32-hour non-stop expedition home sweet home/SNEAK ATTACK

32-hour non-stop expedition home sweet home/SNEAK ATTACK

Yup. I said it. After the Manitou incline our bodies were aching and so were our hearts for home. Our tentative plan was to spend the night in CO springs at our main man jeffy’s…but as a group ruling the paper ballot was in favor of home sweet home. Jeffy we still love you, & you tooo sethy! The legendary Durango drifters steer the bow of the boat towards the east coast straight across I-70 east for a solid 32 hours plus pit stops. We began our trek at 11:30 mountain time, the boys rode shot gun for the first 17 hours… cobra took the first shift, followed by Billy with the graveyard shift, we pulled into a gas station to fuel up and swop seats around 4 am near the Mississippi river. As the Durango was fueling up with gas, Amy & I fueled our veins up with a large coffee. I was Amy’s co-pilot/ photographer. As we drove across the Mississippi river, Billy is yelling “tric, take a pic, take a pic…. SNAP! I took it just it time!!,,, except the flash was on whoops. FAIL. Amy chipped away at a good 10 hrs or so. During this time, the boys are passed out in the back, positioning themselves every so often… we did capture some pictures of it… but Billy got his sticky hands on them…and pressed the delete button, but since Amy is brilliant yet again and knew he was going to try to delete them, she secretly locked them. Billy retaliated with swiftly taking the memory card out of the camera and stuck it out the window only gripping it with his dumb and pointer finger. This went on for about 10 minutes, until it somehow it was settled. I’m not to sure about the ending, since I was driving at the time. But I know the pictures were deleted and we saved the memory card from flying out the window. Amy chipped away at 8hrs of driving time before I took over. When I took over, it was a very quiet drive… everyone was to himself or herself, sleeping, reading, and or listening to music. Except the bursts of energy out of cobra & Billy from the backseat… dropping it like it’s hot. I ended my route at Penn State and Billy took over from there. We are approximately an hr and a half from good old Milford.. wooo wooo! I think its about time we all get out of this car…. 32 hrs of stiffness, anxiety, & homesick.. Oh and ps. Our AC decided to cut out too! But through it all, the hills & plains, valley & deserts…there aint no mountain high enough, no river low enough to keep us drifters apart! Guys, it has been quite the ride, experience, and privilege to have you by my side during our journey… I will hold onto all the memories & never will I forget that one summer the Durango drifters romped around the country! Thanks for making it happen! Love you all! & will def miss waking up next to you guys each morning, I will miss the “I got first showers,” the sardine canned Durango, the laughs, and most of all YOU GUYS!

pps. This is a sneak attack home to surprise the rents… Amy just told her mom we were in Kansas, but really we are on I-81… she plans to jump out of her bedroom closest when she walks in her room to put her slippers on… (craccckerrrrjacccck)

ppps. So cobra calls his mom and says hey I’m in Kansas as were on 84, and says yeahhh were going Mountain biking tomorrow…. (I know in Kansas, the home of flatness.. he’s brilliant too) and then were heading down to NC to visit Amy’s coach…I won’t be home til Wednesday. That’s cobra for you!

I wont be getting home until we make our rounds … dropping off Amy, cobra, and a surprise visit to Casey’s (Billy’s girlfriend, for all you who don’t know).

LUCKKYYY MEEEE,! Must be nice to be chauffeured.

Forever young,
tric

Colorado xo

Coloradoo xo

Red dirt road.

Uncle Myron’s at last. (Amy’s great uncle, who is probably the coolest cowboy who ever walked this earth). We trucked through the night to reunite with our home sweet cabin tucked peacefully about half a football field away from the ranch. No cabin fever here. It was all fixed up for us and touched with love by Aunt Janine. ( great Aunt, who is the most in shape 50 year old I will probably ever meet, still whooping us youngin’s on the Manitou incline—I will explain in a few). It was about 2 am by the time we settled and tucked ourselves in. We sure did get our 5am wake up call, COCKA DOOODLE DOOOOO, but all chose to pay no heed to it and rolled over to catch more shuteye. Although, Amy set her alarm for 8:30 and 8:35 (she always sets two, because if she snoozes the first one without setting another one she will undoable sleep right through it), to try catch Aunt Janine & Uncle Myron before they headed to work. The rest of us started stirring around 10:30 ish and headed down to east some “eggs in a basket”, made with love by Amy. Yes, if you all were wondering what “eggs in a basket” is (don’t worry I was just informed as well). But its quite delicious, it’s a pretty complex dish… a piece of bread, cut a hole out of the center..(with your teeth or the circumference of a cup) plop an egg in the hole and fry it sunny side up). Children under 13… do not try this at home without parental supervision. Anyhow, we than all frolicked around the pasture, collected the chicken eggs, fed the horses, fooled around on the ATV for a bit. Billy fervently wanted jump on a horse and ride it bare back but we forewarned him not to all we needed was him to be bucked off a 1400 lb brawny black beauty.

Cowgirl up!
And then we decided to do a little saddle horseback riding ourselves. We called a near by place and giddy up we went riding. Cowgirl up! We hit the happy trails and trotted. It was pretty much Billy’s first time riding & same with Cobra’s. I was a beginner too, (except for last July when I rode a mule for 6hrs and got horse burn and swamp ass galore). And Amy she circled intermediate on the contract, (could have guessed right? She’s always outdoing us) Kidddinggg… she has rode a handful of times. WHOAA! But since she checked intermediate she was dealt with Kane, (the horse with the attitude) she handled his reins like a cowgirl though, except when the Kane trots… the little girl side of her comes out again, “Guys, how aren’t you pissing your pants!” And then laughs uncontrollably. When our trail ride came to an end, we brought em’ back to the carrel and hurried home for Uncle Myron’s famous cooking! A pork dinner. More like a feast! Tender pork, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, salad, sprinkled with the thickest cowboy accent, “ It’s all ready now, come & eat.” Did I mention he is the coolest cowboy ever? And boy, did we eat. Especially Cobra, who slapped on at least a half of dozen pieces of pork in his plate. But, what do you expect he’s a cobra. After dinner, we digested ourselves with a ride through the 11-mile canyon much thanks to Aunt Janine. Pure Gorgeous it was. And now back to the Manitou incline part above, once we returned Amy & headed back up to the cabin and hit the hay, knowing we had to wake up a 430 am to tackle the dreadful MANITOU INCLINE. The boys chatted with Uncle Myron for a bit down at the ranch, and followed us not long after.

Stairway to Hell

So for those who aren’t familiar with the Manitou incline… Google it now, but its basically it’s a 1 mile of hell steep rising up to 2000 ft in altitude on 2800 railroad ties. :) So we needed our rest, mentally and physically. Last year, Amy & I took on this same challenge and were hoping to beat our times. (mine, 1 hr and 27 min & Amy 57 min) As for Aunt Janine, her able-body faithfully masters this task weekly with a jaw-dropping time of any where in the mid thirty’s. She’s a pistol. COCK A DOOODLE DOOOO, but this time its Amy’s cell phone alarm, at 4:23 am, yes another one was set at 4:27 and that’s when Amy & I rolled out of bed in misery to put on our incline gear an scurried down to the ranch for peanut butter on toast (supposedly the right nutrients for this hike). With my eyes barely open I scarffed it down and filled up my camelback. You’re probably wondering where the boys are huh? They are still comfy- cozy in bed. But hold up, waiiiiitttt a minute, a text comes through from Billy, “did you guys leave yet.” And in time he jumps on the quad and we greet him in the driveway with his orange and 3 cookies. Cobra, is still in a coma, not liking the idea of a 430 am wake up call followed by the hike to hell. So therefore, he continued to dream. The rest of us, including Whit (Amy’s cousin) ventured off to Manitou Springs, home of the incline. It was a bit cold, but that faded quickly after the first couple steps of the hike. Aunt Janine & Billy neck to neck for most of the time took the lead, followed by Amy in the distance, Whit behind her, and well for me last…Because if your not first your last… humming Miley Cyrus’ the climb… wiping the sweat of brow, talking to myself in the third person, “come on Tric, keep digging.” And I dug. I wasn’t giving up for the world. A few hands and knees crawls later I heard from the top “Come onn tric, almost there, as the rest of them were cheering me on…. And I clocked in at 51 minutes on the nose!!!!! 36 minutes of improvement from the previous year,,,wooo woo! Mustve been my membership at the gym.. or… And for the other’s Aunt Janine finished in 35 minutes, Billy next with 37, followed by Amy with 45 min, & Whit with 48! Butttttt, I was rewarded with the most improved player! I didn’t get a trophy though, but we all did get a victory picture at the top. And then it was time for the trek down the switchbacks, my busted hip isn’t a fan of downhill jogs so myself or hip wasn’t the happiest of campers. And there she was, glowing in her lit up circular light…STARBUCKS…. we treated ourselves to & hugged and thanked Janine as she went off to work. It was only about 8 ish and I already hiked a mile up and about 4 miles down…so that’s what it feels like to wake up in the crack of dawn. It felt like lunchtime. We drove back to the middle of no where lake George, and fixed ourselves some of Uncle Myron’s famous pancake mix with strips of bacon to accompany it. Mmmm another delicious feast! If your wondering about Cobra, he is still up at the cabin… sleeping the day away..! It’s a beautiful morningg!!!!

