Adventure Awaits!

I awoke with an alarm blaring in my ear... I rubbed my eyes, checked the time and realized that I was LATE.... Oh shit I WAS LATE! I jumped off my buddys couch, gathered my things, tied my Luna's and I was off.. Was this really how my adventure was going to begin? Late, hurried and stressed? I guess it wasn't an adventure if everything was perfectly planned. With my nerves frazzled, I rushed out the door... I arrived at the airport checked my bag and ran through security... I have always been the kind of traveler that was on time, early, with lots of time to spare. But this was different, and come to think of it, this whole trip was different from anything I've ever done before. This was going to be a once in a lifetime kind of trip, the sort that challenges you, puts you through the highest of highs, and the lowest of lows.

First stop.... Los Angeles, California....

I flew to Los Angeles to meet Patrick Sweeny, I met Patrick at the 2012 Copper Canyon Ultra Marathon, and had seen him at other events but we had never really had the opportunity to get to know each other. We were about to spend the next month+ with each other so I decided to fly to LA to hang and get a bit of beach time in. I landed at LAX and ran to baggage claim to grab my bags and get outside as quick as possible. The weather was beautiful, the way the warmth touched my skin is indescribable, the sun lit up my soul with beauty I've never felt before. I sat in the sun and enjoyed the moment for a few minutes before calling Pat. I called Patrick and within a few minutes of standing next to the terminal, a smooth black car pulled up, driven by a bearded hippie, i hadn't seen Pat with his new rugged look. And was wondering for a second or two who this bearded man was. As a matter of fact it WAS Patrick Sweeny himself. I jumped into the car and we were off. "Food? or a run on the Beach?" Were some of the first words out of his mouth.. I was starving, but my hunger for sand, surf, sun, and a real good run out weighed my stomachs needs, so we headed to Hermosa beach. We ran barefoot from his car to the pier then back to the lifeguard stand. It was a great run, I'm so use to running alone that it was a great pleasure to have a conversation, and learn about someone on the run. After our run we made a stop for some Pho, and headed back to his house. We had some lunch and some Stone Ales, the perfect combo after an amazing run. We repacked our bags... watched movies about Badwater... ate gourmet Sweeny pizza...and drank more Stone beer.. We had to be awake at the crack of the morning to catch our flight to Nicaragua. 

I awoke to my alarm blaring again and Pat trying to wake me up.. He made us some PBJ's for the trip, and we were out the door.. 

We had arrived at LAX Two hours before our flight, so we had time to lolly gag and relax before the plane left. We went to the Spirit airlines counter and tried to check in, but the lady behind the counter said " No! You need proof that your leaving Nicaragua before you fly one way there."Pat and I had no clue that this was policy, so we ran with packs and all to the international terminal to use the WI-FI, and tried to book some kind of ticket out of the country. Pat woke his sister up at 4:00am and had her make up some kind of fake email stating that we were leaving by bus. We ran back to the Spirit Airlines counter and he showed the lady his tablet with the email. She examined it for a moment or two and said "wheres the confirmation code?" DAMN IT!  At this point in time we had about 45 minutes to get through security and catch our flight.. So we ran back to the international terminal and tried to get on TICA buses web site to get tickets. But to no avail, TICA's site was under going maintenance. So Pat said screw it and wrote some random numbers and letters in his journal and we hauled ass back to the Spirit counter. He showed the woman behind the counter his journal.. She typed the random letters and numbers into her computer, and then our ticket printed. With a sigh of relief, we swiped our tickets from her hand and we flew as fast as possible through security and to our gate... Our adventure had begun, and this was such an appropriate way to start it.. Ahhh... Life is good!