Rapture

Wow... this is going to be a long read... I hope you're sitting comfortably. If so, then I'll begin.

I just woke up about an hour ago after getting some MUCH needed sleep. It's just now 4 a.m. on Sunday. I've been asleep for about 8 hours so I think I'm lucid enough to tell the tale.

Friday Daytime

Friday, after work, Sadao, Brian and I all were to go to Miami for Euphoria Project's Rapture event at the 66 Nightclub. Given the party was to start at 8 pm and it's a long drive, I planned to leave work early so we could get there when the party started. That morning, I couldn't find my badge or the Radixx phone. So I left for work without them, knowing I'd have to come back and find the phone and get it to Darrell at some point (he agreed to swap on-call weekends with me so I could go to the party). I left work at 4 so I could get home and hopefully find the phone and get to him and we could get on the road ASAP. I got home and tore the place apart but could not find either the phone or my badge. Sadao had had a rough night and was ready to get out of Orlando immediately so I figured I was probably just going to end up missing the party since I couldn't leave Radixx in that situation. I needed a cigarette. The box I had was empty and I knew I had another in my bag. I opened my bag and what did I find? Both the phone AND the badge were in there all the time. I even had them at work with me! ARGH!

Friday Evening

Brian ended up staying at home. That's a LONG story filled with drama of ridiculous proportions that I won't get into. Suffice to say, it was just the Crazy Twins that ended up going to the event. Sadao and I took off and went to drop off the phone. We ended up finally getting on the turn pike at around 7. We made pretty good time and made it to the club at about 10:30. The party was scheduled to run from 8 p.m. tpo 10 a.m and was just getting started, so we hadn't missed much.

As we walked around, we started meeting some of the folks there and started checking out the stages. We never DID find the DnB stage, which is a bummer because I really wanted to see Danny Bled. Steven gave me a CD of Danny's a long time ago and I was looking forward to hearing him spin. We ended up spending most of the night up on the roof in the House/Electro/Breaks area. Rabbit and Mad Hatter, Skylab 2000, DJ London, and plenty of others that were just tearing it up on the roof! While we were up there, we met some of the most wonderful people! Angel, who did body/face painting and photography took our picture for the website (hoping to get a copy because it was adorable). Ellie and Kris ran the hookah lounge where we hung out quite a bit... it became our "Safe Zone."

While we there, we saw Monk and Bunny spin in the main room. We also caught the last bit of Divine and emilyPLAY... man that girl can sing! But the highlight of the night was Bunny. Sadao was still somewhat wrapped up in the drama he had experience the night before and Bunny's set just made it all disappear. I took a picture of Sadao during the set which says it all... the look on his face was priceless. I gave the creator (and Bunny) a big thank you for that. The rest of the night was magical. :)

Saturday Morning

After seeing Bunny spin, we were both ready to just chill and hang out with the new friends we had made. So, back up to the roof we went and hung out at the hookah lounge. As the night wore on into the morning, there were a couple of times that they tried to shut down the event... but the place was filled with rebels that kept the part going until 8 a.m. when it was finally shut down about 2 hours earlier than expected.

We stayed a little longer and helped Kris, Ellie and their friends clean up their area and pack their car. As a thank you, they gave us a hookah! Sadao and I were completely stunned and so thankful to them! We hugged and cried and said our goodbyes. Now, at this point, I need to mention that we parked in a secure area across from club Area 51... which is quite a hike from the club we were at. They had shuttles going back and forth from the parking area to the event. Since the party was shut down early and since we had stayed to help clean up, we missed the last shuttle. So, I racked my mangled brain (by this point) to remember the address and we started walking. After doing a big circle, we eventually found the car. Yay! Sadao had driven his van to the event. On the way home, we stopped to put fluids in the van and started the long journey back to Orlando.

Saturday Afternoon

Mile Marker 223 Northbound on the Florida Turnpike. Sadao and I must go back there at some point and have a picture taken of us flipping off that marker. For it was there that the van stopped. We were just 22 miles away from Kissimmee/St. Cloud, 35 miles from Orlando when his car started smoking. We pulled over and what I thought was antifreeze at first, suddenly gave way to the smell of burning oil. Oh boy. I called my dad and he warned me that there might be damage to the engine. We hoped for the best and began walking north. The next service area was only 6 miles away (we thought it was closer but come to find out it wasn't). I was filled with a sense of peace and calm during all of this. I had never experienced something like this. A few years ago, I probably would have been very frightened, upset and angry at all of it. But instead, I kept my wits about me and we started walking. About 3 miles down the way, we were picked up by the State Farm Safety Patrol. He took us the rest of the way to the service area where we got a tow to Serrone's Auto Repair. While we waited for them to diagnose the problem, Sadao and I went to the Rodeo Diner just across the street and put some much needed food in our bellies. Tired, stinky, worried, we ate and kept each others' spirits up. After eating, we went back to hear the report. It wasn't good. It had apparently run so long in an overheated condition that it completely warped the valves and head gasket. The damage? About $1200 to repair.

God Bless Sadao's heart. He was upset but he took it in stride and stayed focused. He called his dad to tell him what had happened. They eventually decided that given the age of the vehicle and the damage, it was better to sell the van to the auto repair shop and look for a new vehicle when he can, later. I called Heather (since she lives 10 minutes away from where we were) and she agreed to give us a lift home.

Saturday Evening

Exhausted, broken and ready to call it a night, we made one last stop to end the evening on a peaceful note. We went to a little smoke shop on University and picked up what we needed to use the hookah. It wasn't long before we had it all figured out and were enjoying some Strawberry flavored tobacco and watching TV as we let the recent events pass by into memory. Then I went to bed.

All in all, I must say that this was a cathartic experience. Sadao and I talked quite a bit and had a wonderful adventure together. I will never forget this weekend. The experience has left me more focused and determined to carve out a better life for myself and those that important to me... those willing to walk the journey with me.

New challenges await. New adventures await. Now it's time to get them started.

Peace,
Jenna