Day 12: Ending Scene

Have you ever heard a wolf cry to a blue corn moon. None of us on this trip have, but we still had an incredible time.

36 hours ago we were surfing in Santa Cruz. Now were all home either in Oregon or Washington. It has been a wild ride and I cannot believe it is over. It was a week and a half, but it flew by like Aladin on his magic carpet.

We left Santa Cruz yesterday after surfing, grabbing some Pleasure Pizza, and cleaning up the incredible cabin that we stayed. We drove over highway 17 to Redwood City where we showered and cleaned up. We packed the car and made some quesedillas, but didn't hit the road until nine thirty or so. we drove through the night only to arrive in Salem at seven in the morning. Most of us were able to sleep in the car. Somehow I managed to stay awake for 9 of the 10 hours. It was a quick drive and when we reached Jake's house we crashed until noon. His lovely parents made us chocolate chip pancakes(which were delicious if anyone wanted to know). We left Jake in Salem and headed out around 1:30 or 2, I cant really remember because time seems to run together now. We dropped of Caleb with Nick at a gas station in Portland and we headed for Charlie's house. We got to Charlie's house at about 6 and Brennon dropped us off.

It is Ben Piehler's birthday today and so we hopped back into a car and headed for dinner, followed by ice cream. We played a little Bang (don't know what that game is? Look it up) I never won once but I am satisfied with the joy of playing the game (you have to say that when you loose anything or else your a sore loser). Every one is still healthy, but maybe a little or a lot tired. God has blessed all of us with this trip and blessed us on the trip. Everything ran very smooth and the worst thing that happened was the Cd's skipped. Not to shabby if I do say so myself.

Stay classy my friends,

Sam

Day 11: Shoutout

So, we're on our way home. Every single on of us, by plane or automobile, starts our long trip up to Seattle today. It's been fantastic. Words can't describe -- so they won't...for now. But we can do this: thank people. SO MANY people helped on this trip. It's unbelievable. We're literally going to come up with this on the fly, so there could be hundreds of people -- who knows!?

So first, we'd like to thank the Van Ness' and Knott's for the cars from Seattle to Salem. We couldn't have done it without them. Those cars were so crucial, and it was so great to have them.

Nick Derrah's family so graciously allowed us in there home on our first night, which was so fantastic. Nick's parents and sister were all so great to us, providing us with a fantastic barbeque meal which was so perfect for our opening day AND a place to sleep (a king size matress and two couches! So great!). That was so amazing. Their house is so beautiful -- if you ever get a chance to go there you should check it out. The huge big screen TV for watching March Madness didn't hurt us, either. We won't forget Nighthawk Drive.

Next up we went to Salem and stayed with the gracious Howell family. Mr. and Mrs. Howell were so welcoming and hosted us for one night (well, at least Charlie and I slept there) and it was great to have Jake's sister, Olivia, there! Seeing Jake's friends again was so great too -- thanks for showing us around Salem! Mrs. Howell made my personal favorite meal of the trip -- an unbelievable plate of enchiladas and her specialty, which according to Jake is rarely made, her peanut butter pie. Won't forget that meal for a while. Most of all though, we'd like to thank them for trusting us with their car all the way down to SoCal. We know how big of a decision it was and we can't thank them enough. It made the whole thing possible!

Also that night, Sam burned the now-famous "Kath's mix". Kath, your one of our loyal followers and we are so grateful for your CD, prayers and dedication to our trip. Thanks so much!

At that point we split up, and me and Charlie would stay at the home of two more loyal followers -- Meegan and Allie Closner. The whole Closner clan opened up there home in beautiful Estacada for us, and that was so awesome. We have to thank them for showing us around town and letting us sleep on their comfortable L couch. We made dinner and breakfast together, too, and that was awesome. We'd like to thank them for praying for us and following what we're doing. It means a lot.

We have a lot of people to thank in Redwood City. First off is the Smith's and Sandquist's for letting us sleep in their home for THREE NIGHTS! Wow, that was amazing! We all loved Redwood City, and these people made it possible for us to enjoy it. Also, the Sandquist's are so great for letting us use their car all the way down to SoCal. That was a trip-saver, too. Literally, without these cars we would be toast. We are so so so in debt to all these car owners. Redwood City was the home to Sam's great friends Kate, Esther and Hannah and his sister, Hannah. These girls all were so fun to hang out with and even treated some of us to Chevy's and pretended it was Jake's birthday. We got a free sombrero! Also, they snuck in a couple CD mixes in our car. They were great! We owe them a lot and the best we, and all you can do is pray for them as some of them are in Mexico on a mission trip right now. We wish them luck and for them to have a fantastic trip. We'll miss them a lot. Oh, and don't forget John Miclean -- the Mario Kart master who played Wii and basketball with us. How cool is that!?

Sam's friend Graham deserves his own blog post, but I'll try to give him his due here. From what I heard, all Graham did while Charlie and I were in Oregon is take the troops to San Francisco, host a dance party at his house, make a bonfire and do so much other things for them. The kid is a stud. If there ever were to be an honorary member on the trip it's definitely him. Since I got to California, he made us a couple mixes, and then just recently did SO MUCH for us in Santa Cruz. He brought food and other supplies for us, made it possible to take all the surfboards to the beach, and helped us clean and cook everything. This guy is so amazing. I don't know how else to explain it. We had such a fantastic time with him and we'll all be friends with him for a long time, we hope.

Anyways, after Redwood City we headed down to Orange County. We have many to thank there. First off, the Comptons and Handsels (and Endresons). We arrived at Patrick's house and his parents had dinner ready for us. Wow! They were awesome! I loved the Compton's house and it was super fun to stay there. Breegan met us there and we have to thank her for hanging with us. That was great! Kaelyn was with us for those two days and she helped us during that part so much with directions, food and lots of other stuff. She showed us around Brea (with our friend and hers, Caitlin Stark, who we thank for hanging out with us as well) and then her aunt and uncle hosted us. That was so great. We had beds and couches galore and then a great breakfast of baked oatmeal. Compared to the muffins, bagels and apples we were having, we loved that.

Also in Orange County, we loved hanging out with the sophomore group (+ Thomas) that was there at their campsite. That was one of our favorite parts. They made a bonfire on Monday night and we all hung out at Laguna Beach on Tuesday. That was so great and we definitely bonded with our friends there. This time in Orange County really took the trip up another notch.

