Finding a film location at the wild west hotel

Ray and I were at some hotel with a vaguely wild-west theme to it. Ray's erstwhile girlfriend Britt was there for a little while too, with us at the hotel's swimming pool, but headed out after a bit.

A woman working for some movie production company was with us then, and we were apparently at the hotel to help with preparation for filming. She had been asked to find three adjacent unoccupied rooms and break the side walls between them to make it easier to film there. Ray and I went searching through every room at the hotel (there were about three floors with maybe eight rooms per floor). While we did find empty rooms here and there, we also ended up barging into many occupied rooms. One room I recall opening the door and seeing someone asleep in bed and closed the door before they woke up.

In any case, there was nowhere in the hotel that had three adjacent unoccupied rooms. The woman from the film company decided to settle on reserving three separate rooms.

Ray and I went back down to the bottom level and out to some small tables by the street. As it turned out, Ray had two girlfriends at this time, Britt (seen previously), and a girl who showed up now to sit with us. She was a petite, thin redhead named Katey. She mentioned to me casually, but quite earnestly, that nothing could ever happen to make her dislike Ray.

Fancy tech elevators, hopping into the yard, swimming with a drift

I guess I was going through some kind of multi-part technology demonstration. At the beginning of each part there was a sort of spiral elevator thing - a small circular spinning compartment with a green ceiling and grated floor, slowly descending while spinning, along a vertical spiral track. I nimbly hopped out of one of the elevators while it was still moving and ended up outside at dusk, in the side yard of a house. I had to hop over some large trash cans and wade through some holly bushes to get out into the open, where the people who had taken the elevator were coming out the front door of the house and down the porch stairs.

The last elevator, in which we noticed all the writing was in Korean, led to a large swimming pool. We went in (apparently here I was with my dad and Neil and possibly Greg). I decided to practice my overwater swimming technique. I usually have a hard time hitting a groove and breathing correctly, but this time I was doing great, except I couldn't see in front of me because of turning my head side to side, so I ended up drifting left.

Ringo's cooking show; retrieving my guns

Ringo & pregnant wife, cooking show, chopping melons which are floating on the water in a swimming pool. Scottish guy or Mr. Scott or something, talking about how he survived falling into the steep shallow river on the mountain but his two brothers had not survived (on some other occasion, I guess).

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Leaving the studio and going on a shooting/robbing spree on the back paths of wherever. Threw away guns a little off the path when I ran out of ammo. Heard people were starting to look for the guns so I snuck out into the woods and retrieved them (found some guns that weren't even mine). At some point, hiding in a boxy enclosure walled by screening with a low ceiling, near the path, may have been spotted by a passing woman. Etc.

A meeting with adventurers, a frolic in the front yard, a throbbing ear

Something like Lord of the Rings atmosphere. I've come to a lodge or meeting ground some miles from the foot of a lesser mountain. I have a story to tell to the people meeting there, which is very relevant to their lives. I wander into their sitting circle (on the floor). A certain Avent (young fellow) is answering a question about his name (whether it is a family name, if it has to do with his adventurous disposition). His answer seems affirmative. Then, it is his turn to ask something of another person in the circle. It goes on in this fashion. I grow restless, stand up (I was sitting to the right of Avent) and go outside.

At this point the storyline starts to break up. The yard outside the lodge turns out to be our front yard at home. I am so ecstatic to see it that I dive and tumble partway down the hill and start rolling around merrily. The front way of the lodge and to the lodge's left (upstreet) are lines of conifers. But as I look longer, it becomes our street and the houses across and on Wainscott.

I've moved out to the street and am looking (from upstreet) back at the house. It is notably different from our real house. I remarked to myself how nice it would look if the palm trees were accompanied by small standing pools of water. Then I remember we have a swimming pool (we have always had swimming pools at our house). It is near the street at the bottom of our hill. I go in for a minute, then come back out. During the time outside I've given some thought as to how much longer till summer (it seems to be March or early April).

I come back inside and look in the mirror. My hair is wet but interestingly sleek. The middle looks combed up while the sides fall down onto my forehead and in front of my ears. Mom notes that I look handsome. She goes on to ask me about the difference between the beginning of the Fellowship of the Ring and the forest part. (credibility?)

I tell her to hold on. My right ear is absolutely throbbing. I go to the mirror and try to get the water out of it (from the pool) but it doesn't seem to be working. I can see the skin under my ear throbbing and I can hear the thumps of it.

(I woke up to find myself in an odd position, probably the cause of the sound (my heartbeat) -- my right arm was asleep.)

Swim practice, desert rescue practice

Swim practice! First test - arm paddling across the pool (like Edgewood pool in Lake Ridge - other people swimming there too) while instructor lady on my back does the foot paddling. Passed with flying colors, "O" in the scorebook.

Second test - I'm not much at a pool anymore. A different instructor gives me directions to the tune of All We Have Is Now by The Flaming Lips (I make a side comment "I don't know if I'm gonna make it..." - like the song lyrics - which gets a smile) - told me to take off my overshirt - under that I'm wearing a plain white dress shirt - and a gold watch.

Anyway, I'm supposed to act like I'm in the desert and I run across someone (Min) and I'm supposed to check if he's okay. I check his pulse (it's racing) but anyway, he's talking so I go "You're breathing, you're alright," and I sit him upright. Then I'm supposed to carry him over my shoulder to the other end of the room... it's a struggle but I manage. So I'm pretty sure I aced that test too.