Life Lessons I Have Lately Learned

Because of the many posts we have had recently. I have decided to hold off on this one. This is my first impression of the first day boarding. I'm writing it and then having Jamie post in a few days.

What a wonderful and adventurous day! We went from nine in the morning until six thirty this evening...and we went for thirty miles, from Santa Rosa to Marshall. We learned a lot of things. Life lessons that I share with you now.

Going through our backpacks again. I will admit
that I did this with a less than cheerful attitude. 

First life lesson: By small and simple things are great things brought to pass. We learned this yesterday with the donation of four dollars. Kenton and I learned this today with our backpacks as well. We had been riding for about a half an hour with our surprisingly heavy backpacks when we saw mom on the road taking a picture. We pulled over and threw our packs on the ground. We began digging through them, trying to find out what was so heavy but to no avail. Everything was lightweight and compact. We soon realized our packs were just heavy because of the accumulated effort of each item. By small and simple things, are great things, or heavy weights brought to pass. And it is hard to decide which small and simple thing you must part with. I decided to name my backpack Pacatele Mele, Romanian for "My Sins" because it feels like carrying the burden of sin. And taking the backpack off is like the sweet gift of repentance.

What goes up....doesn't always come down. But what goes down must come up. This applied to the hills we went on today. We would go up and up and up, but rarely seem to go back down. However, whenever we went down, we always went back up again. This is a wonderful optimistic outlook on life, but when applied to longboarding it can be quite sad.

Two really is better than one. I can't imagine what this trip would be like without a buddy along. When Kenton fell off his board or when I was ready to give up as we pushed up a hill, we were there to support each other.

Kenton racing down the street and looking
good while doing it. 

People are good and willing to help you. Like when you drink all your water but you're still thirsty. Or your phone has no service and you're lost. Yes...we got lost. We probably went about a mile before we realized our mistake. A mile might not seem like much, but when it is your 15th mile, and your backpack weighs greater than the burden of Atlas himself, it is a tragedy to waste a mile going the wrong way.

The Earth is beautiful. We rode through some beautiful countryside today. With a strong headwind and really rough roads, it seemed God and Nature wanted us to take a little extra time to enjoy the scenery. The rolling hills and gorgeous farmland. It made me think of what I always imagined Scotland to be like, and once we hit Highway One I was reminded of one of my favorite drives in Romania. The gorgeous drive from Pitesti to Sibiu. Gorgeous.

Mom came and got us at the end of the day. This
is how she found us. We were really worn out

Well it was an amazing day. We were actually able to do it and now we are safe and sound. We will miss Mother tomorrow. For many reasons, but a hot dinner, hotel stay, and soak in a hot tub after a long day are among them. The future holds tents and the hard ground.

Thanks everyone for the attention the past few days. We've had over 300 people on the blog in the past day or so and over 1,300 hits this month. We appreciate the support. Planning and talking about doing this trip is one thing, but actually getting out there has been another. Thank you for your attention and what help you can give towards the Romanian orphans.

Well...I'm going to sleep. And soundly will I sleep tonight.

Mom took us out to dinner and let us
stay one more night at a hotel. That
is why I am able to blog this.
Unfortunately there is no internet connection
in the wild so....catch up with you later!