We went to San Diego the next day and met up with Sam's friend, Drew, at SDSU. Drew and his friends were so inviting into his home and we loved it. We went to the beach with him, they bought us dinner at their dining hall, and he let us stay in their house. That was so great and we really appreciate his sacrifice for us. We won't forget it.

We'd like to thank Natalie Closner a lot for the time we spent with her -- we made lunch and it was so great! She showed us BJ Novak which was kind of a plus, and we met her friend Rob, who definitely gave us a laugh. She also gave us a mix of her and her friends which was so awesome! That short 2-hour trip to Hollywood was really a great stop.

Sam's friends Micha and Ruth and all their friends were great in Santa Barbara. They took us to the beach and provided a place for a couple hours just to chill. That was very needed. It was great to meet them, and they gave us a mix, too. They will be remembered. Oh, we'd like to thank the Santa Barbara In-N-Out for dealing with us and our CD/boombox battle. We're glad they were understanding.

Then, there are the Anderson's. The fact that they let us into that mansion of a cabin in Santa Cruz was just unreal. It was definitely one of the coolest parts of the trip -- living in the cabin. The fact that they let us use their surfboards too was so awesome and we definitely will make it up to them so perhaps we could go back sometime.

Finally, though, we can't thank God enough. The beauty of His earth was so evident and we commented on it so much. He gave us this world to enjoy it and we did that to the fullest. It was pretty unbelievable. He blessed us with safety and that was so amazing. The trip was basically flawless. You don't get that very often. We just know that His hand was over us and it's so great. Overall, just the fact that He brought us to this trip was super. He blessed us with the ability to drive, with the money to cover it, with great places to stay and eat and with amazing friends to do it with. Without Him, it wouldn't be possible.

And without you all, it wouldn't, either! Most of our supporters helped us in one way or another and we are grateful beyond words. Thanks to all, we couldn't have done it without you!

Love,

Andrew, Sam, Jake, Charlie, Brennon, Nick and Caleb

Day 10: Day 9

So with all the excitement about the cabin that we came to, we forgot to talk about what happened yesterday. It all started at 7 AM when Andrew, Sam and Jake's alarms all went off at the same time. It took us 40 minutes to get out of bed, pick up our stuff and get to the car. That's how tired we were. We reunited with Nick and Caleb at Jordan's house in Mission Viejo. We bid adu to Nick for the last time. He helped make this trip what it was, and we were so blessed to have him. Nick, we miss you so so so so so much already! Brennon went to hang out with his old friend in Laguna and the rest of us (Sam, Andrew, Charlie, Jake and Caleb) made our way to Hollywood to meet with Natalie Closner, Allie and Meegans older sister.

We wish all of you could have met Natalie Closner. She is so cool, we cannot begin to explain and we have only logged two hours with her. If you are ever having a bad day, just hop down to West Hollywood and Natalie Closner will fix that. As we were all trying to take a picture with Natalie to prove that we actually did meet her, Natalie asked her friend Rob to take the picture. Rob did take the picture as well as 19 or more others. he walked around us in a circle taking pictures. He had a field day with it. Earlier that day Charlie knocked Jake's coffee out of his hand and all over the ground. Jake mentionted that to Rob and because Rob worked at Starbucks, Jake got a free coffee. AND we stood but 5 feet away from BJ Novak, one of Natalie's regular customers. It was, all in all, a great stint in Hollywood.

The five of us started our drive to Santa Barbara and within about 10 minutes, everyone but coffee-filled-driver Jake was out cold: asleep. We arrived after an hour and change in the beautiful city of Santa Barbara and Sam's friends Micha and Ruth and some of their friends met us there for some (attempted) body surfing. The waves weren't as good and we even saw sharks! Super dangerous. We headed over to Micha's house to watch March Madness and clean off. After that and an In-N-Out stop that you can read all about in Sam's post, we hit the road to Santa Cruz. We each had amazing conversation in our respective cars, and then arrived at our palace. And, obviously, you can read all about our time in Santa Cruz in the numerous blogs about it.

Love,

Sam & Van Ness

Day 10: Kath's Mix

Let me tell you this and you better listen. If you ever go anywhere and you are planning on listening to music, hit up Kath to make you a mix. She is the Queen.

Last night when we were leaving Santa Barbara for Santa Cruz, the two cars had an all out battle for Kath's Mix. To give you a brief overview of the battling sides; Brennon, Charlie, and Sam were in the Honda Accord and Jake, Caleb, and Van Ness were in the Nissan Pathfinder. The Pathfinder asked for Kath's mix, but the Honda was not having that, so they lied and said they did not have it. The Honda then asked for some more mixes that the Pathfinder had, but they held them hostage for Kath's Mix. Sam then ran to the Pathfinder and managed to grab a few CD's before Jake Got to him and pinned him in the car. They tussled into the street and Caleb ran over to help and when he got into the mix, Sam escaped and ran to the Honda.

Meanwhile Van Ness presses the eject button in the Honda, and when Kath's Mix comes out, Brennon grabs it and puts it back in when Van Ness turns his back. By guessing, Van Ness then presses the button again without Brennon seeing and so he stole the CD as well as all the other CD's in the Honda and ran away just as Sam was running back to the Honda. Just then, Jake stole Yoshi, who holds the Honda's keys. Charlie saw that the Honda lost the mix and its keys so He ran to the Pathfinder, which was unguarded and stole the boombox, which was the source of the Pathfinders music. If anything in history has been clutch, it was Charlie's boombox steal. Charlie got back into the Honda untouched and locked the doors as Sam found himself in hot pursuit to rescue Yoshi from the evil hands of the Pathfinder.

Yoshi was taken into the Pathfinder and Caleb began to drive away. At that point Sam knew that all the doors on the Pathfinder were locked, but he also knew that it was impossible to lock the trunk. Sam opens the trunk and climbs over all the luggage to grab onto Yoshi. As soon as Sam got a hold of Yoshi, Jake jumped from the front seat onto Sam to once again fight for what eventually will win Kath's Mix. As Caleb drove, Sam and Jake rolled around the backseat fighting over Yoshi. Sam tried to escape and managed to open the door as the vehicle was moving to try and roll out, but Jake had Sam in a leg lock. Eventually the car stopped and Sam was able to slip out on account that Jake was in extreme pain because of his wounds that he Acquired earlier on the trip from an EPIC longboarding crash.

