The Final Post

I know it has been forever since the trip ended, but I just got back home from Kanakuk Kamps so this was my first chance to reminisce.  I must say that the two weeks we spent on the road, as of right now, go down as the greatest two weeks of my life.  Last night looking at pictures for the first time since the trip, my brain was flooded with memories.  Amazing memories.  I remember walking to Fenway and thinking to myself "Luke, how many people get to to this? This is amazing."  I think this trip had a sense of wonder.  Wonder that you have as a child but sometimes lose during adolescence and becoming an adult.  We so many moments of wonder.  I'm smiling thinking about the Taco Bell dance video, my ridiculous beard, Nolan and Peter sleeping in a tent IN the hotel room.  When you do work like water flowers, you have time to think to yourself.  I could just let my mind wander back to the trip, and for just a little bit I could hear the crowd, smell the hot dogs, feel the sun, and get just a pinch of wonder for a few fleeting seconds.  What a trip.

Luke

P.S. Big Shout out to Allen Vaughn!  Loved the article!  

what a trip! It is deffinantly one of the coolest things I have ever been able to do. We planned for like 5 months.... at the beginning I was like this is just going to be something we talk about doing but never actually do. But we made it happen. It feels wierd to be back in Bolivar. I am so used to being on the trip... on the road... always on the move. Our days were filled to the brim and then some. But it was good, I couldnt wait to wake up and do it again the next day. Now I have so much free time in Bolivar, and it feels like there is absolutly nothing to do lol. and compared the city there really is literally nothing to do ; ) (I couldnt imagine living in a Big city and then moving to a small town.)

This was awesome because it was really the last time I will get to see Nolan and Luke much before college starts and we all go our seperate ways. It will be wierd without them.... they have been my best friends forever and they will be missed enormously!

This trip made me remember all the reason I ever wanted to play baseball in the major leagues. The smell of fresh cut grass, the diving plays, the sound the ball makes when it hits the bat, getting a walk off hit, seeing that fastball or hanging curveball and knowing that the pitcher made a mistake, the fans, the ballparks, baseball...you have to love it!

The trip is now over.... but the memories that we made will last us a lifetime. and who knows, maybe we will be lucky enough to do this again someday!

-peter

All good things must come to an end...

What a spectacular 24 hours this has been. Comerica Park was really cool but that game seems like it happened last week because of the unforgettable 14 hour car ride that included flat tire in the middle of the night. Peter and I drove the first 6 hour shift, which included rush hour traffic out of Detroit for me. (That would drive me crazy to do that every day) Then at midnight we handed over the reins to Aaron and Nolan for the rest of the night. We watched "The Sandlot" until we fell asleep at around 1:30 am. About 3 hours later we wake up and the car is not moving. So naturally we think "YAY! We are here." No. We are 72 miles out of Kansas City and Nolan is on the ground fixated around the tire. To quote "The Sandlot" we are in the biggest pickle of our road trip. We unscrew all the necessary bolts and try to yank the tire off but it just won't come off. So Nolan calls his dad at 5 am and tells him our situation and Jeff tells us all we to do is kick the top of the tire. Sure enough I kick the tire and it comes right off. We drive to Kansas City and Aaron 's childhood home and we crash until right about now. It is crazy to think we only have one more game. What an amazing trip this has been.

Luke

The Buck (and the roadtrip) Stops Here

Well. As you can see it is 9am (central time) here in good old Lee's Summit, MO (home of a famous jazz musician Pat Metheny [thank you Uncle Dave] and yours truly). The Detroit/St. Louis game went into extra innings. The game was great. Wish both teams would of lost but I'll be satisfied with it. Then the long haul to Kansas City. So odd to think that we have driven over 4,000 miles in 14 days and seen 10 games with the last one tonight.
However, the drive here was not without excited. About 5:00 am we got a flat tire. The Lord is so faithful that it happened just outside of KC and not any where else. Good ol' faithful spare got us back at 7am and now I am getting a new set of tires (yes, all of them need it) while the guys have crashed in my room for the morning. Tonight should be fun. What a way to end a roadtrip!
Grace & Peace

-aaron

p.s. arby's isn't good for my digestive system for some reason. just thought you might be curious.

