June 28, 2007

June 28, 2007

Victory has a Salty Taste

It was a ringing phone that woke me up in the morning. It was my sister Julie, wondering when she could pick us up. Looking around at five other half naked, sleeping guys; I told her to give us a minute to wake up and clean up a little before we left. I didn’t know that she was looking for us in the Wal-Mart parking lot down the road, where we got kicked out the night before, to surprise us with Krispy-Kremes and milk. She was the one who was surprised when we weren’t there.
I told Julie where we finally ended up for the night and she came right on over. The donuts disappeared the moment they came through our side door and the milk, soon after. We talked for a minute or two before following Julie back to the apartment. Usually before we drive we let Helen idle for a few minutes to warm up. We didn’t tell Julie that we needed to idle for a second, before she took off out of the parking lot. Afraid of losing the lead vehicle of our head-turning convoy we pulled into a busy intersection before Helen was ready for it. She died, blocking two lanes of traffic. The impatient LA drivers let us know that they were behind us by all laying on their horn. Luke started Helen up again, and barely straightened her out into one lane before she died again. Now people are buzzing past us on our right side, letting us know with their hands how much they appreciated us stopping where we were. Starting it once again Luke pulls into the right lane, cutting off another LA driver. Julie, meanwhile, witnesses this all go down and pulls over to the side of the road. We made it to the next light, died, and started again. Helen stalled about five times. After a few close call red lights, we made it home.
Ryan was waiting for us at the apartment to follow us back to the church, where the Winnebago would be staying for the next few days. The Bago made it to the church with fewer problems than before, but our rear wheel-wells were smoking from all of the stop and go traffic of the city. Our brakes had been burning up, from driving on flat ground. We did run four red lights and had a few more horns honked at us, but we made it. After grabbing our bags and putting them in Ryan’s truck, we started back.
Arriving at our new temporary home, we began to unpack and plan the evening ahead of us. A trip to In-N-Out Burger and going to the beach was on the list of things we needed to do while in Cali.
In-N-Out was better than we could have anticipated. The giant burgers sat well in our hungry stomachs and the fact that they were free made them taste all the better (Ryan and Julie’s treat, Thanks!) We learned how to order things like the locals; things that aren’t on the menu like animal style fries, delicious. A new favorite restaurant to us all.
The beach was just down the road from the In-N-Out. As we pulled in to the parking lot, it began to dawn on us that we had finally made it. We piled out of the jeep and truck with campfire and smores supplies in hand. The guys quick changed into bathing suits and headed towards the water. A ton of pictures were taken of the dramatic moment (check the new albums) as we ran the entire length of the beach and dove into the giant, ocean waves. That’s when we knew we had made it. With a giant gulp of salt water I realized victory had a new taste.
From here on out, wherever we get to is just bonus. Our trip was made complete with swim in the Pacific. We are so thankful that we made it this far. There were a lot of people who doubted, including us at times, that we would make it, but we did. We all feel a bit relieved to finally be here and are enjoying every minute of it. Thanks again to Ryan and Julie for an awesome first day in Rancho Cucamonga, a possible highlight for the entire trip.

Winnebago Guys, from the desk of Aaron Tubergen
Rancho Cucamonga, California