OK, this story is gonna be brief, but nonetheless very sweet. Yesterday Carson, Luke and I couldn’t decide what we wanted to do after dinner. We stood around the corner of some street for like 20 minutes when finally we reached a verdict. Carson and I wanted to see the new movie: Borat, and Luke was just gonna go hang out with our friend Lacey for the night. So we headed to 3rd street in Santa Monica to the theater. Unfortunately we forgot that it was the opening night for the movie so the 7:30 showing was already packed with people. A little more debating went on and we concluded that we would go hang out with Luke and Lacey and then either come back to the 9:20 showing or just hang with them.

Basketball, bowling or the movie were the three options, and we soon realized that we had to see the movie. Back to the theater we went and got in line right away. I had to use the restroom, and when I got back Carson had already sat down. He picked a great spot right in the middle of the theater. It was next to two empty seats that had reserved signs on them. I ended up next to those, and kept wondering how people worked out that deal. I told Carson that I was gonna ask how they pulled that off. The movie was packed except for those two seats.

The lights were beginning to dim for the previews and I was situating my popcorn on the floor when the two finally arrived. I wasn’t looking at them but said as they walked by: “How’d you get these anyways?” I asked with a smile and sort of a sarcastic voice. Then I looked over and Jeremy Piven replied with a smirk on his face: “it’s hard to say man, it’s hard to say.” I immediately was star struck and just turned to Carson and was like “holy crap its Ari Gold from Entourage.” He is also in Old School, playing the role of Dean Pritchard if you didn’t know. We didn’t say anything to him during the movie, but we wanted to say something at least after.

We all began filing out and I located a pen on the snack table. I finally asked him if I could get an autograph, and he replied “absolutely, so that was a pretty funny movie huh?” So that’s the story of meeting and watching the movie with Jeremy Piven, it was pretty cool.

-Luke C.

Man is this one of the craziest stories ever. Yesterday was one of the most exciting days I’ve had in a long while, and definitely since I have been down here in California. Sunday evening Carson called me and let me know that we had a possible job on Monday, which would involve some pretty awesome celebrities (I will tell you about those in a bit). We were supposed to go to a meeting that night to get some more info on the possible job. We met his friend from Pepperdine, Mariko, and headed to a hotel over in Hollywood. There were a handful of people gathered around discussing the upcoming event. I learned that we would be helping out with the revealing of the most recent Hollywood Star, which was for Jerry Buss the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers for the past 27 years. I was told I was supposed to be paired up with a Lakers cameraman. Carson was assigned to a photographer for the Lakers. We were just volunteers who were supposed to shadow our guys and get them anything they needed and be on the radios in case anyone else needed our guys. This seemed easy enough; shadow some dude and see a bunch of celebrities. But we soon found out that we would be a lot more involved than we could have ever imagined. We woke up bright an early (6:30 AM, which I haven’t missed at all by the way ever since leaving construction). After getting all showered up and dressed in our baller gear we were on our way to help out with the celebs. In no time we had on our walkie’s with headset on along with our backstage type passes. We had “Staff” passes that let us go anywhere, even where all the other “Media” people couldn’t go. I was assigned a “very important” task as they called it right off the bat. There were a bunch of envelopes that were addressed to various television stations such as E!, and CNN that had to be given to my camera guy so he could send out his footage to each and every one of them. Carson was soon paired up with his photographer which he will be describing in his own words.

I didn’t really know what to think about following around a photographer all day, but at least it was going to be easy and maybe I would get to see some cool stuff. Aside from just shadowing my guy the other part of my job was to make sure that he got the priority shots completed on the event shot list. I’ll get to the who, what, when, where, how of those shots later. The photographer was really cool so most of the morning we just sat around in the staging area while people gathered around the crowd control fences.

