The Epic Adventure Home

I would have written a post on this earlier but I have been incredibly busy. These last two weeks have been insanely busy and crazy. My monstrous adventure began little over two weeks ago amazingly. I returned from Ecuador the 21st of August. Upon return I got to spend some quality time with our TSA.  Have you ever heard those reports of how racists and abusive the TSA are? Well let me assure you they are not racists or abusive, at least in LAX. I spend a summer in Afghanistan summer of 2004. While in transit to Afghanistan, I passed through Islamabad, Pakistan. So in my passport I have both an Afghan and Pakistan visas. Every time I pass through customs, I always get stopped and such.  Anyways, I believe the combined Afghan and Pakistan visas, and the fact I was out of country for 3 months, led to being direct to the extended search line.  Anyways, I waited there will all of the middle easterners. The TSA people were skeptical, but understood haste.  I was out of there in only a few hours.
I got to spend a day in California and visit with a few of my friends.  I got to see my car buddy, Jay, again and talk with him.  He seems to be doing alright.  Jay is now in the refrigeration business and repairs refrigeration units for Slur-pee machines.  I also got to see Kirby, who was just recently married.  We had a good talk and it was great to see him again before I left.  I was excited to hear he was starting his own company.  That night I left for Mr. John Khoury's house, so that we could leave the next day. I got in at about 12 and after convincing his mom I didn't need anything to eat, we went strait to bed.
John and I woke up at about 4:45 AM and were planning to leave by 5 AM, but his mom, who was still awake (or she hardly slept) decided to make us a plate of pizza and fried chicken for breakfast.  So she kept trying to feed us and eventually we gave in and had some tea and crackers. We were on the road by 6AM and made it to barstow by 8AM or so.  Our plan was to meet up with Tyler Whitney and Roy in Flagstaff.  Tyler and Roy were coming down from Ephraim, Utah.  We planned to meet in flagstaff and drive back.  Now I was driving my Toyota Tacoma because James said he did not need it for the school year.  I had offered it to James so he could get an off campus job.  This was the hand of God that kept James from getting my truck.
JK (John Khoury) and I were hauling a truckload of butt down the freeway.  We had set out an hour after Tyler and Roy, yet we made it to Flagstaff faster than they did.  Basically we stopped for gas in Victorville and never stopped again.  Tyler and I communicated on the phone as we both entered flagstaff at the same time.   Unfortunately Tyler and Roy came in from the north and had to navigate all the city streets.  Khoury and I just cruised through flagstaff.  The plan was to find a Dell Taco or something on the east side of Flagtstaff.  Unfortunately there was nothing out that way for 40 miles. We stopped in Wilson, or something like that, and found a Taco Bell.  Khoury and I ate and waited for Tyler and Roy to catch up.  About half an hour later, they caught up and left after they finished lunch.  I decided to ride with Tyler in his Acura and Roy drove the truck.  We had initially though that Roy was a slow driver, but if 80-85 mph is slow, then he was going slow.   Tyler and I had a hard time keeping up with him. Tyler's car sounded like a piece of junk.  I didn't think to much of it because it look and smelled like a piece of junk.  About maybe an hour later or so Khoury called and had to go to the bathroom, but not just on the side of the road.   He needed someplace civilized apparently.  JK finally got Roy to get of at the petrified forest national monument exit and we went to the bathroom there.
Khoury decided he wanted to drive and so after nagging me I left him. Unfortunately, Khoury didn't know how to drive stick (or didn't remember). He didn't make it out of the parking spot without stalling at least 4 times, so finally I was like 'Im driving.' Khoury rode with Tyler and I drove with Roy. About maybe 15 minutes or less Tyler calls me and says his car is making funny noises. We stop on the side of the road and I drive the Acura with Roy and Khoury in the truck. So me and Tyler are driving and the engine is making this horrible knocking sound. Basically after about about a minute it went bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-BAM-KLANK... and then nothing. So I decided not to try and restart the engine or throw it back in gear. Cars breaking in the middle of nowhere has become so second nature I wasn't even worried or scared. I remember say 'Well Lord, It wouldn't be an adventure is something didn't go wrong' (I always like a challenge). It seems like the Lord has given me an abundance of object lessons in faith. Maybe he's trying to tell me something, like to have faith! If you look at an older post I kind of summarize the time when the engine in my BMW fell off the motor mounts in Flagstaff (funny how we were on the same road) and we used a come-along and Crow-Magnum Bar (as it is affectionately, concrete breaking bar) to reposition the engine on the motor mounts and then used tie-downs to hold the engine in place the rest if the drive. So apparently Roy and Khoury didn't notice that we had slowed down significantly and we had to call them and tell then to come back and get us. We got out to inspect the damage. Tyler and I though for a moment it would catch fire beause it was smoking so bad. Thankfully it was all just burning oil. So Roy seems to be a great drive in the forward direction but not in reverse. So about half a mile down the road Roy stops and starts to back up on the shoulder. Tyler and I get out to watch him. Roy starts to back up into the left lane of the freeway, and is all over the road while semis are barreling down the road. Seeing this possible disaster, Tyler and I starts to help them direct my truck by jumping up and down yelling and pointing in the direction they need to turn the wheel. Unfortunately Roy turns the opposite way and then goes the correct way too much and goes off the shoulder a little. So after a few harry moments Roy and Khoury are united with us next to Tyler's broken car.
There are two miraculous miracles here. One, we had the Tacoma, because if James had said that he needed it I would have given it to him. I had told him that all he had to do was ask and I would have gladly given it to him for that school year. It is a total miracle that I had ended up with the Tacoma. It was the day before that we had decided that I would drive it. We had decide it James took the truck all four of us would be going back in the Acura. The second miracle was that for all my stuff that Gareth took, like my come-along, tents, sleeping bags, and some of my other tools (Ill be coming for my stuff BTW GARETH), he for some reason left his navy grade rope and a tow rope in the back of my truck. There is no way to explain why this worked out other than God's hand was in it. Its kinda like the story of Gideon, but instead of less troops, we had less tools. I think God was showing me more and more that the situation is his control and he has control, not me. Anyways, we tied the rope to Tyler's car and hooked the other end to my truck. We were about 90 miles outside of Gallup, New Mexico, and I had been there before (the adventure with the BMW) and knew there was a Walmart there. So we pulled the Acura at about 50-60 mph all he way there. We made it into Gallup at about 8:00 PM just when the sun was going down.