Sam was able to get Yoshi back to the Honda and both cars began to realize that we needed to get on the road if we wanted to make it to Santa Cruz on time. At this point, the Honda had all the CD's, the Pathfinders boombox, Yoshi, and the will to live. The Pathfinder did have Kath's Mix but they couldn't listen to it if they wanted to. The Honda decided to split up the CD's and let the Pathfinder have Kath's Mix as well as their boombox. In not too long we were off to Santa Cruz. The music was not even an issue in either car. Both cars had such good conversation that music was irrelevant.

But Still, Kath's Mix wins hands down for "Best Mix of 2010."

Love,

Dont Worry About It

Day 10: umm

If you've ever wondered what surfing is like its like this.

Surfing is an ancient form of transportation used by ancient hawaiians. It was used to get from place to place, island to island, coast to coast, continent to continent, planet to planet.

anyways.

I recall one story of a group of Spanish sailors who were exploring the Pacific Ocean, and came a across a UFO. They were naturally shaken up. They reported this to the Queen when they returned home. The Queen and her council thought they were delirious from being at sea for too long and banished them to Saint Helena were they lived the rest of their lives with the mentally insane, war criminals and enemies of the state.

In all reality.

All they saw was an ancient hawaiian surfing from one place to another.

There banishment was nothing more than a great misunderstanding, and modern historians label the event as one of the first great "political misunderstandings" in our world history.

Unfortunately.

The ancient technique is lost and surfing is only a form of exciting entertainment, and no longer used for transportation.

So.

A new question arises. What really are the aliens of today?

(Caleb)

Day 10: Blah Blah Blah

We've got cabin for days and we ballin' it up like we're in the tourney

[Jake]

Day 10: Pre-surfing preparations...

surfboards - CHECK!

wetsuits - CHECK!

towels - CHECK!

short shorts - CHECK!

sunblock - CHECK!

mind-blowing whole foods peanut butter for breakfast - CHECK!

Kath's awesome mix - CHECK!

we're ready.

bring it on waves!!!

-Brennon

Day 9: The Peak

We started in Seattle.
We've gone to Portland.
We've gone to Salem.
We've gone to Estacada.
We've gone to Eugene.
We've gone to Redwood City.
We've gone to San Francisco.
We've gone to Newport Beach.
We've gone to Mission Viejo.
We've gone to Laguna Beach.
We've gone to Brea.
We've gone to San Diego.
We've gone to Hollywood.
We've gone to Santa Barbara.
Now our final new destination is the beautiful city of Santa Cruz. I actually wouldn't know if it was beautiful -- we got in at 1:00 AM. BUT this cabin? Amazing. Think about it. I'm laying on the top bunk of bunk beds. Jake Howell is sleeping on the bed below me. It is 2:21 AM. We are waking up at 9:00 AM to go surfing. I can hear the waves from here (between Jake's snoring). Life is fantastic right now. Even after much driving today, we're here. And where is "here"? A cabin in Santa Cruz. Sleeping situation? Brennon and Caleb: King size bed. Andrew and Jake: Bunk bed. Sam and Graham: Twins in the same room. Charlie: couch. Amazing. We've had 3+ on the floor the last few nights. SO much better. We have a TV. We have wi-fi. We have surfboards. We have food. And we have GRAHAM! We are so blessed right now! Next Spring Break = ALL in Santa Cruz.

- Andrew

Day 9: Cabin Fever

Santa Barbara, you are lucky Santa Cruz came to your rescue to save the day. There is no need to talk about SB so lets move on to Santa Cruz.

This Cabin. Unbelievable. The group still can't get over its blissfulness so we will describe its beauty in the posts to come after a good night's rest.

We are now settled in and are heading to bed. As Van Ness pointed out in his last post, surfing bright and early tomorrow morning for us (And by bright and early i mean 9:30-10ish... if we're lucky).

-So lets get straight to the point.

I have a serious case of Cabin Fever.

Pray for more symptoms,

Char

Day 9: The Cabin

Unbelievable!!!!!!!!!

[Sam]

Day 8: Through the Grapevine Part I

Friends, it has been a few days.

-Lets just get to the point.

San Diego state is our current location.

-And to another point.

Caleb Talbert and Nick Derrah, you are dearly missed.

-And another.

Mission beach, thank you for the experience

-And another..

Jake Howell, you're co-piloting skills are second to none.

-And another...

California beach water is really COLD.

You stay classy San Diego...And Seattle.

Char

Day 7: First Impressions

So, as you all know, Charlie and I have only been in California since Sunday afternoon, about 60 hours ago (Actually, I remember waking up on the train at 3 AM and turning on my phone to the GPS part. I saw that we were in the city of Mount Shasta -- finally in California! It was a great feeling, until I realized I had to reposition myself to go back to sleep without waking up Charlie. Ugh, stupid train...) It's been so fantastic, and even though Brennon is doing the same type of thing in the other room here at Kaelyn's aunt's house, I'm going to review my time in Cali so far.

I really only first felt like we were in California when we got into San Fran. Going on the bus to downtown and then finally seeing Sam, who picked us up, and the rest of the gang for the first time in a few days was so refreshing. I can't say enough about our time in Redwood City. We were going to go straight down after Charlie and I got back but we decided to stay another night. Great city, awesome community center, amazing friends (which can't be said enough) and just a fantastic experience was how I would describe Redwood City. From slacklining to swimming to basketball to getting caught on the roof at 7 AM (a story for another time -- Brennon will probably tell it), we did it all in Redwood. Then we left for SoCal. Me, Sam and Nick in the Accord and Jake, Caleb, Charlie and Brennon in the Pathfinder.