Luke Rap

ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz....

Yesterday we drove from DC to Cleveland. It was about a 6 hour drive and it really wasn't that bad of a drive. Although Peter did almost get in a wreck...just kidding. Nolan and Peter were so set on sleeping in a tent that last night they slept in a tent in the hotel room. Peter woke up like 100 times. Weaver and I got a bed to ourselves and I slept until about noon. It was glorious because the previous day we got up at 6 to help the Women's Ministry Union. So it was awesome.


Luke

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to Cleveland we go!

I'm sitting on Amy's deck right now typing this post. Peter just sneaked up on me and and smiled at me through the screen covering the window; his face was about 2 inches from the screen so his face looked fuzzy.



Anyway, we're heading to Cleveland pretty soon. The Washington Nationals game wasn't very well attended, especially during batting practice. It was pretty sweet though because I was able to acquire another ball. So far the ball count is Nolan: 2; Luke: 1; Peter and Weaver: 0. This one wasn't a home run, though. Somebody hit it to the wall and a pitcher (I'm not sure which one, but he was a southpaw) tossed it up into the stands. It bounced a few times before I grabbed it. The game was short, but pretty fun. I'd give the Nationals the award for the best between-innings entertainment so far.

Here's my official shout-out to Amy for letting us stay in her house two times. She is really cool, and she was a real blessing to us.

Off to Cleveland!
~Nolan

Oh, by the way, I drove to and through Times Square in New York after the Yankees game. That was a pretty fun experience. The traffic was pretty heavy because it was like 5:00 or 6:00--rush hour! (What hour isn't rush hour in Times Square???) Actually, this picture doesn't show much traffic, but I had just gone through a green light with no one in front of me, except for that taxi. By the way, the movie Spiderman 2 is correct; the taxis were yellow!

Nothing Like Being Back in DC

A few quick notes on the last day:

sally is the best usher ever. she can dance, she got us some good seats and she stuck up for us. thanks sally! you rock!

nothing like spending a morning with wmu ladies. here's to chain saws. and we met tyre, trent, and jejuan. awesome dudes... hope the biking works out.

fyi, i really wish you could sample some of peter and noland's raps. awesome. and the ball luke got: jarod weaver tossed lightly up to him. so don't let him fool you that he caught a home run. but he did get a ball.

when you think you're hungry, just remember: your stomach is a stubborn child.

thank you parkers! you guys are amazing!

and off to cleveland we go. winding down now. bada bing bada boom.

aaron

From our Nation's Capital...

Hey everybody, we just got back from gay night at Nationals Park, lets just say that I'm so glad the kiss cam didn't run...What a day. First it started out with really um...unique post-menopausal southern women. They drove in circles around Baltimore. And then we trimmed massive hedges with chain saws. You read that right. The game was fun, and the ballpark was really cool. Mainly because I caught a ball during batting practice. (Take that Willcoxson!) During the rain delay Aaron and I played PlayStation 3 baseball because Nationals Park had a massive free video game area. Adam Wainwright had 21 k's in picking up the virtual W. We are staying with Amy S. again home of the second dance video, so you never know what we might cook up. Here is a picture of my new beard.


Luke

On to Washington DC!

Today has been strange, but really good. We woke up at 6:00 and left for some volunteer ministry work at 6:45. We followed Gayla and Allie to the Holiday Inn Express, and met the nice ladies we'd be working with. We followed them around the block, on to the highway, and back to the hotel. We assumed that someone had left something, but we drove into the Holiday Inn Express Parking lot and drove right out again. After that, we followed the exact same route AGAIN; at this point, we seriously wondered what the heck we were doing and going, but this time we turned off on the highway and made our way to the church where we would be helping out. As it turns out, the lady who was driving missed the exit on the highway, so we drove around in a circle for a few minutes. It was pretty funny. :) After we got to the church, one of the ladies said she wished she could have been in our car when we were driving around in the circle. It was quite and adventure!

When we got to the church, we fellas worked on clipping hedges and moving brush.