Our initial plan was to go into Walmart and see if they have a tow-bar. Unfortunately they did not, but there was three auto parts stores in town. We went to Pep Boys first but they had just close. Second we went to Auto Zone who was still open, but they did not have a tow-bar. So basically after talking to a few people decided that Pep Boys would be our best bet. We were still towing Tylers are around at this time and had it down to a science. We even did a three point turn by pushing Tylers car back as I backed up. Anyways we all decided to drop off Tyler's car at Walmart and go to Taco Bell. All four of us piled in the cab of my base model as base model gets Tacoma. So we all drove to Taco Bell and hopped out and ate there. Now Khoury had been eating the fried chicken and pizza his mother had given us for breakfast earlier that day. Both Khoury and I each had a bucket of fried chicken and pizza, but I didn't eat to much of it. So we were walking out of Taco Bell and there was like this refrigerator with a head and limbs standing next my truck. I mean this was a big dude. I didn't think we could steal my truck because wouldn't have been able to fit in it. I have to admit he was kinda sketchy. He had that I'm-going-to-rob-you-then-eat-your-children look. So he came up and asked us for money to buy some food and before we could answer Khoury was like 'Hey I got a whole bucket of fried chicken and pizza you can have!' So as all Roy, Tyler and I are situating ourselves Khoury was looking for his bucket and Roy found it in the cab, so while the three of us are cramming in, Khoury gives this guy his/my fried chicken and pizza and then hops in with us. So he is just standing there staring at us while all four of us pile into the truck. Khoury finally gets in and the guy just starts laughing at us. So we are like 'have a good night' and Khoury, doing the prudent thing that none of us had the balls to do at the time apparently, tells him that Jesus loves him. Khoury didn't seem intimidated by him at all. So we head back to the Walmart parking lot where Tylers car.
Walmart is a nice place. If you didn't know, you can park your car in the parking lot and sleep there and security will look over you. So we park our vehicle and we all went into walmart and just wandered around. I found one of those iHomes, or whatever they are called, on display and charged my ipod on it. So we hung out there for who knows how long and then headed to our vehicles. So we decide to go to sleep and wake up in time for Pep Boys to open. I claimed the bed of my pickup (that happened to be totally full of stuff), Khoury got the cab, and Roy and Tyler slept in the Acura. I made a makeshift tent in the back of the truck by stacking suitcases and engine parts (VW 1600) and making some roof supports out of Khoury's hockey sticks. I then put a tarp over it and my cargo net (bungee cord cargo net, I recommend one) over all of it. After everyone got settled, we were disturbed by a police chase that ended in the next isle over from us. I only saw the flashing lights, but Tyler says that there was a good number of police cruisers and policemen with their guns drawn. Anyways after that we went to sleep and it started to rain a little, but thank God it didn't rain heavily since we all had to have our windows down because it was so hot. So then maybe at 3AM I am awoken by this horrible noise. It was like the Walmart alarm that goes off when someone tries to leave with merchandise that hasn't been deactivated, except it was super loud. I looked out and it was the alarm at Carl's Jr. going off. So I may have possibly drifted back to sleep again but I dont remember. What I do remember is that I decided to go to the bathroom, so crawled out of my tent and stood there. there was I think two police cruisers and 4 or so police officers about 30 feet away. Thinking nothing of it I just turned and walked to walmart, but the doors would not open (went to the wrong entrance I concluded the next day) and stood there, then I turned around and walked back to the truck. Apparently, Carl's Jr. got broken into. Anyways the next morning we all woke up, visited the restrooms and towed Tyler's car over to Pep Boys at 8, when we thought it was going to open. Once there we realized it opened at 9 on sunday mornings. So we decided to go to the McDonalds that shared the parking lot. We for some reason leave the windows down and the doors unlocked while we went to McDonalds. We get in and this really sketchy Navaho guy is like, 'hey can I have some money so I can buy my old lady a breakfast burrito?' So we dug deep and gave him some money. Then after an hour or so we start to head outside and this Navaho lady tried to sell us some VHS tapes that looks like she pulled them out if a trash can. She needed money to buy her and her husband bus tickets to Alburqure. So Tyler and I just gave her money and told her to keep the tapes. Turns out that her husband was the guy that wanted money for the breakfast burrito. So we talked to them for a good 15 to 20 minutes. Khoury asked if they went to church and read scripture. Khoury is so good at asking questions that could lead to a spiritual conversation, but he is very socially inept and close minded and generally strange. If we could stop him before he opened his mouth again, we might have had a better conversation. So he asks them if they go to church, and then randomly asks how long the Navaho have been around. It was a pretty awkward moment, I must admit. They just kinda stared at him for a few moments. I broke the silence by saying that they had been around 'a while.' The Navaho lady, still staring at Khoury, was like 'ya a while.' So I let her know that Khoury was a little strange and was from LA. So then we continued talking in the McDonalds parking lot, when I noticed that our windows were down. The Navaho couple weren't the only people wandering around. I saw quite a few sketchy people. So I decided to try and roll up the windows and lock the doors as nonchalantly as possible so that people don't rob us. Anyways Pep Boys had a tow-bar and magnetic lights. The magnetic lights were expensive, so I just bought wire and decided I would wire strait into Tyler's tail lights. So we spend the entire morning trying to hook up the tow-bar to Tyler's car. Tyler and I ended up bolting the tow-bar to the bottom side of his bumper and then had to bend it up to get it on the truck. Tyler reconnected the rope so that if the bumper fell off we would not loose the car. To try out the setup we drove back over to Walmart with Tyler in the Acura. It made it fine so I decided to wire Tyler's tail lights to my harness. While I was wiring stuff, this gang banger came up and tried to sell us keychains. He was a very stereotypical gang banger. He had the whole Basketball jersey and shaved head look. Apparently this gang banger has seen us last night and came over to ask why we were still in Gallup. Tyler, Roy and Khoury started talking to him. Khoury asked if he 'read scripture' and he said he described himself as a 'backslidden christian' which is the first time I any of us have ever heard that. It was interesting. He horribly sleezy and had a foul mouth, but knew his christian doctrine. Somehow he got in an argument with Khoury over theology (we all argue with him, Khoury is far out) and suprisingly he knew his stuff. It was so strange. The guy took off after a long conversation and we got on the road.
