Who are the ones with the agenda?

This link is to one of my favorite blogs.

Nobody on our side wants millions of people to disappear!

In it, he posts a copy of a letter written by one of the leaders of the campaign against marriage equality in Maine. THEY said that they were just interested in preserving the definition of traditional marriage.

It sounds like their interests have expanded far beyond this.

David

Getting Off the Path

Well, it's been a few days since our last post. Last time we met, Jonathon and I had just arrived in Billings, Montana after a rough ride over a few extremely tall mountains. Of course, the adventures don't end there.

After Billings, we headed over to Rapid City, South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore. Mount Rushmore was a neat experience, but wasn't nearly as exciting as Devil's Tower, Wyoming. If you ever want to see one of nature's wonders, I highly recommend this one. It is simply awe-inspiring. The way this solid piece of stone rises from the relatively flat landscape around makes it seem like some ancient tribute to Native American gods. Indeed, many local tribes hold Devil's Tower to a higher place in their culture.

After D.T. and Rushmore, we made our way up to the town of Crosby, N.D. to see our friends Kyt, Nick and Blaze. Crosby is about 3 miles from the Canadian border and is possibly one of the most remote places I have visited. It was a bit isolated, but the people were great and of course, Kyt, Nick and Blaze showed us tremendous hospitality.

Mind you, getting there was a little rougher than the actual stay. Please heed these words. GPS's don't always know best. In fact, sometimes they think that a road exists where it just doesn't. Such was the case on our way out to their home.

Thinking we would save time, we tried a shortcut given to us by the GPS rather than follow Kyt's directions. The shortcut took us down a pea-gravel road. I wasn't thrilled considering I drive a Ford Mustang, but I went with it. Eventually, the gravel gave way to ruts... and the ruts gave way to grass... and the grass... well, it just gave way until our poor little car was stuck in the middle of some unsuspecting farmer's field.

Jonathon pushed and I revved (and I have to admit, emitted a primal scream) and we got the car unstuck. It wasn't the most fun I've had, but it made for a great analogy.

When you don't follow directions, sometimes you get stuck. But sometimes not following directions and taking a chance is the best way to learn. I don't regret getting stuck. It's a fun memory, and I will most likely not follow directions again. The thing is, we did get where we were going. It took us a bit longer, but when we got there, we had something to laugh about. And isn't that the point?

Let's Make the Worlds Stupidest Stand and Truly Mean It

When we last left our heroes they were stomping their way across the rocky valleys of Utah. Fat Boys taking on the land of polygamy.

While Utah had plenty to offer in the way of beauty...it didn't have much in the way of identity...or at least not a positive one. There are many areas of this nation that I dismiss for various reasons...but for Utah I only need the LDS Church. I follow the belief that no one can bring me down unless I let them...but sometimes the Mormons try just hard enough to scratch my outer shell. There's just something about dismissing a huge part of my identity that just annoys the fuck out of me...but hey...since we escaped Utah with our minds and souls I guess I can't complain too much. Besides, Arches National Park was gorgeous.
Today we conquered a mountain. Sure it wasn't by foot, but cut us some slack...we are fat boys. It was a breathtaking experience to behold...11,000 feet in the air. Nerve-racking as it was; it was one the most surreal moments of our lives...we touched clouds. It was a difficult drive for either of us to make...and at times it was downright terrifying. But we pressed on...we had to. What would this trip be if either of us gave in to fear? How could we justify giving up? Never had my life felt so delicate in a vehicle. I have always felt in total control as a driver...but something about being surrounded by clouds changed the way the driving game is played. It was about the time that we peaked our second mountain that my confidence took hold and the absolute beauty of the experience began to dawn on me.

On this trip, David and I have conquered many an issue that we planned to encounter...even if it was just in our subconscious thoughts. There have been things learned about each other, things learned about ourselves...but this was a fear that I never expected to be forced to face at such an extreme level. If I let my irrational side get the better of me, then my driving could have faced the consequences...not every turn and drive along the side of a cliff had a protective railing...and most of the road was gravel and unfinished. I needed to keep myself together and not be too afraid to keep going...as that was the only way to actually get off that fucking mountain.

