So I am currently riding in the car from Oregon to Iowa and do not know when the last time that I blogged was so I am just going to start where I think I left off.
Hays, Kansas
So basically Hays was a day of disappointment after a day of disappointment over and over again, until Saturday. So Charles from the Audi dealership was supposed to ship the part overnight, and basically after about 3 hours of phone calls to UPS and Charles and other random people Charles still messed it up. He sent the package UPS ground, and was supposed to send it overnight air. So there was absolutely no way that we were going to get it, since it was in Wichita on Saturday night. The package never actually left Topeka until Friday later afternoon. So at this point we were completely discouraged, and thought that we were hopeless. We were sitting in the hotel lobby for 4 hours, and had no idea what we were going to do. The hotel was full, we didn't want to spend more money, and there was no way we were getting out.
Stockton, Kansas
So by God's grace this wonderful person named Andrea came to pick us up. It turns out that Elise and Bryan Goad (the people we were going to see in Oregon) worked at Washington Family Ranch Young Life Camp worked with Andrea and she was from Kansas. She was actually at home for the holidays and offered to come get us to stay with her family. So she came to get us and we headed to Stockton, Kansas. Stockton was a very quaint town of 1500 with a brick main street and everything. Being at a home, with a family after 5 days of hotel stays in Hays was unbelievable. Everyone was just so fun and welcoming. Apparently we were not the first random people to stay in their house, and they loved visitors. They even mentioned that their Dad was going to be mad that there was visitors when he was not home. He had headed out to Colorado for and elk hunting trip. So we drove to Stockton about 45 minutes from Hays and hung out at the house for a little while, but then headed down the road to the bowling Alley with everyone. Everyone means Andrea, her twin sister, her mom, her brothers Diego, Carlos, and Andrew, her brothers fiancee Brittany, and her niece, and of course us. Bowling was pretty fun even though I sucked the first game, I got like a 49. I made up for it in the second game by getting like a 130. So after bowling we hung out at the house and watched a movie. It was just really nice to be in a home. Coincidentally the family we were staying with actually went to the same church in Hays that we walked to for Christmas eve. So on Sunday morning we went to church with them, and had lunch at the youth house across the street with the whole family including grandma and grandpa. The family was just a bunch of genuine wonderful Christian people who had hearts for service and loved people. We could not have asked for anything more from them. They truly made our stay in Kansas so much better than it ever would have been. We hung out around the house again sunday and watched a movie, and I finished my book. I recommend Every Young Mans Battle to everyone, girls and guys that is. It is a really great book, even though it is sometimes hard to do what the authors suggest. If you want to know anything else about it just let me know. So on Monday morning this cool guy named Ed who was a family friend of the family that we stayed with came to pick us up and take us to my car that was fixed since Gale(Mom) was working. Ed was a really cool guy, with lots of good stories. He delivers large vehicles including RVs, and garbage trucks all over the country. So we went and got the car, and of course paid $425 to fix it, and then headed on our way. So we left at about noon, and then stopped in Amarillo, Texas for some Chick-fil-A.
Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
So we arrived to the Grand Canyon at 3:45am and parked at a Mcdonalds to sleep. Remember we were at an elevation of about 5000 feet and the heat in the car was broken, and there was 2 feet of snow on the ground. So we were not really the warmest we have ever been.. actually we were freezing. It was about 10 degrees outside. So we woke up at about 7ish and headed into the park. Basically we looked at a lot of really big holes in the ground, walked around, and made our feet really cold. It would have been intelligent to put boots on, but we didn't. So then we left the canyon and ate breakfast at Mcdonalds, which was by the way the most expensive Mcdonalds ever. It was like 7 or 8 dollars for a breakfast meal. It also happened to be the same one that we slept at the night before. From there we drove to the nearby town of Williams to get my oil changed and check why my check engine light came on during the drive out of the canyon. Williams was a very nice valley town that was snow-covered, and majestic as Phil would say. After 2 people referring us to other auto places this guy changed the oil, and basically told me he read the codes and checked the problem and everything was all right. So he didn't have to fix anything really, and he charged me $120 just to tell me that. This was after he insisted that i needed 4 new tires on my car, and I said I couldn't afford them 5 times. So the guy ripped me off, but at least the car is still running. We headed from Williams to San Francisco by way of Chick-fil-A in Fresno, California.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Hay Hay Hays
Hays Kansas.