Roy, Tyler, Khoury and I all piled into the cab of my truck. We though if we kept all the weight in the truck, the car would be easier to pull. Unfortunately, about 15 to 20 miles down the road we had to stop because the car was pulling the truck all over the road. We thought we may crash if we went any further. So we pulled off and I sat there for a while. Everyone else was waiting on my judgement I guess. Anyways, this was the first moment for me of despair. I finally decided that the best option would be for someone to 'drive' the Acura so it would not be all over the road. I put Tyler back in his car and JK, Roy and I all piled in the truck. It turned out to work really well. From there we drove to Alburquque and stopped for gas. Khoury started to freak out when the gas gauge was below 1/8 tank. I was getting really annoyed because he kept reminding me about every second that the gauge was low. I was finally like 'I KNOW ITS LOW, ITS MY VEHICLE I KNOW WHEN WE ARE OUT OF GAS KHOURY!' Anyways, we made it to a gas station with plenty of gas. Tyler bought a map and we planed out the rest of our trip. Once on the road we made it about 100 miles or so before we stopped again to tighten things down. Continuing on, Khoury, Roy and I got into a deep theological debate that lasted at least 3 or 4 hours. Anyways we ended up driving through every city we planed to stop in and stopped in Amarillo at Taco bell. Oh one of the amazing things was that we didnt get pulled over for unsafe towing or speeding while towing. I cant believe how many cops we passes. We pasted at least 4 cops while towing with a rope at 70 mph around Gallup and Dallas. We were at a gas station and like two squad cars pull up, look at our rig, and then go into the connivence store and buy whatever. Remember that the tow-bar was bolted to the bottom of Tylers bumper and we had top bend the bumper up so we could get the hitch on the ball. We also had a tow rope on the car also. We didn't have any magnetic lights on it, so that would have warranted a ticket (we had the tail lights wired though, so we had lights). I believe God blinded all the cops we passed, or gave them a heavy dose of apathy those days of our trip. So we get out of Amarillo and head towards Wichita Falls. We stop at a rest stop to re tighten all the bolts and retighten the rope. The bolts were really loose so we repositioned everything and bolted everything down again. We got back on the road with Tyler still steering the Acura. Basically driving my truck was like driving a vehicle with 4 wheel steering, except someone else was steering the back wheels and we were traveling at 70 mph. God was really, really good to us. Between Tyler and I we worked as a team at almost inhuman levels. We drove over a 1000 miles, with no accidents at 70 mph with me steering the front of the truck and Tyler steering the back with the Acura. I definitely must say God's hand was on us. Our cooperation together was inhumanly smooth. I was able to tell when Tyler was falling asleep, the back end was all over the place and I had to slow down and yell at him. Anyways we decided to stop for the night because what we were doing was really risky and potentially dangerous, so we decided to be in the right mind.
I looked for a place to stop about 90 miles outside of Wichita Falls. I found a nice little turn off out in the middle of nowhere that was next to the road. So I pulled over and killed the lights. We all got out and decided to figure out sleeping arrangements. Khoury took the cab of the truck again, and Tyler and Roy slept in the front seats of the Acura. Since I was the only one driving the truck (not that I didn't trust Roy or Tyler, but I have pulled so many sketchy loads, that I know how my truck would react) I needed the best sleep, so I claimed the back of Tylers car. I put down the back seats and put down my old sleeping bag and slept diagonally in the back of Tyler's car. The land was flat and we got the glare of semi's lights and felt their rumble where we were parked. We were about 20 feet off the road. Now I knew that this highway we were on ran parallel to a rail road, but I didn't know how close it was. Turns out it was about 10-15 feet form our position. So we see this bright light and I don't think anything of it. Then it the ground starts to rumble a little more than usual. And then the light is really bright and about a quarter mile away the train blasts it horn. Like everyone in Tylers car FREAKS out. Tyler calmly asks if we parked on the rail road. So this thing is barreling down on us at like 70 mph and everyone starts to scramble. I then assured them we were NOT on the train tracks, but just close to them. So this train just screams by and rocks everything and is super loud. So probably for half an hour or so no one could sleep. So we start to fall asleep again and what do you know? Another train comes flying down the tracks and wakes everyone up. By the time the third train came we were used to it and just covered our ears. The next morning we wake up to the wonderful sound of mosquitos biting us. So we all very quickly get back in our designated vehicles and haul butt out of there. Probably half an hour down the road we stop and get some coffee and breakfast. I don't remember much, but we made it through Wichita Falls and about 90 miles from Decatur or whatever its called we decide to get gas.
So we were going about 75 mph now and we pulled off the free way, and as soon as I got into the gas station, I made a slightly sharp turn (wasnt very sharp) and the bumper ripped off. So God was good to us AGAIN. This could have been very disastrous if it happened on the free way. Basically what happened is the sheet metal that held on these cones that the bumper mounts were on sheered off at the boxed sheet metal that the suspension was mounted to. So the four of us pushed his car around to the back of the gas station. After a coffee break, Tyler decided he would call his dad and see if he could pick his car up. His dad said that he could pick it up if it was closer to Ft. Worth. So I went and filled the truck up and we attached a rope to Tyler's car and down the road we went again. By this time we had the whole rope thing down to a science. Tyler did all the breaking, I did all the accelerating. Anyways we ended up going 75 mph again and were passing people. We made it 90 miles and dropped the car off in a Walmart parking lot in Decatur. So now with one less vehicle, all four of us piled into my single cab Tacoma and we drove a little over 2 hours to the far side of dallas near Tyler's home.
We ate at Jack-In-The-Box this time and went we all went in we stunk up the place. We didn't have AC the whole trip and we all smelled soooooo bad. We drove through the south west in the middle of summer so it was super HOT. After lunch we headed to Tyler's home and another 45 minutes later we all rested in the nice AC. Tyler's mom said that she reads my blog, so I know now of at least three people that read whatever I ramble on about. Tyler drove his moms car and we headed back to school. I was super tired from driving for almost three days so Roy drove the truck and I slept.
