Cleveland

I was looking at Nate and Leanna's blog this morning and re-read the post on their trip to Cleveland. I must admit, CLEVELAND NEVER LOOKED SO GOOD!

It reminded me of a trip that I took to Cleveland in 1980.

That summer I was working in South Carolina, selling books door-to-door (tough job, hot-hot weather, but I made some decent money). Anyway, in mid-August I took a week off, taking a Greyhound bus to Cleveland. I was meeting the Knights (mission friends from Idaho); they were traveling via RV to the Hill Cumorah pagent in western New York and then on to New York City, DC, etc. We had plans to meet in Cleveland--at the bus station. Not sure why we decided to meet in Cleveland; at the time it didn't have a very good reputation; I guess it was on their route.

I took the long and somewhat seedy bus ride from South Carolina to Cleveland. When I got there I walked a few blocks to the YMCA to take a shower. (With any amount of luck, that part of the city has been bulldozed by now...not very nice.) When I got back from my shower I still had a few hours to kill before the Knights were supposed to arrive. I decided to sit down against a wall and take a nap. I did--in a nice quiet corner.

About 15 minutes into my nap, a young man (black, teenager) kicked one of my shoes and said, "hey mister, try to stay awake. It's not safe to sleep here; people will steal your stuff--THIS IS CLEVELAND") So that was my welcoming to Cleveland--by a local!

Sorry, Nate--got to keep you humble!