keep climbing,
tric.xo

Day 34 to Day 36: Moab, UT

I never thought that it was possible to spend SO MUCH money yet live so simply. We spent the past three nights in Moab, UT – the Mecca of outdoor sports – forgoing showers, electricity, running water, and toilets in order to take advantage of the area’s resources. After a few short stops in Bryce NP, we pulled up to Moab’s Adventure Center to find out our options – rock climbing, canyoneering, kayaking, rafting, skydiving, and off-roading. It ALL sounded intriguing, but we had decisions to make considering our scanty wallets and time constraints. Kris (our scavenger secretary) had pre-booked a river trip on the Colorado River for the 28th, and after some realistic calculations we figured we could finagle ONE more adventure...There wasn’t much to discuss – we unanimously decided to go ahead with our original plan to rent a few quads and romp the canyons. We could pay out of our butts and rent for a half day (5 hours) or pay out of our butts plus $20 and keep em for an entire 24 hours. We went with the latter, and undoubtedly got our moneys worth. (You’d be proud, Momma ☺) We spent a solid 12 HOURS riding an upwards of 80 miles through desert trails, over sand dunes and up the sides of mountains. The whole experience was ideal. I was due for a little alone time, and although we were riding together, it was a great time to refuel, refresh and reflect…and it didn’t hurt that we were surrounded by some of the most beautiful views.

We spent that evening and the previous at a primitive campsite in the backwoods with nothing but a fire ring. I’m sure you could imagine the stench emanating from our bodies after two days in 100+ degree weather without showers and the film of dirt on every inch of us after 12 hours of riding through the desert…sooo we finally sucked it up and PAID for a campsite so we could wash up. It was either that or pay 5 bucks for a shower at the Shell station. The boys are famous for dropping 5-10 bucks on showers, but us little ladies like to rough it every so often…either that or we’re just crazy cheap. Maybe a combination of the two.

MOJITOS, SKUNKS & BATS
That night we enjoyed a three-hour dinner at Eddie McStiff’s – a local restaurant that was advertising $6 mojitos. Tric had just endured a solid week of “sobriety” and after a forty and a Gatorade/Parrot Bay concoction back at the campground, she excitedly asked our waitress, “How are the mojitos?!” With equal excitement, she answered, “DELICIOUS!”….. “I actually had one when I got to work ☺” We started to wonder if ONE was an understatement when tables came and went as we waited for our food. In the meantime, Kyle was running back to the campground to grab his ID because the mojito deal was just too good to be true. Upon his return we had a very deep philosophical discussion about our generations’ superior kids’ television in comparison to todays’. Nothing holds a candle to Guts, Are You Afraid of the Dark, Legend of the Hidden Temple, Doug, The Wild Thornberrys, David the Knomb, Hey Arnold, Rugrats, and Figure It Out. On account of our late food, our waitress comped us 10% of the bill which according to Tric made her $6 mojito $3. I smiled and kindly informed her that 10% off of $6 was 60 cents making her mojito $5.40. That’s ALMOST $3. Good attempt, T.

We walked back to the campground around 11:30pm and decided to use the restroom before we made our way back to the cheaper tent sites that were a solid 5-minute walk from the bathroom. We assumed the boys had finished up before us, so we began the walk back. We actually made it back despite the fact that we had to go down a stairwell and over a bridge in sheer darkness, but we DID end up taking a baby detour when we saw a skunk scurry across our path. We busted our butts back to the campsite and took refuge in the tent. Two nights before, we had a similar run in with some wildlife. As I led the way to our primitive campsite that was nestled under a huge Lion King-looking tree, across another creek, I spotted a pair of eyes in the tall grass. After the reading the Moab guide that day and seeing MOUNTAIN LIONS and BOBCATS listed in the local mammals, I held up and asked everyone else if they saw what I saw. Tric assured us that she saw the same thing and it was just a bat, and we all kind of shoved each other forward, shimmying like a four-person unit until we broke loose and hussled towards the tent.

MAN OVERBOARD!
We woke up around 6:30 this morning in order to give us enough time to get the Durango to a shop before our rafting adventure. Oh yeah, about that…We cracked our left roter somewhere along the way. I didn’t hear it till we were hauling our four ATVs back and forth from the shop to the trailhead, but Billy says it started before that. I guess he would know best since Tric and I have driven a total of 18 hours this entire trip. It would be the Durango’s 4th trip to the shop in our 35-day adventure. I guess that’s what happens when you drive 8,000 miles in a month.

It was 7:32am and we were supposed to meet for rafting at 7:45am meaning we’d have to run about a mile and a half in 13 minutes. Totally doable…but I’m kind of over timed runs, so we called the rafting company and they scooped us up just in time. We got on the mint green school bus with about 25 other people which included 3 of the most outrageous/chill people I’ve ever met in my 23 years walking this earth – Collin, Danny and Brian. Collin was a Massachusetts-native who skipped around the U.S. for a few years till he started his rafting gig about 5 years ago. He takes a 3-month vacay in South America every summer and while in Moab, he lives out his 70’s van. Tric and I smiled at eachother as I nudged her to turn around to find him brushing his teeth from he back of the raft and he couldn’t wait to get in the water to get his “bath.” He still rocked an old school flip phone and probably lives one of the most fulfilling lives. A Renaissance-man – he does it all: kayaks past alligators in Costa Rica; hikes the entire Appalachian Trail in six and a half months; and plans to base jump any chance he gets. I’m sure he’s chockfull of stories, but we didn’t want to pry too much.

Unfortunately, Danny (a Noah-from-the-Notebook look-alike), lead the other paddle boat so we didn’t get too much dirt on him, but from our 30-second conversation on the bus, he grew up about an hour from my birthplace in Jersey and his brother used to work for a pencil factory until it went under and now he works as a clown, making balloon hats and puppies. Brian rowed the oar raft, and laughed uncontrollably at just about anything he said. His laugh is like that of an evil pirate and we referred to his raft as the evil pirate ship the entire time.

We started out “party boat-style” with all three boats tied together, and the trip started out smooth. We only hit a few baby rapids before we stopped for lunch, got our safety talk, separated the boats, and headed for the class fours. After each major rapid we would paddle our way to a safety eddy which were sometimes difficult to get into considering the strong current. The guides had bets going…for every eddy their raft DIDN’T make it into, they owed a the others a 30-pack. As we approached each rapid, Collin would give us our plan of attack and then communicate our paddle strokes as we were fighting through. As we approached “The Doom Room,” he went into very detailed instruction and explained that if we didn’t execute it properly, we could easily fall in or get the boat stuck in the relentless swirling waters. He told us of one time where he had abandon ship and hike out of there because once you’re in there, there really isn’t much sense trying to get out. It’s virtually impossible. If you’re lucky, there is a little area where you can pull yourself out of the water and onto dry land. I knew that this would be a pretty scary one, and that it was, but we did exactly what was asked it made it through with smiles and laughter. We pulled off to an eddy to watch the other two come through. The oar boat came crashing through and kept everybody aboard, but the other paddleboat wasn’t so lucky. We saw five people get thrown from the boat and get sucked under. We saw at least a few pop up out of the water only to get thrashed around on the rocks and plummeted by their raft. I sat there in disbelief; it all seemed pretty unreal. The raft got out of the water tornado and came rushing towards us with three people floating pretty close behind. We were relieved to see them safely pulled into the raft, but as the guides communicated with hand signals through the loud rushing waters, they held up two fingers and screamed out, “TWO! THERE’s TWO IN THE ROOM!” My heart was in my stomach and I immediately did the only thing I felt like I COULD do at that point – pray. Our guide instructed the boys to tie us to a rock, and ran up the mountainside to hike over and around to where the two people were last seen. We stared up river in an eerie silence trying to decipher whether the other two were out of the water. Finally Brian came down in the oar boat to tell us they had both made it out of the water and they were hiking their way back around to us. We clapped and cheered. The relief and emotion that ran through me was overwhelming, and my eyes welled up with tears. I kept thinking if that was Tric, Billy or Kyle, I don’t even know what I would do. Ugh, it still makes my stomach turn. I just THANK GOD that we’re all sitting in this Durango right now on our way to our next stop – Lake George, CO – to see Uncle Myron, Aunt Janine and Whit! ☺ & hopefully Sethy & Jeffy!!

