out the entry doorway. We kept laughing, as we always did together.

We headed back out with playful shock from all the visuals. The owner of the joint gave us all free tequila shots. Julia and I kept assessing the girls making their creative moves on the guys. Jon ,a.k.a. Tequila Sunrise, experienced a lap dance. Funny visual there!

So we slammed our shots, drank down our beers, tripped out on Bubble Butts swinging to random songs that really should not compliment strip tease moments, and headed back to the bus. Laughing the whole time. Stopped for a pee break on some random property, shhh…can they hear us? Pissssss.

Back on the bus I started drinking some Rum good ol’ Jon had for the masses. Man…that was the just about the stiffest, hardest, roughest drink I have ever had in my life! I bonded with Joshy for a bit taking in lessons on what a driver for GT should know. All the while still working on the toxic Rum. (Noted at that very moment ...perhaps I am better off as a permanent passenger.)

Needless to say the guys drank the night away. They looked like the type of guys who would sit around drinking and telling old sailor stories, had they known each other outside of this adventure. Jon went down! Poor guy…he was puking pretty badly into the trusty trash bag up front.

We pulled into the States again. It seemed so intense in comparison to the visuals of Mexico. We said our good byes to a couple of souls and then headed for LA. That was my stop and I was the only one getting off. Before I did, I gave Abi a deep hug in attempts of communicating just how much she affected me. Celine got off the bus with me to share one last moment. I honestly am glad to have met her. She touched my heart. With my gear on my back…I waved to the bus one last time. Wow! It was over. I didn't want to get off, but it was time, I guess.

So now I am back in LA. Doing what I do. What is next? Growing my web company, hiring contractors, being all I can be in the band, potentially getting back to the dating scene, etc. I still am debating the bus driver vibe, but can see that being in a band will not really allow for me to be a trusty driver. Guess I am meant to always be a passenger.

Until the next trip…Southern Migration here I come 12/05. -CP