Carmel and Caramel Are Two Different Things

Kenton and I at the lighthouse

What a wonderful past few days it has been. The road is gorgeous. The weather is great. The best thing, however, is the people we meet. Kenton and I are amazed at how kind and giving everyone is. It is good to give, and what it does to the heart of the receiver is amazing. We feel so grateful for the love and attention we've been getting.

We stayed with the wonderful Burgon family the other day. The Burgons drove us a few miles above Santa Cruz so we could begin again after a Sunday rest. Before we hit the road again we actually got to stop and see a light house! We haven't been able to stop and look at anything yet. The Burgons took our backpacks and so without the burden we just FLEW down the road. We averaged about 10-12 miles per hour instead of the normal 5-6 with backpacks on.

The Nolls and I

We traveled down to Santa Cruz and got our packs back. There we met with Megan Noll. She was a missionary with my parents about 10 years ago. We stayed the evening with the Noll family. I just want to say how amazing that is. Megan probably barely remembers me from 10 years ago, but her family is still kind enough to open up their home to two strange boys to stay. This picture only has Megan her son, and her daughter. She has another boy, and her husband wasn't here for the picture. Just imagine a younger, non-smoking Daniel Craig and that is what he looks like. Great family.

We traveled from Santa Cruz to Watsonville. With a little time on our hands we visited the beach. We played (yes played...more like frolicked) in the water for the first real time and found tons of huge sand dollars. From there we were picked up by Anya. We met Anya at church on Sunday and she offered to have us stay with her at her parents house. Her dad is from the Netherlands and her mother is from North Carolina and they are the coolest 70 year old people you've ever met. They sent us off with a huge breakfast this morning, best one so far. It really beats eating oatmeal with powdered milk in a random gas station parking lot.

Kenton and Anya where she dropped us off!
Thanks a ton for letting us stay!

We traveled from there to Carmel. The road has been amazing. Nice and flat, with a bike path we could ride on so we were safe from cars. Loved it (I feel like this short description of the day really doesn't capture the true feeling of the journey. A journey really cannot be measured only by distance). Here we were picked up by the Hesselbeins. They are work associates of my father and also amazing hospitable people. They have no idea who we are, but here we are, in their home, eating their food, and using their hot tub (what a blessed sore muscle relief...).

We are amazed and grateful for the kindness that just seems to appear. Hearing about the donations that are coming in really is touching. A similar experience on the road today was when we told a man about our journey. His response was, "You boys just gone done and lost your minds." and then he handed us a donation. Despite being told we're crazy it just touched our hearts. I was talking to a little old lady the other day, and when she saw the name of the charity, Bridge of Love, she just smiled. "Love", she says, "We all need to love better." she then smiled coyly and said, "This is my last mission on earth, to spread love and goodness to others."

With all this love, I'm starting to wonder why I packed a tent.

Me, Andrew Noll, and Kenton