Much love,
A. Hendricks

One Man Down. Four hearts broken.

So for those who didn’t know, the Durango is back on the road. Except, the scavenger/ reservationist Kristina is not :(. During our unplanned stay in St. George, Utah waiting for the Durango to return, Kristina received a voice mail…. South Side HS in Rockville Centre, NY (Top 50 High School in the US) called her to come in for an interview. Now that’s when the ole saying comes in “caught between a rock and a hard place,” well that she was. Does she miss out on a great opportunity and finish the last 2 weeks with the Drifters. Or... Does she shuttle over to Vegas and catch a redeye flight? After all morning of contemplation, weighing the pros and cons, and receiving advice from family & friends…her decision was made although, her little heart was looking forward to the Colorado River adventure. Through some tears and frustration, her flight was booked. (We all really think she mustered this up to go reunite with her sugar daddy friend Kirk at the Craps table in Vegas.) As much as it hurts to lose a drifter, the rest of the crew thought she was doing the right thing. With our encouraging words, and last self-timer photo with Kristina outside of Comfort Inn as she awaits for the shuttle to Vegas airport, we said our farewells, gave hugs, and wished her the best of luck. The rest of us repeated our routine and jumped in the (now roomy) Durango and headed towards our next destination…Zion National Park. (Another spot Kristina was looking most forward to) Looking through the rearview mirror, there she was a hot mess wiping the tears from her eyes… (Let me be honest, it was a bit eerie without her with us for the next couple hundred miles) Billy, from time to time shouting, “Hey, Kris here’s the receipt.” Cobra saying, “Now who’s going to make the reservations?” Amy & I still couldn’t wrap our heads around the fact that she was really gone. Durango Drifters down to four… (Kris, we are collecting you rocks everywhere we go, don’t you worry). We all miss you already; you are here in spirit with us. We mostly miss, “Hi, What are your rates for tonight? Do you have continental breakfast? What time is checkout?” Nail the interview girl, but either way, drifters for lifffeee!

Angels Landing

The rest of us climbed that day. Climbed is an understatement. We scaled up a mountain, holding on to a link chain for dear life. Angels landing is about a 5-mile hike, steep switchbacks, and difficulty level: strenuous. We all thought, “Come on, we hiked Half Dome, pssh this is nothing” Well, for me any steepness calls for misery. As for, Amy, the division 1 Field Hockey player, Billy, the I can ingest any food I want & still be in shape, & Cobra, come on he’s a venomous snake…tackled it with somewhat ease. Except, for the last .5 miles of basically rock-climbing without a harness. But we were VICTORIOUS…we made it to the top! The way back down was a bit nerve-wracking at times, one miss footing would have perhaps turned into a bit of a free-fall. But the technique was nice and easy, shuffle, steps. Once we returned to the bottom of the climbing part…of course, Amy the D1 athlete decides to run the entire way back down…”she met her so-called future husband”, but he lived in Seattle…FAIL. We eventually met up with Amy, and frolicked in the river. From there, we took the shuttle back and there was one thing on all our minds… FOOOOD! We found a historic place called “Blondies” and masticated our meals, and topped it off with a milkshake for all but Amy, she decided to go with a vanilla rainbow sprinkled cone. It was time to hit the road again; we drove until we hit a campground about 100 miles in between Zion & Bryce. At last, a KOA—with Hot Showers! We called it an early night, (my legs are still hurting from half-dome). We did a quick pitch, showered and hit the hay.


Ps. We will be romping around Moab, UT tomorrow for 24 hrs on our ATVS and camping out in the hoodoo's tomorrow night...and hitting up the rapids the next day or so... we will not have service so until then much love... tric. xo

pss. pics for this post will be coming soon...

Durango Drifters Beautiful Disaster :)

Triple AAA again...but this time our friend Chad's quick fix remedy of wigglin' the battery wire with a splash of coke isn't going to miracously fix the hanging by a thread belt on the front side of the engine. Which also happens to operate the AC compressor and cooling agent. (100 degrees+ temps here, windows down are going to cut it). But looking at the glass half full, thankfully we made it here to St. George Utah and this did not happen yesterday. If so, we were driving through the desert heat surrounded by geicos and dry cactus for 7 hours and every so often saw signs that read "111 miles to the nearest gas station." The boys are towing it now to the nearest garage to find out the damage done, and more importantly the friendly donation we have to dish out for the fix. Keep your fingers crossed with us. We actually blame the entire incident on Kristina, who said yesterday morning when we got whiffs of burnt peanut butter from the engine... "yeah i saw a squirrel underneath the engine nibbling on a gronola bar wrapper." (When she stuck around the campsite all day, as the rest of us took on half dome). Then we pull out a chocolate chip/ peanut butter gronola bar that is finely wrapped into a ball stuck somewhere in the engine. Thanks Kris, for the heads up. Or for 'shoo-ing' away the squirrel, it was a squirrel, not a BEAR! So now that were nesteled up in the Comfort Inn (check out time was at 11 am) we are either a.) booking another night if we are not blessed enough with good news and little labor...(will probably find the nearest cinema and hitch hike to toy story 3 tonight) or b.)are blessed enough with a 'bang-bang play' fixture and will continue to drift on to Bryce/Zion our suppose to be destination for today. (We should probably tell housekeeping our decision but furst we have to hear back from the boys on what kind of day its going to be...)We will keep you posted. Stay tuned for more on the beautiful disaster of the durango drifters.

Embrace the unexpected,
Tric.xo.

ps. if you'd like to make a donation, please simply stay on the line.. or press 1 for more options :)

pss. the boys just came back with the breaking news...AC COMPRESSOR BELT SHOT/ if we would have kept driving the result would have been a hot engine bust. We are exercising plan A. the car will be fixed late afternoon...with a whopping 1k.

Looks like skydiving dreams just plummeted to the ground :(

Happy Summer, & stay cool.

Day 27 to Day 30: Las Vegas, NV to Mammoth Lakes, CA to Yosemite, CA

MAYWEATHER!!

Well, I didn’t find me a Kirk, but I DID find me a MAYWEATHER!!! Yes, Floyd Mayweather…the most disciplined, cockiest, best-looking 145-lb boxer to grace the sport. I was walking through the casino bumming about the fact that I just dropped 2 bucks on the grossest McD’s sundae I’ve ever eaten, chatting with Tric and Kris when I immediately slowed my walk, stared in amazement and mustered up a “oh. my. gosh.” with the very little breath I had left in me. There he was. FREAKING MAYWEATHER just strolling through the Palms followed by his little posse. Tric and Kris walked by like he was Joe Blow, but I knew…and he knew that I knew. He looked at me and kind of smirked probably finding my reaction entertaining. I’m sure he gets it all the time…but I’m just gonna tell myself that it was a love smirk….juuuust kiddiiin’. He was much tinier than I expected! I guess I should’ve assumed so…I weigh 10 pounds more than him and he’s SOLID. Anyhow, I’m pretty sure I didn’t stop talking about it all night. Anyone that initiated the faintest hello or even just made eye contact HAD to hear my big news J

Meanwhile, back in the room…Billy was texting a dude that snatched my pen & wrote his number in my journal while I was writing at the pool that day. I’m still trying to remember exactly how Billy got a hold of it (I think Kris read it off to him while I was reminiscing about our day at Pauly D’s pool party), but Billy being Billy initiated a text conversation with a, “Remember me??” Apparently my dear friend remembered (or at least pretended to) despite the fact that he slurred his words and reeked of hard alcohol at 11am that morning…That’s Vegas for ya. He asked “me” (aka Billy) what I was doing that night and Billy told him I was going to “In-N-Out” (the west coast’s version on McD’s). That’s obviously the cool place to be in Vegas on a Friday night. Anyhow, I know the conversation ensued past that, but hardly anything worth mention except that he told us that Lohan was at The Playboy Club that night. I thought she had some kind of DUI anklet on her leg? But then again Weezy has a cell phone and laptop in his jail cell. Lifestyles of the rich and the famous.

