Finish line.......ocean

We did it! After 2,600 miles, four pairs of shoes and a few layers of skin off the shoulders we did it. The last 20 miles was fun, the rain let up for just enough time to finish the trip. Now we start driving home to camp in your front yard! ............. Yes I'm talking to you right now,I'm on my way....................................... seriously.
your pal
Ben Warner

National !!!!!!

We recently attended the National Boys & Girls conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Usher was there, via video feed, and told us his confessions...
not really. But he was inducted into the hall of fame and I thought that was pretty cool because I used to always listen to his confessions album while skateboarding.
The conference had inspiring speakers and some dynamic performances. The older generation of the Boys & Girls club members have so much wisdom and love to share and the cheesecake was amazing.
Before the conference we went to the Holyfield Boys & Girls club in Atlanta. It never ceases to amaze us how much energy the kids have. We interviewed one of the staff members and he told us a little more about the struggles and successes of the kids and the club.

pop quiz

The Clubs have been so much fun, until the kids began to ask me questions I did not know the answer too.............. I wish i payed better attention in Geometry.

fancy food

We finished skating and decided to have some gourmet food in the most elegant campsite in Alabama. For some reason my tuxedo was left at the dry cleaners so i wore my favorite sweater. The food was great but I'm not crazy about the cleanliness of the cook.

Dance lessons 101

1. Make it look effortless

(Ryan didn't make it that far...)

now for some moves from the Meridian, Mississippi kids....

I cant stop writing blogs

We caught Mike trying to skate to the waffle house during a visit at the Meridian Boys & Girls club. I quickly set the camera to tazer mode and brought him down so the kids could ride his board. He recovered 10 minutes later, for some reason he refers to himself as sid now. Oh well, the kids really seem to love this guy.

Is this awesome or AWESOME?!?!

Pretty much the coolest vehicle/trailer set we've seen the entire trip.

Mooooo

Okay so I know I mentioned we have really been enjoying that southern hospitality, but today I realized not everyone possesses those wonderful qualities that give the south that special charm. The realization came as Ben and I were skating along highway 11 in east Alabama. Humidity and spirits were running high as we came upon a pack of cows. Here is how the conversation played out...

Me: "Hey cow!"
(cows look, acknowledge me)
Ben: "Hey cow!"
(cows look at him, start to turn around)
Together: "Hey cow!"
(cows run away from us)

Somewhere along the line, the cows seem to have lost their southern hospitality of being welcoming and respectful to their elders.

Feels like home

This photo was taken at about 10:30 in the morning two days ago. It starting raining so hard, I had the urge to go for a walk in the rain. My umbrella lasted about two seconds before it broke from the wind. The rain was warm and I found myself stepping in puddles of up to six inches. (my shoes still smell). There is nothing like a mid morning walk in the storm. Beautiful.

Aftermath: went to go do the laundry cause our clothes were soaked and it cost $4.25 to do one wash...didn't want to pay that much. So, our van is smelly. Well, smellier than it already was...

war wound

We were at an RV park in Vicksburg, Mississippi we were playing chicken in the water when Stacy and Ryan were battling. Stacy pushed Ryan off Ben's shoulders and on the floor of the swamp. Thinking that he was being attacked by an alligator, he began to panic. When he got to the surface of the water he realized that it was mike biting his foot. We forgot to feed the animal that is Mike Jones! Ryan will recover physically.Emotionally it could take years.

New Dance Moves

Do the stanky legg!!!

(really do it!)

These are a few kids from a boys and girls club in Abilene, Texas. They performed at the Stake and Burger night we attended. They got some good moves! Mike is pretty good at it too.

m-i-s-s-i--s-s-i-p-p-i

We crossed the mighty Mississippi River!! We are now camping in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Earlier today we went and saw some of the levees. They had markings of the flood lines and it was very interesting how they try to control such a massive river! The levees had historical paintings for about half a mile by a local artist. Each painting also had a brief written history by it. My favorite was the painting of Theodore Roosevelt when he went hunting near Vicksburg. Apparently, he refused to shoot a bear and that is where "Teddy Bears" came from. Ben looked at me like I should have known that...

Yesterday we stayed in West Monroe, La. I'm feeling the history vibe so I'll tell you what I learned...
Apparently we add an extra "e" sound when we say "Louisiana".
Lou-ee-zee-ana vs. Lou-zee-ana.