I clipped hedges for awhile, but then my carpenter "skills" --Grandpa, I hope you're reading this :)--were called upon. I "remodeled" a wooden ramp that led to the Lawn Tractor shed. All I had to do was remove some nails, remove the middle brace on the bottom, and put in another 2x6 down there. It really wasn't a big job at all, but it was fun to swing a hammer again. Man, it had been a while!

After that, my body transformed and I became ChainsawMan. I ran the chainsaw for about 35 minutes; cutting down a small tree and some brush, something that I enjoy doing and have a lot of experience doing. Then I tried to level up the hedges with the chainsaw, something that I don't have a lot of experience doing. I'm not sure how I did, but I cut a lot off; it seriously needed some care. :)

Anyway, we're leaving to go to Washington DC pretty soon.

Here's another official shout out to Freddy, Gayla, and Allie: You guys are amazing! Thanks so much for letting us stay at your house, use your washer and dryer, and eat your food. We're all in your debt and very grateful. The Parker household is amazing!

~Nolan

Thunderstorms in Baltimore

Wow... It's been amazing and crazy that we have been on the road for 9 days now. This last week has been an overwhelming time. Not just with baseball but of people. Wish there was a revival of baseball games for the average day joe's. Days when a hot dog and pop was 2 bucks. Days when crazy eyes was sitting on the front row talking to the 3rd baseman. Those days are over. Now it's the ritzy business man who can drink 4 beers at $8 a drink. It's a shame if you ask me.
Fenway = 6 flags.
Yankees = 1 flag (for the history)
Phillies = 4 1/2 flags

Garrett... totally worth it. lol.
And here's to the royals for coming back 3-10 and winning! 6-1 on our roadtrip!

crazy how awesome baltimore is. not going to lie, but i like the city and all the people. vulnerable but some great relationships can be built. You can either know everyone or unknown. crazy how that can happen. But allows for an opportunity to trust Jesus even more and see him in the people around you.

and forgot about my uncle frank and aunt pauline. they are amazing. so great to actually meet some of my family. found out that my great great grandma was an indian princess. pretty sweet. and everyone needs an italian great uncle.

My question for you viewers: How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?

Aaron

From a place that doesn't have bed bugs...

What a great day today was. It was nice to have a solid nights sleep in the luxurious Red Carpet Inn (where Aaron slept underneath the sheets, we slept in our sleeping bags, he felt the bed bugs!). We found out how truly awesome people have been to open up homes, cheep hotels will make you appreciate this! It was a 10 minute drive to the stadium which was really cool. We came from the Park that is waaaaaaay over-rated and ugly (Yankee), to a slick new ball-park that was really fan-friendly. We again had the nose bleeds but we saw some seats in left field and quickly sat there. (Coach Wilcoxson, I resent that remark! I didn't even see the ball until it was 2 feet from my face. If it wasn't for my Jedi quick reflexes I would have a broken nose.) The Philly fans have a reputation for being jerks, but for the most part they where great. But in the middle of the 7th inning with about 13 open seats around us, this dude with his girl walks up to me in the middle of the 7th inning stretch and tells me that we are sitting in his seats. He had to walk past about 10 open seats to move us...it took everything in me not to sock the guy in the face. So we moved down 4 seats because there was a million open in that row.
We love every one's comments...we encourage everyone to leave them! It is crazy that we only have 4 parks left, this truly has been a trip of a lifetime.

Luke

P.S. To that anonymous poster, I'm growing a beard.

Broadcasting from the Red Roof Inn Studios

Here she is, video post #2.




Enjoy.
~Nolan

six flags.... more fun

Sorry its been such a long time since we've updated but this is the first time we have had Wi-Fi in a few days. Fenway park was such an unbelievable experience! I don't know if it was the fans or the historic park, or maybe a little bit of both.... but it just felt like it was more than a baseball game(simply unbelievable) We sat right behind some CRAZY Boston fans that taught us more about flags than any of us wanted to know(they had obviously they had a few too many beers and had watched the Six flags commercial a more than a few times). Apperently the more flags the more fun and 6 flags = unsurpassable amount of fun! In Boston we got to stay with some pretty great people, Aunt Pauline and Uncle Frank were Amazing!! I'm so glad that we got to meet them....they made the whole experience very enjoyable. I wish we would have gotten to spend some more time with them!

