Color Run

Yesterday was the highlight of my week! So much fun and happiness, ask anyone that did the color run and they will back me up on this. For those of you who don’t know what the color run is it is a charity run that is held in different cities across the United States. What makes this race so much fun is that while you are running people are throwing powdered paint at you. 

I did this with my best friend Sam. I was excited when I found out what this race was and was running to the computer to sign up. Of course I brought my friend into all of this excitement since I knew that both of us were going to have a blast. The race was held in San Diego and because of this me and Sam had to wake up at 5 am so that we can get to the race in time. 

Once we arrived at the race there were more people then I expected there to be, there was 30,000 people running, walking, and of course dancing. Me and Sam were frantic when walking in to race village since we never picked up our packets that held our race number, shirt, sweat band, and most importantly a packet of powdered paint. We traveled throughout all the booths that the race village had and finally found the long line for our packet. This line took forever! There was hundreds of people in front of us to check in and there was only two people that were checking people in. Finally after this long hour of waiting it was time to race!

Starting line was packed, there were so many people that it was shoulder to shoulder. The music is playing, everyone is cheering, the staff members were shooting shirts into the crowd, so much energy from the crowd before the race. The first wave is off, then the second wave, then the third, then finally wave four my wave. The staff members shout off “Good Luck!” The beginning of the race was slow, so many people in front of you that you couldn’t even run. Children falling left and right assured me and my friend that this was a hectic event. 

After a few moments of walking people started running which gave me and Sam room to run as well. After a few minutes the paint zone is up ahead. Its a fog of yellow pain powder so thick you can barley see anything until you run pass it. Paint get all over your white shirt. Some people have there faces covered in this pain and start to cough. 

After the finish line of the race I take a moment to realize that the race is done. It was only a 5k but since im not a runner it was a feet for me. Overall the color race was amazing. Filled with music and laughter. I would highly recommend everyone to participate in doing it, knowing that everyone will have a blast doing it.

The Ride of my Life

            As always I come to you, the read, with another tale of my adventures with my best friend Sam.

            During the summer I was riding my bike a lot. I’ve been training myself for the big day when me and Sam will bike across the United States. We will dip our back tires in Seal Beach then dip the front tires in some beach on the east coast. Since this is a great feet you need to be prepared.

            When Sam comes over our usual routine is to go biking and do something random then come back to my house and do some more random things, but today wasn’t the average day.  Sam said that before the summer ended he wanted to bike to Firestone which is a boyscout campground. Of course I said yes to this challenge and we rode off. We took a pit stop at the movie theater to see the Dark Night Rises which I highly recommend to anyone that hasn’t seen it. Coming out of the movie theater we look like typical kids riding our bikes but in our head we imaged ourselves to be riding the Bat bike which is a motorcycle from the movie that is simply incredible.

            From the movie theater that is when the ride of my life starts. We start peddling and heaving as we go down this road which seems forever long. This road is littered with up hills which are accompanied by down hills. The builds seem like a flash as we dash down the street, buildings starting to change styles as we go to one city to the next. As time flys we end up in the city of Brea where we take a break at Seven Eleven. From this break we are on once again realize how close we were we rode off into the distance. As the city turns into the wilderness we knew we were there.

            A guard stands at attention letting only certain people in. Sam strolls right up to him and the guard looks at us puzzled. Sam asks to go inside, the guard says no. “But we are boyscouts the two of us plea.” Guard still doesn’t let us through all that biking for nothing.

            As we ride back im starting to have some technical difficulties with the bike. Seems like the brake is on from the bike since I need to peddle just to go down the hill. I try to fix this problem but it was no use. Sam offers to trade bikes since we are nowhere close to home I gladly decline. He askes again about an hour into the ride back home I gladly accept it this time since my legs were on fire from having to peddle so hard to travel so little.

            We finally made it back home but although the guard didn’t let us into the campgrounds I still had a blast. Whenever me and Sam say we biked over there people from boyscouts are like really? That’s far! With this kind of response I believe that this biking trip was defiantly worth it.

A great friend indeed

Sam Passanissi my best friend in the world, the type of kid that has numerous ideas. Some of his ideas stay just like that an idea, but sometimes  these ideas turn into adventures. This is one of his ideas.