Unfortunately when I got back to school I learned that my roommate Ben had car troubles when his suspension broke on this Porsche 914 he just restored. I pretty much just wandered around until I found Brad and got a key from him. Then school started and everything got a little hazy. Anyways so I had quite the adventure and I am so glad I had Khoury, Tyler and Roy with my on our adventure. If it wasn't for these guys and the COUNTLESS miracles that God provided, who knows where I would be. What a lesson in faith!

Into the Jungle

Ok so I now have been into the jungle twice. The first time was tuesday the 1st of july and the second time was wednesday the 9th. Anyways it was a blast. The first trip was more like torture than a hike. The purpose for our trip was to fly into this remote landing strip and then hike to a mountain, then up a mountain so we could run some tests on the VHF radio repeater up there. We started out at like 8 AM and started to hike around 8:30 to 9. I went with Rob DiCrasto and one of the local villagers joined us. Each of us was carrying about 30 lbs each on out backs. The hike up was incredibly hard, harder than the grand canyon trip I did. The main reason it was hard was that I was carrying about 30lb of equipment and we had these rubber boots on that were horribly uncomfortable, and then everywhere we stepped was dead wet leaves on top of mud. I much enjoyed the grand canyons hard firm ground and desert conditions. So besides how hard the actual hike was, we had to watch out for critters. We saw jaguar tracks going up. The paw print was about 5 in long. Our guide told us if you hear any growling, to get your machete ready, so that was comforting. I was so exhausted going up that I'm sure a sloth could attack us and we wouldn't have been able to fight back. So 3 and a half hours after we had left the airstrip we made it to the top. The last mile or so was the most hazardous. We traveled on top of a ridge, so there were cliffs on either side and I think we were walking on top of trees and bushes. There was nothing solid beneath our path. My walking stick was useless because whenever I put it down it would go down about 3 feet before it hit something solid. If I stuck my foot in the wrong place, it would go strait through the ground. Anyways coming up to the summit out trip went from a horizontal hike, to a vertical hike. We had to climb up these wet slippery roots with our 30 lbs of gear and avoid falling down the mountain. Once at the top we spent 3 hours or so load testing the batteries for the solar panels and checking the radio. I about died going up I was so exhausted and the 3 hours of working didn't help fatigue. We started our trip down about 2:15 PM and both rob and I realized going down wasnt easier. Going up everything was wet and muddy, which made it hard, going down was wet and muddy, which made it extremely dangerous. Both Rob and I sliped and slided down. Because of my boots being a little small, my feet were killing me. Anyways we were going fast, at least I though. Our guide was like let me carry your backpack so we can go faster. I was like, no its ok just let me take a few breaks going down. Then he told me about the snakes. Apperently just about every creature is nocturnal in the jungle, so they have these snakes that when you have a flash light they are attracted to it. SO the snakes charge at the light and jump and attack it and whoever has the light. Also those snakes are poisionous. So I decided to let him carry my backpack, besides the one he was already carrying. Ok these jungle indians are hardcore. He said he liked Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris, but Im pretty sure this guy could probably kill both of them if they were in the jungle. He just takes my backpack and puts it on his head, like its nothing and runs ahead. I still couldnt keep up even though I wasnt carrying anything. So I was dead tired in the first 1/3 of the trip down and I believe that fight or flight mechanism we humans are supposed to have kicked in. We were pretty much running down the mountain. I was slipping and sliding and both rob and I kept falling. I told not to tough or lean against things until you are sure there are no snakes or bugs. I was so tired that I didn't care, so I was brushing against and leaning on everything. It was a never ending trail. The further down we went, the more wet and slippery it got. I just wanted to die. i was dragging my walking stick and my machete behind me. Anyways we made it to the river that was next to the airstip. I was praying, "Dear Lord, I am a week week individual and you have gotten me this far, please be kind to us and have a plane waiting!" And what do you know? A plane was waiting. We were told that there was a good possibility that a plane couldn't come get us so we would have to walk 2 miles through jungle to a missionary compound and stay there for who knows how many days. We had drank all of our water by about half way down the mountain so we were super thirsty. Anyways Dan Rogers was walking to his plane to leave right when we walked out of the jungle, so we rode home and the first thing I did was get some water. That night we ate some pizza and moaned and groaned about our muscle pain. Anyways I definitely was running on adrenaline for about 24 hours. 24 hours later I got sick and was in bed for quite a while recovering. It was fun now that I recovered for the hike.
Two days ago Rob and I went into a jungle town called Pitacocha to install a VHF system. It is part of this Jungle Radio System that is used for flight and emergency calls. We were supposed to fly in and do an install then fly to another village and remove a radio. We flew into to PIT and had an interesting landing. It always rains in the jungle but it was clear enough for us to land. Kevin, the pilot wanted me to film his landing. So we approached and we touched down in a huge mud puddle and mud and water went everywhere and we slid around side to side in this huge mud hole. The mud hole slowed us down super quick and then we rose out of it and there were chickens running across the airstrip. Our plane about hit this big rooster. Anyways I got out and took a picture of the plane covered in mud. Rob and I got all of our equipment out and met the men that were to help us set the system up. Thankfully the men were all drunk. So the indians helped us carry all our stuff down though the school and came to this bodega that was locked. The idea was to put it inside this but the missionary who owned it was not around so the indians got a crowbar and removed the door. We put the radio inside and setup everything inside. Rob used a compass to find the direction to the north and south repeaters. Once we had the directions, we inspected the pole that the indians had selected for the radio antenna mast. Basically they brought out this 30ft long very hard wood tree It took three of us to turn one end of it. So it was way to large to just slip the antenna's U-bolts on, so they got out the 'machete de motor' (chainsaw) and went to town on it. After it was near the right shape the machete came out to fine tune the pole. We got the antenna bolted on and then almost the entire village came out to raise this thing. This thing weighted over 800 lbs and had an antenna sticking out one side, so it couldn't be dropped. Anyways I don't know if i mentioned this or not but it was raining hard the entire time since we had arrived. One of the indians had dug a 4.5 foot deep hole for the antenna before it started raining. The last 6 inches or so were filled with water, but by the time we started to lift the pole the hole had filled up to 6 inches from the top. Anyways our drunk buddies were there to help lift which didn't inspire confidence. We dropped one end onto the hole and everyone that was able bodied helped (the indian guy that was missing an arm pushed down with his foot on the end that was going into the hole). This was a very challenging part. It was raining hard and the more i pushed to raise the pole, the more i sunk into the ground. I don't think any of us knew what we were doing. We struggled for 15 minutes to get this thing up. If it had fallen, half the village would have been crushed. Finally after what seemed like eternity it dropped into place. The indian guys were say 'oh no problem!' so we hooked up the antenna and then we moved onto the solar panel. It went up with out any problems pretty much. We got the radio all hooked up and Rob made a few calls to base. So the radio setup was successful and then we waited around for the rain to stop. It rained so long that we were unable to go to the next airstrip. Once the rain cleared we took off and made it home by 5:00 PM.

