Woke up this morning and heard Waco, TX calling our names. Why you ask? I have no idea. Maybe because we all have a little bit of curiosity about mass murders and religious fanatics. Koolaide anyone?
So, we cruised to Waco looking for the site of the Waco Davidian Standoff where in 1993 David Koresh (real name Vernon Howell, no wonder he changed it) and the FBI & BATF had their 51 day "disagreement" about whether or not the Davidian's should stand down. As a young adult (key word young, no matter what Jennifer says) I remember seeing this on television and thinking, "what a shame." Today I thought, "Holy Shit someone opened a can of crazy and it spilled into the ground and has affected the water (and they are still drinking it)."
We found the site with the help of the GPS coordinates. Apparently Waco, TX isn't really looking to brag about said standoff. We passed it, then drove back to ask for help and there it was. Two guys from Florida were there looking at the memorial, set up by the Branch Davidian's themselves (as evidenced by the obvious slant in the history, embedded on memorial stones). According to the memorial, the FBI rushed in and opened fire and burned the place down. Them poor Davidians were innocent victims of our government and it's evil ways.
A couple on a Harley rode up and said you could go all the way back to the site and see the bunkers so naturally the Florida duo and the two of us thought we should mosey back there and check it out. Florida dudes went first and were standing inside the church listening to what I thought was information about the event. What it turned out to be was a half hour sermon from a current resident of the compound, who I like to call CC (for Can of Crazy). Color me paranoid but I swear to my tequila bottle that CC stopped paying attention to everyone else in the room and started really just staring at me while he continued to inform us about the ENTIRE history of the church. I should mention CC had a few teeth missing and was kind of a bit scary. I noted Jen slinking toward the door after about five minutes, leaving Florido duo and myself with CC the starer while I nodded my head and smiled. Over and over.
When we finally got to the oversized photo on the wall of Koresh, who took over the church (sect, cult, whatever) from it's former leader, a Lois Roden (who was in her late 70's at the time of their acquaintance) I had to interrupt. CC had just told us that Koresh thought having sex with Roden would produce a "chosen one" who would rule the church. I looked at CC and then pointed to the photo of Koresh, then pointed to the photo of Roden then asked, "Um, so she's OLD, right?" CC said, "Yes, she was really old." To which I asked, "So, they um, you know, tried to make a.....baby....?" CC kind of ignored my question.
After we heard the spiel on Koresh I interrupted again. "So, Koresh is a bad guy, right?" CC said Koresh sinned to be an example, to show us what we shouldn't do. Hmm. Ok. So is sin good or bad? I can't tell. I'm just going to keep talking to that tequila bottle until I can email the lead guy there and ask again. Seems safer.
CC invited us to come back and make an appointment so we could learn more. One of the Florida duo asked if they worshipped on Wednesdays. CC told him they were following a calendar that wasn't exactly right so CC was actually going out the next day to see what time the sun came up and then what time it set so they could "realign" their calendar. He asked if any of us had an astrology background so we could help. I, at this point, am thinking if this church has been around for as long as he says then they should already have their calendar figured out. I mean, geez, how many sunrises have they had the chance to monitor? In the morning I'm going to be monitoring my intake of free breakfast. Love to help, though. Love to. Maybe in another life. I shook CC's hand since it's been a long time since I've touched crazy (other than my own) and frankly he could be on my television in a few years, leading the charge to the underground bunker and burning school buses full of puppies.
After the compound we couldn't think of anything more entertaining than the Dr. Pepper Museum. We stocked up on straws and headed on over. No free Dr. Pepper there, though. Jen did have some soda fountain Dr. Pepper (mixed right in front of us) and I had a great root beer float. Yum. Somehow crazy lingered, though, so instead of calling it a day we thought we'd round out our Waco trip with a stop at the Texas Ranger Museum (not the baseball team but the Law Enforcement Team). It was kind of like balancing the scales.
The Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum has photos of all the rangers on the walls and has an impressive amount of guns, used cowboy boots and hats, and wanted posters. You won't find this surprising based on what I've already shared with you about my thoughts on money (having it is good, not is bad) but we just went to the gift shop. Which, coincidentally was in the back of the museum. So, we walked through the museum and tried to keep our eyes closed, lest we view for free, but it was hard to see where we were going. So we peeked a little and I may have taken one photo.
On the way home we stopped at a roadside garden statue store in order to have a photo op with a giant chicken. It's an inside joke. Trust me, you are all too mature for that.
