Thursday, July 31, 2008

Team Seaside Update

We had an amazing night stay and a great breakfast this morning - waffles piled high with blueberries and coffee - before heading out to meet up with the band, Elephant Revival. After riding on their biodiesel tour bus to Wyoming, we sat down and watched the original neo-acoustic electric and eclectic transcendental folk world string band play. Now we are just settling into the night. If you wanna check out the jams we heard, go to ElephantRevival.com

Team Lynn: Location Update

Team Seaside said that sleep is the cousin of death. We found to be a
very pertinent statement and chose to plan or following 24
accordingly. As of 11 pm last night Team Lynn was in Harrisburg
Pennsylvania. Where exactly we were... the bus stop ready to board 15
hrs of busses overnight. This morning we found ourselves in Dayton,
OH ... which we promptly left. We acquired an excellent means of
transportation and are now currently about to enjoy a delicious meal
in Des Moines, Iowa! We will post again at 11am as it is likely we
won't be sleeping again.
- Sincerely Team Lynn

It is getting hard to get Rob to leave LSU!

Team Lynn

I owe LSU my soul

Good morning family, friends, and everyone else. It is in fact a GOOD Morning. Yesterday, July 30, 2008, is a day which will live in infamy for on that day at approximately 6:20 pm I showered for the first time in three days. Thank you so much Bonnie Sullivan for opening up your heart and door to complete strangers, you have been a breath of fresh air on a trip that continues to surprise me. And the same goes for Rebecca, Meredith and David who showed us a great time last night here at LSU. I'm not sure most people know this but LSU has an actual tiger in a zoo like cage...a little over the top I mean really a live tiger. Regardless I had a blast and a GOOD Night sleep and this morning all of our dirty clothes will be clean. Lots of love for the forementioned people, muchos love here. Also I have to thank MATT who drove us from Tallahassee, FL to New Orleans, LS, muchos muchos love as well for Matt. In fact muchos muchos love for everyone that has helped us on this trip Thank you so much. Going to Shreveport, LS today and hopefully Dallas, TX tonight keep your fingers crossed. One last thing for my mother, Mom- I wore the same pair of underwear for three days... AND I LIKED IT... they were Underarmour and dried amazingly fast. Thank you Underarmour. Don't try that at home kids. Signing out

Jack

Team Lynn...dreams do come true

So we all decided to dream about the west coast and hope we would wake up in a city other than harrisburg, and boy is it a beautiful morning in Dayton...and for our next trick...
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You ever fall asleep one place and wake up in another state?

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Holla RoadToLebanon Fans

Hello Everyone!
My name is Rebecca, and I just met Team Sebastian in Baton Rouge, La. I was pretty excited when they asked me to write something about them, but I'm not sure I'll be able to contribute something significant to this blog because I think what these people are doing is amazing and far more significant than anything i can put into words. It's so comforting to know that there are people out there who are trusting and willing to believe so much in human kindness that they are willing to travel across America completely dependent on others. I'm only so happy to contribute and say something encouraging for all of these teams. Good luck to all!
On a more personal note, Team sebastian has been particularly grateful, and a pleasure to be around...especially Rob. PEACE and God Bless.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Sbastian is smiling

Team Sebastian is in a very good mood because they have received a lot of help and wants to thank every one for what they have contributed. We have now advanced to the wonderful town of LSU. Geaux Tigers, ya ya geaux tigers but go vols better instead.  



Thank you, 
Bonni
Meredith
Rebecca
David


Day 3 End Results ALL TEAMS: Park City, UT, Harrisburg, PA,, Baton Rouge, LA


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Update from Team Seaside

We didn’t get into Salt Lake City until about 4:30 in the morning. We were woken up in the morning by a sprinkler outside the University of Utah student apartments. Forced to move, we got about an hour of sleep behind a church before they came to mow the lawn. After those few hours of sleep, we started walking downtown. Hanging out in the library, we tried to figure out how to get out of Salt Lake City and which direction we should go. Alan played a game outside the library with some new friends called “Library Roulette” which involved sitting in the fountain until it went off, and the last one in wins. It was a very refreshing game because Salt Lake City is really hot. After the library, we got some free breadsticks from Little Caesar’s Pizza and then hitched a ride to a gas station on the highway. From there we hitched another ride up to Park City, where we drank a couple of beers with some locals. They were very welcoming – they bought us some food and then took us to a free concert on top of the ski slopes. And the plot thickens… At the concert, we ended up onstage and let everyone at the concert (about 1000-1600 people) know about The Road to Lebanon and what we were doing. At the end of the show, people came up to us and gave us food, shelter, and money. Now we are walking down the street to have a beer with some locals and then go stay with our new friends, The Floures,

