Time almost Interviewed Hunter S. Thompson. (P. 1)

I last visited my home in LA & Denver 20 years ago. In less than a year from that visit, 9/11 happened, changing worldwide travel forever. In my bag is Hunter S. Thompson's, The Rum Diary, and I knew where he lived, Aspen, and knew where he drank, The Woody Creek Tavern. My best friend lived only an hour away from Aspen in Coal Creek Canyon. Rather than tell my then-wife about my intentions to interview the legend, I decided to keep it to myself, you know, “best-laid plans” and all that. Aside from seeing my children and family, interviewing Thompson is my central concern.

This Before cell phones, I had my digital camera and a tape recorder to aid in a spontaneous interview. I decided not to ring his literary agent or publisher, but to merely show-up at the Woody Creek Tavern late, and hope for the best. Thinking I had a grasp on Thompson's personality, his unpredictable behavior, I believed showing up and from Australia, might prove to be a positive outcome.

This trip was an eye-opener for many reasons. My last visit to the US was in the summer of 1996. We traveled this time to recover my father's car in Las Vegas because he had mysteriously died in April, and putting his affairs in the order needed to be done. After recovering my father's car in Vegas, our plan was to take the car across the States to Erie, Pennsylvania, where he lived before he passed. This didn't turn out the way we planned. Father's car, a 90's Oldsmobile, turned out to be a piece of junk and flying across the country didn't meet our budget. But that's another story.

International travel has never been the main concern. Since a child, our family traveled where the work was, and remaining in one place, only finally happened once our family put roots-down in Denver. My life after that, personally, always included flying on airplanes, trains, and automobiles. This last trip from Australia to the US was different. Landing in airports, we seemed to be targeted by border patrol at every port. We were taken aside, questioned, and our bags thoroughly searched. From all appearances, I found it interesting that we were a small family of three, father, wife, and a 9-year-old child. On face value, one wouldn't expect an innocent, small family to be targeted in such a focused manner. I felt like we had traveled back in time, crossing the border between East Berlin and West Berlin. The Zeitgeist knew the coming changes on the planet and experienced some kind of unconscious dress rehearsal.

When we finally arrived in LA, the sheer energy of the place felt to be overwhelming. Over the last four years, my life up to then was sheltered and contained. Living in the Dandenong Hills in a wonderful house, and teaching in a small school. Life in a bubble in a small protected existence, each day plodding one after the other. Now I was home, and the rules have changed. Feeling this familiar vibe of positive/negative energy, and a foreign chaotic frequency, confused my mind.

Yes, I felt I was home, but has it changed so much?