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.

Day 9 - Day 12: Pleasant Hill, CA to SanFran/Oakland, CA

Pitter-Patter

I always write when we’re on the road with my music blaring in my ears and coffee ruining through my veins (nothing inspires me like a venti toffee nut iced coffee). Tucked away in my little cocoon, I find it easy to escape for a little while. It’s only when I glance up to see everyone smirking and smiling at me do I pop an earphone out just to hear the tail end of one of Billy’s famous jokes. In this edition of “Billy’s Horrid Jokes,” he’s compared me to a Redwood tree after Kris explained how it’d be impossible to wrap our arms around one. Scuse me, I’m gonna go throw up my lunch…..Juuust kiddiiiin’. Speaking of lunch, we ate about an hour ago (5pm)…I guess that makes it BRUNNER (That’s breakfast, lunch & dinner for those who have yet to catch on.) Otherwise, we snacked on apples and BBQ chips which doesn’t exactly cut it for a Hendricks. I started feeling a little woozie, but I came back to life once I downed my taco salad…which took me 11 minutes 42 seconds according to Billy’s iPhone stopwatch. (Apparently I’m so fast that they decided to time me.) I was wondering what was so interesting under the table. Anyhow, I’ve got a full belly and KOL rocking out in my ears but somehow I still can’t exactly focus. We’re driving down Pacific Coast Highway (RT 1) and the view is downright breathtaking. I find myself looking up more than I did when we were rolling down the mountains of Yellowstone, and I’m beginning to question what makes my heart beat faster: the Pacific shoreline or Colorado vistas? We’re headed towards LA…expecting to stop right outside of it so that we just have a short trek in tomorrow morning, but who knows where we’ll end up. Heck, a couple hours ago I got a brilliant idea to fly to Hawaii, and a few minutes later we were on Kyle’s Blackberry looking at flight prices. We all decided we’d be willing to forego skydiving in exchange for a few days in the Sunshine State (we could skydive at home), but prices were about double what we’d spend to soar through the sky soo it’s doubtful, but Mom & Dad, don’t be surprised if you get a MMS of me in a grass skirt and coconut bra. ALOHAAA!! ☺ It’s been a few days since we’ve last posted and we got wind of a few complaints about the delay, but when we don’t drive, we don’t blog ☹ We can’t be spending our time on the mac when we could be out living! It goes against everything we stand for!! When we’re cooped up in the Durango, we will write faithfully…We promise ☺ I love to write. Actually, I HAVE to write. It’s the cheapest form of therapy. When I don’t journal for a while, I find myself craving it. Once I started blogging on Day 2, I figured that’d fulfill my need to write, but I thought wrong. It just doesn’t satisfy my soul. Yea, I’m writing about our adventures and even my personal reflections, but there are things swirling around in my head that aren’t exactly for the public’s eyes. I like to think of journaling as a place to unload your insanity – a place to say the things that you shouldn’t say out loud. So I have resolved: I will blog and supplement with a journal sesh here and there. Pleasant Hill was…well, PLEASANT ☺ We spent the past 3 nights in Pleasant Hill, California with Marg’s cousin Chris, his wife Cindy and their three kids: Bella, Fonzie & Ava Grace. (Marg is Tric, Kris and Billy’s momma for those who don’t already know.) We were blown away with their hospitality…especially considering we showed up on Wednesday night – two nights earlier than we had originally planned! The first night, we expected to say hello and head out to grab a bite to eat, but Chris started up the grill and treated us to our first home-cooked meal in 10 days – cheeseburgers & his famous garlic fries. We sat around chatting well into the night on the back patio. Somewhere in the middle of it all, I saw Tricia’s eye open up real wide and I turned around to see a raccoon 8 feet from us, trying to sneak into the open back door. I’m not exactly sure what happened from there on because I screamed like a little girl and ran up the swing set slide, but I’m pretty sure Chris scared him off. PS I just unplugged for a hot sec to hear Billy, Cobra and Tric’s own rendition of the dinner scene from The Break Up. “Amy – in the back seat. Amy – in the back seat. Kris – with the GPS. Kris – with the GPS. Cops – pulling over cars. Cops – pulling over cars.” To the tune “Gary – on the kick drum”….Basically stating everything they see. Kris is in the midst of calling hotels