The kids were a lot of fun and very talented at the West Monroe club. Ryan checked his email later to see he had even gotten some new myspace freinds ;) She told Ryan that no matter where he goes she will always be his friend...Awww so sweet! :) We also played two-hand touch football. Somehow I still managed to get knocked over by a kid! Ryan and Jerry got beat in pool by a thirteen year-old girl named Rachel. Ryan and I played chess with a few kids. The kids had learned how to play from one of the staff members. Pretty cool!! Before we left, we enjoyed some really good spaghetti for lunch with a few of the staff members.

Now backtracking to our visit in Shreveport, Lou-zee-ana...
Their club had burnt down accidentally a little less than two years ago. They were meeting in a temporary building until they could raise funds to get a new one up and running. We couldn't believe how well behaved the children were. Mr. Elmer Nunley, CFO, was very active in the children's lives. He told us how he is in constant contact with the children's parents and helps to keep them in line. Transportation can often be a problem, but he is always willing to pick children up and take them home. He and his staff really are going above and beyond in helping these children. He is really helping kids be accountable and parents informed about their children. :)

~~~


All in all we are experiencing southern hospitality at it's finest...be it from the kids, staff members, strangers, rv park neighbors, or even those little mosquitoes who like to share some extra loving with us...

Swamp life

We took the day off and camped in the swamp, Stacy cut my hair.........I'll probably wear a hat for the rest of the trip. The boys went swimming at night looking for alligators. Still nothing, just a couple of Canadian snowbirds skinny dipping.( A bit more frightening than an alligator). There are some real big bugs in this area. I swallowed one , it had a slight Cinnamon flavor to it. I might spread some on a piece of armadillo meat. Last night some large rat looking creatures got into our cooler and ate our hot dogs............Mike is still in mourning. The swamp lands are the most beautiful places I have ever skated, other than Parkland.

Leaving Texas

We found a dead Armadillo on the side of the road, I think i might hollow out the shell and wear it as a helmet so aliens won't be able to hear my thoughts. I think we have been going a little bit crazy with sun block, I'm still bright white.

zoo

We are just Leaving Abiline, Texas. I fell at the skate park and skinned my knee. I cried for a little bit, the the rest of the group took me to the zoo and I felt all better. Today we skate to Dallas, we should be there by Saturday!

Tornado Warning

Oh snap! We've been moving so fast there's a tornado watch where we're at!

Or maybe it's just mother nature.

Either way, we are taking time to settle down and recap what's going on. (And don't worry we decided to stay in a hotel tonight because our tent trailer probably wouldn't withstand high winds or possible "baseball sized" hail!)

El Paso - It's about five miles from Jaurez, Mexico. We had heard a little bit about the drug cartel situation, but it all came to life in El Paso. Before we were leaving we could see a huge fire that was going on in Jaurez. Many of the children have a lot of family and freinds in Juarez, and the sitaution defintely is affecting their lives. However, the club is doing amazing work in El Paso. They take a proactive approach to their community and are really working to bridge the gap between parents and children. The club offers GED classes, family events, Aerobics classes to the community and parents...FREE of charge. The first day we arrived we hung out with the kids at the club, playing basketball and pool and enjoying some authentic Mexican food. The next day we hung out with the kids at a skatepark behind the club. It was a blast and lots of kids came! They say everything is bigger in Texas, and that's true, especially their hearts. Art, Isabel, and the countless volunteers and americorps workers....Thank you! You really inspired us with your selflessness and positive attitudes.

Odessa-I'm not going to say which football team I support, but know that football is king in this town (their HIGH SCHOOL stadium has a jumbo tron!) PLU in Tacoma doesn't even have one of those! We started out by enjoying some really good burgers some of the guys had BBQ'd. We then hid eggs for the Easter egg hunt. The girls at the club taught me how to battle...hula hoop style. Ben was feeling sick and so one of the staff members Miss Tamara Farris took Ben to the emergency room(it was the only place open) and turns out he was diagnosed with bronchitis. Good thing he didn't listen to me! I thought he was just trying to get out of skating for the day and told him to suck it up. Kelly, the CPO, gave us a tour of Odessa for the rest of us. As we were leaving I realized I had accidently left the lights on, but a nice man helped us by giving our van a jump.

Now we are relaxing and watching the Ten Commandments. Ryan just commented that Moses is pretty BA. I agree!

Ben says he is "star *cough* ing to *cough* feel bette *cough*r"

Mike is getting Ben his Vitamin C and water out of the car in exchange for a blizzard.