Now that it's all said and done with, we can both look back and appreciate the experience for what it was. Another stepping stone to finding the core of who we are as individuals...but more importantly...what we can be as a team. David's reassurance of his trust in me on the narrow roads at the peak of the mountain was the only way I think I could have calmly gotten through it.

It has been a few days since either of us have come on here to add to the adventure so now both of us are typing away to let you...our faithful audience...know the inner workings of our journey. I've been editing away at video over the last couple of days, but my video editing perfectionist habits have begun to take hold. This trip will result in some form of a fully edited documentary...but for video on the blog...I will just be using raw video for the rest of the trip.

"Don't forget what happened to the man who suddenly got everything he ever wanted? He lived happily ever after."

Getting Our Head Out of the Clouds

Day 9 of our big adventure, and it just gets crazier and crazier!

Two nights ago, we were in Salt Lake City. The first thing I noticed is that there was a lot more alcohol and a lot more tattoos than I would imagine for the capitol of mormonism. We made a brief visit to the mormon temple. The buildings were beautiful, but it is difficult to forget the pain they caused through their fierce fights against marriage equality. I will give a dining prop. Try the Blue Plate Diner for breakfast or lunch. It's a laid back place with a great staff and delicious old-fashioned diner favorites.

The next day, we made our way across Idaho into Montana, specifically West Yellowstone. West Yellowstone is a cute little town that survives solely on the tourists coming through on their way to Yellowstone National Park. Examples of this can be found in the $2.78 price on McDonald's Double Cheeseburgers or the $208 price on one of the most vile hotels I've ever stayed in. Here's a tip. Unless you're overly fond of the smell of dirty diapers or getting stuck my staples sticking out of the box spring on your bed, avoid the Clubhouse hotel in West Yellowstone. The night was pretty routine. The real adventures began the next day.

We got up and headed out to Yellowstone. We were particularly excited because we had heard that the President and First Family would be visiting today. AND... It was a free weekend! No charge to enter the park.

We headed in and began exploring. The truth be told, we didn't get to see much. There were all kinds of delays due to the crowds and the President's visit. We did get to sit in our cars for approximately an hour while the First Family was escorted from the Old Faithful area. Silly maybe, but it was a thrill seeing their caravan drive away and the helicopters take off. I have a great deal of respect for the President. People complain about some of his policies being drastic or not working fast enough but when you inherit a ten mile high mountain of shit, it takes a while to dig through it. In other words America, give the man a chance to get things done.

We enjoyed a little picnic along the way, had a few photo ops. But the trip was dominated by an argument Jonathon and I had. Looking back, it was nothing. But at the time, it felt like everything. The content really isn't important. It just seemed to overshadow the day. And then we got out of the park, and the real adventure started.

We found ourselves on a little road called the Bear Tooth Scenic Byway. The byway is a stretch of road, mostly gravel, that goes up to the very top of about three 11,000 foot tall mountains. Covered in ice and snow. With really narrow roads. Surrounded by clouds.

Now those of you who know me know that I have some control issues when driving. Even more important, I have fear issues when on giant mountains with tons of hairpin turns next to drop offs that are about two miles in the air. My fear of flying is well-documented and the same instincts seemed to kick in.

But through the three hour drive, I dealt with my fears because I really trusted my driver. That's a big deal for me. To trust someone with my life. It usually doesn't happen. And throughout this all, I realized something. There will always be occasional arguments. There will always be differences. But I have more implicit trust in Jonathon than I have in anyone. And that trust and the ability to communicate and work things out are key components in a healthy relationship. We conquered a physical mountain. But I conquered a personal mountain, too.

Suffice it to say, by the time we got to Billings, Montana, we were fine and glad to get down from that mountain, our heads out of the clouds and back to reality. Our reality. Which consists of working through challenges together and coming up with solutions that work for both of us.