So I just told Mike that I was not going to blog this part of the trip, because I really wanted to forget about it. I decided after I said that, that it would be kind of important to include this part. So here goes....
So the two coils that we needed came in right on time and were put on the car Wednesday afternoon. We packed up all of our stuff and started to leave the hotel. Patty was so gracious as to send her daughter to come get us from the hotel and bring us back to my car in Ellis (about 15 miles further into the middle of no where.) As we were walking out the door of the hotel room Patty and Tim called me back to explain that the two coils were put on the car, and now the car needed the other two coils replaced. Mind you there are only a total of 4 coils on this car, and they all needed replacing at the same time. What great luck we have here in Hays. So we sat around trying to figure out what to do. We checked out of our room and sat in the hotel lobby. There were a couple hours left before the Audi dealership in Topeka or Denver closed. We decided to book another night at the Holiday Inn Hays, and then Phil headed off to the local truck stops/gas stations etc. to try and hitchhike to Denver to get our parts. We decided that if Phil could hitch a ride we would send my aunt to get the part and Phil could pick it up from her and hitchhike back. NOTE- This was all his idea, and we did not make him do this haha. So after an hour or so Phil was unsuccessful. Mike and I walked over to eat at IHOP and discussed other options. Basically we became hopefless and Tim (the owner of Ellis Auto Repair) was smooth enough to convince the parts guy at the Audi dealership in Topeka to personally take the part after he got off work and ship it overnight to us. So the part is currently in the mail since they don't do shipping on Christmas. We are hoping that it will get here tomorrow and everything will be alright, otherwise it will get here Saturday. So PRAY HARD! So as for our Christmas, we woke up again at about 10 to enjoy our free continental breakfast. Then we did a lot of sitting around watching tv and getting absolutley nothing accomplished. We called for a late checkout, and decided what we were going to do. This was our last free night at the Holiday Inn, because my Dad only had so many points racked up. So since my brother works at a Marriot I got him to fax over some sheet that got us a discount at the local Fairfield Inn by Marriot. So it was quite interesting walking over to the Fairfield Inn with all of our crap. We then sat around again, and went to the pool for a bit. The entire reason we went to the pool was to get into the hot tub, since the hot tub at our last hotel was closed. Turns out the hot tub was 110 degrees or more, which is 6 degrees over the legal limit. Mike and I are lifeguards so we figured that out. So we kept trying to get in, but it was literally buring our feet. So we acted stupid and jumped in a couple times but had to jump into the pool right after. We hung out at the pool for a while, then Phil and I worked out for a bit. We ate some ramen since nothing was open, and did a little more nothing. Then we searched for something that would serve food and would be open. So finally we had the choice of walking 2 miles to China Buffet or getting Dominos. So we got some pizza, and then walked to the movies again to see Valkyre. We are pretty sure the entire town of Hays was at the movies, since last time we went to the movies there was 2 other people in our theater, and this time there was a line out the door. So there really is nothing else to do in Hays... Everyone in the entire town went to the movies on Christmas. So after the movie we walked back.. and here we are at the Fairfield Inn Hays... let me tell you it's popping... Look forward to all of my pictures that I can't post till I get back since I don't have a camera cord. Peace
So I just told Mike that I was not going to blog this part of the trip, because I really wanted to forget about it. I decided after I said that, that it would be kind of important to include this part. So here goes....
