Seattle, WA

Out of all the places I've been so far, Seattle seems to be the most homeless friendly. Besides the fact that the  winters aren't nearly as cold as Mankato, Rapid City, or Salt Lake, there's shelters obviously, but there are designated parks where people are allowed to sleep.

There is a person under this mass of wool and backpack.

I had to find a place to park my car where I wouldn't have to worry about parking tickets, towing, or theft. I found a quiet community just over a mile from the area I spend my days. There's no parking time limit and nights are quiet. On the way from my car I found a spot where there's some camping going on. Being so close to I-5 it's not really a legal place to camp out and there are some signs on the trees, but it seems that the police usually look the other way.

Yesterday there were two other tents like this one. It appears that this one has been there for some time now.

Last night I ate dinner at the Bread of Life Mission. The dinner consisted of Squash, cooked spinach, pork, rice, and as many day-old pastries as you can eat. There's a few others in the area and I plan to stop by them all before I leave.

It's the World we can change

Since I’ve been on the road there have been just a few times that I thought, “What am I doing?” and that I should quit and either go back home or move to Arizona and be done with everything.

I felt that way yesterday. I was going about my usual day. I just got to Seattle and so I was walking around getting a feel for the city and something just wasn’t right. I was feeling like butter over too much bread. I occasionally feel like everything I’m doing is a waste; that this is a horrible world and nobody can change it. I fight a losing battle to hold on to a world where people can change and make themselves better. I feel sometimes like that’s the world we lost.

I was further disappointed when I found out that I couldn’t get into a concert that I was really excited for. So there I was, standing outside the Showbox at the Market looking at a sign that said, “Never Shout Never, The Maine, I Can Make A Mess Like Nobody’s Business, Carter Husley SOLD OUT” Now, nothing against Never Shout Never, The Maine and Carter Husley, but I don’t care if I don’t get to see them play, but it was heart breaking and a let down that I didn’t need to realize that I wasn’t going to see I Can Make A Mess.

Ace Enders is the brains behind I Can Make A Mess, and one of the biggest inspirations in my life. I talked to him shortly after I realized that I wasn’t getting in. Like always he dropped what he was doing to talk to me. He’s one of those rock stars that really care deeply about the people who paid to get him where he is. He wasn’t able to get me into the concert, but said he would ask the other bands if they had any openings on their guest list for me.

I ended up finding someone with an extra ticket and did get in. Ace played a great set. All but two songs were unreleased. The set ended with the song “Old Man………………….” a song about holding on to and fighting to make your dreams come to life, and that the people who let go of their dreams are the ones who will tell you that you can't do what it is you want. Hearing that song and what he said to me before and  what he said during the song renewed my drive to do what I know I love and chase my dreams down, punch them in the face for trying to get away and make them happen.

Thank you Ace Enders for being who you are and for the inspiration and drive you give me to keep plugging away.

This is what I mean.

Salt Lake City, Utah and Me

I practically fell down a mountain into the Salt Lake Valley with feelings of excitement and worry. I was excited to be in a new place with a new adventure. I was also excited to see some of my family and a couple of friends that I hadn't seen in a while; one of them had been out of my presence for over five years. However, I was worried that being so close to so many people that I hadn't seen in so long would distract me from the reason I was there. How can I get a feeling for homelessness if I have places to stay all the time? Arriving on a Friday afternoon, I decided to just scrap the first weekend and do some visiting; I would get started on Monday.

That weekend, I rode a long board down Provo Canyon, I hiked up a mountain, saw a lot of family and a few friends, and enjoyed my life.

Monday came and I headed into Salt Lake City. I had been there before, so I felt more comfortable than other places, but I hadn't really spent anytime exploring the city the way I like to. So that's what I did. Like always, first things first. Where are the parks and more importantly where is the Library? Salt Lake has a lot of interesting and beautiful buildings, and their Library is no different. I'm guessing, considering it says at the front door, "the Library of 2006", that it was built in 2006. It's new and really an amazing building. I thoroughly enjoyed using it as a sort of office while I was in the city.

I spent so much time wandering around the city and taking in it's history that sometimes I forgot what I was doing. I was able to keep myself on track. There's a lot of ways for the 13,000 homeless people in Salt Lake to live. Some things are the same as other cities, and some are different. There are a few different shelters where people can stay and eat. During the colder months, they need to leave the shelter by 7:15 AM and can come back by 3PM for women and children and 4:30PM the the men. Then there are the people who, for differing reasons, don't stay in the shelters. Some of them have cars that they sleep in, some are left on the streets hiding from the police (for "safety" reasons they are not allowed to sleep out on the streets), some do stay with friends or family, and some go up into the surrounding canyons and camp.

I've heard a few stories and reasons people have decided to stay "unsheltered" at night. Some people just want to be able to sleep next to their husband or wife, the shelters keep men and women in separate areas for obvious reasons. It would be nice if they had an area for married couples to sleep. One man that I talked to got the blood of a drug addict sprayed on him one night. He was laying in bed and the guy in the bed next to him went to "shoot up" and blood sprayed all over. So he left right then and never went back.

