See a few pictures of the week.

The whole thing started with June wanting to take Cora and Isla to Disneyland for Cora's birthday. Dennis and Mary's son Alex was getting married at the end of October. Not being a fan of the Mouse House, I contacted Mike to see if I could stay at his place in Surprise for the time leading up to the wedding. June had no interest because we were both here in the Spring and she couldn't do anything but hike because of her wrist. No golf, pickleball, or swimming. Very close to the day of the wedding, the whole thing was called off. But these plans remained intact.

I have continued to beat the Buddhist drum by meditating almost everyday, and often several times a day. I offered to quit the SR Golf and Country club so that  I could pursue other things, like donate my time to help other people. So I thought that I could be most productive by dedicating this time to becoming more mindful, compassionate, etc. I also talked to Chris just before I left and he had some mushrooms and LSD tabs. So maybe I'll do some of that while I'm here; not in a recreational way by in a "journey-work" way.

June and I drove to LA together, where I stayed with for a few days. I would come back in 10 days to play Halloween with her and drive home together. I hit the road the morning of the 18th from the Sapp's at 7am. Garrett convinced me that the traffic would not be that bad heading East as normally the morning commute is westward into the city. And that was true after about the first 30 minutes or so.

I struggle with being inpatient on the road. I'm always driving like I'm in a race with everyone else. On this 5-hour stretch I told myself that I was going to take my time and not play the road-race game. I would take nothing personally when someone cuts in front of me. I would try to stay close to the speed limit and take a break about every two hours. At the end of the day, I felt pretty good about my driving. I only sped up once to get in front of a chain of cars all following a slow car.

Two hours later I arrived at the Morongo Casino, just outside of the Cochella Valley, for breakfast. It was a bit weird walking through the Casino by myself. Of course, there were a LOT or people there alone. But I think I was picturing a whole 10 days like this by myself. I got to Surprise just after 2 pm. After eating, I came to the condo and went for a swim.

When I first arrived there were only a few people around the pool and almost no one in Peter's restaurant. But while I was sitting, the restaurant filled to capacity. There was lots of noise and people dressed up. I later learned that it was a birthday celebration. I tried to stay in the moment, but I started feeling like I was a stand-out alone guy. When there's a lot of people around, I feel more alone. Of course.

After a few days there I fell into regular routine of making a smoothie, stretching, and sitting meditating in the morning. Then I played pickleball on some of the mornings. I played at least one round of golf with Dennis and Alex on the weekend. I also went for a walking meditation hike in the desert. But in the afternoon I enjoyed laying by the pool, soaking in the sun and being present for the whole thing.

Then came the day of my journey work. I learned about this from a book, "How to Change Your Mind" written by Michael Pollan. He wrote it when he was about 65 as a research project. And in the end, he actually does it on two or three occasions with different drugs. He always did it with a guide who know how much to take and minds all of the details while you go on the trip. A main component of the experience is having an intention for the trip; stating out loud what you want to get out of it. My intention for this experience and for the entire week was I would really like to develop a feeling of not being separate from other people or beings. Kornfield talks about this a lot along with other people who do these drugs occasionally. Many speak of having this feeling as being one with everything as a natural result. As the ego disolves, there becomes no ME, or MINE. I think about this when I am trying to drive through traffic patiently. Rather that treating everyone on the road as though they are competition, I try to think of us all as a team getting to our destinations safely. We move as a unit, some comfortable driving at 70mph, others like me more like 80mph. But we try to give one another respect and plenty of space. And then there are the people who are driving like they are having an emergency. They need to get to their destination faster than the rest of us. This is where I am tempted to interfere with their plan. I need to learn by practicing to just let them through safely. A 'No Ego Zone'.

So for the details I decided to take the mushrooms first and see what happens. I don't even remember what they looked like because it was in some kind of pill form. But I spent a lot of time waiting, and nothing happened. So I switched to the LSD tab. I started slow and eventually ended up taking the entire tab.

I decided to lay on the bed and listen to music. I finally settled in on Jesus Christ Superstar, a musical that I watched many times when it first came out in the '70's. I also had the album back in the day, so I was very familiar with the music. I was very present for the entire show. Then came the part where Jesus is betrayed by Judas. The Roman soldiers take him away, eventually take him to Pilate and then flog him. They counted out forty long, loud lashes on his back. Somewhere in there I began to cry and I kept crying for the rest of the story, which took quite awhile. Obviously it was sadness at the idea of a man being tortured for no reason. But I continued to think of all of the people who I loved deeply. and I felt their love coming back. Then I was struck with the idea that there is a fine line between tears of sorrow and tears of joy. In fact, they are really two sides of the same coin. So I just reveled in that for awhile. I love being alive!!

At the end of all of that I felt sort of hyperactive. I was ready to be done and I wanted to get off the ride. I first called Dan and told him about the experience. I finally asked him what I could do to come down. He said, "Is there any alcohol there?" I said, "No, and I don't want to get drunk! I want to chill out!"

I had my wits about me, so I tried exercising, but that didn't help at all. If anything, it made me more hyper. So I called Chris. He said, "Is there any alcohol there?" HaHaHa. He explained that alcohol is a natural downer.

So I walked over to Peter's bar and was told that the bar was closed. I looked outside and there was a whole table of people partying. I asked him, "How about them?" He said that the waitress was taking care of them and to go out there and see if she would serve me. So I went out there and it turns out to be Kenny and his entourage of fans! He introduced me to the group, and I quickly ordered a whiskey. I grabbed a seat at the far end of the table in the midst of 4 women. They were chattering very fast, intermittently in my direction, and everyone was talking at the same time. I was completely overwhelmed with stimulation. When my drink came, I started playing with my phone, and then excused myself to another table in the distance saying that I had to make a call. Eventually I finished my drink and calmed down enough to walk back to the condo and go to bed.

See a few pictures of the week.