So the two coils that we needed came in right on time and were put on the car Wednesday afternoon. We packed up all of our stuff and started to leave the hotel. Patty was so gracious as to send her daughter to come get us from the hotel and bring us back to my car in Ellis (about 15 miles further into the middle of no where.) As we were walking out the door of the hotel room Patty and Tim called me back to explain that the two coils were put on the car, and now the car needed the other two coils replaced. Mind you there are only a total of 4 coils on this car, and they all needed replacing at the same time. What great luck we have here in Hays. So we sat around trying to figure out what to do. We checked out of our room and sat in the hotel lobby. There were a couple hours left before the Audi dealership in Topeka or Denver closed. We decided to book another night at the Holiday Inn Hays, and then Phil headed off to the local truck stops/gas stations etc. to try and hitchhike to Denver to get our parts. We decided that if Phil could hitch a ride we would send my aunt to get the part and Phil could pick it up from her and hitchhike back. NOTE- This was all his idea, and we did not make him do this haha. So after an hour or so Phil was unsuccessful. Mike and I walked over to eat at IHOP and discussed other options. Basically we became hopefless and Tim (the owner of Ellis Auto Repair) was smooth enough to convince the parts guy at the Audi dealership in Topeka to personally take the part after he got off work and ship it overnight to us. So the part is currently in the mail since they don't do shipping on Christmas. We are hoping that it will get here tomorrow and everything will be alright, otherwise it will get here Saturday. So PRAY HARD! So as for our Christmas, we woke up again at about 10 to enjoy our free continental breakfast. Then we did a lot of sitting around watching tv and getting absolutley nothing accomplished. We called for a late checkout, and decided what we were going to do. This was our last free night at the Holiday Inn, because my Dad only had so many points racked up. So since my brother works at a Marriot I got him to fax over some sheet that got us a discount at the local Fairfield Inn by Marriot. So it was quite interesting walking over to the Fairfield Inn with all of our crap. We then sat around again, and went to the pool for a bit. The entire reason we went to the pool was to get into the hot tub, since the hot tub at our last hotel was closed. Turns out the hot tub was 110 degrees or more, which is 6 degrees over the legal limit. Mike and I are lifeguards so we figured that out. So we kept trying to get in, but it was literally buring our feet. So we acted stupid and jumped in a couple times but had to jump into the pool right after. We hung out at the pool for a while, then Phil and I worked out for a bit. We ate some ramen since nothing was open, and did a little more nothing. Then we searched for something that would serve food and would be open. So finally we had the choice of walking 2 miles to China Buffet or getting Dominos. So we got some pizza, and then walked to the movies again to see Valkyre. We are pretty sure the entire town of Hays was at the movies, since last time we went to the movies there was 2 other people in our theater, and this time there was a line out the door. So there really is nothing else to do in Hays... Everyone in the entire town went to the movies on Christmas. So after the movie we walked back.. and here we are at the Fairfield Inn Hays... let me tell you it's popping... Look forward to all of my pictures that I can't post till I get back since I don't have a camera cord. Peace
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Toto we are still in Kansas, how do we get out?
Hays, Kansas.
Leaving Kansas City was very cold, but when a small fire started in the car that changed. The drive was fairly uneventful until we were stopped at a Flying J (a rest stop) in Salina, Kansas where we smelled some horrific smell. So the first thing I did was ask who farted. Well no one did and it did not smell good at all, so we started moving stuff in the back seat when we realized that there was smoke comming out of the stuff. We moved my pillow to find that it was on fire, and the seat was schorced. So we threw the pillow away, shut the seat warmer off ha ha, and of course sat in disbelief for a while. If a cotton pillow can catch on fire, then so can a person wearing clothes. Be aware! I