s2008A:P3 2 Weeks In...

OK SO MY LARGE PENTAGRAM PICTURE THAT I TOOK IN THE CHILDREN'S SECTION AT THE LDS HISTORY MUSEUM AT TEMPLE SQUARE HAS INCONVENIENTLY BEEN REMOVED FROM MY BLOG WITH OUT MY PERMISSION. SO APPARENTLY I CANT POST WHATEVER I WANT ON MY BLOG.

That being said, on to what is happening. So these last few weeks have ben relaxed. I worked on the network and finished a few projects on that. Now I am doing electronics work. Last week I climbed about 50 or 60 feet (ok more like 40) up an antena mast. I had some safety equipment but was still pretty crazy. I spent most of my time fighting the ants that were crawling all over the antena. For some reason ants like to climb the antenna mast and onto the antenna. So I had one had free and one holding on to the mast all the while I was dogging or killing ants. So once that was done I got the antenna down without dropping it. We have been working on a few projects. I have kinda took over on this senior design project from Messiah college. Apparently they created a box with some firmware that translates gps data from the our codan radio (the radio gets the data from our planes flying around) and translates the data into this protocal called KISS that a computer can read. Now we are supposed to have this program that takes the data in KISS form and maps the gps location on a map, unfortunately we didnt get the cd that had all the data on it. At first this was way over my head, but when I spent some time I realized that the radio itself can communicate strait to the computer and the data can then probably be picked up by some script. The project is a good idea, but I think could have been better executed (i spent some time resottering some connections). Anyways Besides that we are looking at a cheaper and better way to send tcp/ip packets over HF radio. Again at first all this radio stuff was way over my head, butt now im learning. So I spent to day building a couple circuits on my bread board and made a few cables (one is rainbow colored! yay!).
On off time I spend time with Robert and Rebecca. Robert is 8 and Rebecca is 9. Pretty much all of their friends have left for the summer so I try and spend some time with them. Their favorite game we play is everybody try to beat me up. So I will just be standing there, then robbie comes at me with a flying elbow, so I avoid that but then I get a kick in the shit and a punch in the gut from eithe robbie or rebecca. Anyways I just grab them behing their knees and grap their upper body with my other arm and throw them ontp the couch or bed. So we have fun, it is an intense workout. We were susposed to go into the jungle but since both rob and I threw out our backs, we have been holding off on it. Pray for energy, something about this place drains me of energy. Pray for saftey, besides the headhunters, there is an abundance of poisonous creatures.

S2008A:P3 Arrival in Ecuador

So I have now arrived in Ecuador. My flight here was fairly painless considering my history with international flights (talking about the pain of customs and layovers). Anyways made it here ok. Ecuador is absolutely beautiful and hey, they use american currency country wide, except everything costs half as much as in the states. Anyways When I got here we drove down the Pan-American Highway for a few hours and saw quite a few volcanoes. They say that some of them are at the same or higher altitude than Mt. Everest because of the 'buldge' around the center of the earth, or so they tell me. Anyways there are some massive volcanoes here, all covered in snow even though there is jungle below them, pretty cool. So after a long drive we made it to Shell. I have been working on a project, which we just finished, involving reinstalling an accounting program that is as old as dirt. So with much complaining at the programs lack of sophistication, we got it all running. I have been living at the DiCrastos and having a blast with their children, Robbie and Rebecca. Those two kinds take all the life out of me, they always want to wrestle or do something, but its way fun. Anyways, this weekend we went to some random pool and chilled for a day, then on sunday I got to go to the local church service. The church is an evangelical church made up of nationals that is huge. For those of you that don't know, if you have ever seen End of the Spear or Beyond the Gates of Splendor (I have seen neither one but I have heard about them) , Nate Saint was based out of Shell. In fact, I am living with the DiCrastos in his old hangar and the Saint house is just across the concrete pad from us. Kinda cool. So today is monday and we are between projects so I am just writing to let everyone know what is up.

Summer 2008 Adventure: part 2

So I have been meaning to write something but never took the time to sit down until now. I actually am in California right now for my friends wedding. I spent the last three weeks in mostly Ephraim, Utah working with Chip and Jamie Thompson. I had met them on my previous spring break and decided that I has some time before I left for Ecuador to spend in ministry to mormons and helping where I can. So I met up with James after my first leg if the journey and we headed to Utah. The days prior to leaving for Utah, we drove around the LA area dropping off James'stuff. We tried to go to Chino but on the way there the truck was stalling. We drove in the slow lane because the truck kept dying. The truck would choke and die and I would immediately throw it into a lower gear and drop the clutch and it would sputter and start back up.