Jerry is enjoying the smell of rain. So am I! We haven't had rain since Washington!

Ghost town

After crossing the Arizona /New Mexico border we came across a ghost town. We told scary stories for three hours. Unfortunately, it was in the middle of the day. So only Ryan got scared. Shortly after he fell on a cactus, he is forced to sleep on his stomach because of the thorns on his back side. (poor baby)

down hill over 50 mph

Went with longboarding at the foothills with some guys that schooled us in the art of down hill. They design their own trucks, These Arizona guys are crazy good. I'll put up a link to their site as soon as I get it from them. The black top is beautiful here in Tucson.

Gila Bend

We just left Gila Bend and spent the night at Heather Goebel's house, she is the Branch Manager at the Library. We had a great time hanging out with the kid's. On the way out I came across a rattle snake and killed it with my longboard.

YUMA YUMA YUMA!!!

Well here we are in Yuma Arizona! The weather is about 85-90 degrees and hot hot hot! The sun is shining and we are getting our tan on! oh yeah! That's what I'm talking about. We jammed with Canadians last night on our guitar at the camp site! What a time, they come down for winters because the weathers so nice. They are headed to Tucson today, so hopefully we will run into them there. They were awesome! Well, we shall get back to riding, so hopefull we'll cover another hundred miles today! See all of you soon!

Here we go

Four square and seven years ago...

Okay so what went down today wasn't as important as that day...but we officially have left! We left from the Star of India in San Diego. Jerry's grandparents were there as was Dr. Steve DeTray. He is a non-profit professor at UWT who really helped Ben get this project into gear. It was awesome and thanks to everyone for YOUR support. We skated about 50 miles and there were some brutal hills but what goes up must come down...

Yesteday we took a tour of Sector9. Words couldn't describe how much that place rocked. Regardless of the gear they produce, the people there are what rocked most about the tour. (although Ryan, Jerry, and Mike loved the bowl they got to skate in!) They hooked us up with so much gear and we are thankful for that, because we will be needing it! 80% of Sector9's gear is made in the USA and they are all about recycling there from finding alternative wrapping for shirts to recycling crates, they are very conscious. We thought that was pretty sweet too.

Bringing some country music into this...

I did a little stint with KMPS...take a listen. It's on the left side of the screen about half way down on Ich's Audio.
http://www.kmps.com/pages/1941044.php?

todays news

We are in the Tacoma News Tribune today!
http://www.thenewstribune.com/topstory/story/640009.html

testing session

we just got done building our dropdecks for the trip, were going to test them out on some of the kids from the San Diego clubs!

Webdings Translation

I Love www.Longboardingamerica.com!

King 5 Story

Check us out on the King 5 website!

http://www.king5.com/video/?z=y&nvid=328167

The News Tribune

Today we were glamour boys. We got to do a little photo shoot for The News Tribune! We hit up 5-Mile drive and got to show off our skills a little bit. It was a good day. Especially when Ryan fell riding uphill!!! Good Stuff. Look for us in the paper soon.

new sponsor!

sk8trip distrobution just sponsored us wheels and bearings for the trip, along with some sticker to give out to the kids!

http://www.abec11.com/

The Swiss March 1st @ 2 pm

We are having a show @ the swiss March 1st, some real cool local bands are going to be playing there. Come out and bring your friends!

King 5 News

This morning at 9:00AM we had a shoot with Jane McCarthy of King 5 News. She interviewed Ben and "The Garys" of the Boys & Girls Club of South Puget Sound. We played some basketball at East Side, and then we went a had a little camera time at the park. We even had Jane try to longboard a little bit. Overall, it was a good morning.

The clip will be shown tomorrow morning (February 3rd, 2009) on King 5 News, and then again on Kong 6/16 later that night. For a recap of the clip, King 5 News will it posted on their website www.king5.com We will also have it on our website once it airs tomorrow. So check it out!

Budget!!!!

We just worked out the rest of our budget, if anyone has suggestions or wants to sponsor one of these items let us know!

Skateboard

Shoes

9 pairs
$500.00
Skate Bearings & wheels (7mm, 16-Pack)
$500.00

skate gear (general, fist aid ect.)

$200.00
Gas
$3,500
Food/ water
$3,000.00
Hotel ( every once in a while)

$2,000.00

suport van parts

$1,000.00

Total= $10,700!!!!!! (to make the trip happen)

Morning Madness

Getting up early is part of the training process. Going to workout at 5:30 for the morning madness class was awesome! A little early, YES, but it was amazing! Good times and good workouts!

Dodgeball

We have been training hard and now I think we are ready!............ We will be challenging the Eastside Boys & Girls Club to a round of Dodgeball this friday!

Helmet Cam

Jerry just tried on our new helmet cam, it can also go under water up to 10 feet…….. hopefully we wont need to be under water.