to find us the cheapest place for us to lay our heads tonight so she’s not enjoying the song as much as the others. I’ll pretend my music is too loud and smile every couple of minutes ☺ That ought to suffice. Bahah. Anyhow, back to business – Chris and Cindy helped us decide what we would do with our time while we were in the area. We originally planned to tour SanFran that following day (Thursday), but as they spit out random ideas, Cindy mentioned, “You guys should go wine tasting in Napa Valley!” Tricia’s pupils dilated on that fifth syllable and it was decided from there. Only thing standing in our way: Billy. We knew he wouldn’t want to ride around all day just to look at vineyards and watch us sip on wine. There was only one way around it: kill him. Just kiddiiiing ☺ Instead, we’d make it sound like we would selflessly wander around Napa Valley to kill time so he and Kyle could go golfing (Billy’s absolute faaaav hobby.) Well, it worked! Thursday, June 3rd marked a pivotal moment in Durango Drifters’ history – we’d part ways for the day. After our breakfast FEAST, we hugged the boys goodbye as us girls headed to Napa Valley and Billy and Kyle left with Chris to shoot 18 at Tilden Park. Friday was spent in down town San Francisco. We debated over Alcatraz, but decided against it considering everyone we’ve talked to about it has said it’s a tourist trap and not worth the 32 bucks. Our next thought was a boat tour that went under the bridge, along the coast, and around Alcatraz. The posted price was $15/person, and Tric got him down to $12/person without even bartering. She said she could get him down to 10 but we decided against it for 3 reasons: 1. Pieces of the boat were masking-taped together. 2. The guy looked like he may have escaped from Alcatrez. 3. By the time we seriously considered it, we would be cutting it close to make it back to Oakland for the A’s game! (tix were generously donated by Chris and Cindy!! THANK YOU THANK YOOOU!) We toured the city and found that we didn’t need to PAY for entertainment. Tric glanced to her left to see a man painted ALL SILVER. She kinda jumped as he passed….not to be rude, but simply because she didn’t expect to see a SILVER MAN walking by. She gasped and unknowingly said, “Oh my god!” He screamed back something about how she better call out to her ****ing god and some other unnecessary profanities. Anyhow, once he was a solid hundred yards away (far enough away to run if needed), it was quite amusing. Later on, I had my own run-in. I was strolling along, enjoying the beautiful weather and chatting with Tric when a BUSH (a homeless man holding a bunch of branches) freaking jumped out and growled at me. I screamed and ran until the initial scare wore off, and I realized a crowd of people were laughing at me and taping my reaction. Ohh, how I wish I was not oblivious to the world. We actually ended up joining the crowd for a bit and watching people freak out. You would think it’d get old….but it doesn’t. Later that evening, we headed into Oakland to catch the A’s vs. Twins’…Yes, TWINS. As in Tricia’s new team, TWINS. As in Jesse Crain, TWINS. I hate to say it, but Tric is officially a groupie. We purposely got there early just so that she could hang over the outfield screaming “JESSE!” as he caught fly balls during warm-up. Her efforts did not go in vain. He tossed her ANOTHER ball. She’s in love. I keep trying to remind her that he has a wife and two kids…..but then again, so did Tiger. We just pulled up to a Quality Inn in Santa Maria, CA. I’ve got to help unpack and get this laundry going. Random Snippets: -Peet’s (Cali coffee) doesn’t hold a candle to our beloved Starbucks. -Apparently you’re not supposed to do ‘bottoms up’ when your'e wine tasting. -When we first checked in here in Santa Maria, we had 13 minutes before the pool closed so Tric, Kyle, Billy & I threw on our suits & headed down…Only to realize we needed a key to get in. I began to run back upstairs...only to realize we needed a key to get back in the hotel. With our phones in the room, our only option was to hoist Billy up to our balcony where Kristina stared at Bill through the glass and fumbled with the door for a solid 8 minutes only to realize one of those safety bars was in place. -The Durango got its first car wash/vacuum! -I am proposing that the Twizzlers get stored in the FRONT of the Durango. Billy asks for ONE Twizzler like every 7 minutes...Just when I finally get everything organized again. It's malicious. -We got to watch fireworks from right field after the A's vs Twins game!!! Much love, a.hendricks