So back to my portion of the most exciting day ever. I had to call my guy to make sure he was on time and around, after finding him I gave him the envelopes and began to shadow him. This was around 9:30 AM, when all he was supposed to do was film the surrounding area on Hollywood Blvd. So my day began quite smoothly on the street down near the actual star on the sidewalk known as the staging area. I waited patiently getting anything for my guy as needed. Carson was in the same are as me right where the action was going to happen. We were so stoked, just being able to be in the area where the fans couldn’t even go though it was only an extra 15-20 feet. As time passed the moment had begun, celebrities were about to start rolling up in their rides, which consisted of mainly limos. All the other television stations were set up on a little staging area directly in front of the star and stage where the guest speakers would be talking. Our guys were running around the entrance so they could get the shots of the celebs arriving. Although I wasn’t very useful at this time I was still in the action, loving the experience.

The first car arrived and out walked Phil Jackson who was towering over most of the people. It was a bit strange because he looked a little beat up as he hobbled out with a cane. I then remembered that he just had hip surgery, so he wasn’t as aged as I thought. Magic Johnson was the next tower to walk out and the fans went crazy. Now although I wanted to talk to him and go a bit crazy myself, I remained stone cold, because I was the important worker on duty. I just kept on smiling ready to do anything my guy needed me to do. One by one the celebrities kept on waltzing in (not literally because that would have been weird). Tom Arnold, Paula Abdual, the whole Lakers team, and the mayor of Los Angeles rounded out the list for the first part of the arrivals.

At this point I’m running around all crazy with my photographer trying to get shots. We ran down the street to the Lakers bus and walked with them into the event taking pictures all the way. Then we ran back to the entrance to the event where most of the limos were pulling up. After taking what must have been thousands of photos already we still didn’t have a couple key shots because a couple people had yet to show up.

There were two however who were a bit late and I wasn’t surprised at all. I walked over to the road where the cars were coming in and saw this old school Cadillac painted in Lakers colors rollin’ on in. It was also equipped with hydraulics and let me tell you Snoop Dogg didn’t let them be hidden. He bumped all the way in, it was hella cool.

So the Snoop arrival was probably the biggest part of my day because the #1 most important photo that my guy had to get was Snoop getting out of his Lakers mobile. So I was on the radio big time at this point, people were yelling at me “Snoop’s on the corner of Hollywood and Highland.” So we ran down the street a bit, yes literally ran, and took some photos. But then we realized he was still pulling up to the event so we ran back to the entrance to make sure we got the shot. So there I was running along side a crazy bumping Cadillac as all the fans went crazy on the other side of the barricades. We got the shots and Snoop walked into the event. The highest priority part of my job that day was now complete, but I still had to help out to make sure he complete a long list of other shots. One of which was about to pull up.

Right behind him was the next big star, Paris Hilton walked out of her not as cool SUV. She of course wasn’t driving, but she looked good just as I had expected. By this time the ceremony had started and my camera guy was with the other cameramen in the front by the stage. I was now just chillin on the side listening to each speaker, ready to do anything I was asked over the radio. Although I was willing and ready to work, I was pretty stoked that I got to just enjoy the ceremony. Phil, Magic, Paula and the Mayor of Hollywood all said some pretty nice things about Jerry Buss. I don’t really know exactly who he is, but I can say that the Lakers are one of the most popular teams in the world, so I can imagine Jerry Buss had something to do with it. Then I was back to work before I knew it because I was called over the radio to make sure that my camera guy was upstairs to film the celebs on their way into the reception. All of a sudden I looked over and saw my guy waving at me to go over to him. The only problem was there was a sea of people in my way, and on top of that the only open area was being used by Fox Sports with live interviews going on.

I decided to put my balls on the table (so to speak) and force my way through. In doing so I walked right behind Paris Hilton’s live interview. I thought it was pretty cool , maybe you saw me ( I was wearing a very nice blue button shirt, which was lovely (to some). After loading up a tripod and like 400 bags (it may have been like 3 heavy ones), we were off to our destination: The Red Carpet. Yes that’s right it was just like the big movie premieres, a red carpet leading into the reception.

