Plane Tickets! November 15, 2007

We finally bought plane tickets and it is really exciting because it means it is actually going to happen! We have been talking about this trip for so long, it almost didn’t feel real, but now its official…we are leaving out of LAX on the 4th of December and headed to Auckland, New Zealand! We will be there till the 24th of December and then have tickets into Sydney where we will meet up with friends who will also be traveling there, Katy, Natalie and Errol. In the mean time we are frantically trying to get everything done that needs to be done before we take off, which includes a lot more then you would think. Today we are getting some vaccinations and meds to take along with us to keep us healthy! We also need to figure out Visas and packing and health insurance and the list goes on. It is a bit stressful but it is all worth the trip ahead, we just need to keep our eyes on the prize…till then we have a lot to do

-Jessica

Redding November 15, 2007

Two weekends ago we went to Redding, CA. to take a break from the trial and the high tensions of the house. It was a swiftly made decision as we know absolutely nothing about Redding, we just searched Google Maps and saw that Humbolt was too far and Redding is closer! We stayed with a fellow Couchsurfer Clint who was an awesome host and had two extremely cute dogs Chili and Pepper.

The city of Redding was nice and we had a very cozy place to stay. Saturday we made our way a bit North to hike up a place called Castle Crag’s state park. We passed through the gorgeous Shasta Lake which is really low right now from the drought. The hike was a few hours up a long twisty mountain trail. It was a very pleasant hike with some gorgeous views of Mt. Shasta and the point crags up top. The trail started getting really treacherous; steep and slick near the base of the crag, but we kept going. Getting to the top Crag was even more of a feat to climb and could really only be attempted with some gear, but I attempted nevertheless and my hands weren’t happy after climbing the sharp vertical rocks, I gave up. We finally came to rest at a ledge near the top and the view was simply scintillating! (Did I even use that word right?)

On the hike down we had a really funny experience with a church group we’d passed on the way up. We passed by one of the ladies struggling going down the trail. She asked us how we were feeling, and we said our knees hurt a bit. She asked if they hurt really bad and we replied no, they just ached, then as we were just reaching out of earshot she said to us what we thought was “Okay I’ll pay for them.” Neither of us quite understood what that meant…so we responded “no that’s okay,” and “I have some Tiger balm in the car.” Jess and I looked at each other shortly after the encounter and realized through clever investigation that the woman had said “Okay, I’ll pray for them.” Well that made a LOAD more sense than I’ll pay for them, though quite a degree weirder. We laughed the rest of the way down the mountain at the thought of someone praying for knees. I’ll never forget that crazy lady. We’d thought of camping in the park, but we talked with some nice folk at the top (who took our picture above) who said it got below freezing at night… we decided it best to stay at Clint’s again; who, after all, could resist those cute puppy faces?

So anyway, that night we met up with some of Clint’s friends Bobby and Rhonda for sushi in Redding. It was great sushi and awesome company. After dinner we went to the main Redding monument, a big beautiful lit-up bridge. We walked around for awhile and took in the beauty of the river and the blue lights of the bridge. Once back in the car the three of them explained a situation they were in with their friend Billy and his truck. Billy had payed a tow truck driver to put his beat up truck on Bobby’s property where he could try to sell it. Bobby hated the truck there because it’s ugly and takes up room in the lot so, being in construction, he loaded the truck on one of his carriers and we drove to Billy’s to drop it off in his driveway. Somehow we managed to do it while he was at home and he never heard us pushing the car through the street and into his driveway. We heard he was very surprised in the morning. After the truck fun we went to Bobby’s house and played Pit (a card game I brought) and cuddled with their cute dalmatian Sonic.

The next morning we woke early and headed over to Bobby and Rhonda’s where they let us borrow their bikes. Bobby let me borrow his weird bike where the pedals are in the air and you sit back in a seat. After MUCH fumbling around and trying to balance the thing I finally got the hang of it. Our first stop was the bridge to see it during the day and do a long bike ride up and down the river.

(Picture of me on the weird bike, on the bridge)

After the wonderful bike ride we said our goodbyes and headed to a beach on the lake where an old gold mining city named Whiskey Town used to lie. We took a short nap on one of the serene rocky beaches and then headed home.

