Posted by jburgy on Mar 13, 2009 in
Uncategorized We woke up this morning to the crashing waves on the beach and the warm sun shining on our faces. What a wonderful way to wake up. Since we didn’t have any quarters to pay for the warm showers, me and Joe were forced to take showers in the freezing cold outside showers. Quite exhilarating.
Then we were on our way to San Diego. It only took us about a half hour to arrive in San Diego, which seemed very odd for us all since our destinations up to that point had never been less than 5 hours away.
As we drove into downtown San Diego we were lucky enough to be on the highway that passed right in front of the San Diego temple. We exited and took some pictures of the beautiful temple. The man who took the pictures of all four of us asked if we were getting married. Savannah was quite emphatic in her no, which totally shattered my whole universe.
After the temple we ate at subway and then we were on our way to the next stop of the day, Petco Baseball Stadium. Our tour guide Don was a very knowledgeable and entertaining guide. He took us through the entire park, showing us the press box, the suites, and taking us down on the field. Here’s a little bit of history for ya. The Western Metal Supply Co. you see in the pictures was a historic building on the lot bought for the baseball stadium. But because it was historic it could not be torn down, and it could not be moved because it was too big. So the owner had the brilliant idea to simply incorporate it into the park. He painted a yellow line down one corner of the building for the foul line and the rest of the park was built around that building. It had to keep 70% of the original structure to retain its “historicalness” but was remodeled to serve as an extension of the ball park with seating and restaurant inside.
After the tour of Petco Ball Park we walked down the gas lamp, a street similar to Mill Avenue filled with small stores. Then we decided that even though it was still quite cold, our visit to San Diego would not be complete without a visit to the beach. Thankfully on our way to Pacific Beach the clouds cleared and the sun shone through. We longboarded along the beach, did some yoga on a cliff side over looking the ocean, and me and Joe took the plunge into quite possibly the coldest water I’ve ever swam in. After regaining feeling in our bodies we made our way back to the car and made our way to dinner at the Royal Thai Cuisine where the food was delicious.
After dinner we watched Can I Have Your number in the parking lot where Joe had found wi fi on his iTouch, just for kicks, and then we began the journey home.
It is now 2:28 am, we’ve been home about an hour and a half. California was good to us. From San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge, to the giant sequoias and snow in the Sequoia National Forest, through L.A. and down to San Diego with the temple and the beach and so much more. This has been a journey to look back on and remember with fondness, where friends were made, laughter was abundant, and cherished memories formed.
The rest of the story:
Savannah returns to Texas tomorrow. We wish her luck and will miss her. Hopefully someday our paths will cross again. Who knows? Maybe next spring break….
Joe will finish his spring break slaving away countless hours on the computer working.
Amy will return to Chili’s and miss Savannah.
Maybe I’ll take up being a pirate….
And Spencer….well, hopefully he didn’t need a ride home….
Posted by jkieth on Mar 13, 2009 in
California 09 Word to the wise, always familiarize yourself with the full amenities of a hotel before booking your stay with them. A painful lesson learned from our stay at the Cathedral Hill. Oh yeah, they had wireless internet…for $10 per 24hr time interval!!
You can definitely stay there for the original booking price, but if you plan on parking your car anywhere within 200 miles you’ll have to fork over an extra $22 for the parking garage. It was a nice hotel though so of course they’d offer us a courtesy continental breakfast before sending us on our way this morning right? Absolutely!!!…that is if you’re ready to fork over $10 a pop! We decided we couldn’t support such terroristic behavior so we left promptly and decided to forge our hunger by relying on the remanding strawberry newtons, Pringles, red vines, and wheat thins we had stashed in the trunk. We munched throughout the travel times periodically washing it all down with a refreshing pouch of Capri Sun.
Before leaving the city we’d quickly grown to love in the past sixteen hours, we decided a trip to San Francisco wouldn’t be complete without visiting the historic AT&T ballpark (Home of the San Francisco Giants).We scrounged up $0.65 for 13 whole minutes of curbside parking and gazed at the breathtaking landmark perched on the shore of the sunlit bay.
The morning sun reflecting off the ocean sprang up and encompassed the ballpark with an eye pleasing glow. Haha alright if I’m going to keep my man card I better cut the fantasy talk and get to the heart of this event. I mean…it was pretty cool I guess. I didn’t really notice any of the pretty stuff I was busy checking out the Willie Mays statues and other manly stuff! 