Meanwhile back on the walk of fame I was just hanging out near my guy and aiding in facilitating certain shots that needed to be taken. A few important ones were: Magic-Kobe-Buss, Paula-Snoop-Buss, Paris-Magic, Paris-Paula, and so on. Everyone was going crazy on the radios trying to get all their people (by their people I mean there was a shadower for every celeb that was suppose to be on the radios) together to take the photos. So I was like “Snoop, please come with me, we need some photos,” and “Paris, we need to end your interview it’s time for some photos.” But it wasn’t just me, there was a gang of us all on a team trying to finagle celebs into group photos. My guy got most of the needed shots mostly because he was money, but I like to think I helped him get the job done. Next stop for us was the red carpet for another round of photos.

As my camera guy got set up awaiting the celebs, I began to freak out a bit because he was supposed to be filming interviews, led by one of the Laker Girls. I couldn’t see any of the beautiful babies at all, and I was just about to radio someone more important than me to see what the deal was. This idea was halted in a hurry because I felt a tugging on my arm. It was my guy pleading in desperation that I was going to be asking the interview questions since the Laker girl wasn’t around. He practically threw me into the red ropes separating us from the “famous people”. Soon I had a microphone in my hand and about to give red carpet interviews. I mean what the heck? How did this happen? I was very excited but also very nervous. My guy then assured me that he would just tell me what to ask so everything would be cool. But as Jerry Buss was making his way through the first interviewers I was bombarded with three different questions. I was just trying to memorize the first one, but he kept telling me new ones. I was like “wait, wait which one do you want me to ask?!?!?). He told me and then it was time.

My very first official red carpet question was completely botched. I said hi and then sort of mumbled/slurred some sort of question together. It may have sounded something like this: “Hello Dr. Buss, howlakerswhat means today important special?” He obviously replied with “what?” Luckily I pulled it together and asked two more questions that he could actually respond to. I can’t tell you exactly what I said because I was so in the moment that I don’t remember what it was. Up next was Paula Abdual. My guy finally narrowed down my question and I was ready. She tried to sneak away before us so I yelled her name, “Paula, Paula” and she came on over. I have that sort of affect on women, ha-ha. My delivery was much smoother this time around. My first question was : “So did you really have a relationship with that American Idol boy?”… I’m messing with you guys. Again I don’t remember what I said, it was something along the lines of: what do the Lakers mean to you? It was a little nerve racking because she just kept looking at me as she talked. The camera was just not there in her mind. Obviously this is how it should be, but I just kept on smiling and nodding as she talked. Maybe she just liked my blue eyes, probably not though. Anyways Kareem Abdual-Jabbar was next and I was psyched. This was until I looked back only to see my replacement, a beautiful Laker girl. I had completed my portion of the interviews and although I was nervous it was such an awesome time. I stepped back and just watched the next few celebs come through. She got Kareem and Kobe Bryant. I didn’t get to talk to them but I got some excellent photos. After everyone had made their way into the reception area, it was our turn to enter. My guy was supposed to find some more celebs inside that he didn’t get a chance to film. I wasn’t as important this time, but I got to follow him and his Laker girl with his bag.

We headed into the club like scenic reception area. There were neon lights, a bar, and projectors playing Laker highlights all over. The food looked phenomenal. We started looking for some more celebs, and John Salley was first, and he was hella funny. After the interview he started hitting on our interviewer, he was pimpin’ since been pimpin’. (spitting game (flirting)) After I snapped a few phone photos, we were off to the next big star. It was Paris Hilton, we interrupted her meal, but I bet she wasn’t gonna eat anyways. She is shorter than I thought, about 5’8”, but has a very nice body, just as I thought. But for all you ladies out there reading this, she does seem to cake on that make –up. I got a phone photo of her too, so I can send it out for anyone who would like to see her up close. Funny man Tom Arnold was next and he is just an all around character. Cracking jokes all over the place, I laughed a few times. After his last interview with Tom, he was out in no time. I helped him down to his car with his equipment, but rushed back up to hang out with everyone. Carson’s photographer was taking a break so we decided to grab some cookies and walk around a bit. It sucks because I am sure we could have taken a few real photos with some of the Lakers or other celebrities but we were camera less. We didn’t let that ruin our time though, so we just hung out and realized that this was one of our most exciting days we have ever had. Apparently it’s not the cool thing to hang around red carpet events, because after like an hour the celebs were all gone. I wanted one photo with John Salley, the last remaining celeb, but he was in one of the side rooms dining with like 5 girls. Again he was pimpin’ so I didn’t interrupt him.