After a fantastic drive down that included an In-N-Out stop, we arrived at Newport Beach. I went on a barefoot tempo run in the sand, which felt so great. After a couple hours there we went to Patrick's house in Mission Viejo and then went to a bonfire in San Clemente. We brought Kaelyn and Breegan with us, and met up with 15 SPU sophomores and Thomas and had an amazing time where they were camping. It was just madness, so many SPU kids! That was one of, if not the coolest part of the trip, for me. We got to meet up with our great friends! After sleeping in this morning (thank goodness!) we went and met up with them again at Laguna Beach. After an amazing day filled with burying people, skimboarding and intense body surfing, we bid adu to our friends until we get back to the 206 (and Nick and Caleb, who went to Mission Viejo to stay with Jordan. We will see them Thursday when we pick up Caleb) and went with Kaelyn to her hometown of Brea. We've just been given the Brea experience with Taco Tuesday, Yogurtland, Vantage Point and even Kaelyn's high school. I actually got to run on some of her favorite trails, too! So great! Now we're going to sleep and preparing for a great breakfast by her uncle tomorrow and then the five of us -- Jake, Sam, Charlie, Brennon and myself, are going to San Diego. If the rest of this California trip is any indication, it should be fantastic.

Andrew

Day 7: Catching up with California...

We've realized that the last few days have been super hectic and crazy for us, so we thought that'd it be nice to have a review blog to catch our loyal followers (and casual readers) up on our activities. A lot has happened since Jake's in Salem but I'm just gonna talk about the last few days. The last 72 hours have been absolutely awesome! We finished up our time in Redwood City yesterday and drove down to Patrick's house in Mission Viejo, Orange County. But before I get to talking about how great the OC has been so far, let me review the excellent adventures of our stay in Redwood City (the city of Sam Sandquist). This blog entry is kind of an accompaniment to Jake's blog a couple days ago or maybe a sequel...

Last Friday, we (Jake, Nick, Caleb, Sam, myself) arrived in Redwood City from Salem, Oregon. It was a 9.5 hour drive from 2 am to 11:30. We unloaded our junk at our extremely gracious hosts house (The Sandquists/The Smiths) and soon left for what would become our favorite place, Peninsula Community Center (fondly referred to as PCC) to go swimming and get some rays. This place is indescribable! Everything you could ever want on vacation: a huge pool, sick basketball gym, hot tub, workout center/rooms, tennis courts, and a sweet little coffee-shop style lounge/lobby. This place became our second home for our stay in the Bay Area. After swimming, we came back to Sam's and had a fantastic bbq dinner with both families and some friends. We played a little ultimate frisbee with some of Sam's friends then headed to a local beach and had a bonfire. (Jake and I both called that we would have 4 bonfires on this trip...so far we've had 2...well on our way!) It was great to meet some of Sam's friends who would quickly become friends of ours. The next day was Saturday, which was a full day. We spent quite a few hours in San Francisco at the Golden Gate Bridge and Fisherman's Wharf with Sam's boss friend Graham. Lots of pictures that day. Later, we went to a block party at Sam's friends house and met one of our favorite characters of the trip so far there...and yes, this guy was a true character. He's a 72 year old, uber-friendly, ex-body-building, opera-singing spark-plug of a guy. Straight-up entertainer that one was. After that, we decided to hit up Graham's dance party. The place was cracking and we met some more awesome people (the theme of Redwood City...). The next day (Sunday), we went to Sam's church at Peninsula Covenant Church. Absolutely loved it there! Reminded me of my home church back in Kent, except somewhat bigger. I could definitely see myself being a part of that in the future and many of the other guys feel the same way. To our surprise, some of Sam's friends treated us to lunch at Chevy's Mexican Restaurant. These girls were awesome in every way! Kate, Hannah, and Esther, you girls rock our socks! We came home from lunch, and reunited/caught up with with Charlie and Van Ness (came in on the train that morning). We went to PCC to swim and play bball where Charlie decided he would switch sports and somehow miraculously own everyone at basketball. Then, later that night, we slack-lined over our pool back at the house (coldest pool in existence), and then somehow found ourselves back at PCC for some hot-tubbing. Jake, Van Ness, and I joined Kate and Esther for an early morning (5:30!) quiet time/coffee/sunrise on the roof of the community center. On the way down from the roof, we almost got busted by some bigshot guy but it all worked out. So then we said our goodbyes, packed up our gear and hit the road for the OC.

This segment of the trip wasn't too bad of a drive...only 6.5 hours plus a half hour lunch break at In-N-Out...quality choice for sure. We decided to hit up Newport Beach when we arrived right away. We met up with Kaelyn Handsel, our wonderful friend, and she came with us to Newport Beach. There really are no words in the English dictionary to describe how cold the water was that day....no lie. (See Sam's latest post for more on this adventure). But anyway, we ended up at Patrick's house in Mission Viejo to stay a night. Breegan Harper, another of our incredible friends, met us at Patrick's.

Since the sophomores were staying at a campsite 20 minutes away, we decided to head over there for a beach bonfire and some quality time with each other. That was one of the highlights of the trip so far for everyone...seeing our friends there and all being together. It was something to remember for sure! Also, Michael Herbes and Thomas Roberts spent the night with us at Patrick's...love those guys!

And finally, today was an excellent day to say the least. This morning, we got to see our close friends Jordan Sharon and Emily Kaleel for a little while at Patty's and at this sick pool. We spent the majority of the rest of the day at Laguna Beach body-surfing, boogie-boarding, tanning, and submerging each other in sand (pics to come!) After that, Sam, Jake, Charlie, Van Ness, and I drove to Kaelyn's home in Brea while Caleb and Nick stayed behind with everyone back there. She took us to Durango's Mexican Grill and Yogurtland for dinner (amazing $1 tacos and bomb frozen yogurt...good call Kaelyn!) We met up with her friend (and our friend) Caitlin Stark there as well. It was great seeing her!

California has treated us all so well and it would be safe to say that we have been spoiled on this trip in every way. This time together is such a blessing for everyone and we are really bonding on this trip.

Right now, I am the only one awake at Kaelyn's cousin's house, where we are sleeping tonight. It's dead silent and it's official: we are exhausted from today's fun-filled, non-stop activities. Tomorrow, we're more than likely gonna head to San Diego for a day and spend the day/night at San Diego State University.

Charlie just talked in his sleep...he said something that sounded like "Chat with me"...hmmm...sketchy.

Time for bed. Thanks for reading and check back later for more posts by all of us!

