tim's diary>>>

Day 1: road trip - Sony Clies Rock!! 3/21/2002

Well, I thought for sure that I would literally go insane this morning. I had so much to do to pack and prepare for our first day on the road. I did all the things that I could in my power. And Ryan met with Mom, Dad and I to discuss the tentative itinerary for our road trip, which started today!

Here is what we are doing. My friend and fellow Cutco® confidant-Ryan- asked me if I'd go on a road trip with him en route to Delirious' gigs (the only 5 in Northwest) and since I could also go check out the colleges that intrigue me in California, I agreed that we should do the trip. Insane would some this trip up so far. Praise God for a clear pass cause we had heard it snowed up in the Mountains last night so we weren’t sure what to expect. We are safe and warm in Tacoma, and pumped up for the First Delirious show tomorrow night. We are going to head down through Oregon on Saturday and then on to California on Sunday. By Thursday 28th we should hit the Last d:show here in the NW and end up in San Diego!!! I have learned that planning ahead is so key in any profession or situation. Also, Sony Clie® (like Visor Palm Pilot) are incredible toys to have. I hope to get one in the future. The map-program that Ryan's Clie® had on it was what got us around. Well, I better get some shut-eye. Oh, I just watched "Traffic" on DVD. Incredibly realistic and a great reminder that it is a real war that goes on daily. Ok, the couch looks mighty comfy...

Day 2: Road Trip - Shopping and 1st Show 3/22/2002

Well, today was I suppose a little less hectic. We got up a little after 9:30am. I mistakenly put "dish-washing" liquid in the DISHWASHER, instead of dishwasher liquid. LOL, there was this massive white carpet of bubbles covering the kitchen floor. It was great. I had to mop it up. We went to check on our tickets but we couldn't buy them they said until 6pm-ish, so we went shopping. Ryan and I had a blast. We got all our food in the ICE CHEST and we got our disposable cameras. We kind of got tired of not being able to find any window chalk for the van so we could write all over it for the concert. Anyhow, the concert was amazing and even more amazing was the fact that Ryan and I talked to Jon (Bassist for Delirious) earlier today and he said he'd get us tickets for the show tonight. So, we trusted the Lord with that and went to the show. The gig started at 7:30 and the house was already packed when Jon came out back by the busses and found us decorating the D:mobile. He gave us both tickets, the concert was phenomenal and the rest was details. We got the bar-b-que fired up after the concert and Jon joined us (Ryan, Tom and I) for sausage dogs with green catsup. It was freaking awesome. Today was sweet. OH and Pao's Donuts Rocks!!! Well, I gotta get going, we drive to Medford tomorrow and I finally get to meet my friend Emily. See ya.

Day 3: Road Trip – ‘O we are Salem' 3/23/2002

We left Tacoma with an early start and raced down through Oregon to Salem for the "Salem 240"- Tacoma to Salem in 240 minutes (O we were Salem')!

Are speedy arrival gave us time to dink around town- Salem. And we spent it by creating our own T-shirts, which was a total blast. Ryan's said "Tokyo 05" on the back and the Japanese flag on the front and mine had a big Question mark on the back with the Farside (Gary Larson) joke "ah blah es pan yole" on the front above an American flag. It was awesome. We found a sweet spot at the Salem Auditorium and we even made it to the front of the mosh-pit at the Delirious show. We also were able to use our passes that Jon gave us last night at their Tacoma gig so that was a crazy sweet blessing! It was a great show! After the concert, we headed down during the wee morning (early) hours and headed for Medford to hook up with my friend Emily. We didn't make it all the way down and ended up at some hotel parking lot where we slept (no joke!, lol) for ohhhh I'd say 4 hours! Yeah, we were very dead. We finally made it to Medford in very good time and had a good time with Emily and her friend Victoria and Ryan's girlfriend lives there so that was cool to meet her too. Emily showed me this awesome sampler for the Indy (independent) band "Redeemed". They sound so smooth.

I best jet, See ya (Sacramento, CA is tomorrow baby!)