While Luke was running around with his camera guy I was mostly just chillin. My guy pretty much had everything under control after the red carpet. There was no more craziness on the radios and things were calmed down in the reception. He just continued to walk around and snap candid photos, but my job was pretty much done. So I just hung out at the reception soaking it all in. I’m not much of an outgoing person or I could have chatted with a few celebs and certainly several of the lesser known Lakers. I particularly wanted to talk to Luke Walton as he was just hanging out by himself as I was. Luke finally was done with his guy and we just grabbed some food and hung out for a while. I had a great time and it was a great experience, special thanks to Mariko Wilson for setting it all up for us.

Carson and I decided our excitement was over so we grabbed our guest bag they were handing out and headed off. I bet I was on my phone calling some friends and my family in about 32 seconds. It would have been sooner but we were in a parking garage with no service. Basically what I have taken from this experience is that down here with eBUS live, anything can happen. Come down and hang out, IM sure something crazy and fun will happen!!!!

-Luke C.

Comments by Carson

Last Thursday I went down to Newport to attend an award ceremony held to honor people who have provided outstanding service in the field of youth education. One of the honorees was Ashley’s grandma Adeline. The ceremony was good and Adeline’s speech was pretty funny, there also was a nice meet-n-greet afterwards where I spread the word of eBUS live. I spent the rest of the day hanging out with Ashley and trying to survive while being suffocated by my ridiculous ailment that most refer to as allergies (I am allergic to Adeline’s cat). On Friday the rest of the crew came down to hang out. We drove to Crystal Cove, checked out the sights and the café which ended up being well out of our price range so we moved on to Laguna Beach to find a bite to eat and a place to hang out. After a crammed car ride (six of us in a Honda Civic) and a lot of bickering we ended up just parking in the area we thought of as ‘downtown’ and then walked to a nearby dinner. The food was pretty good and the price was alright so I can’t really complain. After lunch we hung out at the beach for a while, chatted it up and watched some people play a little volleyball, but unfortunately we weren’t prepared to take them on. Eventually we had to leave because Chelsey had to catch a flight back home that evening. Lieu, Ashley, Luke C., and I all stayed the night at Adeline’s, which was lovely. In the afternoon we went swimming in Adeline’s pool, well actually I went in the hot tub, but some of us went swimming. Then we headed out on the town to find a place to eat and to show Lieu and Luke C. Newport. We walked around Balboa island for a bit, then we took the ferry to the peninsula and walked around some more. Eventually we decided upon eating at Ruby’s on the pier, it was fitting for the Newport first timers because the whole pier thing is pretty cool. The day came to a close as we all spent hours in Adeline’s study talking about the good old days in Redmond and brainstorming about the future of eBUS live.

- Carson

Wow, what a great opening weekend this past one was. Obviously we couldn’t jump right into business my first weekend, so Carson and some others helped show me a great time in California, helping me realize why everyone wants to move here. I have a very good friend from Seattle Pacific University (which is where I just graduated from), who just moved down here to work and get a change of scenery. Chelsey is her name but I like to call her: Suzy-Homemaker. She is definitely one of the most generous people I know and has already offered a copy of her key in case we needed a couch or something. I am telling you of Chelsey because her place was my first bedroom and all of ours for the weekend.

Friday was the first big night, and although Luke D. had not yet returned from San Francisco, we had a stellar team to go out on the town with. Ashley made the trip up, and along with Chelsey, Carson, one of Chelsey’s friends, and I the night was ready to begin. We decided to keep the night a little low key and headed out to Venice. This is where I saw one of the coolest Irish Pub’s. Finn McCool’s is the name of it and it really gave me the authentic Irish pub feeling that makes you feel like you are not in the U.S. I felt like putting on some soccer on the TV, because that’s what Irish Pub’s are to me, a good beer and some great soccer.