During a typical Monday night at boyscouts Sam comes up to me asking if I had any plans for the weekend. As usual I do not have any plans that I know of so I say, “I’m free if you want to hang out.” This Monday night was during the summer and sadly Sam had summer school, that is why we had to hangout during the weekend. During the Monday night meeting he tells me he has yet again another idea. I listen to what he has to say and I’m loving this idea he has for the weekend so much that his idea turned into an adventure.

Saturday morning I ride my bike 10 miles to where the riverbed meets up with Los Alamitos High School. I meet with Sam there and we go to his locker at this high school and Sam pulls out two inflatable inner tubes from his locker. These inner tubes are the kind that you might find on the lazy river at Wild Rivers. Once we achieved these prized possessions we head down to the riverbed where it actually turns into a massive river. We sit at the bottom of the riverbed and inflate our inner tubes. We looked at each other with excitement and jumped into the river with these inner tubes. The riverbed contains water run off from all parts of LA. The water heads straight down into the ocean but the water is pretty nasty to say the least.

We paddled and laughed as this germ infested water covers our bodies from head to toe. We were causing so much of a ruckus that bikers that rode past us stopped to watch what was happening. We would let the current take us as far as we dared to go. We didn't know if it was perfectly legal to do what we were doing so we were being very cautious. We would paddle against the current and start the trip over. We did this about 12 times which took up and hour of our time. The more we stayed the more and more bikers started to watch. Me and Sam didn't think much of it we thought what we were doing was so cool that others had to see it for themselves. It was all fun and games until Sam got a cut on his ankle. He was dreaded by the fact that this water could be caring any type of diseases. Luckily for him I always carry a backpack with me filled to the brim with life saving gear. The thing that I had in my pack was hand sanitizer, because of that I believe he didn't get any infections at all. So much joy and happiness comes to mind as I think about that memory. I shall always cherish my friends especially Sam Passanissi. 

Close Call

Yesterday was a frightening day for me, my family use to be able to brag that they have never gotten into a car accident until yesterday. It started off as a usual Saturday nothing to do but lay in bed at my house. I’m on the couch playing the ukulele when all of a sudden the door bell rings. I let my mom open the door since I’m really rocking out on my ukulele. I hear my mom saying, “Are you sure?” to the person at the door turns out its my next store neighbor Rita telling my mom the tragic news that my dad got into a car accident a few blocks away from the house. My mom quickly calls my dad asking if he was fine. He said he was fine, he also said he was fine when he accidentally stabbed himself in the hand while cutting some fruit, because of this I was worried if indeed he was fine or if he was just lying about it.

I asked my mom where he was and she said he was on Foster just past the church. I run right out the door wearing basketball shorts, flip-flops, and a tank-top, but right when I get next door my neighbors stop me and tell me whats going on with my dad. They gave me water bottles to give to my dad and they tell their son Raymond to come with me as well. No problem with that but Raymond took forever to find his sandals even though it was only a few minutes. When he finally comes out we start walking down Foster toward the accident. 

After a moment of walking I started to run and realized I couldn't run with sandals so I took them off and ran bare footed. I get to the seen of the accident to see my dads truck utterly damaged by a mini van. I go to my dad and give him the water bottles. Turns out he is indeed fine which makes me feel better about the situation. I start taking photos of the accident before the police arrive. The front bumper of the truck was indented into the wheel itself and the headlight was completely destroyed. The damage on the mini was a dent into the side of the car, not to much damage compared to the truck.

When the police came my dad explains his side of the story saying that he was going down Foster road and at the intersection the van makes a left hand turn and my dad hits the van. My dad has the right away since he doesn't have a stop sign unlike the lady driving the van. The police gave the lady the blame for the accident which made me happy. Me and my dad had to pry the bumper out of the wheel. The wheel itself wasnt damaged it was only the bumper that was in the way of the wheel. We were able to take the truck back home, but it is not able to be on the road since you cant make sharp turns with it. Although the truck is not able to be driven it could have been a lot worse.

Saved by an Unusual Fellow

Now I’m the type of person who is proud to say I have done things that are outside the norm, things that the average man only dream of. This is one of those memories.....