was pretty angry for a little while, but there was nothing I could do about it. So I was driving down the highway and the speed limit here is 70mph. There is a cop driving in the left lane going about 59 or 60 So I slow down, and he waves me on to pass him on the right. So I start to pass him when my check engine light starts to flash yellow and the car starts shaking horribly. So I pulled the car over and thought the cop was going to turn around. He just kept going on his way even though we know he saw us, because he pulled over to the left before he drove away. So we read the car book and it said just not to drive in excess speeds, because something was probably wrong with the catalytic converter. So we started to drive and it was pretty bad, so I called the Audi dealer and they told me to pull over immediately. So we sat on the road for a while, and figured out that my father canceled the road side assistance a couple of months ago, and my mother forgot to put me on the new one. How ironic. So we of course debated a lot of options, called a lot of people, yelled, cursed some I bet, and then decided to drive 3 miles to a mechanic. The first mechanic in Ellis, Kansas laughed at us and sent us down the street. He said he didn't even know what an Audi was. So we were directed to Ellis Auto Repair where we met Patty Zahne. Patty was the wife of the owner, and it was a nice family owned repair shop. We sat around for about two hours or so while her husband worked on the car. It took him 2 hours to figure out what was wrong, was the same thing that I told him when we pulled up. My car had a melted ignition coil pack, and it needed to be replaced. Of course we sat around waiting to try and find a part around here somewhere. It just so happens that the closest Audi dealer is 205 miles away, and no one anywhere near here carries the part. We tried to call a couple of churches to help us, and they basically didn't do anything. Father Curtis gave us the phone number of a closed hotel, and 2 phone numbers to disconnected taxi companies. It was a dissapointment that none of them wanted to help, but Patty being the nice motherly lady that she is offered us to stay in the upstairs of her garage. Her husband didn't seem to fond of the idea and since it was 5 degrees outside, and there was no heat it probably was not such a great idea. It just so happened that my Mom called me and said that my Dad had booked us a hotel 15 miles away. It was a godsend that my Dad had enough priority points for us to stay here for up to 3 nights. So far we are on night 2 and it has been quite the adventure. Last night we hung out in the hotel, I went swimming in the pool in a speedo and swim cap ha ha, and tried not to think about what we were going to do in the morning.
This morning was pretty good because there was free breakfast at the hotel which was nice, and God has really calmed my nerves. I normally would be worrying and freaking out at this point, but since my Mom is doing that enough I think that it is ok that I am not. I have just come to terms with what is going on, and I don't love the situation but I am dealing with it. It basically sucks, but I can deal with it. I have been blessed so much, and I can't just always get what I want. God is teaching me a lot right now, and it is not all great but it needs to happen sometime. So we spent the morning trying to find a way to get to Topeka or find someone who is comming from Topeka to bring us the part since UPS or FedEx cannot guarentee that overnight shipping will actually come overnight. After we exhausted all our resources we just ordered the part, and decided we would wait. So we walked over to the largest shopping center in western Kansas. The Mall of Hays, Kansas. In comparison to the Capital City Mall or the Centre At Salisbury it is about 1/4 of the size. So that tells you a little bit about the town we are in. There is basically nothing to do so I am going to try and read a book, work out, and pray. We had some crappy Chinese food for lunch/dinner and went to see the movie Seven Pounds. Then we ran back in the freezing cold to our hotel, and are just chilling here now. At this point I am just praying that the part comes tomorrow, and I hope that anyone who is reading this will do the same. We really would not like to be stuck in the middle of no where Kansas for Christmas. If the part doesn't come tomorrow it will not come until the 26th... so keep us in your prayers and entertain me with your calls/texts...