We ended the evening with an outstanding steak at Jake's Steakhouse at 1st and 27th in downtown Billings. It was a celebratory dinner for a day worth celebrating.

Dominos Never Tasted So Good

It is now day 6 of our 17 day trip. We left Santa Fe around noon today after a morning in Santa Fe's historic plaza. We saved the plaza for last, and truth be told, we were glad. It is the most popular tourist attraction in the city, but it was low on our priority list. When I travel, I am more interested in what the locals like than what the travel experts discuss. So, we asked our host and a few store owners for some advice and went exploring.

After our first night, we woke up and hit a couple of spots that I had heard of for a while. The first was Harry's Roadhouse on old Las Vegas Highway. Harry's serves an eclectic mix of spicy Santa Fe and Route 66 Americana. Head to this place and order the cold meatloaf sandwich! Wow, I am still thinking about it with its sweet onions and sweet - sour tomato sauce. Not quite ketchup, but a good analog. Jonathon had a nice grilled salmon taco accompanied with fresh salsa and chunky black beans.

Once we finished lunch at Harry's, we went over to Jackalope. Jackalope is a HUGE southwestern mercado selling all kinds of pottery, hand-blown glass and all kinds of well... neat junk! I picked up one treasure: the face of an old gas pump! Look for it in our backyard soon. I have to say, the laid back energy of this city has truly left me awestruck. You have to experience it for yourself. The adobe building style, mandated by the city, extends even to the local McDonald's! And speaking of, think green chile double cheeseburger. That's right, in Santa Fe, even everyone's favorite McDonald's $1.19 guilty pleasure comes with the state's favorite condiment! This is a city that will certainly see more of us.

As we left town, we set our sites west for the far northwestern corner of the state. Which also happens to be the northeastern corner of Arizona, the southeastern corner of Utah, and the southwestern corner of Colorado. It may not be much, but there is a certain cheesy cool factor to standing in four states at once. And the only place to do that is at the Four Corners National Monument! One thing to keep in mind when looking for this monument is well, it's HARD to find. The best direction I can give you is to go to Farmington, NM, take highway 64 west and hang a right at 160 in Teec Nos Pos, Arizona. In addition to some great photo ops, they have some awesome prices on Native American jewelry.

When we left Four Corners, the real adventure began. I decided to drive so Jonathon could get some video AND decided to take a road that barely appeared on any map and DIDN'T appear on the GPS to "save some time". On top of that, we ended up taking still another road that didn't even show up on the map!

We quickly realized why these roads don't appear. The GPS tries to take us around the giant canyon and we just barrelled through it! It was a happy surprise with some of the most beautiful scenery that we've captured yet on this trip. Better still, There was a lot of beautiful scenery unfolding in my mind about who I am.

The thing is, and many of you know this, taking unmapped roads through rugged canyons isn't what I would normally do. Taking weeks long driving trips is something I talk about, but do? Heck, leaving my job to find out what fulfills me is something I would never consider. And yet here I am.

Jonathon has talked about our reasons for taking this trip. I think the biggest reason I have is just because it's not like me. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of things I like about David Leslie. But being afraid to take chances isn't one of them. I've spent a lifetime doing what was expected of me. Making a good living. And it just never felt like me. Everyone else saw it as me, and in fact, I became a caricature of everyone else's expectations of who David Leslie should be. But Jonathon came into my life and challenged my notions of the value of playing it safe.

So here we are, driving across the country in search of what it means to be David Leslie and Jonathon Quam. I don't really expect to find the answer on this trip, but I think I expect to get a little closer to the answer.

Here's to each of you jumping off the proverbial cliff and finding who you really are, too.

Oh! the whole "save some time" comment. I almost forgot. Well, suffice it to say, the shortcut took us on a beautiful winding path that eventually lead us to a somewhat frightening little town and a slightly creepy hotel. Suffice it to say, I was watching the cornfields for the creepy kids to emerge. We decided to drive on to the next larger town, Moab. And arrived. And spent thirty minutes trying to find a room. And found what I believe is the only room available in the town tonight.