 We put up more pictures of this trip on Facebook, under all the pics from disney;and, etc.

 http://ucsc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2104761&l=dfb99&id=6700706

 

 

Verdict. November 9, 2007

After 2 long weeks of commuting to Redwood City, sitting in court, and finally waiting every day while the jury deliberated, a verdict was decided. Mark Henderson, the driver who killed Rebecca Siebenmorgen was today, two years after the incident, found to be guilty on all five felony charges. Driving under the influence, possession of cocaine, gross vehicular manslaughter, hit & run, and murder. The absolute minimum punishment is 15yrs in prison, no parole; the max is life.  With prior convictions Mark’s minimum sentence is 30yrs.

My emotions are extremely conflicted. During sentencing I could not help myself from crying from happiness, but also anger. Happiness that this man will not be able to do harm to anyone else, but also anger and regret that nothing in this man’s life prevented these incidents from occurring. With all his horrible faults, and all the disgusting lies he told, and awful decisions he made, he was still once a child, and is now just another man behind bars. Certainly he had all the opportunity in the world to change his ways; from previous jail time to rehabilitation centers, yet he failed to do so, the prime reason this is a murder charge and not just manslaughter. He knew that what he was doing would inevitably cause death or harm to himself or another, yet he still did it again and again, and due to his actions Becca will never see another sunset.

What in this man’s life led him down this path of addiction, anger, irresponsibility, selfishness; how could he fall so far to the bottom of the barrel of society? Is his family, friends, society, sociopathy to blame? Or can we so easily place all of the blame solely on him and the choices he made? I don’t know, but today a second life was wasted, or was long ago, but made official on this day. Justice was certainly served today, but too late to save a life. Could this have been prevented with harsher punishment at his first DUI, or second, or third? Does harsh punishment even work? The high percentage of repeat prisoners leads me to believe it does not. Perhaps people like this fallen man just needed more love much earlier. Someone to listen to, someone to help correct his faults before they blew so clearly out of control. The only way such incidents can be prevented is if we grow as a species, and help those troubled beings early when in need, else they become another shell of a human withering away in a crowded prison with our tax money keeping them alive until the bitter, lonely end.

That said I love every person reading this, regardless of whether I have said so before, and regardless of whether I know you or not. Certainly fire must be at times fought with fire; crime with retribution, but maybe with a lot more love and understanding in this world we can prevent the forlorn from spiraling down a path leading to destruction. So if someone looks like they need a hug, just fucking hug them!

A huge stress has been lifted from the shoulders of all involved in this trial. This destitute man is behind bars for a long time, justice has been served, and all can go on with our lives. We can laugh, play, love, and breathe easy again because that’s certainly what Becca would have wanted, and we must never take anything too serious, because she would have hated that (except dogs, we must take all dog related things seriously).  As much as I think we’ve all learned from this process, about the judicial system, about people, about life, I hope I never have to experience anything like this again, and I think I speak for all who have been likewise emotionally invested in this trial.  Thanks everyone for all your love and support.

Love you all!

-Dave & Jessica

Holding down the fort. October 21, 2007

After dozens of pushed back dates, the trial officially began this last Monday. (For those in the dark about what trial, ask me personally, I think I could get in trouble talking about it too much before the verdict). Jessica’s parents have been going everyday this last week for the jury selection, which sounds like a HUGE hunk of bullshit, stewing in more liquid bullshit, in a cauldron, not surprisingly made of hardened bullshit. Jess and I have been taking care of the house, the dogs, and cooking meals every night for the family. We have really been honing our skills and cooking recipes from every cookbook we can get our hands on. Stews, pot pies, cakes, pastas, calzones, Mousakas, and MANY more. We are also training for the 10k city race coming up next Sunday by running every day (burning off those pot pie calories). My goal is to run the whole race without stopping once. So far we’ve been doing great, and the dogs are fun to bring along, though Remus is OLD and Kiwi a spazzoid! We’ve also been doing some gardening here and there making the yard look nice, and planting herbs and succulents.

Took a great trip down to Santa Cruz on Wednesday for Patrick’s 21st B-day where we met with all of our friends down there. We ate a great lunch at Sitar (great Indian food) with Jess, Jessie, Mike, Patrick, Jennie, and later Matt. Visited Conor at the old house on California St, then met up with Patrick and Jenny again to head down to our ol’ watering hole 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall where Patrick finally drank legally for the first time! We met up with a bunch more friends, including JOE MULGREW our Kiwi friend from summer at Kennolyn, and Matt, Joe and I reminisced about the good ol’ days at camp. The night was great bar-hopping and Patrick got really sick, which I suppose you are supposed to do on your 21st or something. Next morning we met Jessie and Mike again at their place in Felton and ate at La Bruschetta’s; a great Italian place! Now we are back in Lafayette just holding down the fort.