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On a serious note, my heart goes out to all law enforcement personnel who were involved in the Waco Branch Davidian incident. The Davidian we spoke with is actively recruiting for the church and says more followers will move to the compound when they are believers. I hope and pray the tragedy of 1993 does not reoccur. However, if it does, please kick some crazy ass.
So, we cruised to Waco looking for the site of the Waco Davidian Standoff where in 1993 David Koresh (real name Vernon Howell, no wonder he changed it) and the FBI & BATF had their 51 day "disagreement" about whether or not the Davidian's should stand down. As a young adult (key word young, no matter what Jennifer says) I remember seeing this on television and thinking, "what a shame." Today I thought, "Holy Shit someone opened a can of crazy and it spilled into the ground and has affected the water (and they are still drinking it)."
We found the site with the help of the GPS coordinates. Apparently Waco, TX isn't really looking to brag about said standoff. We passed it, then drove back to ask for help and there it was. Two guys from Florida were there looking at the memorial, set up by the Branch Davidian's themselves (as evidenced by the obvious slant in the history, embedded on memorial stones). According to the memorial, the FBI rushed in and opened fire and burned the place down. Them poor Davidians were innocent victims of our government and it's evil ways. A couple on a Harley rode up and said you could go all the way back to the site and see the bunkers so naturally the Florida duo and the two of us thought we should mosey back there and check it out. Florida dudes went first and were standing inside the church listening to what I thought was information about the event. What it turned out to be was a half hour sermon from a current resident of the compound, who I like to call CC (for Can of Crazy). Color me paranoid but I swear to my tequila bottle that CC stopped paying attention to everyone else in the room and started really just staring at me while he continued to inform us about the ENTIRE history of the church. I should mention CC had a few teeth missing and was kind of a bit scary. I noted Jen slinking toward the door after about five minutes, leaving Florido duo and myself with CC the starer while I nodded my head and smiled. Over and over.
When we finally got to the oversized photo on the wall of Koresh, who took over the church (sect, cult, whatever) from it's former leader, a Lois Roden (who was in her late 70's at the time of their acquaintance) I had to interrupt. CC had just told us that Koresh thought having sex with Roden would produce a "chosen one" who would rule the church. I looked at CC and then pointed to the photo of Koresh, then pointed to the photo of Roden then asked, "Um, so she's OLD, right?" CC said, "Yes, she was really old." To which I asked, "So, they um, you know, tried to make a.....baby....?" CC kind of ignored my question.
After we heard the spiel on Koresh I interrupted again. "So, Koresh is a bad guy, right?" CC said Koresh sinned to be an example, to show us what we shouldn't do. Hmm. Ok. So is sin good or bad? I can't tell. I'm just going to keep talking to that tequila bottle until I can email the lead guy there and ask again. Seems safer.
CC invited us to come back and make an appointment so we could learn more. One of the Florida duo asked if they worshipped on Wednesdays. CC told him they were following a calendar that wasn't exactly right so CC was actually going out the next day to see what time the sun came up and then what time it set so they could "realign" their calendar. He asked if any of us had an astrology background so we could help. I, at this point, am thinking if this church has been around for as long as he says then they should already have their calendar figured out. I mean, geez, how many sunrises have they had the chance to monitor? In the morning I'm going to be monitoring my intake of free breakfast. Love to help, though. Love to. Maybe in another life. I shook CC's hand since it's been a long time since I've touched crazy (other than my own) and frankly he could be on my television in a few years, leading the charge to the underground bunker and burning school buses full of puppies.
After the compound we couldn't think of anything more entertaining than the Dr. Pepper Museum. We stocked up on straws and headed on over. No free Dr. Pepper there, though. Jen did have some soda fountain Dr. Pepper (mixed right in front of us) and I had a great root beer float. Yum. Somehow crazy lingered, though, so instead of calling it a day we thought we'd round out our Waco trip with a stop at the Texas Ranger Museum (not the baseball team but the Law Enforcement Team). It was kind of like balancing the scales.
 |
| If you go to the museum, watch out for the horses. |
On the way home we stopped at a roadside garden statue store in order to have a photo op with a giant chicken. It's an inside joke. Trust me, you are all too mature for that.
 |
| "...just the two of us, we can make it if we try...just the two of us, you and I" |
On a serious note, my heart goes out to all law enforcement personnel who were involved in the Waco Branch Davidian incident. The Davidian we spoke with is actively recruiting for the church and says more followers will move to the compound when they are believers. I hope and pray the tragedy of 1993 does not reoccur. However, if it does, please kick some crazy ass.
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