Leaving Kansas City was very cold, but when a small fire started in the car that changed. The drive was fairly uneventful until we were stopped at a Flying J (a rest stop) in Salina, Kansas where we smelled some horrific smell. So the first thing I did was ask who farted. Well no one did and it did not smell good at all, so we started moving stuff in the back seat when we realized that there was smoke comming out of the stuff. We moved my pillow to find that it was on fire, and the seat was schorced. So we threw the pillow away, shut the seat warmer off ha ha, and of course sat in disbelief for a while. If a cotton pillow can catch on fire, then so can a person wearing clothes. Be aware! I was pretty angry for a little while, but there was nothing I could do about it. So I was driving down the highway and the speed limit here is 70mph. There is a cop driving in the left lane going about 59 or 60 So I slow down, and he waves me on to pass him on the right. So I start to pass him when my check engine light starts to flash yellow and the car starts shaking horribly. So I pulled the car over and thought the cop was going to turn around. He just kept going on his way even though we know he saw us, because he pulled over to the left before he drove away. So we read the car book and it said just not to drive in excess speeds, because something was probably wrong with the catalytic converter. So we started to drive and it was pretty bad, so I called the Audi dealer and they told me to pull over immediately. So we sat on the road for a while, and figured out that my father canceled the road side assistance a couple of months ago, and my mother forgot to put me on the new one. How ironic. So we of course debated a lot of options, called a lot of people, yelled, cursed some I bet, and then decided to drive 3 miles to a mechanic. The first mechanic in Ellis, Kansas laughed at us and sent us down the street. He said he didn't even know what an Audi was. So we were directed to Ellis Auto Repair where we met Patty Zahne. Patty was the wife of the owner, and it was a nice family owned repair shop. We sat around for about two hours or so while her husband worked on the car. It took him 2 hours to figure out what was wrong, was the same thing that I told him when we pulled up. My car had a melted ignition coil pack, and it needed to be replaced. Of course we sat around waiting to try and find a part around here somewhere. It just so happens that the closest Audi dealer is 205 miles away, and no one anywhere near here carries the part. We tried to call a couple of churches to help us, and they basically didn't do anything. Father Curtis gave us the phone number of a closed hotel, and 2 phone numbers to disconnected taxi companies. It was a dissapointment that none of them wanted to help, but Patty being the nice motherly lady that she is offered us to stay in the upstairs of her garage. Her husband didn't seem to fond of the idea and since it was 5 degrees outside, and there was no heat it probably was not such a great idea. It just so happened that my Mom called me and said that my Dad had booked us a hotel 15 miles away. It was a godsend that my Dad had enough priority points for us to stay here for up to 3 nights. So far we are on night 2 and it has been quite the adventure. Last night we hung out in the hotel, I went swimming in the pool in a speedo and swim cap ha ha, and tried not to think about what we were going to do in the morning.
This morning was pretty good because there was free breakfast at the hotel which was nice, and God has really calmed my nerves. I normally would be worrying and freaking out at this point, but since my Mom is doing that enough I think that it is ok that I am not. I have just come to terms with what is going on, and I don't love the situation but I am dealing with it. It basically sucks, but I can deal with it. I have been blessed so much, and I can't just always get what I want. God is teaching me a lot right now, and it is not all great but it needs to happen sometime. So we spent the morning trying to find a way to get to Topeka or find someone who is comming from Topeka to bring us the part since UPS or FedEx cannot guarentee that overnight shipping will actually come overnight. After we exhausted all our resources we just ordered the part, and decided we would wait. So we walked over to the largest shopping center in western Kansas. The Mall of Hays, Kansas. In comparison to the Capital City Mall or the Centre At Salisbury it is about 1/4 of the size. So that tells you a little bit about the town we are in. There is basically nothing to do so I am going to try and read a book, work out, and pray. We had some crappy Chinese food for lunch/dinner and went to see the movie Seven Pounds. Then we ran back in the freezing cold to our hotel, and are just chilling here now. At this point I am just praying that the part comes tomorrow, and I hope that anyone who is reading this will do the same. We really would not like to be stuck in the middle of no where Kansas for Christmas. If the part doesn't come tomorrow it will not come until the 26th... so keep us in your prayers and entertain me with your calls/texts...