I stopped at Wanda's house (James friend) and we unloaded some of his stuff. Before we stopped I had bought a fuel filter and just kept it with me. So while stopped I decided to fix my truck. So in the middle of this mobile home park I started taking my truck apart. The fuel filter happened to be under the intake manifold and had some awkwardly placed bolts holding it together. Actually it was in a fairly bad place and the engine was still hot, so I was extra careful not to touch anything (even though I had to to get some of the bolts off). So we were definitely there for at least five hours total. I got the fuel filter off to realize they gave me the wrong part. So I was kinda sitting there not knowing what to do. I was like 'Oh Lord what on earth shall I do?' Then James is like 'ya you can probably borrow Wanda's car' and I guess she overheard and was like 'oh of course you can honey!' So anyways this person I don't even know just let me use her car to drive back to the parts store where I had gotten the fuel filter at. I got there and was like you gave me the wrong part! so they checked and rechecked the part number and was like 'thats for your truck' and I kept saying 'no its not, it doesn't fit!' So they asked if I had the part I took out and of course I had forgotten it. So I drove back to Wanda's house and got the part and headed back to the store. Thankfully it was only a 15 or 20 minute drive each way. Anyways I get there and show them the part and was like 'the part you game me does not match this one.' So the guy at the counter goes back and looks for another one of the parts I had and finds that that one was the only one. So he is coming out from the back and looks in this random box that was just sitting on the counter and just happens to find the part I need. Its funny how the Lord works sometimes. Anyways so the part I needed was there in this other random box so the guy is like sorry for the mix up and just gives me this fuel filter. So I head back and put it in. So Wanda is nice enough to fix us some food and we head off, and as soon as we get on the main road, my truck starts to have trouble again. So I was like, Ok we will just go tomorrow and trust God to get us to Utah.
On saturday around 10 to 11 am, we take off for Ephraim. I the truck was running a little rough and I just kept praying that God would just carry our truck to Utah and I didn't care if it broke there, as long as we made it. We stopped for lunch in Barstow and made it to Cedar City, Utah by dinner. The truck would sputter now and then but by 8 PM we made it to Ephraim, UT. The college house had been warned that we would be coming up sometime that weekend. When we got in and James and I walked into the college house and I must say it was quite awkward at first. We kinda stood there while the people started at us for a moment, then Liz, one of the staffers recognized me and introduced James and I. The college group had been watching Live Free or Die Hard so we finished the movie with them.
Next day we went to Ephraim Church of the Bible and listened to pastor Rodney's sermon. It was real refreshing sermon, like a cold shower on a hot day after hard work. Anyways, I talked to a few people but was unsure what to do since I know no one except Liz and Torr because I had met them before. Anyways James was about as quiet as I was, but we eventually joined into a game of foursquare after church. Anyways that night we had college Bible study and James and I led. James sang some songs and I did a devo. I most apologize, I may have been a little hard on James. I kept asking him to speak up, but he did a wonderful job playing. Unfortunately, the devo I did make sense. I had spent all afternoon on a devo from Hosea on how much the Lord loves his people and how even thought Israel acted like the adulteress wife, the Lord still yearned and loved her so much. So anyways the devo did not come out anything like that. Instead I seemed to miss all my major points and probably jumped around the book to much. Thanks to Chrissy and Liz who added in their own comments which gave the devo more substance.
We didnt do much the following day since chip and jamie were gone and it was raining. On Tuesday chip was back and had us start by digging out a foot or more of dirt where the plumbing was going. So James and I dug most of that out and Josh (was staying at the college house) dug most of the dirt out in the hallway. Like there was a main room in the basement which had the main line to the sewer and then the trench we dug deeper went across the room, under a wall and into another room. So in one day we dug all that needed to be dug. I was so exhausted I went to bed at like 8 or so at night. I do not really remember what all I did that week. Construction wise, we rerouted the entire sewer system and put all the dirt back in up to the pipes and tamped it all down. One day we rerouted all the phone lines and many other lines. We watched a few movies, went to the thrift store and I got to talk to some lady who tried to sell me drugs (health/energy pills) at McDonalds. James and I decided to go hiking or something. Instead we drove up the mountain and got stuck. I prayed and the Lord sent me some rednecks. They pulled me out and to the side of the road. Then I got stuck again and started to slide down the mountain. So I prayed again and the Lord sent me more rednecks. This time the guy pulled me out and I was able to get back down. Anyways we were working quite hard for a week or so. By the next week I had started on stuff for a garage sale. Gareth and Tyler came in on tuesday night.
On wednesday the four of us went and talked to Mr. L at the mormon institute. We tried to challenge him on some stuff be he kept trying to weasel his way out. The last time Gareth and I had talked to him he was not to happy with us and tried to talk down to us. He had immediately asked what our agenda there was. Anyways this time was really chill and relaxed. He attacked Chips character at times, but he said he respected that he tried hard. Anyways James and Tyler talked the most. James asked a lot of theological questions and more direct questions and Tyler kept the conversation going. Gareth looked a little frustrated that the conversation wasn't going anywhere more productive. We started in on the impossible gospel. Gareth got in on a few point and used almost work for word some of Chip's examples and Mr. L disagreed. I added comments now and then. Anyways he needed to go to lunch and I think we were frustrated with all the ways he tried to justify his beliefs so we parted ways. Then we went to Provo and got lost and bought Liz 40 lbs of carrots at Cosco. We were in the checkout and a missionary asked if our friend was a horse.
The next few days we worked on garage sale stuff. We went biking one night and trail riding another night. The days were so long and full of stuff it all kinda blends together, and this blog is getting long. Anyways we had Scandinavian festival in Ephraim that friday and saturday. Ben, one of the missionaries and youth pastor, had spotted some missionaries cruising around. So Gareth and I decide to find them. Anyways we walked around and couldn't find them. So we went back and had some lunch and chilled at the college house waiting. When they finally came out we went to follow them. I guess they saw us because they ducked into a ward and locked the doors, so we walked around the ward trying doors. So that was unsuccessful. James and Tyler went out later and caught them and had a discussion with them and a planned a meeting for the following week.