This coming Wednesday jury selection comes to an end and the trial begins. We plan to attend like a full time job every day 9am-5pm for however long it takes (up to 2 1/2 weeks). It is not something we are looking forward to, but the WORST part is I could cause a miss-trial if I call those assholes on their heaping piles of bullshit (I know I’ll want to throw my shoes at this defense attorney, he’s already on my nerves and all I’ve heard are the stories). We aren’t allowed to show any emotion in court or we could get kicked out. (Jessie’s parents have told us some great stories of having to hold their tongues from laughing at some of these jurors trying to get out of duty!)  I will however bring a notebook to write everything down in so I’ll have a a play by play of the mess when it’s all over. Anyway I just hope it all goes well and this guy won’t be able to hurt anyone else’s lives after this.

In the off time we’ve been reading a lot and pulling everything together for our up coming trip, although it’s difficult without set dates of when this trial will officially end (up to 8 weeks after jurors make their verdict until the judge decides jail time).   After the verdict we plan to visit friends and family more north in Seattle, Oregon, Washington, etc. Then I’ll come down to Newport for Thanksgiving, and hopefully depart for Oceania by Dec. Until then we’re just getting by doing what we’re doing.

DMB, Disneyland, La Brea, San Diego and more! October 21, 2007

Dave Matthews Band concert at Shoreline Amphitheater on Saturday, September 29, 2007. We all met up at the house for some pizza making and beer drinking to get the evening started….the drunken shrimp pizza was my favorite (tequila soaked shrimp, mmm), but they were all amazing! Then off to the concert, but managed to miss the opening bands but made it just in time for the main event, we also had the amazing luck of sitting next to an old lady who made a big fuss because we were smoking next to her; thats what the ‘family zone’ is for granny! (Dave’s edit: She’s referring to Marijuana; cigarettes are just gross!) We were caught a bit off guard by this, but we did not let her ruin our good time! DMB played almost a two hour set with a three song encore… amazing as their concerts always are…before heading home we stopped at Nations for a late night snack (Dave’s edit: Nations; on par if not better than In-N-Out), but came upon a whole mess of cops and a broken door to the restaurant….but we still got our food, it was definitely questionable for a few minutes though…close call! All in all it was an amazing night and so glad we could all get together for one more DMB concert.

On the 2nd of October Dave and I booked a last minute plane ticket for Long Beach with good old Jet Blue on the 3rd. We hung out in Newport Beach for a couple of days visiting family and friends and then headed down to San Diego for the weekend. Friday night we went ‘clubbing’ in downtown with Katy and her roommates, to “On Broadway”, got in for free being the V.I.P.’s that we are, saw some go go dancers with “But her” faces and what appeared to be a manically depressed DJ playing bad techno…the 80’s room was the best, as they always are. Stayed the night with Katy, the best host ever, and went to breakfast at a place in Pacific Beach called…something….a number…. it was quite tasty whatever it was called. We then made our way back up to Rancho Santa Fe for Kristen’s going away party. She’s moving from San Diego all the way to Orange County! The food was great and the an open bar made for quite the lovely evening and a cool jazz band with an awesome sax player named Ernie… We then headed back up to Newport and went to L.A. for half a day and explored the La Brea Tar pits, where we saw some crazy skeletons of giant land sloths and saber tooth tigers! We had some tapas and sangria with Nick and Jen at Cha Cha Cha and a tasty ice cream sandwich at Didi Riese in Westwood, mmmmm.

We woke up bright and early the next morning for Disneyland, the happiest place on earth! For a Tuesday in September it was very busy, but we managed to survive but weren’t able to get on the famed Finding Nemo ride because it was swamped with kids- 2 hour wait time! We did manage to ride Space Mountain three times and see ASIMO, the robot Honda designed, that can walk up and down stairs, run 4mph (top that Christina!) and play soccer! I never did see Mickey, we went through his house, but the line to see would have taken an hour easily, probably closer to 2, so I decided I would rather ride Space Mountain again, totally worth it… The last thing we did on our way out of the park was the Jungle Cruise (they added vicious piranhas) and the Tiki Room, because they are classic and amazingly cheesy, the essence of Disneyland really.

