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