-Brennon

Day 6: Exhaustion Meets Tom Foolery

It is 10:13 am and I am the only one awake. Today is the first day we all get to sleep in since the trip adjourned in Seattle. Last night some of got a late night slurpee, but the sugar did nothing for our bodies. As soon as we all hit either the floor, bed, or couch at Patrick’s house we were fast asleep, dreaming about the next day of adventure. I have never seen Jake and Charlie Pass out so fast. They were on the couch by the time I walked into the house. Oh ya, I almost forgot. We are staying at Patrick’s house. His Parents are very nice and they gave us guacamole last night, which was an automatic ten points for them.

Today is our last full day with Nick in the mix and It is a sad thing, but I don’t really want to talk about it cause it is a touchy subject for my heart.

Andrew Van Ness breaths very heavily when he sleeps. It is pretty funny but I haven’t figured out how to make it stop.

Before you go I need to tell you this story about Charlie, Andrew Van Ness, and Nick. Yesterday, which was chilly, overcast day in southern California, was the first day we arrived at a beach. Nick, Charlie, Caleb and I all go for a swim in the nice warm ocean, while Jake and Andrew Van Ness go for a run. This was Caleb’s first time seeing the ocean during the day, and going into it. Out of the four of us in the water, He was definitely the coldest. He is our resident Minnesotan and he, out of all of us was shivering violently. At school he walks around barefoot when everyone is wearing pea coats and scarves. He is used to the cold but he could barely bare the California Ocean. That is beside the point (I love you Caleb). After we hopped in the water, we decided to go get the wetsuits in the car to get back into the ocean and swim a little bit more, but be warmer doing it. So we walked the quarter mile back to the car, got the wetsuits and walked a quarter mile back. We started putting on the wetsuits and when I looked over at Andrew Van Ness he had the wetsuit three quarters of the way on, but he put it on backwards. Then I looked down only to see Nick Derrah with his wetsuit on inside out. At this point I was dying of laughter and so is Jake because we had talked about this the day before. Just when we thought we were at the peak of our laughter, we noticed that Charlie had put his wetsuit on backwards too. We just exploded with laugher. Now this wouldn’t be so funny with very many clothing items but it just takes a lot of time and energy to put on and take off a wetsuit. I felt so bad for them at the same time I am glad to be able to write about this in my blog. After all this we didn’t even get into the water because Caleb and Jake disappeared, but that is a story for another time.

Don’t be a stranger

Sam

Day 5: California

Like I said in my earlier post I love Oregon. I am an Oregonian and I have mad mad mad Oregon pride. With that said, California is beyond amazing; no, scratch that. Redwood City is amazing.

Thus far we have spent three days in this city, and I have enjoyed every minute of it. I honestly don't even remember when we finally arrived from Salem to Redwood City, but we didn't arrive early enough. Immediately we were greeted by the loving couple of Jeff and Joan Smith and were invited into their home. This pad is sick. Completed with a pool and soccer field within fifty feet away; it's a paradise for kids growing up. I cannot even begin to express how much we have been blessed to spend the last couple of days here, but just so you know it's a lot. Despite how great this house is, we have spent the majority of our waking hours at Sam's home church and the rec center next door called PCC. Sam's church may single handedly make this city awesome (I'll be honest, not a whole lot else is going for the city besides the church). We went to a service this morning and it was awesome. The lead pastor talked about "Soul Stain" and I really really liked the sermon (I've got the notes if anyone wants to look into it deeper). Obviously, as with most healthy churches, it is the community not the preaching that makes the church so attractive, and this is an extremely attractive church. It's downright sexy. Jesus' bride is looking fine over huurrre. Anyways, the point being, the community is great.

It's super late right now and I don't really want to take the time to think of a clever transition, but i'm gonna take some time to talk about Sam's friends here who have been so great to us.

The first person I have to give a shout out to is Graham (I have no idea how to spell his name, but say graham cracker and take off the cracker; that's his name). This kid is awesome. For the few days that we've been here he has been so loving and so encouraging to us. We had the pleasure of going to San Fransisco with him, and he seriously made the trip so great. I can't even tell you exactly why Graham is so rad, but the fact remains that he is. I feel like he should be a prize for the lottery or something. Like if you win the jackpot you either get to keep a couple hundred million dollars or hang out with Graham for a week. Yeah, he's that cool. He also threw a dance party at his house last night. That was also pretty sick. Music was bumping and he had the lights flashing and the banners twirling. Straight clubbing status. But we've spent some good time with him and I can just honestly say that this guy loves the Lord and knows how to serve others, something that I myself need to get better at. He has a deep mind, a loving heart, and he's single for all the girls reading this.

I wish I had time to brag about all of Sam's friends, but I don't. It's almost one in the morning and I'm getting up at 5:30 to go to PCC with Nick and Andrew (which random little fact, Kate wakes up at 5 am, which makes her a werewolf). So because of this shortage I am going to clump all of the girls that we hung out with in one little paragraph. All of these girls were Sam's friends, and Sam just hangs out with a lot of girls here. These ladies include Hannah, Hannah, Hannah (yes absolutely ridiculous), Kelsey, Kate, and Esther. These girls are bonafied ballers. They run this town like an athlete. I honestly can't say enough good things about these ladies. They have a passion for God, easy to get along with, and laugh really easy. They took us slack lining over a pool, took us to Chevy's (Where they lied and claimed it was my birthday), played ultimate Frisbee with us, and so many other events that make them legit girls. This next Friday a few of them are also leaving to Mexico for eight days to serve and love the community. Please keep them in your prayers, and hopefully they will rock and get rocked by this upcoming adventure for them. Like I said before, I have so many good things that I can say about these girls, but for the sake of time i'll stop now.

We met a lot of other people in this city, mostly parents, and they are all super great people. To put it lightly, this town is filled with amazing and loving people, and we have been blessed to have them in our lives even for this brief amount of time (hopefully it won't stay so brief though). Nonetheless, we have much more of California to conquer and we are hopefully leaving bright and early tomorrow morning to Southern California!! Side comment, Kaelyn Handsel is officially labeled as in a relationship. I absolutely am loving this road trip, and we are gonna keep on killing it hopefully.