For even MORE pictures of these groundbreaking events, go to:

http://ucsc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2104761&l=dfb99&id=6700706

Yosemite. October 1, 2007

This last week was spent in Yosemite National Park. We drove up Monday in Jessie’s car with me Jess and Christina. The trip was easy. We got to our campsite right in the heart of Yosemite Valley called upper pines. We set up our tent and cooked a great chicken apple sausage and leftover red cabbage. Went to sleep early to wake up the next morning and conquer HALF DOME!!!

Tuesday we got up at 5am and made quick sausage and eggs, then began our LONG trek up to half dome; you know what they say: “a journey of 8.6 miles up a giant mountain begins with a single step!” The way up was beautiful and fun and got to see two extremely beautiful waterfalls; Vernal and Nevada

Most of the way is really rocky, and legs quickly get sore climbing up huge carved steps. The absolute hardest part didn’t come until the end. The switchbacks were insane, and once they were done we had to climb the 50 degree angle back face of the dome. Worst was it was all walking on rock polished by glacier, nearly no footing; we had to hold onto steel cables going up. Thank Jesse for bringing gloves for us!!!

The top was, needless to say, gorgeous! We quickly ate our lunch packed the night before and took a nap which lasted a lot longer than it should have. Once awake we spent time exploring what felt like the moon. Christina and I made an awesome rock cathedral for people to enjoy as they reached the top. We scooted on our stomachs right up to the cliffs edge, then pretty quickly thereafter scooted back out of fear and slight vertigo!

Coming down was tricky at first on the cables again and the switchbacks…and then the legs started to hurt. Ankles, thighs, knees, feet, you name it we were getting sore…and only 8 more miles to the bottom!!! About halfway down I just didn’t think we could make it, but kept on trekking, until in the last 3 miles the sun started setting and we still had tons of treacherous terrain to descend. We didn’t think it would come to this, though me must have lost track of time, good thing we brought headlamps. The last mile was grueling and our legs felt like jelly, shaking and hurting more than I have ever felt, but we made it in one (or three) piece(s)!

Back at the camp site as we sat and prepared a simple canned soup dinner on the camping stove our next doors neighbors in the RV were BBQing outside when a black bear came just a couple feet from where they sat. They shooed it away and it took off, but their dog wasn’t on a leash and ran after the bear. The owner yelled and yelled for the dog to come back, but it chased right after the bear. He managed to get his dog back without it’s head getting sliced off by bear claws, but it was a close call! After seeing that incident; all my fear of bears melted away, and I started to view them more like big giant squirrels that COULD rip your face off if they wanted too. (I talked to a park ranger a few days later and he said that there has not even been ONE fatality from a black bear attacking California; I love back bears)!

Wednesday Christina had to leave for Berkeley because of work. We got her to the bus via car because none of us could walk if our lives depended on it! (To be fair Christina was in better shape than both of us so she wasn’t TOO bad off). We spent the rest of the day just hanging out around Yosemite village, seeing what was to be seen, and with each painful step we took we un-stiffened our legs just a little bit more. That night we drove 30min to a hiking spot that goes to Sentinel dome. That was an easy, flat hike of a measly mile, ha ha ha! (It still hurt like hell, but by this time I had a nice trusty walking stick I had procured from the Hal Dome hike). From this vantage point all of Yosemite valley could be seen, as well as half dome, and we got some stunning photos with Jessie’s new camera! We met a really cool group of school teachers who gave us some free food and we stayed until the sun set and the glorious full moon rose!

Thursday was more hiking through the woods and through Yosemite village. We started off the morning however eating at the Awahnee lodge; some very ritzy lodge which was not worth the large bill, but it was good food. We cooked some better food on our dinky camp stove, namely because Jess packed way more good food than we needed.  We hiked a path through Mirror lake, which is at this time of year more like Mirror sand pit, but it was still beautiful, serene, and relaxing. Back at the campsite we met our two new Israeli neighbors whom we played a card game with and shared some beers. They were really nice and we may meet up with them this next week as they continue their trip to SF. Dinner that night was Hobo stew (foil stew at Kennolyn). I don’t think I made it as well as at Kennolyn during the outpost nights, just because it didn’t cook the same on the stove. Normally it is done by wrapping the ingredients (celery, carrot, potato, onion, tomato sauce, garlic, tobasco, salt and pepper) tightly inside tin foil and putting it deep in the fire for some time. Nevertheless it was still tasty, and an overall great evening.

