Almost all settled in

I have now been in Redwood City for almost two weeks, and I have been busy. Last Saturday I flew from San Jose to Burbank to visit the Altadena church and meet some of the young group. We had a blast with a trip to the (cloudy and windy) beach and an evening of fellowship pictured here. I am pleased that I will be spending time attending church down south for now.

I have started working and am still getting used to it. The major adjustment peroid from college to profession is hopefully almost over.

My mom helped Rachel, my sister, and her family pack up for the move from Burbank, CA to Quakertown, PA around the week I was down near Burbank. Then mom came up and helped me pick out and assemble furniture from IKEA. I appreciate the help and support that she gave and continues to give. So now my apartment has furniture, and I will post some pictures soon.

Go West Young Man!

... or "That time I almost died in the desert." Here I am Friday, June 16, 2006, 6:15 AM with my car packed up and ready to go. Just 2122 miles to go. I just needed to go pick up my friend Drew Winship who was going to help me with the drive. The original plan was to take three days out to Redwood City. We would travel 13 hours from St. Louis to Denver, then 10 hours to the Nevada border, then the last day 10 more hours. This was not to happen.



Here Drew poses as I pick him up. And we are off through Missouri on Interstate 70. We made our way to Kansas City with little difficulity and were going strong through the interminable length of Kansas. We were so stupified that we missed the Colorado border and were a little confused when we saw the sign for the Denver Airport, that is until we realized we had made it to Denver. It was only about 6pm, and we both felt good so we decided to push on with the trip. So we hooked a right on I-25 up to Fort Collins.




In Fort Collins we had dinner at the Charco Broiler, which had peaked our interest because it seemed to be the favorite of the locals. I highly recommend that you stop by for dinner sometime, it was delicious. After dinner we hit the road up to Cheyenne and spent the night at the Express Inn at the intersection of I-25 and I-80. That night we looked at the map and figured that we could make it the rest of the way in one really long trip. It would give Drew more time to hang out in California before he had to leave.


The next day started early once more with some toast and cereal at about 6:10. Here Drew and I prepare for the second day. Wyoming was beautiful and clear. We crossed over the Great Divide at 7000 feet and it was mostly downhill from there. Into Utah we saw Park City where the Winter Olympics were held and passed through Salt Lake City with no incident. Along the Great Salt Lake we were stopped by an accident which we were a little concerned about because one of the cars was burnt crispy. Thankfully it appeared that no one was hurt as all those involved were standing by the side of the road when it was finally reopened. And that is when we passed out of history and into Legend.

Western Utah. The 37 miles between exits 4 and 41 are the longest exit-free stretch on any US interstate. It was right here that we lost the treading on our left rear tire while we were doing 80mph down the road. Our about 4000 foot gain in altitude and the desert heat had made our tire prone to damage. So here we are in the middle of the Bonneville Salt Flats stranded by the side of the road. This is where the Donner Party had some wagon wheel trouble. The first thing we do is push the car off the side of the road so we can put on the spare. We have to unload all of my wordly possessions onto the side of the road and pull out the spare. Once we jacked it up and took off the stripped one we have to pack everything back up with this large extra tire on the trunk. We are very thankful to my Mom for packing four bottles of water that helped keep us alive in the salt filled dry air. Then we try to start the car..... and it starts.... and it sputters and dies. We panic. Then we call AAA. The nearst service station is about 40 miles down the road in West Wendover, Nevada. I call my Dad to explain the situation and he recommends that we check the fuel cutoff that triggers when the car is in an accident. We push the fuel cutoff button back in and get in the car and start it... and it roars alive! So we tool down this stretch of road at 43mph while everyone else is doing about 90 past us. As I pull off the highway into West Wendover I see that the next services are 58 miles away in Nevada, and realize that I need new tires before going to a service station in either direction. So we drive past the eight or so Casinos just across the state line and start asking at gas stations where we can buy some tires. The first buisness card we get only results in a message machine. That is when we realize that it is 5:15 on a Saturday night and West Wendover buisnesses, while located in Nevada, stayed on Utah time because of all the visitors they get from Salt Lake City. We get two other leads, "try the second Sinclair gas station on the left down this road." And a card for a tire shop back at exit 4 in Utah.

The guy at the Sinclair station asked if we wanted some used tires. We looked at the piles and piles of used tires that were stacked around and decided that was not what we wanted. Could we please buy some new tires? He would have to call his boss and would get back to us in thirty minutes. We escaped that place and hit the highway going the wrong way back to exit 4 Utah, The Bonneville Speedway Exit. Behind the only structure visiable from the highway (a gas station) we found what appeared to be the home and business of the only legitimate tire shop in probably 100 miles. By legitimate read "expensive new tires". However, there was just one little problem... He did not have the right size tire. He would sell me these two tires that were just a little taller and thinner then my current tires. When you have no other option it is pretty easy to make a buying decision.

After loosing a couple hours to our desperate adventure in the desert we set forth once more to conquer the continent. Nevada was uneventful and boring, and California was a little scary because we were driving down twisty roads at night. But, in the end we made it and pulled into the driveway of my brother, Nathan, at 3:30am after being on the road the second day for 22 hours.

I may make a later post about my first week in California, but for now I am moved in and ready for a new chapter of my life.

I just flew in from the Middle East...

Well, not really. I have been delayed in posting for a long time. 10 days in Jordan and Israel in which I did not access a computer, and now I am planning for my move to California.

Israel was awsome in every way. I went with my parents and my brother-in-law (Josh). It was a whirlwind trip as we flew into Amman, Jordan on May, 23 and returned on June, 2. We spent two days at the start of the trip seeing Jordan. Then we went across the border to Jericho and Jerusalem. The picture to the left is my dad, Josh, and myself on the Mount of Olives with the temple mount in the background. We saw the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee. If you want more details then you will have to talk to me in person.

So now I am deciding on a place to live out in Redwood City. I am going to get a one bedroom apartment because I am wary of trying to find a random roomate, and after four years at Brown House it will be nice to be alone. The prices of places is pretty steep, but hopefully I will be alright.

I am going to be driving out with an old highschool buddy over the weekend of the 16-18 with two nights at hotels in Denver and Nevada. It should be one 13 hour day followed by two 10 hour days. So now it is on to packing.