Sunday, December 21, 2008
John and Kate plus 8... psh they have nothing on Jane and Chuck plus 14
We headed out of West Chester around 6am, and went on our way to Kansas City, MO. We decided to stop in St. Louis to see the arch, and some chuch because the free parking was there so we figured we should at least look at it. There was an awesome museum in the ground below the arch, and we had the option to go up but I thought it was a waste of $14 so we just looked from below. It was really amazing seeing how the arch was built, and seeing the "Gateway to the West." The museum was filled with US history, and western history. It was only the beginning of our welcome to the west. To add to that it was 7 degrees outside and the heat in my car decided to stop working that morning. It was not easy to deal with no heat, but it was fine. We figured that there could be much worse. It took about 9 and a half hours driving time to get to Kansas City, and was well worth it. We arrived at the Koth's house at around 3pm or so since the time changed an hour. The Koth's are family friends of mine from Minnesota. We met them randomly when we bought our dog like 14 years ago, and our mothers have been best friends ever since. The Koth's are an amazing family that has adopted 11 children and have 3 of their own. They have really taken a hard travled path laid out by God, but are amazing followers and I cannot thank God for people like them enough. It was a lot of fun hanging out in the house with the three girls from Ethopia that just came 4 months ago, and of course all of the rest of the kids. Baya was quite entertaining, and Riley Jane didn't bite like last time I saw her. Nick, Chloe, and PJ have grown up so much, and it is just so great to see their parents actions rub off onto them. Chuck Koth works at IHOP (not the house of pancakes, the International House of Prayer), and we decided to attend a service there. It was a very interesting message on the stronghold of Zion, but very diffacult to follow since the person speaking has a vocal injury and cannot really talk loud at all. The music was awesome, and it was great to see all of these different people worshiping together. IHOP is a "missions base" and has multiple prayer rooms and programs around Kansas City. There are approx. 1100 staff members, and 1100 students. They have a school of ministry, a school of music, internships, multiple prayer rooms that operate 24/7 365, a church, and all kinds of other amazing programs. I just love how diverse the people are at IHOP and that all of these people worship together dispite all of their differences. I just know that at my church in Salisbury the old women would freak out of the person collecting the offering was a young man with a mohawk, facial piercings, and tattoos. It was just a great time of worship and prayer for me. We then headed over to the prayer room down the street, and that was interesting as well. People of all kinds were praying and worshiping together for the world, and it was very different than the last time that I went there. It was kind of weird to have video cameras all around taping the prayer room and broadcasting it onto TV and the internet, but the more I think about it the more beneficial I think that it is. I believe that it does not make it any less intimate or authentic as long as the people worshiping do not let it. It was great to see that people worship in so many different ways, and that their is prayer going on ALL THE TIME. Prayer has not stopped in something like 9 years. IHOP is only 9 years old and has grown rapidly, and spread to many other places in the world. I just believe firmly that it is such a great ministry to be involved in, and i encourage all of you to check it out online i think at ihop.org. The night ended with some catching up with Jane and her trying to get me to help her apply to open a Chick-fil-A. I love the Koth family, that you so much for being forever faithful to your Lord Jesus Christ!
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Only the beginning...
West Chester, OH.
We decided that we were having so much fun in Ohio with everyone that we would stay another night. We spent most of the day hanging out around the house, and had an awesome breakfast cooked by Kelsey's parents (who were a huge blessing.) Later in the afternoon a bunch of us went to Chick-fil-A for lunch, which marked our first Chick-fil-A stop on the trip. Then after Chick-fil-A we all headed over to IKEA, which is completely unexplainable with words. IKEA is my new favorite place, and I want one! They have the best apple cookies in the world, and I have a feeling that when I get older I might have an addiction haha. So if you don't know what IKEA is then you need to go to one, or check it out online. Checking it out online does it no justice. I have never seen a store this big, and this amazing. Who expects a furniture store to have a food court, groceries, and toiletries. Basically you don't really need any store but IKEA. The downpoint in the day was when I lost my camera in IKEA which is MASSIVE, but since they are so amazing there all I had to do was walk back in and my wonderful friend Megan asked the first guy we saw, and they had already found the camera. Not only is it a great store, they have great employees, and they said I should work there! The day just kept getting better after IKEA when we had our white elephant gift exchange, where I got a Starbucks gift card. Everyone should be proud of me