Day 4: Road Trip - Medford and onward to Cali 3/24/2002

Yeah so, we had breakfast in Medford and showered at Emily's place (thank you for showers God) and then we headed off with only 4 hours of sleep to California. Ryan did an awesome job navigating and driving. We hit the Agriculture inspection at the Cali border late afternoon and arrived in pretty good time in Sacramento around 3:30-ish! The Delirious show was sold out. Ryan and I played football in the parking lot for a bit and eventually some guys came and joined us which was cool. I played hacky-sack with some other guys as Ryan waited in line for the show. The Show was amazing! It was at this huge Church and Matt Redman was there to start out the sweet night with some awesome worship! We met some people and visited with Jon a bit after the concert and yes, we even bar-b-qued the last off our sausage doggies, but used our bread for the buns! It is funny cause people don't know it is Jon from Delirious when he comes and just chills with us and talks, cause they'd all be storming our bar-b-que if they knew! LOL, anyway it has been a blast so far. I am learning alot. Ryan is a pretty smart and well-educated and structured guy so it is helping me to stay on track better and he is learning stuff from me as well. Ok, I gotta jam. More later. Dude, I love all these Palm Trees!

Day 5- California Love and more open Doors! 3/25/2002

Ryan got us all the way to Hollywood, and I drove a little today as well. Ryan showed his smarts and apparent lack of funds by securing our petroleum fill-ups on his Dad’s Gas Card, which helped a lot since gas was around 1.99/ gal. (we Tri-City Boys are used to 1.19/ gal.!) Alas, the ride over was another long one. California is so energy-driven, man, everyone seemed to be in as big a hurry as we were. After a brief run-through Hollywood Blvd and Vine St., we joyously found the Palace Dance Club/ Venue and since we arrived about two hours before the Delirious Show, we found a great spot near the buses. I enjoyed chatting with the D:boys and the Redman boys as they walked between the busses and the venue. They probably thought (and still think) we were (are) crazy! I don’t blame them. The show was awesome and we met some great kids from Spirit Life Bible College. They prayed for me to receive the Holy Spirit's anointing after the concert, right on the dance floor…and God totally filled me and gave me my prayer language, and I was so excited cause I had always been afraid of the whole tongues thing but now I am a believer of the utterances of the Spirit of God! So, Ryan Faulkner- one of those who prayed for me- graciously let Ryan and I stay with him in his apartment tonight! Bye Hollywood, for now. God Just keeps opening doors. We've almost driven 2000 miles! Wow, that rocks! Oh, and we are so excited that we were able to do this, this is not like something we just figure we'll do each Spring, I mean, this…this is really something else! I found out that the newest Deliriou5 album is supposedly not going to be released over here in the states, but a girl at tonight's show told Ryan and I that www.acorndirect.co.uk has the album for sale, so that rocks! I think I'm going to move to California if it doesn't fall into the ocean, run out of energy, or perhaps silicon, lol...(sniff) tomorrow is our last D:show on this trip! I better get to sleep.

Day 6-- Makin Friends L.A. and S.D.! 3/26/2002

I agreed to go to Spirit Life Bible College today in exchange for bed and bath last night. Man, I thought colored churches got fired up, but this was impressive. God’s power and joy was there at SLBC and we got into some serious P & W (praise and worship) and we also sat in on an Old Testament class. We thanked Ryan Faulkner and took pictures with all our SLBC friends and headed for San Diego. We ran into some soon-to-be friends, almost literally “ran into them” after catching them on the freeway waving at us and smiling. The poor Caravan was undeniably headed to the San Diego Deliriou5 show so, as the lanes merged, so did our two vehicles, but I sped ahead and the girls pulled back so it work out. When we actually arrived at the church, we got to meet our new friends: Michaele, Kat, and Courtney! We chilled until the show and man was it incredible when those lights dimmed! Martin got the whole audiences’ attention by adding a line from POD’s song “Youth of the Nation”. It was raving bonkers mad I tell you! We spent the night tearing down the stage thanks to our new shirts (Delirious Crew). We stayed with a guy – friend of Courtney – Abe who was resting from a motorcycling accident and he was totally cool with Ryan and I just chillin’ at his apartment, and chill we did! We lived it up in the apartment and caught all the local life while we tearfully came to a realization that our last Deliriou5 show was over! We did it though! The whole Western Leg of the Delirou5 Tour to North America. That's gotta be some kind of record! So, we headed with "the Cal Gal's" over to the famous "Sombrero’s" (where Blink 182 eats often) and had some awesome (authentic) Mexican food! Courtney had to leave cause she worked the next morning. Man, what an awesome day! I better hurry and eat my churros! I love my VISA! lol.