We snapped some shots of the Willie Mays Entrance, the glove and cola bottle statues, and some random guy doing a great impersonation of karate kid’s flying crane on a small circular platform at the end of the dock to the East of the stadium. Before leaving, Savannah also deemed it necessary to intentionally salivate on the Barry Bonds home run record plaque that was embedded in the cement by the stadium.
Stomachs half empty and “glasses half full” we were ready for Sequoia National Park. We took our travels in a Southward direction only to realize we needed to have been on the East side of the bay to catch the freeway that would eventually lead us to Fresno and then to highway 180 which would take us on a roundabout loop through the Park. So we found another exit that would take us across the large waters. It wasn’t the Golden Gate but it was kind of cool being above the ocean for a good five mile stretch. This gave us enough time for Savannah to explain the entire history of the “Brand New” “Taking Back Sunday” song battles written by the lead singers of each band in reactions to their “best-friend breakup”…very tragic and emo-esque.
It was a looooong drive to Sequoia National Park and a few times we’d actually thought we might have missed a turnoff somewhere along the way as we travelled for miles and miles through dense forest and had seen but one Sequoia tree. It probably seemed even longer due to the fact that after a brief stop to take pictures at a scenic pull-out, we discovered that thick smoke was being spewed out from beneath the hood of our car. We, THE MEN, opened up the hood and peered in with great confidence. After a good long look I spoke calmly and assuredly, “It’s not over-heating so we don’t have a thermostat or water pump issue, and the smoke’s not coming from the tailpipes so we’re not burning oil internally, it’s probably just burning some exterior oil that has leaked out onto the engine block. Let’s just take her easy and keep an eye on her.” It was enough to satisfy so we pressed forward. I called my Dad afterwards…just to let him know I had it under control of course. I mean, I wasn’t worried.
Luckily the car didn’t give us anymore problems. As we climbed the winding road throug
h the Sequoia National forest, we began to see dirty patches of snow on the side of the road. Seeing as Savannah had never seen snow before I made it a point to mention it to her as we passed. She looked on with a stern face indicating that she was either too pissed off to care or that she hadn’t heard a word I had said and was thus sleeping with her eyes open. Ten minutes later an excited scream came from the back of the car, “SNOW!! Oh my gosh guys SNOW! Can we play?! Please guys can we play in the snow!? ….SNOW!!!!” We pulled into the “ Snow play area” (there was actually a sign that said “snow play area” on it that directed us into this location) and had a snowball fight, kicked over and old snowman and rolled it down the mountain (anti-climactic), I chopped down a tree with my bare hands, and Savannah made her first snow angel wearing thigh-high shorts, running shoes, and a hoodie. She was obviously an expert and had come well equipped for the climate.
I had to zone out the constant requests from Savannah to stop at every pullout from thereon out to stop and play in the snow again as we were extremely late and still hadn’t reached the Park. We finally made it and got some great shots of “General Sherman,”
the largest tree in the world. I now know what a mouse feels like looking up at a six foot tall human…and I feel for them. The thought of that tree picking up its roots and walking around with me trying to avoid its footsteps, well it’s something I don’t want to dwell on.
We made it out and were back on the freeway to LA. Amy took over the wheel as I’d had my fill. I can’t even remember how many hours straight I’d driven up to that point counting back to the previous day. I fell asleep in the back and woke up to a rude awakening. My inquiry as to our whereabouts yielded an unwanted response. Jon said we had been traveling an hour in the wrong direction as we’d taken a wrong turn. I was pissed but not surprised as this was not the first time I had woken up to this type of news…reflecting back to last year’s conference trip when Jon took us deep into the Indian reservation at 3:00AM. That’s a story for another time though. Anyway, I tried to hide my frustration because it was Amy driving and I would feel bad being mad at her. She knew this and that’s why she finally spilled the beans and relieved my frustration by informing that we merely exited the freeway to stop at In N Out for some late lunch. Great substitute for being lost if you ask me.
We filled our belly’s, all but Savannah who wasn’t feeling well from all the junk food we’d downed that day, and went on to L.A. 
There we stopped at a Barnes and Noble to steal their power outlets and charge all of our electrical devices. We also used up the last hour of my wireless internet purchase from the night before and I posted the previous day’s entry which Jon had written during the drive to Sequoia.