Yankee Stadium is drastically overrated(might have been because we were functioning on 4hours of sleep). enough said Yankee staduim = 1 flag..... fenway = 6
We drove through time square and got too see quite a bit of NYC so the overall experience was a good one!

VOTE FOR PEDRO!!
I'm glad to see that I am leading the vote!! I know im the best but its nice to see that you guys think so too lol :P

looking forward to a great night sleep at the good ole red carpet inn..... a little sketchy but it has a roof and free wifi and what more could we ask for??

-peter

Sorry it's Been so loooooong...

Here is a little video of my days...

Hey Everybody

Here are some pictures to tide you over...

Good Morning Baltimore!

What a cool town Baltimore is! Cities are very cool when you have resided in Bolivar Missouri for 18 years. It was Nick Markakis bobble head night at Camden Yards. Only Peter and I have ours though, Nolan forgot his and Weaver gave his away. (To two girls who begged him, I refused, but Weaver felt pity on their souls and gave away his Nick Markakis doll.) The game was really fun. 4 home runs and the one in the first inning was an absolute BOMB. You knew that ball was leaving the park the second the ball made impact with the bat. We are staying in down-town Baltimore. I'm not talking like down-town Springfield, this is downtown Baltimore, and it is a wee bit different. As for the dance video hate mail, you've crushed our spirit. 4 guys just holdin' on to the dream of one day becoming a professional dance quartet, but with such negative feedback I don't think we can hold on to the dream anymore. We were sad for about 0.0000001 seconds, and then we realized that we get to go to Fenway Park tomorrow. So really all is well in the world.

Luke

Camden Yards

Baltimore is such a cool town! The Parkers live down town, only about 2 miles from the stadium. We walked to the game and got to see a lot of cool places. Camden Yards is Beautiful(as far as baseball parks go.) One of my favorites on the trip so far. Baltimore won 7-3 and we got to see 4 homeruns, a most excellent game! It always seems more exciting when the home team wins.

We make the long haul to Boston tomorrow to see the Sox play! We are all pretty dang excited about this one! 4 down and 7 more to go

-Peter

Plus One Plus Four Presents....

Here's a tribute to all of our fans out there, especially Paul Casey and Uncle Dave.

"Don't hate us 'cause you ain't us." -Peter



Thanks to Amy, Stella ("Shirley"), and Jamie King--Rock Your Body dance coordinator. Thanks to all of you for all your inspiration and support of freedom in the home dance world.

Oh, by the way, I am much cooler this morning than last night. :) It's time to go to Camden Yards!
~Nolan

Oh, It's Hard to Lose, but Life Goes On. :)

This has been a terrific road trip. However, today has been the roughest for me.

Let's get the positive out of the way so we can dwell on the negative. :)

• The trip up was good, even though it was long; it didn't feel like we were in the car for 8 hours, but we were

• Our host tonight, Amy, is an avid baseball fan with a witty sense of humor; she's really fun and cool

• I think today was the funniest day for us guys who post on this blog to read the comments. Luke, Peter, and I laughed out loud on a few of the comments you guys made. Keep them up! (ooh, the counter is fun to look at as well)

Now for the negative side of the day.

• The Cardinals fell again the the Royals. What's worse is I called Jeff T. to...well...gloat over the score when it was 2-1 Cardinals in the 8th inning. It was a rookie, foolish mistake which I thought I was beyond making. I should have learned from T last year when he called to gloat when the Royals were up by a few runs. Right after I got off the phone with him, the Cardinals hit a grand slam and won the game. However, I fell prey to my stupidity and called. Immediately after, McClellan gave up 2 home runs in the 8th to secure the loss and erase the brilliant start by Looper.
  