So we settled under our cheap polyester comforters in our heavily febrezed room. We put on some TV. And we gobbled up some Dominos pizza and chicken at midnight. After a long drive in the dark, it was truly the best meal we've had in a while.

The Sirens of Santa Fe

Santa Fe has been singing our melody for a day and a half now. If we didn't have friends/family to see and a new baby nephew to meet, I'd be content staying here for the rest of the trip. The laid back atmosphere this town exudes is addicting. The locals are friendly and mix well with the tourists at the town watering holes (bars that is...and oh yeah...this place has beer! lots of it...and it's GOOD beer again). But the road is long, and we have untold stories to write.

The experience here began with our B&B room, a quaint three room suite complete with shower for two, being handed to us for 100 dollars a night. We didn't even have a place to stay the morning we headed out towards this town. Oh, how fun it is to be a gay traveler in a world of Queens. We spent our first night out on the town at Cowgirls (a bar and grill that has a monopoly on Santa Fe's nightlife...food, karaoke, billiards, and PBR); where we began our all you can eat green chile extravaganza. I am proud to say that my body is now adjusting to all this southwest spice...not a stomach problem to be had. My first dessert of the evening (and yes, there was and always will be multiples for this long forgotten piece of the hearty meal) was some mud pie from the local FX Microcreamery...five layers of various chocolates and ice cream...maximum deliciosity.

The full day we've spent here has been an eventful one....thrift stores, restaurants, and locals abound...but rather than explain it all in great detail I will summarize the whole day by saying we are happy. It is not what we did today that is really all that important, but rather; how it has changed who we are and what we know about ourselves. Santa Fe has helped to drive us further into the unknown; the hours we've spent exploring have helped to give us the strength to continue to navigate the world from outside the box. David and I may not have a clue what we're doing with ourselves at this point in time; but at least we're comfortable with that idea now. As we step into our car tomorrow for another full day of driving...we can be sure that we will be okay no matter where it is that we end up.


Shedding a tear for the first Pabst sign I've seen in a month.








David becomes one with the highway.









Happy to be in the foothills.










Sculpture garden at night.















A real-life 17 dollar vintage plastic Roy Rogers wallet...what a shitty deal.








Cold turkey meatloaf sandwich at Harry's Roadhouse...best meal thus far.








Grilled salmon tacos...nuf said.

We've run into a bit of an issue with video editing...basically I didn't realize I now need a 9 pin to a 4 pin instead of my old 6 pin to 4 pin. Fucking Best Buy and Radio Shack (or the Apple Store for that matter) don't offer them...so we're SOL until we can get one delivered overnight to whatever hotel we stay at...but there will be video at some point...we have a lot of it :)

Something to Fill Your Eyes with Wonder

A spoonful weighs a ton.











That's a mighty cannon you have there David.












Entering the basin.

















Sharing.













A beautiful day to go play in the middle of the road.



































Breakfast at the Magnolia Pancake Haus.

Two Nights in the Permian Basin

Here we are...at the Hotel Elegante in the uniquely beautiful Odessa, TX (I think Billy Bob Thornton tea-bagged Halle Berry here). We've been on the road for a few days now and this is our first chance to sit down and type something for all your beautiful eyes to gander at. This is an adventurous trip in both time commitment and David's willingness to deal with me nonstop for 17 days.

Thus far into our existential adventure we have:

1. gathered garments to recreate our personas in the coming weeks
2. made fun of Davy Crockett in the Texas capital
3. been asked by a middle aged woman at the western wear store if we were going to be playing good cowboy and bad cowboy

It's all in good fun. After a soul-rejuvenating first night spent with our friends Matt and Troy in San Antonio, we found ourselves winding through the Texas hill country in search of wineries, sugar, and antiques (those can be placed into varying orders of importance). But as we carved our way through the rock cliffs and enjoyed the gentle breeze of high powered air conditioning, we both began to fully realize how important this trip really is in our lives and our life together. This is the true beginning of everything for us, and what better way to start than to explore how others are living their lives. While we may not always find beauty in everything that others do, we can always learn from everything around us. So again...here we are in Odessa, TX...the roots of David's life and the original foundation of his reality. We've explored this town for the last day and a half and while not everything is how David remembers it to be; we have come to the realization that we carry the pieces of who we are with honor, even when we don't always see the good where we used to.
This trip has helped to speed along my cultural adjustment to a new area of the United States by simply throwing me around like a rag doll into areas with traditions that I don't understand and I am thrilled. Everything David has shown me, told me about, and experienced with me has helped to broaden my view of the world and our connection with each other has reached a new profundity.

