I maxed out all my three credit cards just to buy the camera but now we had it! Plus I had a book called something like Discover Indian America. We were ready to hit the road. I was ready for adventure and to make a movie on my terms. Arnold wanted to stop wiping kids' butts at his daycare job and needed adventure too before he moved to Oregon.
I packed a production office on wheels - one bag of Hollywood names and addresses and information on the country we would be traversing - our own. Another bag had film location officenumbers, production books from some of those states, some promotional material about this "documentary" we would be filming (and I even listed it in the Hollywood Reporter as being in production. I packed a dog leash, dog toys, dog cookies and a cool portable dog dish I saw in a trucker's magazine. Arnold and I squeezed in a few bags for clothes, a sleeping bag, tent and two pillows. All inside my purple Neon!
I didn't pack my questions and doubts but they hitchiked along. What if no one talks to us? (only two tribes declined interviews) What if we ran out of money (we did a few times) What if no one feeds or shelters us? (We gained weight so you know the answer there). What if I'm just making an over expensive home video? (you decide when you watch the clips you like and skip the rest!)
What if we stop worrying and just go? That's what we did. Arnold was scared because he had never done anything like this before. He was also unsure about camping since he had only done it once and he remembered it as uncomfortable. Yet, he was willing to try and get used to being far from his Minnesota home.
At 10 in the eveing we pulled out of my driveway and said goodbye to my neighbor who would be taking care of my cat ( I shed tears as I said goodbye to the cat).
I drove out of LA and into the dark mysterious desert towards the next fantasy land of Las Vegas. Since it was night, it was cool and it even rained. Did I mention my car lacked air conditioning? Too expensive to pay for that in my monthly installments!
Arnold drove the last few hours of our midnight desert trek. We arrived at 3 in the morning into downtown Vegas. It looked like a disaster movie. A flash flood had arrived right before us and threw cars all around the city streets yet we made it to dry land at my Aunt Kay's house. Her dog, Dulce greeted Mandolina with his usual dry hump. You're both spayed, get over it!
Arnold and I fell right to sleep in her guest bedroom. No camping yet!
The next day Aunt Kay was nice enough to throw a party for us! It was a kinda charity thing where people could put money in a jar for us to wish us well. I loved seeing her friends since I had met them a few times before.
Arnold helped prepare the fruit tortillas but I was busy faxing and calling for our next stop - Farmington, New Mexico. I called the radio stations and newspapers to announce my talk on "Starting out in Hollywood." I figured we could make some cash from donations and spread the knowledge of what I learned the past year in LA - like avoding scams. I had just spent hundreds on UCLA Extension classes, why not pass it along for free and even meet people to interveiw - if they seemed interesting.
I did my first talk that night at Aunt Kay's. Some said I should go into stand up - my life, the comedy! We also did our first interviews. One girl said her mother wanted her to be an actress since she was very pretty. She said she wanted to be a vet. I told her to go for her real dreams (and probably easier to be a vet). The other young woman really was interested in acting and had already started making connections and taking classes. I admired her attitude and professionalism.
We ended the night by helping Aunt Kay in the kitchen. We planned to wake up early and drive in the dark through the desert. She said we'd never do it - she was right. We woke up late and were terrified to drive in the heat of the day but it was cloudy so we didn't burn up. The sand, that's another story.
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