• We all played this game called ImagineIF. I thought that it might be fun to assign consequences to the loser of the game. Of course, I lost. It wouldn't be too bad, except for the fact is that I have to sleep with 3 pair of shorts on and 2 jackets tonight inside a zero degree sleeping bag. It would probably be cooler to sleep inside of a working toaster oven or a nuclear reactor core.

I'm going to pull a Luke Harris right here.
Moral of the story: Don't boast or brag (Proverbs has something to say about this) and before you come up with a game with consequences, make sure you have a legitimate chance of winning the game first. Man, I'm horrible at ImagineIF.

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed reading this. Please don't flag me as a complainer. I just thought I might lighten your day by sharing the pain and sorrow of mine. Just kidding. Life is good.
Nolan

I know it maynot look like it but....I can drive like the wind blows...

Today we drove. And we kept driving. It kinda felt like Forest Gump on his jogging road trip . When we get hungry, we eat. When we get tired, we sleep. When feeling like pulling over, we do. It's great. We helped a guy who ran out of gas push his car to the gas station in West Virgina near Morgantown. We saw some sweeeeeet mullets at that gas station. The gas was cheep too, $3.89. Cheep gas is awesome. I am also mad at the Lakers for quitting in the 4th quarter. And Paul Pierce is my least favorite player in the NBA.


Luke

on the road again.... I just cant wait to get on the road the again

Man.... we drove a lot today! We were on the road for about eight hours which means a lot of sleeping, singing, and talking! Ya know, nothing brightens up a road trip like a little Justin Timberlake, Brittney Spears, John Denver, and Plus One. I mean is there really any better combination? I submit that there is not! Amy has a really cool wiener dog named Shirley, she is amazing! She can do all kinds of tricks like sit and... well thats about it but I still think she is stinkin amazing!

Mom and Dad,
I know that you never let me drive to Springfield by myself but I have driven through downtown Chicago, downtown Cincinnati, and to Baltimore. Your son is growing up, so maybe if he wanted to drive to Springfield sometime you should let him ; ) just a thought

-Peter

A Warm Night for Some in the DC area

So today was the official travel day. Great stay with the Newmans. Some of the best mint brownies to be created on this planet. And we say, "it is good." (not to be confused with the creation story).

The mountains were beautiful. So weird that there is so much space and yet so many people are concentrated in the cities. Definitely puts you face to face (in a small way) with social issues going on. Driving by some of the battlefields, we just got to thinking about how people died out there. And some major car tunes going on.
Tonight we are just west of DC staying with a friend from college. Good thing we aren't camping because of the rain. Thanks Amy for the hospitality. And got in a good game of Imagine If... Another game with consequences. And this time, it's Noland paying. Tomorrow is Baltimore and then the crazy trip up and down the coast. And I must make a correction to the previous post. It is not Alex but Kyle. We truly are super stoked and extremely grateful what he did to get the Boston tickets.
And here's to guy who ran out of gas and got to push his car in...

By the way, pillows make great baseball gloves.

Go Royals!

a&w

Very fun day....

Right now all the other guys are doing push-ups and sit-ups. Let me tell you, the sounds Peter makes are as follows "AHAHGGREGGAHAHHAHAHA!" "Guys I can't do any more!"(Whimper voice as he does it!) It is high comedy. The Reds Ballpark was really cool. It is my second favorite, but I'm partial to the Redbirds. We visited Sheri Bryan's sister near Indianapolis and it was a surprise for because he has a secret crush on her, so it was very fun to see his face when he saw her. It was Weaver's idea, one of his better ones, he told Nolan that he was visiting an old friend. Nolan suspected something when she didn't remember his name right away. Good times. And we got the Red Sox tickets so the whole day was awesome.


Luke

Quick Shout Outs

These are some quick shout outs to some amazing people before hand:

Aunt Pauline for being so cool and not giving me her credit card number but going to let us stay with them in Boston.

Zach Waters who got the connection for us.

Alex for hooking us up with the Boston tickets. Bro, I don't even know you but you are getting the biggest hug ever. Maybe even a kiss. You rock.

Amy S for such short notice but still being radically cool. Maybe I'll cheer for the yankees. maybe...