I slept in my car as often as I could. I decided that I could handle being one of the homeless people that stayed with friends and family for my time here as long as I kept my mind on what I was doing.

There's a few parks in Salt Lake that are definate hang outs for the homeless. Pioneer Park is just a few blocks from the shelters. It's a nice shaded (not shady) park just outside of downtown SLC. It's nice for a midday nap under a tree.

The block that the City and County Building sits on is another place much like Pioneer Park. It has beautiful, very shaded grounds. There's benches to lay on and everything. Incidentally, I don't like sleeping on park benches. It's not that they're uncomfortable, quite the contrary. My problem is that if there are people walking by, even when I'm asleep I'm still aware of all the people. It's not very resting. This guy didn't seem to have any problems.

Liberty Park is a huge park in Salt Lake, but it's not very close to anything. There are a few homeless people that spend time there, and the fact that the park has a Wi-Fi signal doesn't hurt either. Yes, I talked about the internet and using computers. If you don't think homeless people can have a laptop then go to the backside of the Salt Lake Library before it opens. You will see.

And so, even though, I spent much of my time in Salt Lake City sleeping on couches and being taken out to eat, I had time to learn what life is like on the streets of SLC.

Salt Lake Street News

Today, I ran into a man named Steve. While talking to him, he told me that he was homeless and selling newspapers for a non-profit organization called Salt Lake Street News. Steve first came to me to ask if I wanted to buy one of the newspapers. After I asked what it was, he told me it was a newspaper to raise awareness about the homeless (exactly what I'm doing) and to bring some kind of income to homeless and low-income people. It deals with the issues in Salt Lake and Nationally.

While I was paying for my copy I told him what I am doing and that the information in and about the newspaper would be really helpful. After I told him what I was doing we had a conversation about all the things we see from day to day and how life is on the street. Through selling the paper and working for one of the temp. agencies in the city, Steve has earned enough money to get himself a car to sleep in; an old Bronco.

After a bad experience at a homeless shelter (let's just say he got a drug addict's blood on him), Steve left the shelter and was forced to sleep out on the streets, continually hiding from the police. So, he's very glad for the blessing of his Bronco.

He's always applying for jobs, but there's just not enough jobs for all the people looking for them. He doesn't let that get him down though, and keeps plugging away, hoping that soon he'll be able to earn enough money to get a place to live. It's people like him that are the reason I'm doing what I am.

I asked if I could watch him for a little while and take a few pictures. This is what happened.

Steve was outside the famed Temple Square. On occasion people who have far to much time on their hands hand out Anti-Mormon fliers and such things. My best guess is that this guy thought that's what he was doing at first.

Steve told the man what it really is he's selling and what it's for. They talked about thirty seconds about it.

In the end this man realized that it was a good cause and decided to buy a copy of the newspaper.

So in the end, people have a positive reaction to the Salt Lake Street News. I applaud it for the help that it is, both to the community and to the people who are working hard to better their lives. So to those of you who live in Salt Lake City, if a vendor like Steve approaches you, I ask you to buy a paper. They're working hard to better themselves. The little help you give them will work towards "Real Change, not Spare Change".-Salt Lake Street News

Parks and Recreation

There are a few places that are sure to be populated with the less fortunate.

Like many other cities its size, Salt Lake City has a light rail train running through it. This train runs through the downtown section of the city as well as to a few neighboring cities. The great thing about this is that as long as you stay in downtown Salt Lake it's absolutely free to ride. This makes it very easy to get around and if you happen to be very low on money, you can get around too. In fact, today I watched someone ask people if they had any spare change while riding the train. Any free form of transportation will be taken advantage of by the less fortunate.


For some of the same reasons that libraries are popular, parks are also. You can go there and stay all day for free and nobody cares. Parks are fun. there's very few things better than napping in the shade of a tree on a nice summer day. No amount of wealth takes that joy away. of course there are a few things that make a library a much better place to spend a day. There's the pursuit of knowledge, winter, and rainy days like today. These are times that it's better to stay indoors.

Lately, seeing as I'm in an area where I know a few people, I've been asked a lot what I do to pass time. There are a few things that I do everyday. Some of them I did before I was homeless too. Like most other homeless people, I have a few things from my life before the streets. Many of the homeless have a computer and there isn't a library in the country that doesn't have free wireless internet. I use this to do things I enjoy such as USAToday's puzzles, I write a lot, and keep up with a few TV shows that I like. I take a lot of pictures, it's something I've loved to do for years, and the amount of traveling I've been fortunate enough to do has made that more exciting than ever. I enjoy meeting new people and learning about their lives, and the people I'm meeting are more than happy to share everything with me. It was my fear upon leaving everything I knew before that I would be bored, but in reality, I've got plenty to do.

Homeless people have things they enjoy, hobbies, habits and vanities just like everyone else. They have dignity. They have feelings. They have families and friends. If we would look a little closer we'd all see them for what they really are and not for what they don't have.