It took us about another hour and a half to finally find our beach front property that we’d be sleeping at for the night as we drove up and down the pacific coast highway just off Interstate 5 only to finally realize we we’re pretty much on top of where we were supposed to be the whole time. Doheny State Beach (No Joe, not Bohemian State Beach). We took great courage when, as we were signing in to the camp ground, two cop cars came speeding into the campground like they were on a hunt. I reassured Savannah that everything was ok and we pulled into our camp spot which someone had so conveniently taken so we parked across the street. I say convenient because the spot we ended up in faced the Pacific ocean about 20 yards from the shoreline. Jon, Amy, and I rolled our sleeping bags out on the beach while Savannah slept in the car. We slept the rest of the night to the sound of the waves that seemed to be crashing on top of us. I fully expected to wake up during high tide and find myself drifting into the ocean in my roommate’s nice new cozy mummy bag. Fortunately we stayed dry and it was a really pleasant night on the beach.
Posted by jburgy on Mar 11, 2009 in
California 09 So, we last left off as we were just entering the fabled Golden State. After our adventures at the Welcome to California sign we continued on our way arriving in Los Angeles around 5 oclock in the morning. We stopped at a chevron to refuel when we were struck by our next odd adventure. Joe, who was holding the key to the car, had been throw
ing away some trash when he screamed in horror as he realized he had just thrown away the key to the car! How does that happen?!So that is why you see a picture of the upper half of Joe inside the trash can. When he couldn’t find it by simply reaching in and rummaging around Spencer had the genius idea of taking out the whole bag, which we did, and then dumped
the entire contents out on the ground and continued our search amid the filth and sludge that that can only be found discarded in a gas station trash can. Several people watched on in disgust and shock as we, like raccoons, dug through the trash in search of our treasure. We found the key
and after washing our hands with a bottle of water and applying copious amounts of Germ-X in an attempt to sanitize our hands we were on our way again.
Spencer directed us to the location that we would drop him off, a rather shady looking neighborhood I must say, I do hope he’s still alive. We wish you luck!
And then there were four. Savannah took the next shift driving while I attempted to stay awake and keep her awake. We drove north on the Pacific Coast Highway bound for San Francisco and all its glory. The drive was quite beautiful along the coast, with the huge moon “on steroids” as Savannah put it, reflecting over the ocean. A few hours later we ran into my favorite animal from peru. A monkey? No. But yes, llamas! A whole herd of them. Yes, it was going to be a good day. We stopped at a McDonalds and had a little breakfast after which I drove. I drove for an hour or so, constantly fighting to keep my eyes open. Finally I lost the battle, and all went quiet….until the WHAMP WHAM WHAMP of the median bumps awoke me and I swerved back into the right lane, waking Joe up, who took over driving a little ways down. Reminds me of a Jack Handy quote, “When I die I want to go peacefully in my sleep like my Grandpa, not screaming in terror like the passengers in his car.” HAHA.
And then we were in San Francisco.
As we drove in one of the first things we saw was the Candlestick Football stadium home of the 49ers. We found an opening and drove around looking for some kind of information for tours. But the place was absolutely deserted! As we continued to drive around we found an open gate. We could see a clear path that led straight to the end zone. There were signs everywhere saying that the area was under constant video surveillance and that the terrorist threat level was rated “Elevated: High risk of terrorist attack”…… But there were no security guards or any one so with fearless Savannah leading the way we marched right in onto the 49ers end zone. Amy danced the victory dance and we took some pictures. 
Then I looked back and saw a cop car speeding down the parking lot on the opposite side of the fence that we were parked on so we skedaddled out of there real quick like. Illegal activity one accomplished.
After the stadium we made our way over to the infamous Golden Gate Bridge, which you may recognize from popular films such as Godzilla and Homeward Bound: Lost in San Francisco. And let me tell you, its even cooler in person. We drove across it then parked nearby and got our longboards out and longboarded across the bridge. 
That’s right. We longboarded across the Golden Gate Bridge. On our way back a Chinese construction worker stopped Amy on her longboard and told her it was illegal to ride on the bridge. Now I ask, what is it that makes rollerblading and skating more dangerous than bikers?? I mean, there bigger, they go faster, they cause more damage if you get hit. Can someone explain this to me?? At any rate, illegal act two accomplished.
On our way to the bridge we had passed a rather ornate looking building with beautiful Corinthian pillars and a dome topped building. Savannah told us it was an Exploratorium. We told her she was making up words. So on our way back, we stopped at it, and sure enough it was a Science Exploratorium. We went into the science Exploratorium and played for about an hour, there was some awesome stuff! Whirl winds, huge bubbles, space particles to name a few. There was even one that scared Savannah right out of the booth.