The next day Carson, Ashley and I decided to check out the beach and just relax a little bit. I can already tell you that I am gonna love California for the weather and the beach so close. After we started to lose daylight, we began to plan out our night. Luke D. was back and gonna meet up with Carson, Ashley, Chelsey, Chelsey’s friend Kass and I for dinner with his two friends from high school Matt and Bri. We made reservations at an Italian restaurant called: C & O’s, which ended up being phenomenal. They told me that I was going to love their bottomless garlic rolls that every table gets. But I think that is an understatement because they were so amazing. Everyone agreed that C & O’s dominates most Italian restaurants. A surprise guest also made it to the end of our dinner, A.J., Carson and Luke’s old roommate from last year was in town and wanted to hang out with the eBUS live crew. So after stuffing ourselves we all headed out to The Dresden. For those of you who don’t know what The Dresden is, I recommend buying Swingers (young Vince Vaughn) and watching it. And yes I did say buy it because renting it would be a waste of $2.00 after you find yourself purchasing it afterwards. Anyway I love this move as do many of my friends, so this little jazz-playing lounge was something I was very excited for. It was exactly like the movie, nothing looked different. We even got to sit in the same exact booth that they did in the actual movie. The performer’s, Marty and Elayne, were are also awesome and also just like the movie. They have been there for so many years and they have TALENT. I wouldn’t have wanted to go anywhere else on my first weekend.

Carson and Luke D. were both busy on Sunday so Chelsey, Ashley and I decided to visit them and see if they could hook us up with some bikes or something. It was a perfect day to ride around on the boardwalk, and luckily Luke had three beach cruiser’s ready for us. I hadn’t ridden a bike in like 4 years, but it came right back to me. I guess that’s why they have that saying about riding bikes. Chelsey, Luke D., Carson and I decided to check out a late movie that night since we were all sort of tired from the busy weekend. The Departed was pretty sweet, although the ending is a bit strange. We headed back to Chelsey’s for the night and I pretty much realized that eBUS was going to be a sweet adventure.

-Luke Comer

After spending a short night at Luke’s friend Matt’s house in Marina Del Rey, we woke up at about 7 in the morning on Friday to begin our weekend trip. We woke up early so we could pick up Rachel at Norm’s before hitting the road. We enjoyed a nice and awkward breakfast with Rachel’s grandparents, more awkward for me than anyone else because I had to sit between the grandparents. After stopping by the bus and Ralph’s we went to Pete and Tesha’s to pack up the car and head out. We were finally on the road with a messily 6-7 hour drive between San Francisco and us.

We eventually navigated our way through the city and were able to find a parking spot within walking distance of Rachel’s friend’s house where everyone but me was going to stay. We all unpacked the car and found our way into the studio apartment. Then I called up my buddy Matt Brandt whom I was going to stay with over the weekend. He was out on the town after work and told me to catch a cab to 19th and Folsom in the Mission District. I had no idea what all that meant but I flagged a cab down and acted like I knew what I was doing and $20 later I was there. (Thanks for the $20 Matt). We hung out at the bar for a bit and I got to know a few of Matt’s co-workers and whatnot, one of which was the coolest guy I’ve ever met. His name was Dutch and he was English. Matt, Dutch, and I left the bar and headed to Dutch’s house to chill for a bit. Now let me briefly explain how cool this Dutch character is; for those of you who’ve seen Green Street Hooligans then let me just say that Dutch was a member of the Everton Firm cross-town rivals of Liverpool, and for those who don’t know about the GSE Dutch is a guy who grew up in Liverpool, England and his main hobby in life was supporting his local ‘soccer’ team at any cost. Dutch told us many crazy stories about football matches in England but he also talked about his short career as an investment analyst and why he left that job and England to move to ‘The States’ to get involved in construction. Anyway, enough on Dutch, so we left his house after being double parked for an hour or so and headed back to Matt’s. Matt’s friend Julie came over and we just relaxed the rest of the night, see Matt is a pretty busy guy working 60 hours a week so he really values his relaxing time as he should.