“BOOOOONE!”

*If you’re not a friend or fam, this probably would have very little interest to you. Just trying to save you a few minutes of your life J

We woke up the next morning to head towards Yosemite. It’d be a long day on the road…so I didn’t expect it to be very eventful, but it proved to be quite the opposite - I might go as far to say it might be the most pivotal moment of my life thus far.

For those of you that don’t know, I’m in between jobs right now. Graduated in May ‘09; did a 10-month internship with the young adults’ ministry at my church in Connecticut; and looking to find a “real job” now. I had decided I either wanted to work in sport event management or be a coach. I had interned at Octagon, a sport marketing company my junior year and LOVED it. They had a few things on the job board, but I couldn’t apply and then peace out for 45 days so I hollered out to my contacts and went from there. As for coaching, I knew I’d have to apply and hope to take phone interviews on the road cause preseason starts in August and they would probably have filled all of their positions by the time I got home. I threw out a few applications and understood that I may be losing out on a few opportunities since I wouldn’t be able to interview in-person, but I was willing to take the chance. I heard back from AppState just a day or two after I applied, and had mixed feelings. I initially planned to only apply for the positions under 5 hours away and preferably very close to CT, but I remember always going back to their job description and thinking how PERFECT it would be for me…if it was only in the northeast. I mentioned it a few times to Tric and eventually decided that I at least had to apply since I couldn’t kick it. I said, “What’s the worst that could happen? They hire me?” Tric agreed but would always jokingly say “GO TO BOOOONE!” whenever I got on her slightest nerve. A couple weeks passed and I hadn’t heard from AppState, so I figured it was pretty safe to assume that they had filled the position. I began getting VERY comfortable with the fact that I would be back in Fairfield where I had great friends, a great church, and my family only two hours away…so comfortable that the day before I wrote on one of my best friend’s FB walls: "i needed this trip to realize how much i would miss you guys if i were to move to CO or NC or any of my other CRAZY IDEAS.” Well, I got a call the day we were leaving Vegas to find out that I got the position. As soon as I hung up with the coach, I immediately started crying. I hated knowing that I’d be turning down an opportunity to pursue something I could be HAPPY and FULFILLED doing but I also hated knowing I’d leave everything I know and love. I remember Tric saying, “You have to go,” and feeling overwhelmed with emotion knowing that she’d much rather me here with her romping around and heading off to God-knows-where every weekend, but after spending the past year side-by-side, she also knows my heart and my thoughts and how God has literally wired me to coach. A peace immediately rushed over me, and my decision was preeetty much made there…but no decision is ever final without the advice of my two biggest mentors: Mom and Gramps. They were also having the same premonitions. My Mom’s only piece of advice otherwise was to “pray about it.” This was something I had been bringing before my big man for over a year – Where do you want me? What do you want me doing? How can I glorify you? He made it very clear that day that this was an answer to those prayers, and I am so grateful for his faithfulness. So ironically Tric, I’m “GOIN TO BOOOONE!” My emotions were initially so whacked out. I was excited and sad all at the same time, but as time goes on, it begins to transform into more and more excitement and less and less sadness. I’m excited to see what JC has up his sleeve for me in Boone, NC.

Fast forward a few days (last night)…Tric hands me a few pieces of her journal paper, folded in half and drowning in ink. We were just about to hit the hay so I pulled out my headlamp, put on my iPod and got reading. Two sentences in, I could already feel my eyes welling up with tears and the frog in my throat about to explode. I read through the eight pages of pure love and finally put it down, threw my arm over my face and lost it. Tric joined in the festivities, and we both began to take in the reality of it all. Thankfully we have Billy who is incapable of taking anything seriously so he provided a little comic relief, but I literally just cried and cried and cried. I honestly think that’s only the second time I can honestly say “I cried myself to sleep.” I know I’m pushin it, but as soon as I get home I’m applying T to AppState to see what the credit transfers and everything would look like. Sorry Lean :/ Let a girl dreeeeam a little.

YOSEMITE/HALF DOME!!!!

We stayed a night in Mammoth Lakes, CA because we ran out of daylight and still had a few hours to go till Yosemite. That night was basically spent just raping AppState’s website to get a feel for what my life would look like as of next month!

We headed to our campground the next morning, and after we pitched tent and got things situated, Kris and I thought it’d be fun to kick the soccer ball around a bit and get some energy out after the car ride. As soon as she saw that I had the ball, she took off in a FULL SPRINT as she cut for the ball. “KRIS WATCH OUT FOR THE…….!!!!!!”……. “….STRING.” She face-planted into the dirt as she tripped over the string that holds our tent’s rainfly down. Actually, I guess it was more like a HIP-plant. All I know is that when she hit the string, her body seemed to be floating parallel to the ground before the came down. She rolled over in a half-laugh/half-cry which quickly turned into a full-laugh. I picked up her glasses which were now nestled on her upper lip, and I think we all laughed for a solid 15 minutes.

That next morning was the day we had been anticipating for weeks! HALFDOME. We had switched our entire itinerary around just to do this hike. We were originally supposed to do it right after SanFran, but the cables that are used to get to the top wouldn’t be installed till June 15^th (Google “Half Dome” if you have no clue what we’re talking about.) Anyhow, we packed everything up and went to bed around 8:30pm so that we could wake up by 5am to hit the mountain. The entire hike typically takes people about 12 hours so we wanted to be sure to be fine on daylight. The alarm went off. We ate breakfast, grabbed our packs, and got walking. It was about 10-15 minutes to get from the campsite to the trailhead, and we started up the first incline. Just a few minutes in, Kristina stops abruptly, and says, “I’m going back.” Billy happened to have the Flip on hand and immediately began taping the epic scene. She insisted that the bear signs were freaking her out and she wanted to go back to the campsite. Billy wouldn’t give her the keys, and somewhere in the midst of all the banter, Kyle says, “Kris, you’re really gonna go back? You’re already half way there.” I turned to Tric and mumbled under my breath, “Ooor one-millionth of the way there.” It was actually 377 steps to be exact. We counted on the way back.

Well, the rest of us Drifters continued on via Mist Trail – the shorter, steeper path that takes you right along the waterfalls. “Mist” is actually an understatement…You walk out of the first waterfall soaked from head to toe. The scenery along the way was unbelievable. Mountain vistas, canopied forests, open meadows…and then you get to Sub Dome – the enormous rock/mountain at the base of Half Dome. The switchbacks on Sub Dome are pretty exhausting, and once you get to the top of it…There it is: Two cables supported by rods and plywood scaling the side of the mountain. I swear it looks like the people are walking perpendicularly up the side of the mountain. We sat and got a little fuel in us as we each stared in awe at our next feat. The first few steps on the cables were pretty terrifying for me although I kept it under wraps. My garden gloves gave me very little grip on the cables and my feet were slipping a bit. Thankfully, the way up is the same way down, and after I made conversation with a nice man who was passing on his way down, I asked him how much I could buy his gloves off him for. He laughed and handed me his gloves. It’s people like that that give me hope for this world.

Well, we did it. We spent a little over an hour at the top of Half Dome eating lunch, taking pictures and making friends. Billy had the whole mountain laughing as he posed on a dangerous ledge with his Gatorade bottle, and screamed, “Get me now! I’ll send it in to Gatorade.” He was so close to the edge and had my stomach in knots, but he insisted. The way back down was probably a little bit scarier since your momentum takes you, but as long as your slow and steady, you get to live.

We returned around 4:15pm to find Kris nestled up in the tent after a day-long nap. The boys have been ruthless – cracking jokes virtually every minute. I don’t think they’ll ever let her live it down.

Much love,

a.hendricks

Day 21 to Day 26: Glendale, AZ to Grand Canyon, AZ to Vegas, NV

TO GRANDMOTHER’S HOUSE WE GO…!