And, just to let everyone know. I did lose and I got to work on my tan some. I actually might suggest doing it more often.

The Reds game was probably the best game so far. Definitely started the Griffey cheer. This one's for you.

a&w

Introducing. . .

By the way, the Cardinals did lose, but I think "dominating" is a strong word. 2-1 is hardly dominating.

I'm surprised Jeff T. hasn't called to smack talk me yet. :)

The Great American Ballpark

Just got to the Newman's house about 30 min outside of Cincinnati. We got to see the Reds take on the Dodgers tonight, it was an amazing game in a GREAT Ballpark(definantly the coolest one we have been to so far.)

I got third place in an exciting game of settlers today.... I was the dark horse and came from behind with to victory points. Weaver got last.... and had to pay the consequences, but you will have to ask him about that because we all promised not to tell :) It was really really good to get to see the Sells family again!! They Rock! In fact everybody that we have stayed with rocks, they have all been so gracious, hospitable, and kind.... so if you are reading this THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

And lastly I would just like to point out that MY ROYALS just got done dominating cross state rivals the Stl Cardinals!

-Peter

Tales from Fort Wa....er...Upland Indiana!

Last night we got to hang with the Sells and it was great. We actually knew them before we went on this trip and that was a first. All the other people we stayed with it was a first time to meet them, so we got to give them an update on all our families. Patrick hung with us, then he had to go to "work." (Which consists of him driving a golf cart and making casual conversation with strangers) Weaver woke up Peter, Nolan and I at 9:30 and for no good reason. I think he likes to be cruel. We should have pictures in the next 24 hours for you guys. We are off to Cincinnati to watch the Reds play at 7:05 ET then we stay with Pete Newman's parents. It should be a good day.





Luke

And another thing...

Rule #2 for the roadtrip: don't back into handicap signs

a&w

P.S. not feelin' the love on the poll. come on folks, i did the sprinkler.

Ivanhoe's and the Real Taylor Univ

so... the car has been amazing. we actually got the best gas mileage we have gotten the entire trip so far. about 56 mpg. literally.
the flip side: we went to the wrong taylor university. who knew? we do now. so after 2 hours of unnecessary driving, we have arrived, already had an adventure with patrick and eaten a grand burger and shake at ivanhoes. not to mention their cheesy tots.

this morning we were in geneva, il. a little swedish town. call me the old man but i got up early on my own and roamed the town. beautiful town with a coffee shop, a great bike shop and a sweet bike trail that leads to an island park. pretty sweet if you ask me.

and not to forget last night's happenings. we went to buffalo wild wings last night to watch the game and got an order of blazin buffalo wings. ok, i must warn those who are weak at heart (and stomach) to avoid this paragraph. these wings were hot. like the description on the menu is of a red flame shooting up. so our goal was to put down one blazin bw. to repeat the phrase that best describes this - Luke: "this is the hottest thing i have ever put in my mouth." yes. luke and peter then managed to drink about 2 pitchers worth of water (not to mention that luke peed about 8 times within a 1 1/2 span). peter weeped. noland and i downed 2 wings. will we ever do this again? um... no.

rule #1 for roadtrip - always ask.

a&w

So.... who knew that there are two Taylor Universitys in Indiana?? We sure didnt, but in the span of 2 hours we have now visited both of them.... The real one and according to Pat the "Wimpy One" Our Garmin took us to the wrong one earlier which was about an hour out of the way.... it was a fun little detour however and now we are safe and sound in Upland Indiana, it should be fun! It's on the Cincinnati tomarrow to catch the Reds out

You have to love free Wi-Fi from the CITCO parking lot

We never know when we will be able to get on now... so we have to take advantage of free( and Unexpected) internet access when we get it. We were in Chi town yesterday to see the white sox take on the Rockies. The game started out slow but ended in a bang! The Rockies ended up winning 5-3 so the home town fans were disappointed to say the least! The good news is that we got FREE parking.... the bad news is that it was a couple of miles away :). We later danced at taco bell.... and watched the NBA Finals at Buffalo Wild Wings, overall a great day!! We are now headed up to Upland Indiana to see Patrick and hang out a bit. Thanks for checking in!!
-peter

.....We are now adding a photo bucket page to our blog so you can check out all of our pics there

The Dance Party at Taco Bell

Our cashier said that she was having a bad day, so we decided to lighten her day and cheer her up.