To end with some poetry by Lupe Fiasco:

Love, got the windy city on my back
So I'm back on my grizzle like a bearskin rug
Put some lain on the floor blame it on the goat
Little rapper turn it out cause I'm very pluh
I convert I can work anywhere any word you can ask my brother huh
He'll concur that I'm sers with the worst with the man up above thank you very much
That I got what I got and I'm at where I'm at like an a in a circle with a pay little erkel
What they say when they see og from the f to the f to the amazing verbals
They race in circles like they raisin a gerbil
I race in a circle like I'm raisin a horse
I'm racin a porsche while they racin in place
They race in a cage I race on a course
COURSE
That case in the court did not defer the dream
I am still a raising man with sun raging against the machine

Peace shawty

Love Jake

Day 5: Oregon Adventures

Oregon. So great. I'm going to write about my newfound respect for the state that I gained in these last four days. When you read this, I'll probably be in Southern California, because at this time (8:40 PM on Saturday), I have just boarded the train in Eugene. I won't have internet until around this time tomorrow (Sunday). Eugene kind of sucked but the rest of my Oregon trip was superb. So let's recap, while I'll highlight the great parts.

Wednesday night we arrived in this great state around 6:30 PM. As we crossed over the bridge we hit the Portland area right away, which was fantastic. The sunset was beginning and we had a great first impression. It didn't stop there. After going through a tunnel we escaped from the city and entered the forest that would lead us to Beaverton. Such a great view led us to know that this was a special trip that was just beginning. We arrived at the Derrah residence and had a great night filled with great food and relaxation. It was the next morning that I realized how cool this place was. I walked out on Nick's deck to find the sun shining and Mount Hood as clear as can be in the distance. The beautiful trees and plants that surrounded Nick's house was so fantastic, and I really felt like God made it like this for a reason -- so we can enjoy His glory. This was the first of many moments like these.

After soaking up the sun we went to Salem, the capital of Oregon. Also the home of Jake Howell. Last time I went to Salem it was for a cross-country race and I wasn't impressed. But this time, downtown Salem was fantastic and we had a blast there. After that, the boys packed up and left at 1:00 AM, probably the biggest event of the trip thus far. The excitement was great and the intense wanting to go to California was much more evident than the one to stay in Oregon. So they left Charlie and I and while we were sleeping, they motored through the Oregon-California border and made it to San Francisco about an hour after we woke up. While it was 95 degrees in San Francisco, it still had to be about 80 in Salem. Such a nice day! As I did at Nick's house, I went and took pictures of the surrounding area. So great! I loved how nice of a day it was! But the real God moment in Salem actually had to do with how inviting Mrs. Howell was to us, and how much I realized Mrs. Derrah was, too. I loved meeting Mrs. Howell and actually talked a lot with her while the boys were long-boarding and whatnot. The sacrifice these parents give us is so huge and God helped me realize it. We can't thank these people enough.

I have to say, though, my favorite part of Oregon was the fantastic city of Estacada. This is the home of Allie and Meegan Closner, and that's where Charlie and I went on Friday because we had nothing left in Salem. After my meet, we left and arrived around 5:30. The drive was incredible! We could literally see all of Mount Hood and I could, again, sense God's presence. We just really looked in awe at the amazingness. God is so great! Anyways, we arrived. The four of us proceeded to make dinner and then head to the city. It was so sweet! They have medians! Lamp posts! And yes, sidewalks! The enthusiasm that Meegan and Allie showed to there city was so great! They made me want to live there, even though it's one road with a bunch of barber shops and pizzerias. After playing some cribbage and arm wrestling (I don't wanna talk about it) we went out to look at the stars. This is potentially my favorite part of the trip thus far -- amazing views, amazing conversation and amazing friends. I wouldn't have it any other way. I can't thank God enough for sending us to Estacada that day because, as cool as San Francisco is, there's nothing like stargazing on a grassy hill with trees all over the place and doing it all with some of your best friends. Don't get me wrong though, I want California so bad.

That's kind of what it felt like on Saturday, our fourth and final day in Oregon -- when is California? We all woke up today at 8 AM to have pancakes and go to the city one more time. We left for Eugene which was a great drive and landed at U of O and Hayward Field (aka Track Town USA). Most of the great runners have set foot in this stadium and I can say I've done it too, now. My team had a meet that I was supposed to run at but got taken out of at the last second. It's cool that I still got to go and see the glory that is the University of Oregon and Hayward Field. I loved it. Eugene as a whole though? Not that impressive. Especially with the fact that lots of the restaurants were closed, the train was three hours late and that has forced us to eat uncrustables for dinner here at 9:00. Oh well, we'll make do. Just got a message on the loudspeaker that Breakfast is at 6:30. We'll last. But here's the deal -- we're finally -- FINALLY on our way to California. I'm so excited.

So excited in fact that as we planned this trip I thought we would just coast through this part -- Oregon. I mean, I'd been to Oregon 3 or 4 times before and it was decent. Now, though, I love it. I discovered the beauty of Beaverton, the legendary status of U of O, the great fun that Salem offers and even the hidden gem of Estacada. I underestimated it, and I'm so glad I got to fully experience Oregon. I'd love to come back sometime. But for now? It's time for some California Love. Peace, Oregon!

-- Andrew

[edit: I love love love California! I was right when I said I was ready to go here. As the train got here and Charlie and I went on a bus and saw beautiful downtown San Francisco, I knew I was in such a great place. I never want to leave. Oregon was great, as I stated before, but California! Greatest place ever! I love this trip!] -- (posted on Sunday Night)

Day 5: Disaster strikes

Since we have been in California, I am not going to lie,we have had some hard times. Yesterday, Kansas lost to Northern Iowa, there were no seals at Pier 39, and John Miclean just spanked our tails in Mario Kart. Kansas' loss screwed up most of our tournement brackets. It was a real downer and now none of us care about the tournament, at this point at least. The fact that there were a maximum of six seals was lame. usually those docks are flooded with barking, fighting, snuggling seals, which happen to be extremely entertaining to watch. We pride ouselves in our Mario Kart skills, and we were definately humbled. those are the hardships we have had to endure, so I hope we stay clear of any more.

We decided to stay at my house in redwood city until tomorrow morning instead of leaving this morning for SoCal. The guys love it here and I dont blame them. we have had an eventful two days with a lot of sun, which any seattlite would jealous of. I wont explain any events that we have experienced. I will let someone else take care of those details.