Thank you Missy and Shauna for a wonderful evening...tomorrow we move forward!

Loaded up and Ready to Go

These two cute big fellas are geared up for the road trip. We have the 'stang serviced and cleaned; emergency supplies ready and tomorrow, it's hello Mr. Highway!

Our Itinerary

We will be publishing our thoughts, photos and such along the way of our trip. However, I thought you all would like to see our planned itinerary.

If we will be in a city near you, give us a shout! Part of this trip is about making connections.

And without further ado, the itinerary.

Friday, August 7th -- San Antonio, TX. Spending the evening with dear friends.

Saturday, August 8th -- McAllen, TX. Seeing a friend down there working on a movie! Ooooh Fancy!

Sunday, August 9th -- Odessa, TX. Taco Villa!!! Oh. and I think my family's there.

Monday, August 10th -- Roswell, NM. Oooooh Alien cheesiness.

Tuesday and Wednesday, August 11th - 12th -- Santa Fe, NM. One of my favorite towns! Lots of natural beauty, green chile and silver and turquoise. Awwwwright.

Thursday, August 13th -- Salt Lake City, UT. Should we make out in the square? Should we not? Hmmmm the decisions to be made on this trip.

Friday, August 14th--A glorious night in Yellowstone National Park. My first time!

Saturday, August 15th--Billings, MT? Yeah, we needed a place to sleep, so here we are.

Sunday, August 16th--Devil's Tower, WY!! Alien landing Alien landing Alien landing *crosses fingers* Then on to Mt. Rushmore and a night in Rapid City, SD.

Monday, August 17th -- Up to Crosby, ND to see our favorite manic pixie dream girl and her man. And my first outhouse viewing!

Tuesday, August 18th-- Moving on down to Minneapolis, MN for the night.

Wednesday, August 19th-- Stevens Point, WI baby!! My big gay drunk baby's gotta get to Guu's!

Thursday and Friday, August 20th - 21st -- Madison, WI! All of our family, born or chosen. I can't wait to see these folks!

Saturday, August 22nd -- Spending the night in Kansas City, MO! The Aladdin downtown. Awesome hotel!

Sunday, August 23rd -- Back to Casa de Quam y Leslie for some rest before starting school.

Taking off on a new adventure

Hi, all. David and Jonathon here. We are about two days out from the beginning of our big adventure. David's career at Southwest airlines is five days in the past and we are making preparations for our road trip.

Ok, this is David speaking now. Lots to do. Car repairs. Things to buy. Bills to pay. But I am uncharacteristically calm. The thought of driving cross country with someone I love is a dream that I never really thought I'd realize.

There are so many things I think we each hope to get out of this trip. We will be seeing friends and family along the way. I am hoping to do a lot of writing about the sites, adventures and naturally the good food found along the way. Jonathon wants to do some filming for future projects.

Actually this adventure started a few months ago when Jonathon and I decided to come together and start building our life. We started the process for him to enter the graduate program at UNT and move down to Dallas, and then I received an e-mail that would change our lives. My employer offered a buy-out to its employees. As more information was made available, Jonathon and I determined that this would be a chance of a lifetime. Certainly risky, but a chance to move beyond the grey cube that had come to define my life and make some dreams come true.

Jonathon and I decided together that I would leave my job; go back to school; and try to find a career that we could make a living at and find some fulfillment in.

So here we are. Heading out on the first leg of the great adventure. I am for the first time in my life, taking big chances. But I have faith that the changes that come from this will be positive.