Sunday was good as usual and monday we decided after ripping out concrete in the garage to go to Salt Lake City because James had the day off. We get there and it turns out to be memorial day so like temple square is deserted. We visited the LDS church history museum and saw the huge pentagram in the kids section. I took a picture of James playing with it. Anyways we headed for temple square and prayed there. I I had a felling that it may be an unproductive day. Didn't feel right, but I was standing next to the temple of satan, so that may have something to do with it. Oh in the museum we tried to start a conversation with one of the volunteers, but we just like kept hitting walls it seemed. Every time we would ask about archeological proof, they pretty much said it is all down in southern Mexico. Anyways at temple square we decided to go on a tour. I can not say how much it sickened me how much they tried to sound like they were Christian and how they have their act together. I wanted to puke. We had a Roman Catholic couple in our group who's son was mormon. So I was like there is no way I want these mormons to convert these people. So I spoke up and made a lot of strange comments or asked dumb questions, to try and crack they guise. They started talking about how the mormons were persecuted and I kept asking how and for what. I was holding my tongue on the whole polygamy issue and the whole marring teenagers to 50 year old men kinda thing. I just wanted to blurt out 'maybe the reason they were persecuted is because they were marring/RAPING TEENAGE GIRLS!" but I think I would have been quickly escorted out. So we didn't go near the temple really and when we got to the last area where we discuss stuff. We all started asking questions. Gareth and I immediately started off on the purpose of the temple and were taking turns like team mates for truth. I didn't notice at the time, but the couple with us disappeared, but the two missionaries were still with us. Anyways some how James and I were talking to this missionary from germany, who was really uninterested in discussing anything it seemed, and Tyler and Gareth were talking to this missionary from Canada. I defienetly do not feel bad when I call those mormons cowards. The girl we were talking to told us she was uninterested in talking about the Book of Mormon. I was actually stunned. Anyways, I was being sneeky and during the whole tour I had been asking if the temple was required for salvation and Baptism was required for salvation and church membership was required for salvation, and stuff like that. So I have this talent I guess for repeating things almost work for word, so I kept on bringing back her words and challenging her on it. James was there with me quoting scripture and we were talking turns. It was like a freakin Spiritual Battle Royal. Ok was actually more a one-sided spiritual Battle Royal, its so cool how believers can work together, have the same views even though we all come from diffrent backgrounds. It only works because we have the Spirit of the Almighty God in us because that is what unites us. Anyways she was getting very frustrated, and actually she did most of the talking because she always had to explain herself. So we covered God in an unorthodox way, and salvation. We had focused on salvation and as always we got to the part where many precious truths and have been removed by wicked men who's hands that the Bible had passed through. Its like COME ON all you mormons say the exact same thing! At least REWORD it! Anyways I think the spirit just put this on my heart. I said, "OK I know both you and I believe in an almighty God, so when you say that precious truths have been removed your saying God cant protect his own word. Your saying that men are more powerful then God. " I pretty much said they she believed God was weak and powerless and might as well be dead. She definitely blew a fuse. I didn't think it was so significant untill I was retelling my story to Chip and he said that it probably hit hard, then I though about it and if it did its because the Holy Spirit directed it. Anyways James was with me and was quoting scripture. We got to the doctrine of salvation (my favorite subject with mormons, why cant they see that God loves us so much the gave his son so we could commune with Him as the imperfect beings we are?) and I asked her what grace was and she started to talk about her self. Another holy spirit prompt came up and I asked her if it was her grace or God's because she was just talking about her self. She pretty much told me to be quite while she explained. It may sound like a destructive or an attack on these moron missionaries, but I can honestly say if i was asked these questions in the way we asked I would have absolutely no problem with answering them, I would not get frustrated because I have an answer that is biblical for them and I don't have to pull them out of my butt or put some twist on them so they still sound Christian or appear Christian. Anyways this German girl was like I have to go so we filled out a card and I wrote that I must talk to more missionaries and write my schools address on it. As soon as I had finished it she went and dragged her partner away from Tyler and Gareth and such. So the rest of the day was unproductive. We talking to this one guy and Gareth asked him why he wasnt wearing black. He said he didnt want to look like a bunch of penguins. Anyways we walked out the gate looked for food, but everything was closed, so we headed back through the temple square. We had only left for like 5 minutes and when we returned our friend was no where to be found. So he must have been wacked. Anyways this other guy we talked to was pretty much like, Where are you from and who is paying you to be here kinda thing. Anyways he asked about pageant and how many of us were going to be there. SO that wasn't awkward at all! (sarcastic!) We told him the truth, but he didn't believe us. So we headed back to Ephraim.
We did work the next two days and go to go on an excursion with the high school group. I was asked to do a devo for it, so I tried to make it make more sense than the last one I did. Ben asked me to do it on unity, so I did it on Epheasians 4:17-5:2, and it guess it turned out ok. I wrote all my notes on a thrifty-nickle paper so I kinda had a hard time reading it. So that was really cool. Between Gareth, Tyler, J-man and I we probably weren't the greatest influences. Gareth and I decided to first walk through the bond fire on a log, then we used huge knives to pick up the burning wood and run around with it and eventually throw it in a lake. About an hour or two into our trip I got a call from Liz saying that she had misread a airline fare and asked if she could get a ride back to california with me. I was like sure. Liz needed to go to a wedding in San Diego that weekend. So we got back and made miniscule plans to go in my truck back and fly back, but she had not ordered tickets. I packed that night and the next day we start our morning with a hearty 4 or 5 cups of coffee and at about 10 am Liz decides to pack. Our original plan was to take my truck down and I would drop her off in San Diego at a friends house and I would stay at my Grand Parents house. So the only ticket she can find is like $260 one way so we decided last minute that I would leave my truck in Utah (wasn't running reliably anyways) and we would drive her accord down. So about 30 minutes before we left we like totally replanned out trip. We both loaded up and took off. I must way our trip was probably the best road trip I've been and the shortest 10 hours of my life. We talked alot about life and just stuff in general, was awsome. I must say she is an awsome person, gives me hope that there is people that desire to be led by Chirst in every way. Ok this definitely blew me away. I definitely have not traveled long distances with women or been around them that much. Liz is so beautiful that people give her free stuff! She got a free Macho drink at Del Taco, how cool is that! And even more awesome and beautiful then that, she gave him a track in return! I can honestly admit I don't know if I could do that. He probably wasn't expecting that. Im still like like wow. Comming from a Christian guy's perspective, it's hard to find a girl who is desire for Christ is evident in personality and where her motives are genuine. A person who put her calling above all else. It gives me hope not to compromise on standards we are called to as Christians and to look for the same standards in the opposite sex. As for me, it reconfirmed that I need to follow my calling foremost. As a wise man once told me, "many women will enter your life, many will be intersecting for a moment and running a calling tangent to your calling. Don't get distracted with those ones because they will turn you from you calling. Only focus on those running parallel with your calling so you can be yoked together in your ministry and multiply each others efforts." Told to me by the JAARS missionary at our career fair. Only problem is in a mathematical world, to parallel lines never intersect (thats kinda irrelevant). I don't exactly know what my calling is. I enjoy talking to Mormons, but Kabul still calls me now and then and I don't want to drag anyone around that doesn't have a heart for it. So I just pray that the Lord puts me where He wants me, not where I feel confortable.