Road Trip: Day 7 -- Fun on the Run! 3/27/2001

Ok, well, after what I thought was a great sleep (7 hours), Ryan and I met up with Michaele, and Kat and had a blast checking out Sea World for 5 hours! Michaele works there so we got an extra-huge cotton candy rolled! All for of us killed it in like 20 minutes or so! It was so sweet: Moray eels, dolphins, sharks, penguins, seals, sealions, (sniff) no..polar bears though...but, it really was incredible I thought, especially the view of S.D. the ocean, and Tijuana, from the top of the sky tower! I'm sure Michaele doesn't get tired of eating Churros and working at Sea World, San Diego! We didn't have much time to get to our next stop--the Wild Animal Park--so I carved a little detour through the lot! It felt really good to laugh so much! We got into the park but didn't have much time to see the animals before they closed, so Ryan, being the cost-efficient one, bought his own magic zoo (just add water and watch'em expand)! It was a blast! We called Courtney from the Animal Park and I got some very rough directions to her house in the boonies! Well we finally arrived at her place and got to meet her family, who were very cool, and see the amazing photographs, that Courtney took herself (the girl is gifted)! We then left for some dinner at Denny's with Michaele leading the way! One problem occurred though: we each ended up at different Denny's restaurants, lol! The girls and Ryan went to one Denny's while, Courtney and I ended up playing some Worship on Acoustic and Djembe in another Denny’s parking lot! Finally we connected and explained what happened. We laughed some more. Michaele had to leave for work, but Ryan and Kat met Courtney and I at Christian Heritage College where we were going to attend worship at 10pm- midnight! We got there at 11:45pm and they were putting everything away, lol! But I met Courtney's awesome friend Heath, and we had a good time playing some football in the dark parking lot before the security guy found us on the grounds after curfew time! We headed home, exhausted but hyper! I love this area!

Road Trip: Day 8 -- Guys and Dolls, and BIOLA 3/28/2002

Well today, I got to drive up to La Mirada and see this awesome Christian College called BIOLA (Bible Institute of L.A.)! It was pretty easy finding it! I only stopped and asked one lady for help. I am realizing that my abilities to remember and follow directions for travel are null! Its cool though, cause the College Tour was just awesome, and I reallllyyy liked what I saw. I'm keeping BIOLA on my top 5 list! Oh, and after the tour and free (all you can eat) lunch, I went an conferred as to how many of my credits would transfer down there since I nearly have my AA degree at the junior college I attend (Columbia Basin College). To my disbelief, almost all the credits transfer! Plus I discovered online there that I passed my CHEM class last Quarter (I hadn't checked my grades since we left the day after finals). So the BIOLA trip was well worth the 2hour drive from S.D. but the problem occurred when I tried to get back using 3 different sources, and no Ryan ”the Navigator”. I got lost, no, I mean majorly lost! I ended up in Mexico and the border guard finally gave me directions back to Lemon Groves (outside S.D.) where Ryan and Kat were anxiously waiting for me at Kat's place! I got back so later than I'd planned! LOL, I was so angry and embarrassed, but very glad to be back! We hurried over to see Kat's bro perform in a H.S. Auditorium the famous comedy/musical "Guys and Dolls"! Ryan liked the fresh brownies outside the auditorium more than the play I think. He fell asleep, lol. It was a tiring day for us all! Ryan basically hit the Beach, had sushi, and rode the Trolley with Kat and Michaele all day while I got lost! LOL. Thanks for your protection Lord, and for Compasses!