On Saturday morning Matt’s friend Ashley came over to the house and we headed out on the bus to meet up with everyone at the wharf so we could get on a boat to Alcatraz. We met up with Julie, Luke, Rachel, Pete and Tesha at the wharf. We quickly found out that tickets to Alcatraz were sold out all day so we decided to buy Tickets for Sunday and spend the rest of Saturday doing as much tourist stuff as we could. First off was a cable car ride on the Powell-Mason line up and down the hills from the wharf to downtown. We walked around a bit, shopped a bit, and enjoyed the sites. Next stop was a walk through Chinatown. It was a long walk and everyone was getting a little tired so Matt, Julie, Ashley, and I headed back to Matt’s place to get some dinner and Luke, Rachel, Pete and Tesha headed off to do there own thing. I spent the rest of the night just hanging out with Matt reminiscing about the good old days as well as learning more about my new friends Julie and Ashley.

We woke up pretty early on Sunday and left again on the public transit to make it to the wharf in time to catch our boat to Alcatraz. Ashley couldn’t make it because of work but other than that it was the full group from the day before. I’ve been to the rock a few times but it is still very impressive and you should check it out if you ever get the chance. I’m sure we’ll have photos of it up in no time and you can get an idea of what it is like out there. We walked around the city a little longer and found our way back to the apartment where everyone was staying. We packed up the car and headed out of San Francisco at about 5 PM. We made it back to Malibu in pretty good time. I had a great weekend in San Francisco. Thanks to Matt, Ashley, Julie, Luke, Rachel, Pete and Tesha for a good time.

- Carson

I know I go to San Diego a lot and you’re probably getting sick of reading about it so I’ll try and keep it short, but this weekend was pretty fun and adventurous.

Friday we woke up and decided to go on a bike cruise, we didn’t really know where to but it’s a free and fun activity. So after eating a bit we headed out to the boardwalk in front of Ashley’s house. We just started riding and enjoying the sites around us, we were heading to places neither of us had been. There were some really cool homes in the Crown Point area, but I’m not going to lye it turned a little bit into the ghetto when there were spray painted walls everywhere and groups of hoodlums hangin around. We quickly got through that section of the bike path and got back on the boardwalk that follows the waters edge around the bay. We rode for hours and hours, over bridges, through tunnels, next to roads, through the parks and finally we decided we should try and make it back so we took a little short cut and headed back to Ashley’s before the sun went down. Mission Bay is a phenomenal place, and I got to experience it in a whole different light later in the weekend.

Saturday was the big sky show day, so naturally I was really excited. You see I never really had a 4^th of July this year which is traditionally where I would get to see all the pyrotenics and whatnot. Instead on my 4^th of July I was stuck in a small black box trying to sell fireworks just to turn a profit on the week, but that’s neither here nor there. The sky show was at night naturally so for our day activity we decided to ride bikes but this time to a beach and hang out and play in the water. We rode all along the oceanfront boardwalk, dodging pedestrians, skaters, bikers and drunkards. I don’t know how many of you are familiar with the San Diego beaches on the weekends in the summer, but since alcohol is allowed on the beach it basically turns into a giant party for 20 something year olds. Anyway, it was fun to people watch and ride along the boardwalk. Eventually when we reached a spot that wasn’t as crazy we locked up our bikes and staked out a spot on the beach. After spending a few hours laying around and playing in the water it was time to head back and get ready for the big sky show. The show actually follows a San Diego State football game, unfortunately we got there late but that was OK because they were getting pummeled by the Utes. About 15 minutes after the game the show began with half a dozen people dressed as Elvis flying into the stadium on parachutes with pyrotecnics attached to them. The show went on to amazing me in many ways with huge displays, creative arrangements, and fun music. It really was amazing, I’ll try and put some pictures up so you can see what I am talking about. Anyway, my night was complete after seeing that, but we decided to get a bite to eat afterwords. Long story short, we went to about 4 places and called at least half a dozen only to realize there are no happy hours on Saturday. Finally we just decided to get pizza at Uno’s Chicago Style Pizzeria and head back home.