After we were done playing we realized that we were actually supposed to have paid to be in there. Illegal act three. But our consciences prodding us along, we went up and told them that we had unknowingly entered without paying and intended to pay, luckily the guy there was way cool and told us not to worry about it. Then Joe tripped over the rope railing and nearly took the whole barricade line down…..But that’s what you get for being honest kids. Blessings.
After the science museum we found our hotel and took a nap. A few hours later we woke up and went out in search of food. We found Victors Pizza and destroyed an extra large pizza that was quite delicious. After dinner we drove to the Golden Gate Park and sauntered around for a little bit. It was quite pretty. We found the “research and development entrance” improperly titled “National Science Academy” but it was having a private show and we apparently weren’t invited though we tried our best. The girls were freezing so we made our way back to the car and back to the hotel. Yes it had been an eventful first day on this epic journey across the state of California.
Posted by jkieth on Mar 10, 2009 in
California 09 And we’re off! The Avalon’s radio clock reads 2:30AM and we’re currently driving the stretch of freeway between Blythe and Los Angeles. Amy stopped counting how many FedEx trucks we’ve passed since the trip began as the task seemed a bit daunting once she reached 1,929,923. I was the first driver and Spencer graciously offered to stay awake in the passenger seat to keep me company while the other three dozed off in the back. We got to know each other pretty well in the short couple of hours we had until he decided he was dozing (I can’t blame him I guess since I can’t imagine how boring it would be to talk to myself for that extended period of time) so we pulled into the love’s 
in Quartzite to switch drivers. I decided to stay up front so I could flip my laptop open and make sure we didn’t leave any details out of the outrageous departure happenings we’ve experienced thus far!
If you’ve read the “introduction” already you know that it’s been rough since the get go. Seems like no matter how many hoops we manage to jump through to make this trip happen there’s always another giant “hula” right around the corner. Well, they haven’t stopped yet. We took our departure picture at the condo and all piled into the car…ready for take-off. I know “taking-off” usually implies that you actually start traveling but in this case it was anything but. The only taking-off we did was to take off Spencer’s bike rack which had been so eloquently attached to the trunk of Jon’s car in an attempt to find the ignition key! We stripped the car, unloaded the trunk, looked through bags, scoured the parking area within close proximity of the car, and finally, after multiple trips from myself and Jon into the condo, Jon comes out with the lonely key. It was under his shoe in his closet! HOW does that happen?! I’m not going to venture on answering that question. We were all just glad to leave.
Unfortunately our troubles didn’t end there. We got two blocks away from the condo and I realized my wallet was not on my person. Frustrated, I turned the car back around to retrieve my wallet I had left in my own car earlier today (yesterday).
NOW we were off… for REALS this time. The trip went smoothly to Quartzite where we switched drivers as mentioned previously. Amy took over and lead us to the California/Arizona border. I tried to catch a snap shot of the border patrol lady in the booth, but when she saw me scrambling for my camera as we pulled up she quickly waved us through leaving no opportunity for a photo opp. Amy then zoomed past the “Welcome to California” as Savann
ah was screaming at the top of her lungs that we HAD to stop to take a picture of it with the group. After a series of light “on and off” brakings, we finally slowed to a stop along the side of the freeway about a half a mile past the sign. Amy then decides the best thing to do would be to start backing up on the shoulder! She did as we watched our lives flash before our eyes several times as semi after semi zoomed past inches from Amy’s side-view mirror. We finally decided to stop and finish the rest of the trek back to the sign on foot. The picture of the five of us running down the freeway at 2:00 in the morning had to have been priceless. I wish we had some video footage of it. But we got the picture and I guess that’s all that really matters…and we’re still alive!
Posted by jburgy on Mar 16, 2008 in
DC and East Coast So today was Sunday. It was quite an enjoyable day. We woke up a little late and only had about a half hour for all 6 of us to shower and get ready for church. We did pretty well too, almost all of us got into the shower, only yours truly wasn’t able to shower due to time constraints. Attractive huh? We packed up the loaf of bread and our jars of organic peanut butter and jelly and ran off to the station. We met up with Rachel at her house and took the bus to her ward. When the bus got there we all piled in and and i guess we were taking too long or something cause when I was trying to put the money in the machine the driver was just like, you guys are good, just go, just go, and shoved three tickets at me and waved us on. I dunno. On the bus Dallin struck up a conversation with a rather interesting character who said he was in D.C. because of Stalin. Oooook….. Blake also met a Phillipino woman while he was singing the National Anthem of the philipines and she told him that he was “close.”