Pics from Sebastion

Mississippi River:Walking:
Thumbing it:
Where they filmed Deja Vu:
Bus Station: Not a very productive day. We couldn't find anyway out of New Orleans so we took a bus. First time using the money and it only cost 5 cents a person. Now headed to LSU to see what we can get into there. People, start helping others.

Team Lynn: Harrisburg

Team Lynn strikes out again!!!

So the morning started off with a bang. This included eggs, bacon, hash rounds, pancakes, and waffles with the Kuhns. After breakfast they dropped us off at a truckstop where the day began to go south, literally yet also figuratively. I think we talked to every trucker there (approx. 300) and they were all going east. So around 12pm we finally found a man named Steve Romo, he proceeded to drop us off near a bus stop, but told us on the way how he has hitchhiked all over, including to alaska and also down the mississippi. At that point we were in Hamburg and the bus driver told us how to get to Reading where we could catch a bus to Harrisburg and eventually find a better route west. Arriving in Reading the bus driver then gave us our money back and pointed us in the right direction. Bus tickets were outrageously expensive, but due to our stealth skills in bribing the inner city employee of the town we managed to get some free bus tickets... Now we are stuck in Harrisburg for a while until our brains begin working in our favor again. So actually another random act of kindness just happened while typing this, a guy named james just offered us some left over pizza and coookies without even knowing we needed food!!!!!! Pretty pumped about that and trying to dream good dreams tonight that somehow by the time I wake up we will be farther west of Harrisburg. Over and knocked out for the night.
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Team Lynn: Chocolatey Goodness in Hershey, PA

On the bus

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There's no sleeping in the

There's no sleeping in the reading library

Team Lynn...heading south

Well I'm not sure if any of you have ever tried to get out of one traveling destination point and then do a 90 degree turn, but it is extremely hard. That being said, heading west just isn't working out for us so we are deciding to keep heading south...
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Team Sebastian made a friend

Dear Friends,

What a great project! Jack, Robert and Michelle stopped by our church in Tallahassee, had a wonderful conversation with these three fine young people, and we took them to a spot near I-10 where they could continue their journey. If all the teams are as kind as the Sebastian team they will be spreading a lot of good will across our country. In a world where there is so much negative publicity with young people, it is refreshing to meet and experience young people like Jack, Robert and Michelle.

Blessings as you continue your project,

Wayne Curry
Sr. Pastor
Trinity United MethodistChurch
Tallahassee, Florida

Team Sebastian on the road


If you have some extra time...

you should check out this free texting service. Send questions to chacha (or 242242). Ask chacha what The Road to Lebanon is. Who does chacha think will win? Huh? Boo-ya.

Mardi Gras

Team Sebastian is having some black jack phone problems, so we are using the computer in the lobby of the Drury Inn in New Orleans. To back track a little, yesterday started off a slow day. We started on the road at 6AM trying to thumb for a ride. After 2 hours, 8 miles walked, and buckets of sweat lost, we made it to a gas station. Didnt take long for us to convince a single woman by herself to cram the three of us with our gear and her luggage into her seabring convertible and head up to tallahassee. once in Tallahassee, we caught a ride with a gentlmen who dropped us off at his sons fraternity house, Sigma Chi. We chilled there for a little while, but since it was only around one, we wanted to keep heading down the road, although a night at the local bar with the FSU boys would have been a great time. Well, to make a long story short, about 6 hours later we never thought we would make it out of Tallahassee so we began thumbing down the interstate only to be stopped by a State Trooper. Once we were down with the State Trooper we were able to talk the District Attorney of Florida into giving us a ride to the next rest area. We have gotten in pretty tight with the Florida police departments. We found a guy willing to drive us all the way to New Orleans, only problem was he was pulling over to take a nap, so we had to let him sleep a bit before we left. We drove all through the night, got dropped off at the airport and curled up in there for some sleep. Didnt get much though, but now, off to Bourbon Street!