San Diego – check! Next stop – Glendale, AZ! “What’s in Glendale, AZ??” I asked assuming there was some other national attraction, but instead something far better…NANNY!! Our three days in Glendale were probably the most uneventful in comparison to spelunking or polar bears, but it was like a glass of ice-cold lemonade on a hot summer day. After staying at hotels and campgrounds for a few weeks, it was so nice to be in a ‘home’ setting. Aunt Cathy was an all-star hostess making sure our bellies were full & sending us on our way with clean laundry and a couple air fresheners since the Durango was beginning to smell like five people had been living in it for three weeks. WEIRD. We also got to spend time with Aunt Peggy and Uncle Bill when they invited us over for a BBQ and surprised Tric and Kris with a little birthday celebration (June 1^st and 14^th respectively).

That following day (Kris’s actual birthday), Tric & I thought we’d celebrate by diving from the sky. We drove an hour and a half to Skydive Arizona, paid, signed our lives away, and watched one jump…just to find out that there was too much turbulence and they wouldn’t take us up. Faaaail. If that wasn’t bad enough, the A/C was blowing heat for the hour and a half drive home. Windows don’t work too well when its 104 degrees outside.

Otherwise most of our time was spent at the basketball courts BALLIIIIN’! We may have beat the boys in our campsite challenge, but they swept us in b-ball…even despite the fact that it was 3v2. I swear we would’ve won if we didn’t have Kristina ‘Kidd’ who cockily kissed the sky every time she put one up and probably ended up going 1 for 46 in the entire series.

We went out with a bang our last night in Glendale. No, not at the local bar…at BINGO! We had the honors of taking Nanny for her last hoorah before she goes in for surgery. I felt like VIP rolling in with “Tessie” as everyone smiled and greeted us warmly. We even got a shout out on the mic during intermission! No one won big, and no one really cared…except for Kris who blurted out profanities as little old ladies shouted “BINGO!” This, combined with a glazed eyes and stern countenance, was the first indication of her gambling addiction. Uh-oh Vegaaas.

GRAND CANYON…AT LAAAAST!

We rolled into Grand Canyon National Park without a reservation and almost relived the Huntington Beach/Hermosa episode. Campgrounds were booked for the night so Kris immediately got on the phone with hotels. Tric and I refused to stay in a hotel at the Grand Canyon, so after a good hour of controlled bickering, I heard Billy mention something about potentially hiking to the bottom of the canyon to camp. I snatched the number from him and got on the phone with Dean (the park ranger) to find out if it was possible to still get a permit. He said even if we could make it there in 6 minutes before they close, they didn’t even have any permits left. I asked him if there were any other options and he told me about Kabaib National Park that was just minutes from the south rim of the canyon where anyone could camp for free……..FREE!? I like free. Only catch was it was just woods. No hook-ups or bathrooms or neighbors, really…just us and the rattlesnakes. Kris didn’t like that idea. I thought she’d be excited since she was the one who bought a snake venom emergency kit. Did she plan to use that in the Best Western? She sat in the Durango as we all set up, but eventually emerged later to do what she does best – snap photos cause “she’s got an eye for that.”

Everyone slept well that night, and woke up around 8:30 to head to the canyon. We were contemplating getting that permit so we could hike down to the Colorado River, camp out and head back up that following morning, but Kris was pretty hesitant so we decided we’d do a smaller hike that day, and if we still wanted to, we could tack on an extra day. Well after a 6-miler into the canyon, it was pretty much assumed that we weren’t gonna get her to comply. So it’s official. My newest addition to the bucket list: hike the canyon rim to rim. I guess it’ll be nice to have something to look forward to. Gosh, after this trip I’m gonna have to go out of the country. They’ll be nothing left to see!

There was an open spot for that evening at Mather Campground within Grand Canyon National Park. We didn’t have hook-ups but we DID have neighbors which comforted Kris...apparently not enough though cause she refused to walk the 50 yards to the bathroom in broad daylight. That night, Kristina was the first to call it a night and Billy and Kyle followed suit shortly after leaving Tric and I to admire the fire aaaand the group of UNC Alum camping out next door. Nooo, just kiddiiiin’. We didn’t speak to them all night…whistling isn’t speaking, right? I’m not gonna say who whistled…I’m only gonna say it wasn’t me. Feel free to use the process of elimination. The whistle was unsuccessful…maybe because Kyle and Billy were screaming, “WHY ARE YOU WHISPERING AND STARING AT THOSE BOYS?? THEY’RE RIGHT THERE. DON’T BE SHY!” AND “TWO SINGLE LADIIIIES!” That probably didn’t help our cause.

SIN CITY IS NO UNDERSTATEMENT.

En route to the Vegas we took a baby detour to see the Hoover Dam. There really isn’t much to say about it other than its’ traffic held us up for an extra hour and we met a lady who was from Denville, NJ…just miles from where most of my family lives and where I was born...Small world.

We arrived at The PALMS Casino and Resort in Vegas yesterday afternoon. Talk about extremes…We went from sleeping on the hard ground with no electricity or running water to a resort with a rooftop pool, a casino, 6 restaurants, 5 clubs, and a food court. It’s really nice and I’m actually surprised with how much I like it here. At the same time, it’s a heavy place. I now understand why they call it “Sin City:”

-I saw at least five people being CARRIED out of the resort last night because they were obliterated.

-I went into the bathroom last night to brush my teeth only to hear some chick screaming…and not because she was scared.

-People were blowing thousands of dollars without even blinking.

-Tric and I went for a walk to the packy yesterday, and a pamphlet blew up against my leg. I picked it up only to find out that it was selling sex. My heart dropped…I feel horrible that any girl feels like they have to resort to that L

There was a pool party today with special guest PAULIE D from Jersey Shore (first pump inserted here). Tric, Kris and I headed down early to snatch a lounge chair. Kris only lasted an hour in the hot Nevada sun, while Tric and I camped out from 9:08am to 5:46pm. That didn’t mix well with Tricia’s Irish skin. She’s scorched…but it was worth it! We danced our little hearts out, so don’t be surprised if you see us on the next episode of Jersey Shore. Don’t worry, Momma. I kept it PG J

So, remember that gambling addiction we suspected with Kris? Well, she was out till 4am gambling…but not with her money. She has quite the tactic: seek out a dude with a high stack of chips and a loooot of alcohol on his breath. Last nights’ victim: KIRK. He handed her a hundred dollar bill to play with and she cashed out with $60 bucks. I lost $30 on Craps and Tric, $20. I’m done gambling…unless I find me a Kirk. On that note, I’m gonna head down to the casino. Night! Sleep sweet J

MISS YOU MOMMA, DADDY & SISSY!!!!!!!

Random Snippets:

-“Hey, I thought I ordered you for later.” –Cobra as Tric shakes her booty around in our Vegas hotel room

-“2 dollar showers? I’d rather have a Starbucks” as I opt out of a shower at the Grand Canyon

Much love,

a.hendricks

Our first report on Lifebelt!

Before we started our cross-country road trip, we installed a LIFEBELT device in our Durango in exchange for a sponsorship. My father and I, along with Mr. Bergmann's help from Tony & Sons Auto Repair, installed the device in a approx. 45 minutes. Overall, it's a pretty simple installation. The goal of LIFEBELT is to make the driver and occupants use their seat-belts whenever the automobile is in motion. The LIFEBELT system prevents the engine from starting unless the drivers seatbelt is buckled. So your probably thinking, what if you unbuckle it after you start the car. If this happens the radio will shut off and an alarm will play until the seatbelt is once again buckled.

We have been using this device for the last 2 weeks, and have found many great things about it. The system works just as stated above.

Overall, LIFEBELT is working great. It ensures that both the driver and passenger are buckled. I recommend everyone should use this device, cause there can always be that one time you forget to buckle. I especially recommend this device to put in teenagers car. If the parents install this in their son or daughters car, it ensures them that they are always wearing there seatbelt, especially when teenagers love to listen to music and driver.

Please visit www.nobucklenostart.com for more information. Any questions, just ask. I'll be having more updates soon.