So then we got to church and after the sacrament meeting, blake decided he couldnt wait any longer to get some food in his stomach so we went on a hunt for the kitchen. After much searching we found the kitchen and proceeded to make our delicious peanut butter sandwiches ( thank you Jefferson!) several people walked in and were surprised to see the foreigners in their kitchen making sandwiches between classes, but hey, blake was hungry, what can ya do. Rachel found us and we made a sandwich for her too.
After church we went over to the aerospace museum to see if it was open, because you see, there lay the greatest treasure of all D.C. The Puffy Shirt from Seinfeld. I will allow Blake to expound on this subject.
Then we went to the hotel to relax for an hour before we headed to Rachel’s place for pizza. When we got there she had a feast ready of not pizza, but delicious meat ball sandwiches and french fries. I proceeded to make a good impression by accidentally jump kicking one of her roomates in the leg and stomping another on the foot on my way to the kitchen. I panicked and could only manage to say “Auugh…i kicked a girl! and then stepped on the others foot!” then i covered my face and ran out…..luckily they thought my clumsiness was funny and it turned out all right.
Then we saw a bit of the sights at night, the White house and some others. And that was the end of our last full day on this wonderful amazing fantastic trip filled with adventure and heart pounding, adrenaline pumping activities.
-Jon
Posted by pelegray on Mar 14, 2008 in
DC and East Coast Holy Honkers! Today was amazing. I mean, first of all we were feeling cheap so Jon, Joe, and I packed in a peanut butter and jelly loaf (not sandwich, a whole loaf). We started at the Jefferson, which Jon wrote of, and then went to the Capitol building. The plan was to meet up with Jacob’s friend (She works as a tour guide at the capitol. It was her day off and what would she rather do than take us on a tour? nothing) at the capitol building. Well she got tickets and hid them in a rubber box to the left of the tent supplies. So we met up with her down in the basement of a building adjacent of the capitol building. This place was nuts, the security cops were carrying AK-47’s. Rachael was excited because we would get to see the voting of the FISA bill. As we waited in line we chomped down some of our amazing sandwiches and ate bananas. So we were looking pretty high class. Since the tour guide was our buddy they took our sandwiches and hid them at the security desk. (gotta save that amazing loaf).
OK THIS IS WHERE THE MAGIC HAPPENS!!!!! So as we were waiting those invisible patriot waves started to go through us. I high fived all the guys and started to get pumped up. This was it, we were nearing the tunnel to go see congress. The house of representatives. It was time to vote on FISA, we were going to be a part of history. Then…… the doors closed. We were 15 people too far back in line to see the vote. We would have to wait. Until, from behind the model of the Capitol building, standing at 6′3″, weighing in at around 175 pounds, with wavy dirty blond hair, in the black suit, from Snowflake Arizona came JEFF FLAKE!!!! Rachael must have seen him coming earlier because she greeted him and told him we were from Mesa and would like a picture and he complied. We stood there talking for a little while. You know I had to crack a joke, see if I could get the Congressman to smile. He mentioned something about us 6 being with Rachael, so I chimed in, “She’s pretty lucky, when she gets back to AZ she has 6 dates lined up.” op…op….uh-oh…. what was that….. ehhhhh… a smile……. and a laugh. SCORE! Then he asked us if we wanted to go to the floor. uhhh yes. So he took us out of line and marched us in. When we started taking off our belts and putting our bags through the scanner, when cool hand Jeff told them “They’re with me”. Security then just simply waved us through the scanners. I couldn’t believe what was happening. We were being rushed through security by the authority of no less then US Congressmen Jeff Flake.
Things didn’t cool down either he walked with us through the corridor and talked with us the whole way. He told us about the FISA bill. So Joe scooted up close to him and asked, “So what’s the low down on this one? What’s your vote?” He didn’t even speak, he just started shaking his head and with the ere of a Roman Emperor he gave the emphatic thumbs down. I kept close behind him, like a nerd to a superstar, and just kept saying “This is soooo cool.” He smiled and just kept walking and keeping cool. I guess it is nice for a Congressman to have young pup yipping behind him holding onto to his coat tails. (wowsers, this is so neat-o) After the corridor came the elevators. Sadly, we couldn’t all pack into one elevator so he promised to meet us upstairs. Guess what? as the door was closing guess who walked by us, like 2 feet away. RON PAUL! None other then Mr. Patriot himself. So Rep. Flake met us upstairs and we put all or stuff in the closet for people who are “with” a member of Congress. We then went to an upper balcony for special observers.