because it has been 2 whole days since I recieved that gift card and it is still in my wallet :-) For dinner we went to Max and Erma's which for the longest time I could not understand the name when people were saying it. It was pretty good, and what made it better is that Mike lost the salt and sugar game for the 3rd time. Note- I have only played this game 3 times in my life, and he has lost every time. After dinner we all headed out to downtown Cinci to ice skate, and Sammy Mallory met us there since she was not able to come to the reunion because of her family Christamas. Someone borrowed my new ski gloves to go skating and didn't return them, so if you have them that would be awesome if you could let me know!!! I just bought them last week and never used them. We were waiting in line to ice skate and I just decided that I was going to hang out with Megan, her friend Sam that met us there, and Phil since he didn't want to skate. Phil and I just ended up walking around downtown Cinci until we found this awesome guy named Richard who needed some help. Phil and I went for pizza with Richard, and tried to talk to him about his life. He didn't really seem like he wanted to share much, but Phil got out as much as he could. Richard had been on the streets for about 6 months, and was not having the best time of course. So he was just very appreciative that he got some food, and was very suprised that we didn't just get him pizza and leave. We actually talked to him, and really wanted to know about him. This was of course a little bit scary of a situation at first, but after a couple minutes it was so interesting even though I didn't know what to ask him. So Phil did most of the talking, but it was just so amazing to step out of my confort zone. While we were sitting in the pizza place some dude named Rock came in and Richard left. Rock was quite an interesting character. He was a "vendor" as he liked to call himself. Rock really wanted Phil and I to buy a stuffed dog, and some cologne. Although he was fairly convincing he didn't get any of our money. He realized that Phil just wanted to talk to him, and tried to sell him the convorsation. It was easier for Phil to not give him money since he did tell us he was going to buy gin with it, and it was actually Megan's money that Phil had. After rubbing the stuffed dog all over Phil's face and being thoroughly creepy Rock realized that we were not interested and he peaced out. We left the pizza place to go back to the ice skating rink. When we were leaving Rock may or may not have shown Phil a gun... we don't really know, but anyhow he tried to yell at us to give him his chain back that he gave us. He didn't give us anything, so we just kept walking, and went back. We looked for a place for Phil to pee for about 15 minutes until we actually found something, then we headed back to Kelsey's house. I watched Ryan and Kyle tie a shopping cart to the back of a car and ride in it for a while, then headed insideto hang out. It was another amazing night of fellowship with people who have really meant a lot to me. These are the people that were with me when I made the best decision of my life to attend Messiah. These are the people who helped me really know what life as a Christian is like, and what it should be like. These are people that God sent me all for a reason, and I thank him for that! So thank you everyone in Cinci for an awesome time!
We decided that we were having so much fun in Ohio with everyone that we would stay another night. We spent most of the day hanging out around the house, and had an awesome breakfast cooked by Kelsey's parents (who were a huge blessing.) Later in the afternoon a bunch of us went to Chick-fil-A for lunch, which marked our first Chick-fil-A stop on the trip. Then after Chick-fil-A we all headed over to IKEA, which is completely unexplainable with words. IKEA is my new favorite place, and I want one! They have the best apple cookies in the world, and I have a feeling that when I get older I might have an addiction haha. So if you don't know what IKEA is then you need to go to one, or check it out online. Checking it out online does it no justice. I have never seen a store this big, and this amazing. Who expects a furniture store to have a food court, groceries, and toiletries. Basically you don't really need any store but IKEA. The downpoint in the day was when I lost my camera in IKEA which is MASSIVE, but since they are so amazing there all I had to do was walk back in and my wonderful friend Megan asked the first guy we saw, and they had already found the camera. Not only is it a great store, they have great employees, and they said I should work there! The day just kept getting better after IKEA when we had our white elephant gift exchange, where I got a Starbucks gift card. Everyone should be proud of me because it has been 2 whole days since I recieved that gift card and it is still in my wallet :-) For dinner we went to Max and Erma's which for the longest time I could not understand the name when people were saying it. It was pretty good, and what made it better is that Mike lost the salt and sugar game for the 3rd time. Note- I have only played this game 3 times in my life, and he has lost every time. After dinner we all headed out to downtown Cinci to ice skate, and Sammy Mallory met us there since she was not able to come to the reunion because of her family Christamas. Someone borrowed my new ski gloves to go skating and didn't return them, so