B.Poore

PADRES GAME OR THE MALL?/FRIDAY NIGHT FRENZY :)

The next decision was what to do on a fine Friday night in San Diego. We were all going to go to a free comedy club, butttt, the lil bro is still not of age. FAIL. The padres were in town though taking on the Mariner’s, Billy, Cobra, & Kristina liked that idea of spending their night at Petco Park. As for myself & Amy, who were ball gamed out and was brewing up plans for later that night headed for the mall. The plan was to drop them off at the ball game (so they didn’t have to pay for parking, & so we wouldn’t be car-less). So that we did. Finding the mall was a bit trickier than we had anticipated, I mean it was only 4 miles from our hotel. Amy was in the driver seat, (if you didn’t know she has no sense of direction, but in this case sense of direction wasn’t the issue). Its not like we were LOST, we just couldn’t find the mall. I mean we saw Macy’s, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Nordstrom’s, but where is the mall mall? After driving in circles, I wasn’t going to not ask for directions. I noticed a family coming out of Macy’s, I pulled down my window and politely asked “Do you know where the mall is?” The father of the family answered No, I’m sorry with a bit of a smirk. I didn’t pick up the smirk part until we circled againnnn, and came to realize Macy’s was apart of the mall. No wonder why he was smirking, I asked the man where the mall was as he was walking out of the mall. Apparently, he thought I was joking. WHOOOPS. At last the mall. It was designed like an outlet mall. FOOLED ME. Amy & I browsed a bit…and headed back to the hotel to put on our apple bottom jeans ,..boots with the fur (Inside joke) to later tear up downtown San Diego. Since Petco Park, was located 5 minutes from 5^th Ave (the strip of bars)…we picked up Billy, Cobra, & Kris after the game and to finish out our plan they dropped us off. I wish it worked out that smoothly. As we were driving (Amy) in the after game congestion, red light after red lights. BOOOOOM! “Tric what was that?” We just got rear-ended for not going through a red light. Luckily, we had that bumper carrier device on the back hitch of the Durango, so the car wasn’t directly hit. The impact was very minimum to the point I could not visualize any type of damage. I jumped out of the car and made sure everything was okay…. It was until then…broken reflectors were falling on my feet…and the dude who hit us VROOMMMED away. Don’t ask me how this lil schemer pulled a “U-ie” in the hurt of city congestion. It was official.. we have been hit & runned. Amy stretched her head out the window like an ostrich trying to make out his license plate and recorded 5NP- before his car faded into the darkness. I noticed a big SD decal on the back of his window. But that’s all we’ve got. We recollected he was driving something like a 96’ ford explorer, a navy color. But everything looks navy in the dark. KARMA is a b!t%^…he’ll see. After that inconvenient pit stop we finally met up with the rest of the drifters and told them our story. We concluded, to fill out a police report now was useless.. I mean we accidentally already left the scene of the accident, and to be quite honest 5NP- wasn’t going to be enough to find this criminal. Amy & I hit the town. We were in the mood for some apps, so we lounged at the Rock Bottom Brewery and ordered probably the biggest zucchini sticks ever. And then was greeted by some coast guard dudes and Christine, chatted for a while over some beers, & then before you know it we are on their boat at the pier..kidddding! The final step of our original plan was carried out… we called a cab to take us back to hotel circle….$17.60. GOOD NIGHT SAN DIEGO. IT HAS BEEN FUN!

forever young, tric. x0

IN & OUT BURGER

The first time for me. Ever since I’ve been in Cali, there was all this hype about this In & Out Burger joint. “You have to try In & Out Burger.” The boys had their first bite the night before, and with the group the next day and they still somehow keep their waistline slim. (Although, over the last couple days Cobra has been announcing his beer belly). Kristina has experimented with In & Out Burger as well, about 6 yrs ago at her tourney in Cali, & it was a first time for Amy too. (Which we all know what that means, we have at leasssst 9 more times before her little girl behavior fades away, she gets excited for everything. I think she wanted to move to everyplace we arrived to until we left and then her famous last words are “the east coast is the perfect location.” She’s a pistol. I liked In & Out burger, the fact that it was a simple 3 list menu to choose from. How can you mess that up? A good ole’ burger, fries & a shake. I believe we all thoroughly enjoyed our meals, except Amy when she came across a bone in her French fry. She was determined to find it, so she spit it out on the side of her plate, and dug like she was digging for gold. She has now made a mashed potato. No clear evidence was found. And then we all lost our appetite, not from imagining a bone in a French fry but looking at the baby food Amy has sculpted.

forever young, tric.xo

LIONS, TIGERS & BEARS…OH MY!

San Diego Zoo. What a day for the zoo. Not blistering hot, perfectly comfortable to roam around the habitats of life. From flamingos to grizzlies (were glad we saw them there, rather than at our campsite at Yellowstone). We saw pretty much EVERYTHING, a polar bear poop, a black jaguar pee (intimidating of em all), saggy elephant jewels, & we even saw the KING of cobras. (Cobra, you will always be our real king). Cobra (Kyle) meets king cobra up close. They had a moment, they both shed. Kyle, a tear, King Cobra, his skin. Together at last. It is a 6 hr walk to see the entire zoo, half way through we opted to hop on the tour bus. The cooperataive, Billy & Cobra was asked a handful of times to buddy up to make room for more zoo ‘ers like ourselves. But of course, BOYS WILL BE BOYS…and instead failed to listen to the lady in charge, & Billy spurted out “How many women presidents”? …Finally after they ran out of jokes… together at last they were, seat by seat. Will they ever grow up?

forever young, tric.x0

MAINTANENCE MAN & IM ON A BOAT

San Diego, “America’s finest city” or to the drifters… “America’s fishiest city.” Hold that thought. We unfortunately downgraded hotels when we pulled up to The Best Western Seven Seas, 8 miles from downtown San Diego. Our budget only permitted us to live G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S for a hot sec at the Shore break hotel, ooh, the flossy flossy. Back to the 13x15 lunch box, shower shoes, and “broken” shower faucet. Or did Cobra unscrew it on purpose to stir up Kristina’s fireball spitting dragon rage hidden under those hazel eyes? Not so hazel at the time, more like a fiery red. (fuming with anger)! With the history of the boy’s fixer-quicker upper skills…yes they failed again….we had to call maintenance. During this time, Kristina is snugly wrapped in the white hotel towel that falls above her knees ow, ow! It turns out we needed to completely disassemble our showerhead unit and replace it with a squeaky new one. Thanks to troublemaker Cobra and his brilliant ideas J. Back to our reasoning as to why we call San Diego “America’s fishiest city.” During the past week, we’ve been looking for a place to do some deep- sea fishing, (the boys more or less wanted it to be a bromance day, but we all boarded the Daily Double and ventured off to sea for our 6hr voyage. A voyage it was. We officially had day California fishing licenses, rods, sinkers, and hooks…watch out! This was Amy’s first time out on a boat. (if you don’t count lakes) so I’m sure you can imagine her…she’s like a kid in a candy store with the first 10 times + of doing something new.. can you guess what her immediate action was? Yep…she ran to the bow of the boat and acted out her own rendition of Titanic. Only to find out, she was under the impression the titanic sank just because…nowhere in her 3.8954 gpa brain was the term iceberg. Amy kept skipping, hopping & dancing in sheer excitement. As for the boys, they were familiar with the whole fishing contest, their confident stance and sea jargon showed nothing but their manhood. Kristina was displaying her notable smirk and her original shitzu without teeth tongue- pose. And for myself, I was praying that my bagel settled and I would not turn pale green and diagnosed with seasickness…oh and to reel in Moby Dick. I went 0 for 2, thankfully. A) who enjoys healing over the side of a boat... B) if I would have reeled in anything larger than a baby barracuda which I seemed to be catching continuously, I may have threw my entire rod into the waters. Poor anchovies, what bad luck to be an anchovy. Through the neck up the nose, that’s the way to hook em’. I more or less slaughtered their eyeballs and gutted their brain in my attempt to hook it like a pro. FAIL. The trick was to survey the bait in the pool of anchovies and spot the speediest sucker of the bunch, hook it & cast it. After a while I would blindly reach my hand into the pool out of frustration that my bait lasts a whole 2 minutes, before a fish down under cleverly finds a way to unhook the bait without being hooked itself.. And who ever said fish aren’t smart? Well note to self: never blindly reach, because apparently every now and then a few largely looking green wormy fish like creatures found their way as bait. I would say 4x’s bigger than an anchovy. I like surprises but not those kind of surprises J .