Anybody need a 1993 lime green sun-dried Honda Civic?

Today we were traveling on the road and we saw a car with a "For Sale" sign on it. Well my brain functions in such a way that I was like "Hey, we should call that guy and ask him what he wants for it...in a weird and prank call sorta way." So we pull close enough to the green circa 1993 Honda Civic. Lime sun-dried green. So I call the number and I expect the person answering to be a dude. Nope. It is the mom. I'm flustered. However I did get out "Um yes, I would like to buy your green car....maybe." Lady "The Green Civic?" Me "Yes, um, how many miles on the green civic?" Lady "170,000" Me "170,000! Wow, I'm not going to buy it now, but I do have a question for you." (When I asked the question Peter giggled like a schoolgirl...and so did Nolan and Weaver, very hard for me to keep my concentration on the prank call, however I came through in the clutch.) "My question for you is 'Would you rather have a pink poodle, OR Would you rather have a used laptop?" She hung up. Moral to the story, 18-22 year olds have a weird, stupid, deviated, and awesome sense of humor. Don't believe me? Watch the dance video.


Luke

When the morning brings another city and another game

Who knew that 5:30am would be a great time to wake up. no, the 5 1/2 hour drive wasn't the most exciting but knowing we are in another city, especially Chicago, brings excitement at such an early time. And not only Carol's breakfast casserole and cinnamon rolls. stinkin good. Huge thanks to the Prossers who gave their time, house, themselves for us selflessly. Big props.
Two stadiums, 1 free parking spot. We have decided to clock our walking distance
from our free parking spots. Today - 7 blocks and got to meet Chicago's Korean and Italian neighborhoods. Not only is this trip going to be cheap, we are going to be in stinkin awesome shape. 50 pushups at every stop. Yes, even on the sidewalks of a Korean restaurant. And here's to our taco bell order taker person.

-A&W

From a Taco Bell Outside of Chicago

I'm writing this as we ride in the car. The White Sox lost, though they made some noise in the bottom of the 9th inning. The score was 5-3, and they had the bases loaded with Joe Crede up. Unfortunatley for the South Side team, he flied out to short left field.

We woke up at 5:30 and left from Craig, Carol, and Ashley's house by 6:05, but not before they served us breakfast casserole and cinnamon rolls. They were TOO kind to us. However, that's not a complaint. :)

The Sox park was pretty nice. It was also pretty well attended with 30,004 fans. If we wouldn't have gone, the attendance would have been an even 30,000. Peter pointed that out.

Funny story. At the beginning of “God Bless America” during the 7th Inning stretch, I noticed that I had forgotten to take my hat off. Naturally, I was slightly embarrassed so I reached up and snatched it and held it to my heart. As I was ripping it off of my head, I vaguely remembered that I had put Weaver's sunglasses on top of my head. Everything seemed to go in slow motion as I watched the glasses sail 3 feet in front of me, over the railing, and undoubtedly down onto someone's head far below. Needless to say, it was hard to keep from laughing during the rest of the song, but I managed to keep it in by biting my mouth, though my shaking shoulders would have given me away to a casual observer. No, we did not get them back; I owe Weaver a pair of sunglasses.

Right now, we're driving next to a Chicago Bears ambulance, yes that's right, a Chicago Bears ambulance. I'm not sure—as a long-time Vikings fan—I could be carried in that emergency vehicle without feeling...well, a little animosity towards the medical staff that DEMANDED a Bears ambulance, of all things. I'm not saying that I'd refuse care, but the thought might cross my mind. :)

Anyway, we're on the way to Alex's house who lives a little outside of Chicago. He's going to let us stay with him tonight. What a blessing.

Two parks down, nine to go. We're off to Indiana tomorrow!
~Nolan (Posted from Taco Bell)

The Royals win the royals win!!