Seaside- Day Two Recap

We stayed strong and on the road for day 2's entirety. After a fifth sprinkler-related awakening, we prepared for the road outside, with a gorgeous Washington view surrounding us. Things looked grim when we started hitchhiking at the rest stop where we had slept, but after just the right amount of time, a very kind attorney scooped us up. First, he took us to a public zoo, where we saw deer, buffalo, giraffes, zebras, cameltoes, and alpacas (yes, seriously). Then he took us where we thought would be the best hangout spot to find our next ride, where he promptly told us he had a better spot. He did. After a generous man named Craig Downing bought us a filling breakfast, the free-spirited Mo crushed us and drove us in her convertible Audi to Boise--our goal for the day. Mo hooked us up with Rowanna, a calculus teacher who bought us pizza and beer, both of which were much appreciated and enjoyed. But it was the ride from Holly and Richard, which Rowanna's hospitality ultimately led to, that excited Easy Seasy the most. We met Holly and Richard at a bar Rowanna recommended. We hope Holly and Richard are safe back home in Boise, because they were nice enough to spend all of last night driving us southeast to SLC. We slept, a little, last night (until...wait for it...another sprinkler incident), and are parked now at a city library, where inspiration or generosity will surely strike any second.

Team Lynn: Kuhnsville sendoff breakfast

Delicious breakfast with the wonderful Kuhns family who have helped us
out immensely. Thank you all so much!

Day 2 End Results ALL TEAMS: Salt Lake City, UT, Allentown, PA, New Orleans, LA


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Team Seaside in Salt Lake City

Sleep is a cousin of death. Team Seaside is in Salt Lake City. More to come on these events later in the day.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Team Lynn: The Promised Update

It is really hard to fathom how a single day can have such extreme highs and lows. As each day has worn on, the reality and magnitude of what this project is trying to accomplish is gaining a much clearer perspective. When we explain the motives behind this film to, I am repeatedly astounded by how quickly people comprehend the scope of “people helping people” and our search for the “goodwill of Americans”. It has taken me nearly two days to grasp what mere strangers have in minutes.
To recap the day, we left Fordam University this morning and spent 20 minutes cutting through the jungle that is New York City to Penn Station. After a lot of map reading and question asking we managed to ascertain that the furthest west we could go via train was High Bridge, NJ and proceed to purchase 3 tickets.
After an interesting time being harassed by a very unstable homeless man we boarded the train. Onboard we struck up a conversation with Michelle, a California transplant and the train’s attendant. She promptly found a group of passengers from High Bride that she though might be able to help us on our journey. Less than 30 seconds into pitching our trip we had an extra $200 in hand courtesy of our new, very generous friend, Pamela. Having arrived in High Bridge and happy to finally be out of the big city, we hit the ground running…straight to McDonalds.
After a few miles of walking and following an invitation to leave the Wal-Mart premises, we found our way to a motel. Inside we received some much-needed assistance from the receptionists and a very welcome lift to the nearest bus stop. At the recommendation of the office we boarded a westbound bus to Allentown, PA.
Allentown proved to be a fairly unwelcoming, rather off-putting town and one in which we definitely didn’t want to spend the night. With no busses leaving town we walked towards the highway to hitchhike. Thumbs out and daylight slipping away our chances for a ride looked slim and we really began questioning what we were doing on this crazy trip. Finally a young lady named Lisa picked us up and drove us a few miles down the road to a collection of gas stations. It didn’t look like the best place to hitch a ride so we walked to the nearest hotel. The Best Western was going to run us over $80 a night and we thought could probably find somewhere cheaper, so we set off walking again.
With Little more than a streak of sunlight in the sky or hope in our hearts we stumbled upon an elderly man working in his garage, who later introduced himself as Mr. Kuhns. We were only hoping to camp in his backyard but he and his wife were welcoming beyond belief. We have since had warm showers, a delicious meal, our clothes washed, a history lesson, architecture tour, a place to lay our heads and more importantly new friends with abundant good will. Topping it all of we discovered the name of the town we were in was Kuhnsville, named for our very hosts. What will tomorrow bring?

Lebanon!

Today has been a GREAT day suckers!

Chris Allen in Oregon?