On Sunday my weekend of Mission Bay fun expanded as Ashley and I set out on the waters in a small sailboat we rented from the Aquatic Center. Have I ever mentioned how much I enjoy sailing? The wind was strong that day too so we were constantly healing over and leaning out of the boat to try and keep it from capsizing while maintaining our speed. We took some fun photos on the water, I’ll have to share those with you too. We couldn’t stay out too long because Ashley had a lot to do and I had to head back to Malibu, but it still was a blast of a weekend.

- Carson

After a long day working I thought it would be nice to try and fix Pete and Tesha’s dishwasher that had mysteriously broken sometime over the past few months. I figured why not help a friend out and since they have a oven I’ll kill two birds with one stone and cook myself a pizza while I work on it. So Pete and I finally dig into this project. We did several tests and could not find out what was wrong so the next step was to take it apart further. By the end of our dismantling there were over a dozen various sized screws laying on the linoleum with several different pieces of the machine nearby. A few shocks and a couple of screws later we finally figured out that the switch which turns it on only when the door is closed was not functioning properly. The pain of this one was that we could not just get a new piece because a plastic piece of the switch had broken. So we had to get a little crazy with the solution. Ultimately we ended up drilling a hole through the plastic cover for the control panel to expose the button on the switch. Then by rigging a screw through a metal plate they would be able to toggle the switch on and off with the twist of a screw. As it turns out the cockamamie system we designed to fix the dishwasher actually worked. Yeah there is a small screw extruding from the face of the machine a little like Frankenstein, but at least it’s alive now.

- Carson

Ashley is about to start school at USD so I decided to make a solo trip down and hang out with her on her last days of summer. We spent time at the beach across the street from her house hanging out, walking around the boardwalk and enjoying the amazing San Diego bay. We also hung out with the rather strange cable guy that came to install the internet and TV. Oh and FYI cable guy tried to charge $15 per installation of any item (such as s TV or the cable internet) but what he didn’t tell us is that by “install” he meant screw the cable into the device. They don’t really install or run any cables, all they do is screw things together then call the main office and have it activated. Anyway, after he left I set up the wireless network for the house and fix Jessica’s computer (one of Ashley’s roommates). We also ate a lot of food, mostly chicken because that’s all I eat, but it was amazing. Just like last trip to SD, we once again went to the Del Mar race track and bet on a couple horse races. It was only my second visit to the track but already they were treating us like royalty because when we walked up to the ticketing area we were handed VIP passes that entitled us free entry and access to the Turf Club. Unfortunately we weren’t properly dressed for the club so we just went to the seats, made some crazy bets and watched our horses win. It was a fun, calm, and relaxing few days and hopefully a good end to Ashley’s summer.

-Carson

Last weekend I was fortunate enough to spend quality time with a great group of people in one of the most amazing natural wonders in the country known as Yosemite National Park. I don’t mean to sound cheesy it really was awesome. The pictures just give you a glimpse of what it was like, but to be at the foot of the largest exposed rock in the world or to see a 360 degree view of the park is something you have to experience. The biggest piece of exposed granite on the globe is known as El Capitan, it takes an average rock climber a few days to climb. A few days to climb a vertical wall? Yes, they do sleep hanging from a basket attached to the rock, pretty crazy isn’t it? El Capitan is just one of the many amazing granite structures, there is another peak known as Half Dome that I hope to one day hike to the top of in order to look down on the valley from a high. One of the coolest places I was fortunate enough to go to was Sentinel Dome at sunset, it was an unbelievable sight. From atop Sentinel Dome we had a complete 360 degree view of the park and the surrounding area. We also were able to go on a quick hike to Vernal falls which was incredible. It wasn’t a long hike, but it was a pretty steep (over 600 colossal steps), but once we made it to the top it was all worth it. We swam in the small lake that formed right above the falls. It probably was the coldest water I’ve ever swam in, but it felt so good after that hot and rough hike. The swimming was probably my favorite part, the experience was surreal because the setting was so picturesque. We also went to see the giant sequoia trees in Mariposa Grove. Remember the photos of the cars driving through the base of the tree? Yeah that’s in Yosemite too, and the trees were pretty incredible. The sequoias grow for thousands of years it so amazing to see them still growing today as they have been for so long. We also saw some fun wildlife from deer to mice to caterpillars, but no bears (fortunate maybe, but I really wanted to see one). I really can’t explain the park enough, it was great and it was so wonderful to be outdoors and enjoying what nature had to offer.

