Who needs sleep when adventure is near?

Since Kelly flew in on Monday we have been beyond busy getting the bus ready. The more we seemed to get done on the bus, the more we realized we had to do. After almost 10 trips to Home Depot and too many dollars spent at Wal-Mart, we are ready to launch.


We got the bus fully situated for us guys to use as a surf vehicle. Boards strapped to the interior of the roof, manly shelves neatly organized, and bins for cooking, camping, surfing, spear fishing, etc, we had the bus looking like a beautiful RV. Then after developing a system, we trashed all order to fit the absurd amount of things Crystal had. We strapped mattresses to the roof and crammed a stove, fridge, washer, dryer, big screen TV, lamps, pictures frames, and loads of things filling every usable inch of the bus.

Last night we went to sleep at 5:30am and woke up 2 hrs later to keep working. Sleep deprived and exhausted, it is now 11pm and we will leave in 1 hr.

I kissed my mother goodbye and thanked her for all the work she did in sewing bedding for us, helping make our screen curtains and many other things. She wished me luck and then said that if I died on this trip she would be glad that at least I died happy. Then she proceeded to make sure that I would want a 'life celebration' rather than a funeral should anything happen!

The first stop will be fuel: Diesel for the bus and coffee for the drivers. A quick stop in Raleigh to drop off our cars with Josh Rasch and crew around 4am, and then we all board the bus and head south.

South to warmer weather and water, south to a break from work, south to waves everyday and untold adventure, south to freedom.

The Final Days in the States

This last week before we disappear south is a crazy week with much to do still. I just picked up Kelly Lund from the airport in VA and we will power out for the last few days to get everything done. We still have to:
-Build the shelves in the back of the bus
-Build the system to hang the surf boards from the roof
-Convert the Bus from DC current to AC current
-Buy several surf boards
-Get Rabies shots for Muerte
-Tie Crystal's (I will explain who that is later) Mattress' to the roof and figure out how to load her insane amount of stuff on the bus.
-Work out some stuff with the Bank
-Shop for food
-Buy the remaining needed gear
-And the list goes on and on
(The picture is Eric painting over the old school bus lettering. Eric will hopefully be joining us in November.)


To build the bunks we turned one bus seat around and used 2x4s and as support and then laid ply wood across the top. Here is a mid construction picture. Complete pics to come later.

Crystal, the woman I spoke of above, is a sweet Mexican lady who works with Jeremiah. She lives in Guadalajara half the year with her husband. We are taking her along with her three children (2, 4, and 7) and a ridiculous amount of stuff home. So they will be traveling with us for the first 4 or 5 days. Half of her garage is full of things she wants to take, including mattresses, a washer, dryer, stove, fridge, tv, and boxes and boxes of other stuff.

This is from the last decent swell we had on the Outer Banks when I was actually able to get out in the water and was not swamped with work. A few good days like this on the Outer Banks get me so amped for the massive amount of epic surf we will have over the next few months. Hopefully we may get some surfing shots while in C America, but surfing is a much bigger priority than pictures.

Starting Line Up

As we move along we hope to have a few more guys and girls join the trip. The starting roster is a sick crew of guys that I (Jonathan) am stoked to travel with:

Jeremiah Miller- The Token Asian

He is gonna kill me just for using this picture that makes him look so Asian. It was actually from an African wedding we attended.
Jeremiah is the silent but deadly killer. He always has your back and willing to get into most things even when it really might scare him to death. (Ie. He and I bungee jumping over the Nile river was something he swore he would never do). I lived with him in Africa in the Slums for 4 months, mind you this was his first time ever out of the country. Good intro to hardcore.





Kelly Lund

Kelly is the rescuer. If you are ever stuck beneath an elephant or being chased by molten lava, or just run out of gas, Kelly is the guy you think of to bail you out. Shredding in Colorado for the past few yrs while knocking out his degree, he also lead a gang of backpacking trips, built ropes courses, and got medically trained for the wilderness. Kelly charges hard while still being able to be a voice of reason (something I often need). One of my best friend for many yrs.

Clint Walder

I met Clint briefly while skiing in CO. He is one of Kelly Lunds best friends from school which that alone says he is hardcore. He grew up in SoCal surfing and spear fishing so he will be providing the expertise on the procuring of our water bound food.

Jonathan Jenkins

Always on the quest for adventure, this is the next epic to be recorded. Growing up on the Outer Banks, the islands off NC, Im stoked to be going on the classic surf trip, blown up beyond proportion. After spending the first four months of the year in the slums in Africa, then working 100 hours a week on the Outer Banks to save money, Im ready to take off and explore down south.

We will update with others as they come along...

Security System

Mexico is crazy right now. A vicious wild west filled with lawlessness. All the time we hear about robbings, kidnappings, and killings. Recent activity with the drug cartel in Mexico has made this one of the most dangerous times in Mexico history. Some have advised us not to go at all, some have advised us to bring guns, we are going a different route.
So we are trying to take precautions. We installed locks on all the doors and painted over the old school bus words with yellow paint, and we now have our new security system. Meet "Tank" or "Muerte" (which means death in Spanish).

We got this huge Rottweiler off craigslist a few days ago and he has already become one of the crew. We have spent many hours at the beach trying to get him used to swimming in the surf and he loves the sand.
Truth be told he is actually a extremely gentle, loving, and smart dog. But the good thing is he does 'look' gentle.
Most of the dogs in Central America are smaller mutts. Having this massive dog will certainly help with our intimidation factor and will hopefully make people think twice about breaking into the bus.

Preparation

6 months ago, Jeremiah and myself were in Uganda dreaming up our next adventure. Countless possibilities were suggested, and finally we decided on the trip through Central America. Since then we have been researching roads, countries, surf breaks, Mountains, reefs, gear, and school buses. We all chipped in some cash and my friend Nigel, a diesel mechanic, and I drove to Baltimore, test drove several buses, crawled around underneath and purchased a 1998 School Bus.
Since then we have taken out the seats and stripped the bus clean. We are in the process of building the inside to our version of a surf RV.

We leave from the Outer Banks in the middle of the night on Sept 30th. 4 of the 5 guys will be on the bus as well as a sweet Mexican Lady and her 3 children who live on the Outer Banks over the summer. We will return them to their home in Mexico. We wil pick up the last guy, Clint, on the way in Austin where he flies in from SoCal.