Finally Friday rolled on top of us, and we packed up all our gear and new trusty walking sticks into the car.  We drove about an hour out to Miraposa grove which houses some absolutely GIANT sequoias! We took tons of great pictures and saw some of the most amazing trees I have ever laid eyes on. these things have a larger volume than any other living being! The grove was also untouched by loggers because sequoias fragment when they fall and aren’t efficient to use as wood! They really are a perfect tree. The bright red is Tinnin which the tree produces to make it pest, and fire resistant. I was very impressed by all the science info on these behemoths.

The trip home was again easy and now we are back in Lafayette.

For more pictures go to: http://ucsc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2102176&l=48036&id=6700706

Dave.

Black Dahlia and David Cross. September 23, 2007

Last Sunday Conor and I went to an awesome show in San Francisco at Slim’s. The Red chord, The Black Dahlia Murder, and Cannibal Corpse played and it was a fantastic show. Next night Jessie, Conor, his brother (with friend and girlfriend), and I got LAST MINUTE tickets to see David Cross at Cobb’s. David Cross was as usual hysterical, but I was also surprised by his opener Paul Tompkins. This guy was hysterical and somehow made five minutes talking about Jetblue still funny till the end. I met with him and David Cross after the show to snap a quick picture and learned that Paul was also from Mr. Show, and I must have not recognized him from such an old show. Anyway it was a great two evenings, and now we are preparing for our week trip to Yosemite!

The money shot!

So far unemployed and homeless… September 21, 2007

So far we have been having adventures in CA whilst unemployed and homeless. We traveled to Catalina Island which was amazing. Right after landing from the Flyer, we immediately jumped in the water to snorkel and catch the fish early. Jess was terrified and it was pretty funny trying to coax her into the water, but she overcame her fears quick as the beauty of the sea and fish took over her senses. Eric’s on the pier was closed and we couldn’t get a pier burger, but we ate at some other burger place which was good. We biked for about 2 hours up to the highest point you can go in Avalon without having to pay an arm and a leg to enter the wild reserve. Yeah really wild, all those buffalo surely are vicious. Came back down, explored the city, had an Olaf (awesome ice cream, though as I have come to learn, not nearly as good as Marianne’s ice Cream in Santa Cruz!) then hopped aboard the boat and headed home! Great day trip!

 

After a long bike ride and short hike, we got the money shot! Great success!!

 

San Diego trip. September 20, 2007

We made a trip down to San Diego once Jess got into Newport with me. First we had nowhere to go, simply hoping someone would host us for the night. We hung out at Balboa Park which was an awesome park that houses tons of sweet architecture, museums, and the San Diego Zoo (where we went to next day). We met up with Katy (Jesse’s friend from HS) and her friend Tal from Israel and went out to a great Indian dinner then surprisingly to Shabbat at a conservative Chabad. It was an experience, and the traditions were a bit weird. The Rabbi couldn’t shake Jesse’s hand, probably because she has cooties. Toilet paper in the WC was pre-ripped as orthodox Jews can’t rip paper on Shabbat? As well as turning off lights and such…strange shit. Anyway there was free beer, ironically German, and strangely warm; maybe they can’t use the refrigerator or ice on Shabbat either? (sarcasm) Later we met with Elsa (Jesse’s other friend from HS) and went to a club on the beach where jess and I acted like a crazy weird couple and tried to get everyone to dance Greek style, they weren’t having it, everyone there was “too cool.” We ran around the moonlit beach barefoot in the warm night air and cool water which put the cherry on top of a fun evening. Next day was the SD Zoo with Tal and Katy The highlights were 500lb. tortoises having sex, monkeys fighting, elephants pooping, and a flock of flamingo’s being fed. Jess and i cooked everyone a fantastic Mexican dinner consisting of my famous quesadillas, Jesse’s guacamole, and margaritas. We talked about everything under the sun, namely Jewish history and Israel with Tal and then slept well. The next day was a romp through the big city with the whole crew. It really is a beautiful city as I was pleasantly surprised. Then we went off to my mom’s house in San Diego. We ate well for a few days and spent our time shopping with mom for odds and ends, swimming, reading, throwing Harley, and discovering how amazing Flight of the Concords on HBO On Demand is. Had a great time down in San Diego and headed back to Newport Beach.

Here’s a baby panda for your enjoyment.

Some more pics from the San Diego Trip.

 

For more pics through Facebook:

http://ucsc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2098885&l=ad750&id=6700706

 

It begins! September 20, 2007

Well I have started our travel Blog.  It was much easier than I thought.  Now I need to get used to doing this so when we travel I will be well acquainted with it.