if you have them that would be awesome if you could let me know!!! I just bought them last week and never used them. We were waiting in line to ice skate and I just decided that I was going to hang out with Megan, her friend Sam that met us there, and Phil since he didn't want to skate. Phil and I just ended up walking around downtown Cinci until we found this awesome guy named Richard who needed some help. Phil and I went for pizza with Richard, and tried to talk to him about his life. He didn't really seem like he wanted to share much, but Phil got out as much as he could. Richard had been on the streets for about 6 months, and was not having the best time of course. So he was just very appreciative that he got some food, and was very suprised that we didn't just get him pizza and leave. We actually talked to him, and really wanted to know about him. This was of course a little bit scary of a situation at first, but after a couple minutes it was so interesting even though I didn't know what to ask him. So Phil did most of the talking, but it was just so amazing to step out of my confort zone. While we were sitting in the pizza place some dude named Rock came in and Richard left. Rock was quite an interesting character. He was a "vendor" as he liked to call himself. Rock really wanted Phil and I to buy a stuffed dog, and some cologne. Although he was fairly convincing he didn't get any of our money. He realized that Phil just wanted to talk to him, and tried to sell him the convorsation. It was easier for Phil to not give him money since he did tell us he was going to buy gin with it, and it was actually Megan's money that Phil had. After rubbing the stuffed dog all over Phil's face and being thoroughly creepy Rock realized that we were not interested and he peaced out. We left the pizza place to go back to the ice skating rink. When we were leaving Rock may or may not have shown Phil a gun... we don't really know, but anyhow he tried to yell at us to give him his chain back that he gave us. He didn't give us anything, so we just kept walking, and went back. We looked for a place for Phil to pee for about 15 minutes until we actually found something, then we headed back to Kelsey's house. I watched Ryan and Kyle tie a shopping cart to the back of a car and ride in it for a while, then headed insideto hang out. It was another amazing night of fellowship with people who have really meant a lot to me. These are the people that were with me when I made the best decision of my life to attend Messiah. These are the people who helped me really know what life as a Christian is like, and what it should be like. These are people that God sent me all for a reason, and I thank him for that! So thank you everyone in Cinci for an awesome time!
Friday, December 19, 2008
Grantham, PA to Hays, KS
In the beginning the world was dark and formless, and so was my brain. Then there was Elise and Bryan Goad, who decided to move to Oregon to become Young Life iterns for a year. That was the beginning of this trip.
Grantham, PA to West Chester, OH.
This day could not have come fast enough. Finals are over, and I just feel so free and relieved. I have been ready to get on the open road for weeks, and the day has finally come. It does not even feel real right now. Leaving Grantham was the best thing that could have happened at this point. So we drove from Messiah to Pittsburg, PA to stop at Megan Clapps house. We had some bangin' quesadilla's and met her friend Allie, then got back on the road to West Chester. We arrived in West Chester, OH at about midnight. In West Chester we stayed at Kelsey Burns house for my work crew reunion. For those of you who didn't know I volunteered as outdoor crew at a Young Life camp for 5weeks during the summer of 2007, and met some really amazing people. So I got to catch up with 16 of these amazing people on Friday and Saturday which was absolutly awesome. Being in Ohio was a great time of fellowship with these people that I lived with for 5 weeks. We all pretty much stayed up until 5am catching up on eachothers lives. It was so intereting seeing all of the different directions that everyone went in since leaving camp, and of course hearing all about the work crew romances.
Grantham, PA to West Chester, OH.
This day could not have come fast enough. Finals are over, and I just feel so free and relieved. I have been ready to get on the open road for weeks, and the day has finally come. It does not even feel real right now. Leaving Grantham was the best thing that could have happened at this point. So we drove from Messiah to Pittsburg, PA to stop at Megan Clapps house. We had some bangin' quesadilla's and met her friend Allie, then got back on the road to West Chester. We arrived in West Chester, OH at about midnight. In West Chester we stayed at Kelsey Burns house for my work crew reunion. For those of you who didn't know I volunteered as outdoor crew at a Young Life camp for 5weeks during the summer of 2007, and met some really amazing people. So I got to catch up with 16 of these amazing people on Friday and Saturday which was absolutly awesome. Being in Ohio was a great time of fellowship with these people that I lived with for 5 weeks. We all pretty much stayed up until 5am catching up on eachothers lives. It was so intereting seeing all of the different directions that everyone went in since leaving camp, and of course hearing all about the work crew romances.
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