Bored in penn station

Oh my god what I would give for a cheeseburger right now. So far we have eaten lasagna, a bagel and some peanuts (thanks Mel) and right now cheeseburgers are sounding great!!!!!!!
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Seaside - Some People Pics





Seaside - Ocean Pics





Day 1 End Results ALL TEAMS - Use your cursor to drag the map and see where all the teams ended up on their first night.


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Columbus circle @ 1am

So last night we stayed at fordham university with some college students who were nice enough to let us steal some floor and couch space. One named brendan decided to try and help us make some money to get out of this city, so he became a street musician and only made $5. But the spanish man who gave him the moneu told us they were getting married today and wanted kids in 2 years, but were gonna "try" tonight...then we found a limo full of what appeared to be some rich italian kids who he then serenaded and tried getting in the limo with, waking up this morning we have realized that everyone in nyc is a hustler so we don't stand out. We are trying to make it to rural country.
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Monday, July 28, 2008

8:00AM - A Toast to the Pacific

At 8:00AM, Team Seaside toasted the Pacific Ocean with a beer and began their journey.

After a few hitchhikes that led us back to Seaside, we met a wonderful ukulele woman who hooked us up with a ride to Portland. After riding through Oregon in a car with a tambourine taped to the bottom, we began to walk 5 miles to a campsite before running into Kip, who drove us to see the waterfalls. Our night has just begun – we will report more in the morning.

Day One - Sebastian

Well, it is now 4:30 and the Sebastian Team is sitting inside a KFC due to thunderstorms, well two of the members anyways, Jack is outside showering. We are just outside of Jacksonville and are hoping to make it to Tallahassee by the end of the day. We would like to thank the First Union Methodist Church, Kevin Roundtree, and KFC for their generous help today.
Little side note, apparently holding a camera over a bridge and taping is frowned upon. Police were called 'cause some drivers thought it was a gun. But after a nice pat down and search by the local police dept, they sent us on our way and wished us the best of luck. Well, got to hit the road.

NYC ...bad idea

In Chinatown, terrible idea, even water costs $3
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5:45

...approximately 5:45pm (sorry)

Chinatown or BUSt !

To all our readers, team Lynn fans and "ahem" friendly residents of
NYC and surounding area:

Team Lynn is currently on the Feng Wah bus to China Town (near the
village and lower east side I think) we will be arriving at
approximately

"I'm going back to bahston"

The "amazing zen" just hooked us up with enough money to get back to boston, or "bahston" as everyone up here pronounces it. NYC here we come!!!!!
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Fw: Day one review

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-----Original Message-----
From: treyandrews3@gmail.com

Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:57:06
To: <treyandrews3.labanon@blogger.com>
Subject: Day one review


Considering the night before the trip started we just didn't go to sleep, yesterday was extremely tiresome. We got to the ILM airport at 5 am dropped off by some great friends and proceeded to the security check in. Well we held up the line due to packed aerosol cans, an American flag, and knives and mase. Landing in Laguardia we all looked like we died in the airport with the way we fell asleep all over the floor. Finally we reach Boston and began walking instead of waiting on our ride. A few things we discovered...

1. How to ride the bus/subway system
2. Having to decide between tuna and lobster for dinner on someone else is actually a hard decision
3. Sneaking into hotels actually does pay off sometimes
4. Grass is just as good of place to sleep as a recliner

We start today from Lynn, its an old fishing village, and we plan on being in nyc by the night, talk to ya along the way

Trey
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Day Zero - Team Sebastian

Today was a very long travel day. I spent a good 6 hours in the Orlando airport waiting on my teammates to arrive and when they finally did arrive, I was in the middle of giving a tour of the place because I knew it so well. At least there was no traffic on the ride to the hotel. Really looking forward to beginning the journey to Lebanon in the morning.
Rob

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Day Zero

Our bodies' clocks say it's 2:30 a.m. (we're tired), but some delectable, donated seafood at Sam's Seaside Cafe provided the energy we need to give the run down for our pre-race travel day. Kelly, Alan, and Ben made it safely to Portland via sky, walked through a bucket-drum bombarded bazaar, saw a mild conflict at a Greyhound bus station, and met the mad hatter himself. A quick bus ride brought us to our coastal starting point, where we enjoyed a nice sunset on the Pacific, drank contintental coffee and tea, checked into our hotel, and proceeded to meet Sasha, our generous server at Sam's Seaside Cafe. Thanks to Sasha for the good food and interesting conversation. We highly anticipate this race's official day one.