But, what made the experience so much better than just enjoying the park was being able to enjoy it in such great company. Unfortunately Luke wasn’t able to come on this trip but the other fine members of the camping team were: Ashley, Whitney, CT, Adeline, Lindsey, Justin, Paul, Bella, and myself. The group was lead by the two experienced campers CT and Paul, and most of the camping gear was provided by CT so many thanks to her for all of that. Most of the food that was brought was provided by Lindsey and Justin and the rest of the purchased food was provided by CT, Adeline, and Paul. Basically everything was taken care of for me which I feel really bad about but nonetheless made the experience carefree and too easy for me. Also all the transportation was taken care of for me, they were all far too accommodating, but I appreciate every bit of it. Hopefully one day I will have an opportunity to repay them all for everything they have done for me. Anyway the group was an amazing bunch and we had many laughs and good times together.

Please check out the photo album of Yosemite to get an idea of how great the park is and to see the adventure team in their element.

- Carson

P.S. More photos, even more photos, still more photos

After fixing Luke’s Jeep last Friday evening we quickly headed out on our adventure to help Ashley move in to her new house in San Diego. But first we had to get her bed which was actually the bed I used last year at the Malibu Pink House. I had been storing the bed at Rhonda’s (Luke’s mom) house in Port Hueneme which is about 40 miles north from Malibu. After eating our KFC we headed up there to get the mattress. We pilled the mattress, box spring, and frame onto Luke’s Jeep. We strapped it all down with some packing ribbon provided by Rhonda. Check out the picture to get an idea of how ridiculous this was.

After leaving Rhonda’s we had about 200 miles to cover with a sail up before we would reach Ashley’s house in San Diego. The beginning was rough because we were nervous about our magical ribbons breaking and the mattress flying into the cars behind us. Eventually the fear subsided and we began singing songs and cruising similar to any other road trip. After a few hours, at about 2 in the AM we made it, brought the bed in and passed out.

Saturday was supposed to be the big move in day, but we only made one trip to and from the storage. Instead we decided to fill the rest of the day with entertainment. We went to the Del Mar racetrack and bet on horse races. I had never been to a racetrack before. It was awesome and I learned a lot about how it all works. I ended up loosing a little bit of money, but I won a few bets on a few races too so it was fun. We just hung out the rest of the day. Ashley made us an excellent dinner of rice, chicken, and corn. Later, we went on a boat cruise of the San Diego bay. Check out the pictures, there are some pretty cool ones.

Sunday was a little more relaxed. We did another trip to the storage to help Ashley get all her things. I guess we didn’t really help her move in so much as help her transport stuff from her storage and set it in her room, but we did what we could. In the afternoon we decided to check out a local swap meet in the Sports Arena parking lot. We didn’t actually get to check it out because they tried to charge us $1 each just to get in, what a rip off. The whole ‘cover’ concept really upsets me, I’m going there to spend money and you’re trying to get me to pay just to look. Anyway, for dinner on Sunday we went to Red Lobster, and for one reason only, the free garlic-cheese bread. I had 8 rolls in one sitting plus some chicken and cheese sticks. All together our table paid $15 ($5 tip) for an amazingly good and filling meal at Red Lobster. We headed back to Malibu the next morning. It was a good weekend, we got the bed to San Diego and we helped Ashley move in to her house.

-Carson