Anyways ya. So Liz dropped me off in Riverside. We ate Chipotle (yum) and then she dropped me off and took off. Then on sunday morning she was came back up and we had coffee and a shared a box of musli before church (was really refreshing to hang with her after the night before). We went to Sandals church at Cal Baptist. That was kinda stange. Then she dropped me off and my friend Josh's. That afternoon Josh's friends took me and Josh surfing. I don't know why in the 16 years I lived here I never took up surfing. It was freaking amazing. I didn't catch to many waves but it was so relaxin just chilling on the ocean. Ok I think it has taken me like 4 days to write this. Ill try no to write so much next time.

yes that is at the LDS church history museum, and yes its in the kids section and yes you can pull off he pieces and re arrange them.  And if your family decided to move on and you don't feel you have dabbled in the demonic realm enough, thankfully there is little pentagrams on paper you can color with your crayons so you can summon demons while you ride home or while your family is being sealed to satan for time and eternity, yay!

Sumer 2008 Adventure: Part 1

So this summer my plan was to drive out to California and pick up my cousin, then head up to Utah and do some ministry to mormons there.  After I spend a few weeks in Utah, I was planning to head back down to California and attend Kirby's wedding and from there leave to Ecuador.  So my journey begins in Longview, TX.  For some reason I agreed to take John Khoury to California with my so that we could split the cost of gas.  So We pack up and decided to leave monday morning.  In preparation for my trip I decided to do an oil change and replace the oil filter.  So I complete the oil change I park the truck and go somewhere with my friends.  Anyways the next day JK and I took off ay around 1 PM and headed out of town.  Decided not to stop until we made it through Dallas  and Ft. Worth.  So we made it to just north of Ft. Worth when we hit traffic.  SO we come to almost a stop and I smell burning oil, so I though it was someone else's car.  I looked over to my passenger side mirror and noticed it was covered in something (thought it was dirt).  So I tell John Khoury to wipe it off and didn't think anything of it.  Then we came to a stop and truck was smoking white smoke from the hood and under the truck.  At this point I decided to panic, so we decided to stop just outside Ft. Worth.  Turns out when I did my oil change, I forgot to put the oil cap back on, so all the oil had shot out and covered the engine, the engine bay, the front of the truck and down the entire side of the truck.  That was oil that was on my mirror.  So by this time half the windshield had a coat of brand new Castrol 5W-30 and so did half the truck.  Thankfully, when I opened the hood to this discovery, I also noticed the oil cap was still right on top of the engine where I had left it.  So I went in to the gas station I was at and got two quarts of oil.  I put both in, but it was still low, so I grabbed the last 5W-30 on the shelf, bought it and put it in.  So I was three quarts low but it was ok I guess.  So that is a miracle that the engine didnt seize or that the oil cap was lost.  Anyways after the pit stop we drove towards Ammarillo, but in Witchatah Falls we accidently took a wrong turn.  I cant say who's fault it was exactly but John Khoury was my navigator and was asleep at this post.  Anyways John Khoury navigating was interesting.  Anyways we ended up in Oklahoma a for a few hours but made it to Ammrallio late at night and kept driving.  We made it as far as about 100 miles shout of Gallup, New Mexico before I got super tired and had to stop.  I had a few energy drinks, but when I realized they had no effect we stopped. Anyways we found a nice rest area and stopped.  JK and I tried to sleep in the car, but my back was hurting me alot so I made a some space in the bed of my truck under the tarp and cargo net.  I setup my sleeping bag and tried to sleep in my makeshift tent.  there was enough space for me to lie down with my arms crossed on my chest and nothing else.  So after three hours, the sun came up and we continued.
Our destination for the day was the Grand Canyon.  We made it there after lunch.  JK was dispointed that there was no zip line to the bottom.  Man, the Grand Canyon is amazing.  You don't realize how big it is until you get into it, and thats what we did.  We found the entrance to the south Kaibab trail and hiked 5 of the 6 miles down and hiked back up 6 miles.  So 10 miles round trip with an elevation change of about 7000-8000 feet.  We were dead tired after hiking  that.  I posted some pictures on the blog and there are more on Facebook.  I stopped taking pictures when I got tired.  We didn't make it all the way because, 1, I felt low, 2, it stated to rain, and 3, it was starting ti get dark.
After we hiked for 5 or so hours strait, we headed back to the car and made it back to the I-40 and headed home.  I called my buddy Josh and asked if I could crash at his apartment that night.  So we drove a good 5 hours and made it back to his apartment.  The last leg was not totally uneventful.  The truck died once comming back.  Not sure what it was though.  Anyways We made it to Josh's apartment and crashed for the night.  The next day I took JK home and made it back fairly early in the afternoon.  Anyways the next day I took my cousin James to Chino.  On the way the truck was having some major problems.  It felt like the engine want getting enough fuel.  Anyways the truck wasn't doing to good so I bought a fuel filter and took it with me.  We got to Wanda's place, where James was leaving some stuff, and I decided to change the furl filter so it would run right.  It ended up I got the right box, but it had the wrong part.  So I had my car apart and didn't know what to do, so Wanda says to just borrow her van.  So that was a miracle.  Anyways I got the right part and a few hours after I had gotten to Wanda's. the truck was fixed.   We drove out and the truck started having the same problems, so that was a bummer.  So today I took a look at the truck and did some research and determined that the problem was that it could be the O2 sensor, but that part was expensive so I just decided to risk it.  Just pray that the truck will make it tomorrow.