I would like to take a slight detour from all of the cardinals talk and change the subject to my kansas city royals! We won today again.... for the 27th time this year! Luke H. got the win and we scored 13 runs, after going 4-5 Mike Aviles deserves serious consideration for the starting ss position.

After only one day I have already learned so so much.... for instance sporting goods stores sell sports stuff ( who knew), second that Jeff West bought his truck for ZERO down.... impressive, and lastly that that there is no cooking like home cooking ( Thank you very much Carol Prosser dinner was fantastic!)

Also a huge thank you to uncle Dave for the Stl tickets and Nolan's braut! It was very much appreciated!!

Peter

Tales from far away...

Well the day started awesome for me even though I stayed up till 1 am reading Sports Illustrated. The ride up was really fun, Weaver drove and I sat in the front while Peter and Nolan enjoyed the view from the back. On the way to the game we needed to buy a score book to keep score of all the games we see. Well we punched in the GPS "Sporting Goods" and got several matches. The first one I called was named "On Target Sporting Goods" So I called them up and asked the dude on the phone if they had baseball score books. He goes "Uh...No this is a gun store..." Then I called the next one, called Johnny Macs Sporting Goods and not wanting to repeat the same mistake again I asked the girl on the phone, and she says "Johnny Macs Sporting Goods, how can I help you?" I respond with "Hey, uh, do you guys sell, you know, uh, sports stuff?" And everyone in the car then laughs at me for the next 3 minutes. Mainly because I asked a sporting goods store if they sold sporting goods. Moral to the story...I am an idiot.

Luke

Cardinals Win!

This morning we left at 8:30 am. We packed the Honda to the brim, but it feels like there's still a lot of room.

We met up with Uncle Dave and Sean a little before game time. As you can see, the new Busch Stadium looks amazing!

Uncle Dave was so incredibly generous; he bought our tickets and even offered to buy us food! Thanks a ton Uncle Dave! You, my dear Cardinals fan, are the man.

The game was great! Lohse went 8 innings and only gave up 2 runs on 4 hits. The last play of the game was amazing; Ludwick had a walk-off diving catch. You will probably be able to catch it on SportsCenter tonight.

We are now at Becca Prosser's parent's house where we will spend the night. Craig, Carol, and Ashley rock. We are having a steak dinner tonight!

We leave for Chicago early tomorrow morning.

What a fantastic start to our road trip!

It's go Time!

Well a crazy night getting home from kamp, and now it is go time!  I can't wait to go see all the games and live out of a car.  Thanks to all who are letting use your homes as rest stops.  We can't thank you guys enough!

Luke

The Anticipation Continues to Grow...

Here we are, only ONE more day until we leave on the trip of a lifetime.

First things first, we kick off the trip tomorrow by going to St. Louis to see our hometown heroes (the Cardinals) play. Well, heroes for Luke and I anyway. :)
I think I speak for all of us though--yes, even Peter and Weaver, those rabid Royals fans--when I say that we're all excited to get to see the new Busch Stadium.

I also have some important news to share. There is a chance that we will be able to go to the Red Sox game on Friday the 20th. Yes, yes, I know that's the day they are playing the Cardinals! The chance that we could go to Fenway and see the Green Monster is incredibly exciting news. What could be better than seeing my favorite team in one of the world's most historic baseball parks?

Hopefully Luke, Peter, and Weaver will post tomorrow, so be looking. I can't promise anything, but I heard rumors that there may also be some pictures.

Go Cardinals!

The Plan

What exactly is "The Plan"? That's easy: see as many baseball ballparks in 14 days as possible, with a budget of $500 each. It's a good thing that Weaver's car gets about 40 mpg.

How did we come up with this idea of a road trip? That's actually Luke's brainchild. At one Friday morning Bible study, Luke told Peter and I about how some of his friends from Kanakuk went on this sweet road trip for a month as their senior trip. Those guys ate extremely cheap, camped for free at national parks, and toured the nation...and they had a blast doing it. We all liked the idea, so we switched the national parks for ballparks, added Weaver to the group, and the rest is history.

Above is our schedule for the trip. Get ready, we leave the 14th of June.