We are all together as of early this afternoon. We are currently at the Miclean household playing Mario Kart on the Wii. Charlie just fell asleep and it is only 11:02. He has never been in this house before or met the people and we just got here less than a half hour ago. I think He needs to go to sleep. Some of the guys are waking up early to work out and have some quiet time, and then we are hopefully taking off by 8 at the latest. thats it for now from me at least. peace be the journey my friends and stay posted.

Sam

Day 4: Haiku ;P

Haiku

Bridge be golden, red

Days blend, adventure begins

Urine be yellow

By Nick Derrah

Day 4: I left my heart.....

It all began on January 24, 1848 in San Francisco, California. James W. Marshall, my great great great great great uncle found the first nugget of gold that started the California Gold Rush. News soon spread of the nugget of gold the size of his face. My great great great great great great uncle was made rich, and spent the rest of his life in sunny California on the beach thinking about gold, and playing beach volleyball and sipping rum and talking about the civil war and planning on living his life simply the rest of his life. He married my great great great great great aunt one day when she washed up on the shore from a crashed chinese fishing boat. She had been afloat at sea for 5 days with nothing but a floating piece of wood and a pack of playing cards to pass the time. Instantly he fell in love and they were married by a gold mining priest on the beach. (my great great great great great uncle didn't leave the beach unless he had to). so anyways. it was many years later that my uncle became sick and had to have surgery on his heart. The surgeon removed it because it was doing more harm than good. and then in order to save him put him on the next train to new york city. (At that time New york had the best heart surgeons). So he got there and surgery was a success! The surgeon installed a pig heart (its close in size to a human heart) in my uncle and he was alive. But he was never the same, giving someone a pig heart changes them they become more interested in mud and rotten vegetables than the things that are important (like beaches, chinese wives, and gold). Anyways, the current situation is what led to my uncle writing the hit single "I Left My Heart in San Francisco." I'm sure you've heard it, its based on the events I described to you. So yeah thats it, had a great day today in San Francisco.

Love.

Caleb

Day 4: Estacada

Meegan > Van Ness

The group has been split. Sam, Nick, Caleb, Brennon and Jake are in San Franscico and Andrew and I have found ourselves holding down the fort in Oregon. After spending the night over at the Howell's, we have decided to start our departure towards California. Except there was one quick pit stop we had to make. This pit stop landed me and Andrew in Estacada for the night with Alie (spelled with one "l" because i can) and Meegan (spelled with two "e's" because...it wouldn't be Meegan w/out them) Closner. We checked in to the Closner household around 5:30ish today and we started with a trip touring the town of Estacada. Because Estacada is in the middle of nowhere, i was expecting the drive to the grocery store to be as long as the trip from Salem to San Francisco. As i found out, this wasn't actually the case. The small town was great; with a new median to separate the main road, a new sidewalk, some new lampposts, 3 pizzerias, 3 barbershops and a Thriftway, we were able to walk around the town in 15 minute. I know...BIG. This was great, but it was the start of the night ahead of us.
Next stop was going back to the Closner's and having some chicken pot pie (which was left in the oven while we toured Estacada, genius) while watching the NCAA tournament on Andrew's computer. Today, my bracket was thrashed. Luckily almost all my teams that lost didn't knock out any of my Elite 8 teams. Kentucky and Ohio State cruised through their games i expect to see more of that. Everyone keep watching Michigan State beacause they will do the unthinkable by beating Maryland and #1 Kansas in the Sweet Sixteen! Then lose in the next round. The night was in its prime after playing some cribbage when Meegan and Van Ness decided to arm wrestle. Van Ness...maybe next time you can beat Meegan. Don't give up man. The night was capped off by watching the Oregon stars on a windy night. A little chilly but still worth it. A few more hours in the little town of Estacada before Van Ness and I have our biggest journey ahead of us.

Stay posted...
Char

Day 3: Hello California!

We finally dropped our anchor at 11:30 when we landed at my house in Redwood City, CA. It is gorgeous outside, around 89 degrees to be exact and we are basking in the sun that hides from us in Seattle. the original plan was to leave in the morning and get to Redwood City around dinner time, but those plans were obviously changed at about 11:30 last night. Andrew Van Ness (one of the two taking he train from salem to San Francisco) sarcastically said, as we were all not tired at all, "Why don't you just leave tonight and get there in time to watch basketball tomorrow." We all looked at each other and began to dream about the possibilities. Jake was out talking to a friend, which meant we had to wait for him to get back in order to pitch the idea to him. And if you know jake you know that when he says he will be back in thirty minutes it means you need to multiply that by four. To our amazement, Jake arrived back at his house at about 1 am. we pitched the idea and he was all for it. We started packing the car, and had to leave some things behind, because of the lack of space in Jake's Pathfinder. the car was loaded with our bags and food from Mrs. Derrah and Mrs. Howell, which we are forever grateful(shout-out). 50 minutes or so later we finally left. it was nearly two in the morning but we were more awake than we would have been at six after a few hours of sleep. Caffeine was enough to keep us going. We stopped a number of times to switch drivers and only twice to get gas.

In not to long we entered the state of California, which honestly isn't too exciting when you are coming into the north end. It looks all beaten up and rural, which is not the first thing you think of when you picture California. On the bright side, Mt. Shasta was beautiful as we drove by it just after the sun had risen and the sky was blue.

The real excitement hit when we came over a bluff on interstate 80 and saw the beautiful City of San Francisco. in all honesty, the vast glory and size of San Fran puts Seattle to shame. I never noticed how beautifully towering until I drove across the Bay Bridge today. it was a clear morning, so the Golden Gate Bridge was perfectly clear with a blue Sky for its backdrop. Hello California, we have finally made it!

when we arrived to my house, we unloaded the car and took off to the pool to relax, go for a dip while we had the nice California weather. we need to take advantage of it as much as we can. again, the weather here is not far from perfect. Caleb, Nick, and Jake are all taking naps right now to be ready for the fiesta BBQ tonight. I cant say that I blame them. the amount of sleep that we got on the way down was slim to none. There may be a little bonfire tonight and a little surfing tomorrow, who knows. we will see where the wind takes us, but as for now I am signing off. Don't be jealous, be with us in spirit.