So there we were. Looking down across the floor of the Capitol building. Before us was Nancy Pelosi. The little devil. Ron Paul was shooting off his mouth to some poor sap who got suckered into his unending void of rantings. (The man is a genius none-the-less) This is where history is made and the future is modeled. This was amazing. The vote was cool, quick and easy, no discussion and no debate. It passed thanks to the democrats being the majority. After the vote, he showed up again! He came up to talk to us. Rep. Flake was saying the swinging point was the fact that the democrats wanted something in their that limited the power of the president and it was over the ability of customers to sure a telecom company that had, at the prompting of the government, given their call list to the government. The Dem’s wanted to have in the bill the measure that legal action could be taken against the companies. The problem with that is that, according to Rep. Flake, why give them the right to sue these companies when they had provided these lists in good faith TO THE GOVERNMENT AT THE REQUEST OF THE GOVERNMENT. If anyone is at fault, it is the government. The funny thing is is that this will not pass by the president anyway. He will just veto it. This was more of a statement. A statement? Lets get to work people.
So we talked for 30 minutes and then he said so would you like to see the Congressional Deck. hmmm…. jee let me check my calender. We have the oppurtunity of a life time before us or….. wait that is pretty much the coolest thing I have ever heard. I almost just reached up and grabbed his hand like a 7 year-old but I was getting better at controlling my giddiness. So we got taken to an area of the capitol building where we were not allowed to go, unless of course you are the honorary guests of a Congressman. We walked by the Speaker of the House’s office. I could hear her voice. The little devil. Then we walked out to her deck. It was funny, as we were walking out there I was honestly telling Rep. Flake how much I despised that women, then we passed by her office. The Congressional deck was amazing. Okay, so we were on the capitol building. We could see all the way down to the mall and the National monument. Lincoln’s memorial was visable, Jefferson’s dome was seeable. Wow! This was amazing. What a nice guy huh? Taking us out to snap a few pictures and take off. So after taking some pictures we noticed he was just standing there talking about baseball. So we started to talk to him and you know what happened. We had a discussion on foreign relations, agriculture reform, and us 6 guys and our hot date with Rachael. I think we discussed that last one, I hope not. Then I was there again. Standing there with a Congressman I respected, (not like Pelosi, the little devil) talking politics overlooking the capitol of our nation……. We told them where we went on missions and he was like “I was in the Philippines a year ago. I went to Thailand right after the tsunami. I am the coolest guy ever.” ok, so only the “I am the coolest guy ever” part isn’t true but that is what I was hearing. It was cool he started talking about problems with farms subsidies, I love that topic, I spout off about it at random times all the time. Apparently Joe was listening, because he started chiming in with all my lines. He stole my lines!!! I waited my whole life for this. I was recording the whole conversation and you can hear me muttering in the background…. “hey I told you that!” All joking aside though, this was an honor. I mean, we couldn’t have planned it better. We didn’t plan any of this. This was amazing, just ask me about it next time I see you. I will start talking faster and faster and the pitch of my voice will continue to increase in excitement until the only noise you will hear is the barking of dogs responding to my super-high decibel-dog call too high for the human ear to understand.
Yeah, it was that awesome.
Jeff Flake/Rachel/Us/Capital Balcony…aka VIP ONLY!
Posted by jkieth on Mar 14, 2008 in
DC and East Coast I must say it was an incredibly enlightening day. And really, who could expect anything less of a day that starts off with free crispy cream donuts. This apparently is what is considered an East coast hotel’s continental breakfast…to tell you the truth, it’s a shame the rest of the world hasn’t yet fully embraced this delicious tradition. The crispy creams weren’t enough for a few of us though so we polished off the rest of our morning appetites with another visit to the best kept secret of Alexandria, “The Blue and White Restaurant.” We came across this little gem the first day while meandering through the back-streets in hopes of returning to the metro station. A cozy little run-down corner shack that reminded me a lot of the kind of sidestreet vendors I would eat at in Thailand. The food is to die for though and at a refreshingly reasonable price I might add.
The first stop on the tour was the Jefferson Memorial which Jon so exquisitely described in his recent post and then on to the captial building. I know Blake is the politician of the group so I trust he will not leave any brush unstroked in his painting the mural for us of this unprecedented and unparralled event of the day.