Finally its Friday! My restless soul is eager for the weekend not to stay at home and sleep in but to go on one of my favorite camping trips of all time Pissga. Now Pissga is close to Calico Ghost Town which is practically in the middle of nowhere. Now at first I was a little scared of the trip being canceled since there were so many storms and high winds but since we are boyscouts we face dangers head on and we are proud to state that. I get to the Lutheran Church where my troop meets together for a carpool. I got selected to go into my scoutmasters car something that I was excited for but yet dreaded. My scoutmaster is a big pudgy fellow who is notorious for always being right and will defend himself of being right until his last breath. As we drive on the freeway its not looking good constant rain makes me worried that the tunnels will over flow because thats what Pissga is a whole bunch of lava tubes that will satisfy your crave for adventure. After a few hours in the car we finally made it. Its actually sunny with slight cloud coverage from time to time. The wind starts banging on the door to the point you need to push and shove to get out the door of the car. My scoutmaster looks frantically on the internet to see just how fast the winds are. Turns out the winds are in the upper 60s and can have gushes of wind up to 75mph. This was something I haven't had the possibility to live through and now I have my chance. As soon as my scoutmaster lets us lose to the countless miles of barren lava tubes I group up with my best friend Sam Passanissi. Sam is the kind of kid who craves the same type of adventure that I crave the same type of adventure that the average child doesn't find entertaining. We put our helmets on and our gloves on and start walking. The wind is so strong that at some points you can lean against the wind and can be suspended in mid air for a few seconds. As we walk and find a tunnel we are accompanied by 2 boys, one being Sam’s brother and the other Taylor. Taylor is an unusual fellow who is always attached to me for some reason I try to be nice but he just makes me mad sometimes and I want him to leave me alone. Luckily Taylor came into some use though, as we were walking up a hill my foot gets stuck in between two rocks. As my foot got stuck a giant gush of wind is sent my way causing me to fall down the hill back first. Out of nowhere a hand grabs mine right before I plummet to the hard jagged volcanic rocks that fill the area. As I look up to thank my rescuer it turns out its the bland face of no one other then Taylor. Let that be a reminder to all that anyone can save you even the most unusual.

I came, I saw, I conquered

One of the most challenging things that I ever had to over come was a little trip called Philmont. Now Philmont Scout Ranch is a high adventure destination for the Boy Scouts of America. This Ranch is located in New Mexico and is 214 Square miles. Phillmont is a backpacking paradise with breath taking views and memories you will never forget. 

Philmont not only tests your physical strength but also your mental strength. The kids with the weakest mind are the first to snap at Philmont. You are out in the wilderness for two weeks hiking everyday to get to your destination. Everybody has a crew which is made up of 7 boys with 3 adults also a crew leader who is elected by the crew itself. I was the crew leader and held the most stress and responsibility throughout the 2 weeks.

The most challenging day was day 7 on the trail we had to hike over 2 mountains which were elevated at 11,730ft above see level. If you never gone backpacking you will never know how tormenting going uphill is. Your pack carries everything you will ever need and can weigh up to 50 lb. if your lucky.

Just picture yourself having to wake up at 5:00am every morning from a restless night. Now imagine yourself having to scramble out of your tent and having to pack up everything before the sun even touches you. You are packed up ready to get on the trail but wait you need to eat a breakfast since its the most important meal of the day. You reach into your backpack and pull out a plastic bag filled only with snacks but not a actual meal. 

Most of the food you need to shove down your throat since you need the nutrition to survive but you also don’t want to taste the food in your mouth. You put your pack on and while you put it on you realize this is day 7, the day you were never looking forward to in your entire Philmot adventure. 

The hike starts off up hill at a 30 degree incline hours pass and the sun is starting to beam down burning your neck if you are unprotected. The crew talks normally talks on the hikes but you couldn't spare the energy of talking we all knew it was going to be a hard day. We come to the top of the first mountain which is 10,000 ft we take and small break and eat our lunch of canned ham and expired saltine crackers.

The trail gets harder and harder as the 30 degree incline becomes a 40 degree incline then its practical becomes straight up hill having to grab onto trees before you lose your balance and topple of the hill. Your legs start to shake your lungs grasp for air but since the elevation is so high the air is 30 percent thinner so you can’t breath comfortably even when doing obsoletely nothing. I see the top of the mountain finally I get a sudden rush of energy and lungs full of air one by one we all start running up as if running from a nightmare that we all wanted to end. Happiness comes to my face, pride comes in my face since the fact is not everyone can do what I did! I came, I saw, I conquered.

Slept like a log last night........ Woke up in the fireplace.