July 6-14; Washington with Mike!

Wednesday, July 6th-
Destination: Forest Hill

After us girls left on Monday night, the guys spent time rejuvenating and preparing for this final leg of their trip. They will be gone for another 2 to 3 weeks!
Last night the guys drove a long way and stopped at a spot called Forest Hill OHV(Off Highway Vehicles) Park for some awesome dirt biking. This morning they got up and rode for a good part of the day at Forest Hill. The guys got about as far away from the bus as possible when Jonathan's dirt bike messed up again! That hurt their time a little bit, but they were able to drive it back to the bus! Once back to the bus, they drove on into Sacramento, CA and parked for the night at a WalMart.



Thursday, July 7th-
Destination: Six Rivers National Forest

This morning the guys began their drive to Redwood National Park. On the way there, they stopped at Six Rivers National Forest!
They hiked around here for a while until they reached a swimming hole! They swam around (and probably got a little cleaner) for a bit before heading back. 
Later on, they kept driving and found a roomy and scenic pull-off near the road that they stayed at for the night. Across the street there was a massive hill where they messed around on their bikes. They planned to hit up Redwood in the morning.


Friday, July 8th-
Destination: Redwood National Park, CA

The guys drove for 8-10 hours yesterday to reach this spot in the northeastern corner of California. Once they got there, they hiked around for a good while and saw MASSIVE redwood trees! Comparing the guys to the tree in this picture gives you an idea of the size of the redwoods! The two also saw some oversized snails and slugs.. (See Trip Photos tab for more info). They enjoyed "stopping to smell the roses" because  they are often zooming through forests on bikes, like tomorrow, but they got to hike through and take it all in. Afterwards, they drove a little ways and even saw a bunch of elk just hanging out by the roadside! The guys stopped at another WalMart parking lot for the night along with like 17 other RV-ers! They were among their kind!

Saturday, July 9th-
Destination: Epic and Eery Night-Biking

The two spent much of today chilling and driving north; headed toward Washington state. They stopped along the way to ride some incredible bike trails in Oakridge, Oregon. The two began the ride around 5:00 p.m. They didn't quite know what they were getting themselves into. It was beginning to get darker, and they were having a couple minor issues with the bikes. Basically, the ride took longer than expected. Soon enough, it was pitch black out. So with Jonathan wearing the one headlamp they had and Leo using only his phone flashlight (which didn't provide much) they crept down the side of the mountain.. Thankfully they were smart and took it slow, but that just added time to the trip. On top of all of this, it was honestly pretty creepy. They hadn't seen a soul, it was dark, huge trees were everywhere, they were in the middle of a forest WHILE riding on bikes along the edge of a cliff. Casual! They finally got to the bottom of the trail around 12:00a.m. They had driven the bus up to the top before they started, and left Leo's dirt bike down at the bottom of the trail so he could drive it back up to get the bus from the top. But of course, it being the middle of the night, it was so dark and Leo's head lights aren't the most powerful.. So he also had to drive slowly up the mountain and that took about an hour. He said it was super eery driving up to the bus because they still had not seen a single person the entire night so Leo was totally alone and had to trust that all of the equipment would work. If Leo's dirt bike messed up, he didn't have cell service, he had no light, and Jonathan was miles down the mountain. On top of all of that, Leo was a little unsure on directions because he had to make a few turns to get to the bus in the dead of night. Thankfully, he didn't make any wrong turns and found the bus! As soon as he pulled up to it, he turned on all it's lights, strapped on the dirt bike, and jumped in as fast as possible! He drove down to pick up Jonathan back at the bottom. Leo said it was, and I quote, "epic". It was truly a crazy and intense night for both of them!

Sunday, July 10th-
Destination: Michael's house!

After the slight scare last night, the two slept in late this morning!
This week the guys have been making their way up to Bellingham, Washington to see one of our best friends, Michael (also referred to as Mike)! They finally arrived there around 8 p.m. and were pumped to spend a week here with their bud. Tonight they went to Samish Bay with Michael, his brother Crawford, and a few other friends. They hung out here chilling and grilling out on the beach for a long while because it doesn't get dark there until like 10 p.m.! Mike opened up his house for them to shower (PRAISE), do some laundry, sleep in real beds, and have a house to be in for a week.

Monday, July 11th-
Destination: Snowed jeep

Today the guys woke up and chilled at the house for a bit. This afternoon they took Mike's jeep out to Mt. Baker in Washington (near Bellingham). It being Washington state, there is still snow there! So the guys went for a nice cool hike, and then decided to drive the jeep up into the snow, naturally. Unfortunately in the midst of fun, they got the jeep STUCK in the snow! Their efforts to get it moving again were all in vain, so they had to call someone to pull them out after a little while. After several hours spent here having fun in the snow, they drove back close to home, grabbed a bite to eat at Denny's and hit the sack!

Tuesday, July 12th-
Destination: Galbraith Mountain

This morning the guys slept in at Mike's and took it easy to recover from the past few days! This afternoon, Leo, Jonathan, Michael, and Crawford went mountain biking at Galbraith Mountain. The guys had fun messing around and hitting some sweet jumps here. They really enjoyed their time biking in such a beautiful mountain! Washington is truly a lovely state and the guys have gotten a good taste of that so far this week!


Wednesday, July 13th-
Destination: parks and rest

After a nice late sleep again (catching up can take a while), the guys got up and took the morning slowly. Jonathan and Leo are enjoying some down time to catch up with Mike, play video games, read a little more, and eat real food. I think they have needed this time but didn't quite realize how bad. Tonight they went to a dirt jump park and messed around a little bit to burn off some steam. Then they all came back to cook a nice dinner and watch a guy movie! (probably beat Baby Mama in their opinion).

Thursday, July 14th-
Destination: more mtn. biking

Again this morning the guys took it pretty easy at Michael's house. Cooking real meals has been a major blessing this week! This afternoon they hit the trails again on their mountain bikes. Galbraith Mountain is nearby and has been perfect for their biking-frenzy! They got home and ordered some yummy deep dish Little Ceasar's pizza! Maybe wouldn't call that a real meal, but they'll eat anything!
The beginning of this week was filled with lots of driving to get to the next destinations, but the guys are thankful for a home to come back to this week! From here, they hope to enter a new country.. CANADA!