Proceeding the Capital Building, Rachel, our beautiful tour guide, escorted us to another well kept secret of the area. The hideaway I’m referring to is a delicious little crepe’ shop deep in the heart of Georgetown called “Snaps Crepe’s.” There we shared a meal and a moment together. Blake’s shining moment was when he suggested to Rachel that we order one extra crepe’, split it six ways (with the guys paying), and call it a date. She smiled which I think means she either accepted, or was trying to figure out how she managed to get tricked into guiding the six most awkward moment prone individuals in the Nation. Well, at least three anyway. Dallin, Jacob, and Zane played it pretty smooth for the most part. But, if you’re wondering why the title of this entry refers to light, though it will also be evident later on as to the reason for this, it’s because Rachel really was like a pillar of knowledge. She knew everything there was to know about buildings, paintings, politics, places to eat….etc. To tell you the truth (and keeping with the “awkward” theme), she can light up my path anytime she wants.
Finally, the event of the evening, the trek of all treks was about to take place. After a quick trip home on the metro to change into church attire, it was off to find the DC Temple. Rachel gave us the general directions on how to get there and we also received some valuable insight from Jacob Roger’s sister who, in a literal sense, is actually a “Sister Rogers.” She is currently serving in the Washington DC temple mission. We got off the metro at the closest possible station to the temple and then began our journey. It was dark and quiet as we trekked through the backwoods of the New England landscape. The rain had timely subsided just minutes before our exiting the subway which provided a welcomed after-rain scent to the night air. After about a half a mile, as we peeped our heads above a small summit, there, directly to the West, gleamed the glory and majesty of our Lord’s House. It being the brightest landmark for miles around, we assumed there would be little hindrance of our walking a direct path into its open courtyards. However, like many times in life, dark trials precede radiant rewards. The winding roads of North Washington took us on a two mile detour that offered ups and downs, backs and arounds, and everything but undergrounds. Just when we were about to abandon the pursuit and call it quits, the light revealed itself again and we followed its path to the temple grounds. We got some pretty good night shots of the temple and were able to talk to Jacob’s sister and a few of the other sister missionaries for a bit before the visiting center closed and Elder Woodward gave us a ride back to the metro station. We crammed seven of us into his four man sedan. Pretty impressive eh? A quick stop at Wendy’s and a long metro ride back to the hotel concluded the night for us here on our second full day in DC. With each day bringing events that are exponentially increasing in excitement/amazement, I can only imagine what Saturday will bring. In fact it’s here already in the Eastern timezone so I better hit the sack. hasta manana.
-Joek
DC Temple Vistor’s Center
DC Temple (night shot)
Posted by jburgy on Mar 14, 2008 in
DC and East Coast The Louisiana Purchase. Father of the University of Virginia. The Lewis and Clark expedition. Author of the Declaration of Independence. These are just a few of the many accomplishments of our third President of the United States of America, Thomas Jefferson. The memorial to this great man was our first stop of this very eventful day. We got a bit of a late start since we were all so tired from the jet lag and change in time zones, but after packing our loaf of organic salted creamy peanut butter and rasberry jam sandwiches we were on our way. The memorial itself reminded me quite a bit of his own home that he himself designed, Monticello. The beautiful memorial is encircled by corinthian pillars and topped by a dome. As you enter you see an enormous statue of Jefferson and on the wall several inspiring quotes. One of my favorites said, “I have sworn before the almighty God hostility towards any form of tyranny.” (or something like that) I’m impressed with the deep level of Christianity illustrated by the founding fathers of our country. Many of the quotes and speeches that I have read portray a deeper conviction of divinity than I see shown presently. This country has been lead by some truly great men. And I’m proud to be an American. And those peanut butter sandwiches were dang good, i think Jefferson might have invented peanut butter….
Jon
Jefferson Memorial
Posted by pelegray on Mar 13, 2008 in
DC and East Coast America. The beautiful, the free. The wicked crazy awesome place to be. And me? I’m happy. Because 1, we made it there. 2, No one creepy touched me and 3, I am so proud to be an American. Maybe it was meant to be this way. My ticket reading Blake III Gray. Jon and Joe realizing they didn’t have return tickets as we got ready to board the plane. Sleeping in the airport, that would be the freezing cold airport I my add. Getting yelled at by the lady at the food store for no reason (I ain’t serving nothing but breakfast. I’m the only one here and you ain’t gettin’ nothin’ but breakfast. uh-huh) and not eating. I guess this was destiny, the yang of the yin. Since the West Coast trip was so amazing, (snort) the East Coast trip had to start off with some pot holes. I think it was funny how I ended up laying sprawled out in the hall of the DC airport at 3 AM. There was like 40 chairs by us but I can’t sleep in a chair so I laid down. From those 40 chairs a lady with a hat chose to sit directly by me. I say with a hat because that makes her a little creepier. I would stir and look up and she would just smile at me. It was weird, so I closed my eyes and prayed and when I stirred again she was gone, along with my soul. jk.