Sam

Day 3: On My Own

So right now, I'm alone in the Howell household. Upon my suggestion, Jake, Caleb, Nick, Brennon and Sam left for San Francisco last night at ONE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING. That's them packing in the picture. It was totally nuts. I can't believe that they did it, but I called Jake at 10 this morning and they were fine. He slept for an hour or two and is running on a LOT of coffee! That's fine, though. They did it. Charlie and I are taking the train tomorrow from Eugene. My meet got changed from tomorrow at U of O to today at Willamette. Kind of annoying, but good because Charlie and I are going to go to the Closners after my race and perhaps a little hot tub session here. Jake lives literally 15 minutes from Willamette, though. Not too perfect. So, as I said, I'm alone here. Well, Moses is here. Jake's mom is at work, Jake's dad is on his way to Mexico. I've gotta leave as soon as Charlie and Jake's mom get back. Which just happened. Wish me luck in my race! Peace.

-- Andrew

Day 2: Salem

Have you ever wondered about the Salem witch trials, me too. Well, any information on the subject is not to be found here. (perhaps a stop at the local library might clear up some of the confusion on the subject, maybe i'll check it out tomorrow).

anyways

If all goes as planned we might be seeing the sunrise in Shasta, California tomorrow morning.

thats all.

i think most things have been said so far about the trip that i already wanted to say, so I won't say it again.

Jake just walked in.

He is standing by the tv and we are all talking to him.

So now I will tell you a story.

Tonight we decided to climb a building. So we did. When we got on top I looked down into a skylight and saw two people and they were running away from an open door holding two bags with money signs on them and with a trail of money behind them they had guns and were shooting them at the rich people they stole them from. Then all of the sudden the alarm went off, naturally we ran, people typically run when they hear an alarm. We jumped of the building and acted like nothing happened. thats it.

see you in California.

caleb

Day 2: After One Night...

The Ashton boys are running it. Still.

So I'm sitting here with a wiener dog, Bear Grylls on tv, and 5 other fine fellas (Jake is off reuniting with the hometown girls...). We've had a fantastic day basically based around 3 things: driving, eating good home-cooked food, and, of course, March Madness.

After sleeping at Nick's lovely home last night in Beaverton, we woke up around 9:30ish, had breakfast, watched March Madness games until after lunch, then left for Jake's house in Salem. As everyone should do when traveling anywhere near Portland, we made a necessary stop at Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland...soooooo gooood! I had an apple fritter the size of a frisbee...no big deal.

Needless to say, but March Madness will be a major theme on this trip...especially early on. Today was day 1 of the tournament...16 first round games today. From 9 am to 9 pm, we collectively watched nearly every game today...there was a lot of yelling, screaming, and tears. At least for me anyway. Our tournament brackets are definitely a source of much conversation and agony...

After a short jaunt to Salem (about 45 minutes), we arrived at Jake's house. The Howell family is fantastic and they have been excellent hosts. Needing a break from the basketball chaos of the day, we drove into historic downtown, met up with some of Jake's hometown buddies and participated in usual antics: mooch off of coffee shops wi-fi, explore/sneak into a ferry boat dock, and set off industrial building alarms. Nothing huge.

Now, we're sitting here, ending our night. Caleb, Nick, and I hit up the hot tub and kept things steamy.....so yeahhh....Van Ness kept us updated on the last few games of the day and everyone else was off long-boarding it up. Apparently, Charlie biffed but lived to tell the tale.

Bear Grylls just cooked a rat, ate it's brain, then cliff jumped (with the camera man)...love this show. Anyway, Van Ness is ending his night with none other than, yep you guessed it, a little Robot Unicorn Attack. Sounds like a good idea to me. New high score tonight...I'm feelin it.

One word to define tomorrow...

California.

Later peeps.

-- Brennon

Day 1: Entering Oregon

It is now 1 in the morning and we just finished watching a documentary on NWA and a document on Lil' Wayne just came on, which I might stay up and watch. Anyways I'm not writing this to talk about that. I'm writing this to talk about the trip thus far.

Thus far on the trip we have driven to nick's house in Beaverton. Oregon. Oregon. Oregon. I love Oregon. Oregon. Yessss. In Oregon the air is fresh, the water is smooth, and love flows abundantly. Side note, did you know Lil' Wayne shot himself when he was 12? Thats nuts. Anyways, Van Ness and myself made a little bet earlier about Meegan and Allie's NCAA brackets. I put two dollars on Meegan and Van Ness put his money on Allie. I'll be honest, after looking at both of their brackets I think i'm losing two dollars. Miracles happen tho. Other times miracles don't happen tho and people just lose money. I'm debating about whether or not I want to pray for this miracle. If I do pray about it, and God does it, a lot of brackets (including my own) will be super screwed up. So i don't think i'm actually gonna pray about it. I really don't wanna lose two dollars tho. Oh well.

Anyways, this trip is already dope boy status. We hustle like a gangsta. Popping our 6-4. Yeahhh!!!

Day 1: Goodbye Seattle

This blog contains explicit language, racially charged content and violent imagery. Reader discretion is advised.

11:44 PM -- We're sitting here watching a documentary on N.W.A. -- the World's Most Dangerous Group (which is kind of where our warning came from). In reality, we are the most dangerous group. Jake. Sam. Brennon. Caleb. Nick. Charlie. Yours truly, Andrew. Doesn't get much better.

We started the trip of a lifetime today. We drove from Seattle to Beaverton. Tomorrow is Beaverton to Salem. Everyone gets to San Francisco by Sunday Morning, when we will make our way down to SoCal. We will have a fantastic time in Mission Viejo, Brea, and San Diego from Sunday Night to Thursday Morning, where we make our way up through Santa Barbara to Santa Cruz and eventually up to Seattle. Twelve days of greatness. Let's go.

Night one has been fantastic thus far. We left two hours later than we meant to and got here at 7:30 from a fun first drive. Now we've had such a great chill night to recover from finals week with Robot Unicorn, Drumline and a fantastic, amazing dinner and dessert from the legend herself, Mrs. Kathy Derrah. Now, as I said, we're chilling and watching a pretty sick documentary about NWA. Tomorrow's gonna be great -- March Madness + Voodoo + Jake's Hot Tub = The beginning of something life-changing.