Oh, one more side note, be aware of your surroundings, because evidently the fish bags hang off the bait pool side…and live fish on their last life tend to flap inside the bag at your feet. Like I said, I like surprises but not those kinds of surprises. We all caught something, cobra in last with a WHOPPING one-baby barracuda! I followed him with a total of four fish, 3 barracuda’s and 1 calico bass. Damn mini barracudas, probably the ugliest fish. Amy was up in the running, she claims she caught 6 keepers (big enough to bag) and 2 great white sharks that bit, but couldn’t master the task of bringing them in the boat. I wonder… But speaking of bringing onto the boat, Kristina was the queen of fish, she may not be your first pick volleyball teammate but when it comes to fishing she shines in her golden crown and ruby red robe. She’s a catch, what can I say? She had a total of 15 or so, handful bagged, and very few barracudas, andddd 1 in which she is playing tug of fish with….battling back and forth… & you can see it in her eyes she has it hooked, her hands are beginning to race that reel…its out of water now, from the distance you hear the deckhand say “DON’T BRING IT ON!!” …she can’t hear anything because her senses all shut down in pure anticipation of this catch… FLOP, FLOP, fish nails the deck…. It was a rare white bass that has to be 28 inches to keep on the boat…quickly the deck crew rushed over to the scene and threw it back without the water po po witnessing it. … she might have got away with that incident.. but not with the po po sitting on the highway….just now she was clocked going 86 in 70 without a white bass instead a steel boot. 20 days in, Kristina wins the award for the first ticket with a grand total drive time of 5hrs under her belt…what are the odds? Amy & Billy win the jackpot they called it in our pre-trip survey questionnaire. Apparently, she was taking the advice of Cobra on day 1, “if your out of state, no points on the license, speed limit is what you want it to be.” BUTTTT there’s always that little thing called a ticket with a hefty fine that joins it. Rightfully so, the Queen of Fish was not off the hook this time, but the CA officer did cut her a break. She was ticketed for going 5 over. For some it was first-time deep-sea fishing, for others or Amy it was first time on a boat. “Im on a Boat”… but a strong recommendation to you all… NEVER wear sandals on fishy boat, Amy & I found out the hard way… as we are still getting whiffs of dead fish here and there even after pouring body wash on them in the bath tub. Mmmm Fish odor. After a long day out on the pacific, we hit up the gas lamp quarters in downtown San Diego. Everyone but Kristina, this was the night when she “thought” she was next in line to shower…before you knew it the bathroom is soaking wet and water is spitting out the no nozzle showerhead in all directions. Again, thanks to cobra.

Random Snippets:

Oh, here is a tip for anyone who visits downtown San Diego; park in the lines, or else you will be nailed with a 30 dollar ticket. (yep, even the back rear tire is half way outside the line). Luckily we destroyed the evidence by ripping the ticket up, otherwise it would have cost us a grand total of 50 bucks to park. Pftt.

forever young, tricx0

Day 14 to Day 17: Santa Maria, CA to Huntington, CA to Hermosa, CA BACK TO Huntington, CA

We had a couple rocky days…So rocky I almost packed my bag to catch the next flight home. Let me back up a little bit, but please keep in mind: This is The Durango Drifters’ Blog NOT The National Inquirer - we're not in the business of overexposure.

HUNTINGTON, HERMOSA, HUNTINGTON
The first squabble occurred when we arrived in Huntington Beach (the first time). We rolled up to The Best Western only to find out that their prices had jumped $65 bucks between the time Kris called the night before and our arrival that afternoon. We searched around and called a few places, but it seemed like we weren’t going to find anything cheaper.

Tric and I were resolved on one thing: stay within walking distance of the beach! After almost two weeks of being on the road, we wanted a LITTLE freedom. Staying right next to the beach would allow us to come and go as we please and not have to get in the Durango to drive to and from the beach everyday. Not to mention, we’d be privy to long runs along the Pacific Ocean, the pier, tons of cute shops, Starbucks, aaaand surfers…(please note: these are not in order of importance.) At this point we really had two options – both of which required some sort of sacrifice:
1. Stay at the Best Western and pay an extra $200 bucks more than we had anticipated.
2. Stay at the Sun and Sand Motel for less but forego some amenities and a liiiittle bit of safety.
Let me extrapolate – As Tricia pulled up online reviews, she hesitated for a minute before reading them aloud. Kris’s curiosity got the best of her and she tried to snatch the phone from Tricia’s hand until she agreed to share with the rest of the class: “ROBBED AT GUNPOINT WHILE ENTERING ROOM”…“COCKROACHES”...“NO A/C.” The boys laughed assuming this was just our attempt to convince everyone to stay at the Best Western. But after a few minutes of smirkless assurance, they finally accepted the reality of it all. My vote was for the Sun and Sand…In my mind, it would simply serve as a place to shut my eyes for a few hours each night, but I could tell opposition was strong, so I didn’t push the issue.

In the meantime, Kris developed a BRILLIANT idea! – “Let’s drive back north to Hermosa Beach where it’s pretty much the same thing (beach, restraunts/bars, shops, etc.), but a cheaper stay.” Whaaaaaat?? I was told this was gonna be a beach day – drive to Huntington, catch some rays, go back to the hotel to shower up, & head out to dinner at a sport’s bar/restaurant to watch the Lakers vs. Celtics game. It was already close to 3pm, and that wasn’t looking too promising. Instead, I was sitting in the parking lot of a Carl Jr’s, cooped up in the back of the Durango, trying to convince everyone to stay. I could tell I wasn’t being received well, so I asked Tric to let me out, grabbed a towel, and started the 2-mile trek to the beach. I believe this is the moment I officially acquired my nickname: Bev (in reference to Beverly Hills.) I guess they somehow associated my desire to get to the beach with a snooty need to be pampered or something of the sort. I simply advocate justice for the oppressed, and in these moments…I WAS OPPRESSED! Tric also felt it would be foolish to drive 30 minutes back north just to save a few bucks (that we would be spending in gas anyhow) so she jumped out too and we told them to call us when they had figured everything out. Well, they called about 15 minutes later to pick us up on the street, only to find out that we were headed to Hermosa. Tric and I suggested that we at least stay the rest of the day in an attempt to salvage whatever sunlight was left, but again – we were shot down. This was definitely not a democracy. I might as well move to China at this rate.

Anyhow, we rolled into Hermosa, barred windows to the left, gold teeth to the right, and we were DEFINITELY the minority. The temperature had dropped 11 degrees and the sun was nowhere in sight. The tense silence was finally broken with a few giggles as Kris blurted out,”I’M NOT STAYING HERE,” so we made a U-y and headed BACK to Huntington. So much for that beach day…

Kris and TP were back on their phones, calling both hotels and campgrounds. Tric found us a decent rate at a campground, and we were considering until we found out that it was a “clothing-optional” campground. Ohhhh deeeear. We kept gringding, and she finally landed a hotel even closer to the pier and right near the beach that would cost us each about $150 for three nights. It wasn’t until we got there that we realized she had stumbled across “a satchel of gold” -MJH. It had a very young, hip feel to it. The foyer was a homage to the surfers that stayed there faithfully – surfing photographs spotted the walls and a surfboard rack sat in the corner for them to store their gear after a long day on the waves. Our hotel attendant casually greeted us as he rocked a pair of purple and yellow shades in anticipation for that evening’s game. Our bathroom was HUUUGE and brilliantly designed. The beds were delightful. There was a complimentary wine hour. The fitness center had a flatscreen, a big open room, and a patio area in the middle of the hotel (surrounded by 4 walls) where you could get away AND get outside. There were little bonfires lit every night out on the bigger patio area. It was DOWNRIGHT AMAZING. You couldn’t wipe the awestruck smiles off our faces for anything as we walked into the room for the first time. I didn’t know what to do with myself...so of course I jumped on the bed and obnoxiously started a staged pillow fight with TP.

REJECTED.
We grabbed a bite while we watched the Celtics break LA’s hearts. Afterwards, Billy, Kyle & Kris headed back to the hotel while Tric and I tried to go to a hopping bar (Sharkey’s) where I was rejected at the door despite the facts that I had two photo ID’s and a few debit/credit cards with my name on it. Maaaybe it had something to do with the fact that the cellophane on the front of my ID is peeled halfway off and my license is missing some blacklight symbol that is on all legit PA licenses. Bouncers have mentioned it to me here and there, but I’ve always gotten in….NOT ON BUBBA’S WATCH! He told me he couldn’t accept it and didn’t even listen when I tried to explain I had several other forms to verify I was indeed Amy Hendricks. It kinda worked out in my favor since I was secretly looking forward to packing it in for the night. We walked to the pier, and headed back up to hang out with the rest of the Drifters.