Road Trip: Day 9 and 10 -- Goodbye S.D. 3/30/2002

Well, today was fun also but sadder! We went shopping with the Girls and we had breakfast at the delicious Rubio’s (known for their yummy fish tacos and Baja Shrimp) after checking out the Guitar Center, and Electronic shop! Oh, and then we topped it all off with a quick stop to Jamba Juice for a Power- Drink! Man that stuff is good! We said goodbye to Michaele and Kat and Courtney showed us to our last stop in S.D., Trader Joes! I didn't find the coconuts I wanted there, so we said goodbye to one of the coolest girls in California, and hit the road for San Carlos, just 7 hours away! Yikes! Ryan was out while I drove until I couldn't anymore! I called Uncle Ron And Aunt Tara (the World's coolest Relatives) and told them to expect us around 1am or so! HA! It was like 4am when we arrived in San Carlos just east of San Francisco, but on the way I found my California coconuts! Yeah! , Oh and also we took a little detour (I got lost again, actually, but Ryan was asleep, lol) and turned around in San Fran, then headed to San Carlos. The loft bedroom door was unlocked and Ryan and I slept like babies! The next morning we were awoken by the smell of bacon! Ron and Tara managed to give us another incredible meal, show us a little bit of San Carlos, and chat for a bit…all with a sick child! Poor little Caleb! Ron and Tara headed home while Ryan and I shopped at a Thrift Store. He left early and I shopped my heart out! I found some really great shirts and I even got to practice my Spanish with the lady at the checkout counter! It was awesome! We probably stayed a little too long in San Carlos, but my Aunt and Uncle just rock! My uncle gave me his old cameras too...I couldn't believe it! I am so ready to go home though! It has been a very fun, crazy, and tiring trip! I think after we get home, we are going to wish we were back here in Cali. But, I sure miss my mom's homemade meals! So Long California!!!! It's been awesome!

We got all espressoed up thanks to Uncle Ron and his espresso magic, and we started the loooonnnngg drive home. We drove all night actually, switching drivers every 4 hours or so! We made a quick stop in Salem, OR and I drove through Western Baptist College's campus just to check it out. No one was there of Course cause today is Easter! It was cool though. We started out the day with some Sunrises from Carls Jr. and then it was as straight shot all the way to Multnomah Falls (outside Portland, OR). We stopped and had lunch but Ryan noticed a strange noise from the van! "Oh no, I forgot to check the Oil during the Trip", I remembered. So we jacked up the faithful Caravan and used our empty Carl’s Jr. Cups as oil pans to catch the "very Dirty" oil that Ryan drained from the van!! ewwww! This stuff was dark! We put in all the oil we had in the van (3 quarts) and prayed it'd be enough to get home! It was, hallelujah, it was! We made it home! We arrived back home in the Tri-Cities Easter Sunday at 3:30pm, very happy to be home!!! We stopped at the car wash first and read the trip meter...it said 4009 miles total!! WOW, that is crazy! 4009 miles of fun and memories! Thanks Delirious? ! ><> 3/31/2002

Thank you so much Deliriou5 for chilling with us and helping this trip to be a "raving Bonkers mad" experience! Keep rockin’ for Jesus, but don't stop coming over here to the U.S.! We love you guyz and Ryan thanks for being an awesome Navigator and keeping me awake by snoring! LOL, no, really though, thanks for everything man! To Everyone, Matt Redman, and "everyone" we met along the way, thanks so much for your kindness and hospitality! We'll never be able repay you but we'll never forget you either! God Bless. Until the next crazy road trip, this is Tim Herndon, saying, don't forget to tip your waiters and waitresses and always remember to floss, oh and God Loves You Very Much!

Sincerely, Timothy R. Herndon (Pasco, WA, USA)

BACK TO NEWS
BACK TO HOME