Seaside Reporting

Things we learned today..

1) Today was our lucky day because we got to see a man in heat.

2) You get burned when you jump on a hot harley.

3) Show up for your court date or else you will get stomped.

4) Croquet is best played with sledgehammers and bowling balls.

5) The best way to quiet a kid in pain is to tell him he is dumb.

6) Easy Seasy will be waiting for you in Lebanon.

ps. It's cold in Oregon.

The view from the top is always better!

Made it to Boston and all of us are still alive
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Mel's thoughts on the trip (at 4 am)

"I have a feeling that one team (Seaside) won't ever make it out of the city they started in. I think they'll only be able to make it as far as they can walk in 10 days" - Mel

Team Seaside Reporting

See you in Lebanon.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

10 thoughts for the day

my thoughts for the day from team wynn...

1. last night was fun
2. the ocean felt very warm at 330 am
3. team sebastian will not make it out of florida
4. team seaside will be most likely to get lost with kelly stracke
5. team wynn is most likely to find a trader on wall street and convince them to fly them in their leer jet to germany and then back in 1 day
6. team wynn is also most likely to enter into another country on their trek
7. deciding whether to bring a backpack or just wing it
8. thinking that kelly getting our plane tickets for a 630am flight was a cruel joke
9. i dont think ive ever completely walked across the wb bridge
10. i think its about to rain.

p[e]riod.

Friday, July 25, 2008

One of the losers from team Seaside.

My thoughts with the journey nearing..

1) What clothes should I bring?

2) Chris Allen's beard will slow Team Lynn down.

3) What can I get with a bouncy ball?

4) I have an amazing family and incredible friends. 

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

$600.00

WOW! Thank you so much! Trey's grandparents with the help right when we needed it! Thank you again and again.

$50.00

Thank you for your support Andrews family!  

$20.00

Thank you Donna! 

And now a haiku

Thank you for helping
You know the Dean Queen must have
A phone call a night.


$100.00

And now a poem by Sandy..

Roses are red
Violets are blue
You got me inspired 
And Bam Bam too...


Thank you Wilberts for your support and for the sweet poem.

$100.00

Thank you Dentons for your support!

$100.00


Thank you Puppies for your support!  I don't know how you guys found the time to raise that kind of money but thank you puppies.

$100.00

Thank you Alexanders! Thank you for everything that you have done for me!

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Unbelievable support!

Once again I have received a tremendous amount of support so I may have to group poem again. I will say that is a great thing. Thank you all!

Sunday, July 20, 2008

# 1

Three cheers for team Wynn.

The first to settle Lebanon

Just so all 2 of you blog followers out there know, I have been contacting people in Lebanon trying to find out more about this wonderful place that is right at the heart of America.  I just received an email from Dr. Darci Mull whose great great grandparents were the pioneers who settled Lebanon, Kansas. 
 
Check out her article about her trip to Lebanon at The Middlewesterner.


Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Thank you all!!

So I have been behind on my posting but I just wanted to thank everyone who has supported this project!  With less than two weeks before we begin, I could not be this far along with all your guys support! 

Roses are red
Cherries are too
This little poem
Is to thank all of you

The film will be fun
But the idea transcends
Of people helping people
And friends helping friends

Rock and Roll 



$15.00

Thank you Greg Jones!!

$50.00

Thank you MIchael Mazza!!!

$20.00

Thank you Raegan Queen Herbert!!

$20.00

Thank you Marissa Macri!!

$50.00

Thank you Allison Griffin!! 

$50.00

Thank you Richard Connelly!!

$100.00

Thank you Morels!! I had a great time in Chicago and we will have to do that more often!

$10.00

Thank you Kaitlin Stock!!

$25.00

Thank you John Trischan!!

$40.00

Thank you Tschudi's!!

$100.00

Thank you Kathryn Connolly!!

Crunch Time

"I never sleep cause sleep is the cousin of death."
-Nas

Thank you Nas for the inspiration.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Congratulations Team Lynn

You all are in big trouble now that I figured out how to use this thing. I would just like to thank everyone for supporting this trip and if you can't spare any cash we are always accepting donations in the form of watermelon jello.

-Yours Truly
The Winning Team