“I THOUGHT THIS STUFF ONLY HAPPENED ON THE REAL WORLD”
That next morning we headed out to play some volleyball on the beach. Apparently Huntington is like the volleyball capital of the world. There were 15 courts right outside our hotel and we had just missed the U.S. Open that was hosted there all weekend. We still got to see a lot of the players who were actually staying at our hotel and practicing there for a few days post-competition. The rest of our day was pretty relaxing…laid out at the beach and jumped around in the water a bit. We’d shower up later that night and walk to the end of the pier to eat at Ruby’s. While we were eating, we saw something floating towards us in the water. The police came to check it out and everything, but we didn’t stick around to see what it was. I still say its people escaping from Cuba – yet another prime example of my geographical brilliance.

I believe it was that night that I swore I was booking a morning flight for home. We got back to the hotel after the game, and Tric was already snuggled up on the floor. I got ready for bed while Billy jokingly insisted that he was sleeping with Kris…which left me sleeping with Kyle. I kept telling him he had just a few minutes to move. Somehow this blew up into a verbal braaaawl making me out to be a “judgmental Christian” who didn’t want to sleep in the same bed as Kyle. I said if I didn’t HAVE to sleep with a guy, I didn’t want to. One of the first nights I could either sleep on the ground, in bed with Kris and Jorge, or in bed with Kyle and Billy. I chose the latter since I was not in the business of sleeping on a hotel floor OR in the same bed as a married man, so I mummified myself in a sheet and plopped down next to Billy. But if I could avoid sleeping in bed with a dude that I’m not married to, I will. Kyle apparently took offense to this, but it was by no means an personal attack on him…It could’ve been Billy, Mark, Matt, Bob, Mike or Muhammed. It had nothing to do with the fact that it was KYLE; it was the fact that he WASN’T my husband. I was just trying to give my man the respect he deserves…even if he doesn’t exist. Persecute me for being “stuffy” or “legalistic” or whatever else you’d like, but that’s where my values lie. In the midst of trying to explain the fact that they couldn’t fully empathize with my standards because of our differing outlooks on life/faith, I mistakenly said that their standards were “lower,” while a more appropriate term would’ve been “different.” They simply don’t believe in the same things as me and, as a result, don’t have to hold themselves to the same standard. To be honest, before I fully embraced the freedom that I have through my faith, I used to consider it more of a burden than anything. I almost envied those who weren’t brought up without those moral truths. They got do whatever they wanted without feeling the guilt and conviction that I felt simply because I knew in my heart that what I was doing wasn’t right. That perspective has completely transformed through my maturity. I realize that it is a downright BLESSING to have been exposed to those truths because it has allowed me to avoid more heartbreak than I’ve already endured. Anyhow, it ended feeling like Amy vs. All. Tric even popped up out of her peaceful slumber to throw a few knives…which were “jokes” unbeknownst to me. Apparently she was just trying to bust my balls, but I was taking some of it seriously. Thankfully Kris didn’t misinterpret what I was saying and tried to help the others to see it for what it was. Somewhere in the midst of everything, I remember Billy saying something like, “I thought this stuff only happened on the Real World.”

I woke up the next morning pretty bummed that things had to go down the way they did, but also confident that I didn’t say anything that misrepresented my Big Guy…whether they misinterpreted it that way or not. I got a long run in and some alone time to really just reflect and ask God to handle things in a way that would glorify Him. I knew that jumping a plane wouldn’t solve anything. Just as in any relationship (whether romantic or not), there are going to be hard times…It’s the people who confront it and humbly deal with those hard times that will have relationships that last. My flesh is stubborn and selfish, but thanks to those moments I had to ask God to break that down (and the endorphins raging through my body), we were able positively talk through everything. I had a chance to better explain what I was saying and humbly acknowledge that the word “different” would’ve been more appropriate when describing their standards. We’ve already dropped a few jokes in reference to the whole situation…I’m not capable of grudges. It’s just not in my DNA.

SURFIN’ IN THE USA
The following day, Tric and I thought we’d rent some surfboards and ride the waves. Ohh boyy did we RIDE THOSE WAVES…and by ride I mean roll around beneath them while choking on gallons of saltwater. I like to think of it as “body surfing.” For anyone considering surfing for the first time: DO NOT START AT HUNTINGTON BEACH. Even the dude at the surf shop told us this was like the worst beach for beginners. Instead of walking in and gradually getting deeper and deeper…you pretty much go from ankle-high water to waist-high water. If you’ve ever boogie-boarded at a place like this…it’s not fun either. Your reward for a catching a wave is a face plant into the sand. Anyhow, ater a few near death experiences and almost panicking when the undertoe kept dragging me OUT as I was trying to go IN, I heard my Mom’s voice telling me to not do anything stupid. Just cause I crawl around in caves, she thinks I’m this crazy daredevil, but I’d actually consider myself pretty cautious. If I ever sense that my life is in danger, I won’t do it. Even something as simple as cliff jumping – unless someone reassures me that it is plenty deep and tons of people have jumped in that exact spot without any problems, I typically won’t jump. Surfing was actually an exception to that… I know I can do it. Another time, another place, different conditions. We even heard surfer after surfer coming out of the water talking about how “gnarly” it was out there. We should’ve assumed so – we were told the day before and again after the near death experience about a squall/swell that was on it’s way in…That always gets the waves crazy. Anyhow, I’ll stop trying to justify my failure, but one last thing!!....Our wet suits were super big on us and I came out looking like I had cellulitus (swelled ankles)…I think I carried an extra 8 pounds of water weight.

HOLLYWOOOD!
Driving onto Rodeo Drive, we stood out like a sore thumb. Among the Porches, Beamers and Benzs, the Durango caught a few eyes with “Durango Drifters” stuck to the side in $.59 reflective house letters and GOOGLE US! handwritten above it with a Sharpie. The first time I came to Rodeo Drive with my mom and sis I don’t think we even bothered to get out of the car…Come on, we had to have blinders on while making our way to the clearance racks in A&E and Gap growing up. I’m pretty sure anything that was “on sale” on Rodeo Drive was 2000% above my spending limit. Although my expectations were the same this time around, we still got out and walked around a bit. We chowed down at the Hollywood Diner which was both reasonable and delicious!

While rolling up to Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, we observed the people walking by as we waited at a stoplight. Billy yells out, “THERE’S AMY!” The only thing this girl & I had in common was a face, a body, and a lose shirt. She was a brunette and her glasses covered half her face so even if she did look anything like me, you’d never know. He’s a crackerjack. He also insists that people keep mistaking him for a celebrity and he’s offered us his autograph a few times. I compare Billy’s joke-making to my music-listening. If I like a song, I’ll BUTCHER it. I’ll listen to it over, and over and over again and in the meantime, kill it for anyone who has to listen along. Billy BUTCHERS his jokes…and kills them for us who have to listen along.

Even though we bargained the bus tours from $50 down to $20, we still opted out of seeing celebrities homes and the Hollywood sign. We figured JLo and Julia Roberts barely lived at these houses and we could find our own way to the Hollywood sign…and THAT WE DID. I swear we were like 50 yards from it at one point. I almost felt like I could reach out and touch it. Buuut we were in someone’s driveway that had a sign posted that read “Armed Guards,” and since we really didn’t want to find out what that meant, we quickly turned around and made our way to an area where we could park legally and take pictures.

Before we got back on the road, we had one more major destination: MICHAEL JOHN HENDRICKS!!! - my big bro who claims to be a “pleiadian baby angel sent to this planet to absorb the worries of the world.” We caught up over some dinner after he got out of work and I hugged and kissed him to death when it was time for us to get back on the road. Till next Halloween, dear brother…I LOVE YOU! CLAROOOO.

Random Snippets:
-Billy and Kyle held their own rendition of the Olympics in our hotel room last night which consisted of them jumping off walls and over us as we tried to fall asleep. It was VERY exciting.
-Tric has a new necklace...She wore one of those bathing suits with the string that wraps around her neck and got SCORTCHED. We’re all jealous of her new bling.
-I’ve decided what I wanna get once the Honda tranny croaks…an old Toyota 4Runner. I’m in looooove ☺
-It’s true – cali reeks of cannabis.

Much love,
a.hendricks

P.S. Sorry the past two post have been picture-less! We've been slacking on that, but I'll get them up as soon as we upload.