Wyoming? And Beyond.

Somewhere, Wyoming

I left Rapid city on Thursday September 23rd and spent two days in Wyoming. I give as much as respect as I can to anyone who lives in Wyoming and loves it, but I can't imagine any reason for Wyoming to exist. I did have one really cool experience, I looked at a map for a general idea as to what roads I wanted to be on, but the rest I left up to Charlie my GPS. Because of this great idea, I spent about nine miles on a dirt road called Cosner Road driving through the Cosner family ranch. If you get the feeling that I'm unhappy about this in anyway, think twice; I'm not at all. In fact, I loved it. I can't say a whole lot for the Wyoming scenery, however. It is mostly boring and desolate.

I spent the night at Independence Rock. When I was ten years old I traveled a bit with my Grandma, and we stopped there for a few hours at most. It was really nice to go back and see things now that I remember from then, and to see how my perception of things has changed. But most of all it was nice to be able to spend a little time on top of a big rock in the middle of the night and enjoy the view. And just maybe she was there with me. 

I pulled into Salt Lake City, UT at about 6:30 in the PM on September 24th. I've been here a few times before, but since I'm trying to go into all these places thinking as though I've never been there and know very little about them, I tried starting with a new first impression.

So, starting out, there's at least people here besides me. I actually know a lot of people around here, so I'm doing some quick visiting before I really get back to the life. I did spend a large amount of Monday exploring the city and seeing for myself what's going on. I heard that the area surrounding the State Capitol has some good places to stay for the night so I walked up there to check out the area.

After checking out the city for a few hours, I decided on a few different places that might be good for some panhandling as well as one of the homeless shelters in the city. All in all it was a good day. I went back to doing my visits after that, but I'm not too worried about running out of time without getting anything done, because I'll be here twice as long as I was in Rapid City, and I'm very happy with what I was able to accomplish there.

Remember to read on to see how my life in Salt Lake City goes. and like always remember to tell your friends and the people you don't like as much to read too!

Rain With No Roof

It started raining last night. I had luckily stayed with a friend, but it's morning and still raining. When the rain falls it's so important to stay out of it. This is a good time for Libraries and Malls.

The Rushmore Mall in Rapid City, I'm told, has seen better days. It seems like one of those dying malls you see from time to time. We've all seen them and therefore know exactly what I'm talking about. They're the kind or malls that have banks and police offices in them; whole wings with no reason to walk down them because there's really nothing there. It always starts when a new shopping center is built. In this case it's Rushmore Crossing.

Rushmore Crossing is pretty far from anything else, especially if you're walking. It's still in the process of being built but the biggest stores are moving from Rushmore Mall to Crossing. The issue here is that a mall is a good place to go and just walk around in the heat of the summer and the dead of the winter. Rushmore Crossing is a series of strip malls. Strip malls are not good for escaping hot or cold weather. I'm not telling the stores not to move, because honestly they probably don't want a bunch of street people hanging around, but the city needs to find something that can be done with the Rushmore Mall.

I was thinking about one of the biggest problems Rapid City has when it comes to the homeless. There is one shelter in the city and while it does a lot of good things for the people here. There's too much work to be done for one organization. There's not nearly enough room in the Cornerstone Rescue Mission to house everyone that needs a place to sleep, which is throwing a lot of people out on the streets at night. The city has also recently started cracking down on people sleeping in public places at night. The first and second times you are caught sleeping on the streets, in alleys, in parks, under bridges, or wherever, you are given a warning and sent on your way. The third time you are caught (as well as subsequent times) you are arrested.

This is causing people to do one of a few things. One choice is to not sleep at night. There are quite a few people who will just walk the streets all night long. Then when morning comes and the library opens, they sleep in a chair at the library. Another option is leave the city limits and find a bridge, tree, or whatever other shelter you can find. The third option is to hide. Some people I've talked to have a few hiding spots they use to sleep. They can't stay in one place for too long though. So they sleep in different places around town for short periods of time, then get up and move to the next. This brings them behind dumpsters in alleys, under bridges, in hedges, on porches and in parking ramps.

The possible solution I've come up with is for the city to rent or buy an empty section of the Rushmore Mall, and make it into a shelter for the people who, for whatever reason, were not able to get into the Rescue Mission. I know that the homeless "problem" is something that is on the mind of the city council and that they are putting a good amount of money into extra police force. Also, the remodeling it would take to convert a wing of a mall into a homeless shelter would create a few much needed jobs in the city! I'm not saying it's a perfect idea, but it's definitely something to think about.

I'm about ready to leave Rapid City and move on. I feel a little sad about this; this city has felt a little like home for the little amount of time I was here. I'm glad I made this stop, it was one of the last places that I decided upon and it's been a good starting point. The things I learned here will give me a very good basis to the rest of the cities along the way. With that I bid Rapid City adieu. (Adieu. To you and you and you)

Thanks for reading and keep it up!