Okay, well today we went to the capitol. When the national monument came into full view I was awestruck. It was encircled in American flags, none other. It stretched high unabashed in it’s declaration of greatness. All the while the great pillar was enveloped in the international symbol of democracy and liberty. The Stars and Stripes. What was this nation 231 years ago? I submit it was the conglomeration of the hopes, dream, and aspirations of a world engulfed in the theocracies and tragedies of monocratic dynasties that had smothered the human spirit and stunted decades of minds ready to move beyond the muck and degradation that humanity had lived through. Before 1776 the United States was a dream. And there I stood, staring at the monument of it’s reality. It seemed so dreamy, so surreal. Then as we read the passion of Lincoln’s speeches and read the names of the soldiers who had given their lives in the preservation of a better way of live for people they couldn’t even converse with…. I realized it is always a step away from surreal. Always impossible. Always in need of men and women who have the brass to live such that one day that brass becomes the statues that generations later reverence as they visit the past in casted memories. America doesn’t need preservation as a country. America needs preservation as an ideal. WE need to stand tall unabashed by our beliefs. We need to be surrounded in acts that liberate and give inspiration to those around us. As much as I am proud to be an American, I am much prouder being an American. To receive it by virtue of their sweat is an honor, but being an American means perpetuating that honor to those that follow. It is so awesome to stand in the Mall. So many buildings surround you that remind you of that ideal that is America. Simultaneously they remind you of how that ideal was made a reality. We haven’t even scratched to surface yet either.
God Bless America
Posted by jkieth on Mar 13, 2008 in
DC and East Coast I admit that it would be impossible for me to even attempt to record the events that have led the six of us to a our current status and location (exhausted and fully sprawled out across our travelodge hotel room in old town Alexandria) in a way that would give due description of their splendor and reality. That said, I trust the important details I leave out will be aptly recorded by my associates.
Nothing starts off an amazing first day like a nice looooooooooong night in an airport terminal. Blake, Jon, and I spent the night searching for sleep on the terminal seating to no avail for the most part. Blake was sprawled faced down across the floor for a while and quickly decided, after some odd looking stares from frequent by-passers, his night would be more productively spent playing capitalism, “A great accounting game,” so he says. Also, since we had no clue how we were to be directing ourselves to our hotel, approximately 40 miles from the airport, in the morning for check-in, the supply curve eventually met the demand curve and we gave into divvying up 8 dollars for a days use of high-speed wireless internet at the Baltimore/Washington International (BWI). Yeah so we kind of got hosed on that one but rest assured it wasn’t until it was apparent that it was going to be our only resort.
We made it through the night and met up with Jacob, Dallin, and Zane promptly at 9:30AM the following morning as their flight arrived on time. We then waited for what seemed like forever at the bus stop that was to take us to the AMTrack subway station. Getting on the bus was a miracle in and of itself though. Had it not been for a nice young man that just happened to have change for a twenty…we would never have convinced the bus driver that a twenty dollar bill is almost exactly the same as three dollars and ten cents multiplied by six. In fact, if my math is correct, that would mean we were even willing to offer a small tip! I wish written language could offer a better idea of the accent this lady used when she said, “I done told him (Dallin) three times how much it eez ta ride this here bus. You ‘n give that twenty but that still aint goina git ya no change!”
After about an hour of transit travel, we walked another fifteen minutes or so to our hotel where Zane and I dropped off our luggage at the front office while the others kept a blocks distance to ensure that only two of us were seen at the hotel at one time. I wonder if they still believe that there are only “two” adults staying in the room we reserved. I guess it’s possible that two high maintenance adults could need twelve bags of luggage for a five day vacation…right?
Finally, the best part of the day was upon us. We traveled the train back to Washington DC where we met up with Chris and his Wife Sarah to view the National Monument, WWII Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Korean War Memorial, and World War One Memorial for Washingtonian Veterans. I’m going to allow Blake to expound upon the deep feelings of respect and amazement we felt as we somberly walked the paths of each site. Needless to say it was a deeply moving experience and one I don’t believe any of us will soon forget.
It is late and I am dozing as I type so I will bring this entry to a close with one of Lincoln’s famous quotes.
“I say ‘try’; if we never try, we shall never succeed.”
Till tomorrow…
-Joek
