1. The Accident
We stopped from some McDonald's breakfast in Adamsville, Alabama. No more than a minute after returning to the road, a guy pulled a crazy u-turn at the end of the median. It caused a line of cars to come to screaching haults. Kyle was driving my car and avoided hitting the car in front of us. I hear a screaching sound...crash. Keyfur hit us with from behind with the Beckham's Accord. My car had the least damage...a bruised bumper and a bent up spare tire storage area thing. The Accord--not so lucky. The hood was folded up and the radiator hose severed. Well, after waiting a while, we got towed to a body shop. Through God's grace alone, we were able to get it fixed in 20 minutes. All-in-all, a two hour delay and we're Florida bound.
2. Pay It Forward
Well, the hood is bungeed down on the Accord but it's really loose--scary loose. We stop at a gas station. This guy lends us another bungee. It doesn't quite do the trick. He says to follow him to this truck stop--we do. He comes out of the truck stop with this brand new fancy orange strap. It's the kind with a hook at each end and a fancy crank in the middle to tighten it. He puts it across the hood--it will go on to hold all the way to Panama City plus the whole week plus the trip back to Fayetteville. Stephen gives him the ol' "handshake with the money slip." The guy catches on. "Bullsh--," says the guy. "Just do someone else a favor in return." Pay it forward.
3. Chuck
The guy we rented from cracks me up. Chuck really liked the "s" word. He threw it into just about every sentence. Usually it went like this-- "This TV station here has all the sh-- about what sh-- is going on in town...the f'ing parties and sh--." I couldn't stop laughing. Oh Chuck--what a poet!! He didn't have the gift of words so much, but he did know more uses for the "s" word than any other human on earth.
4. The Shark Attack
Here's some warning, this is really really sad. We're in the water in Destin on Saturday afternoon--our last day at the beach. All of a sudden, a jet ski comes flying by with two lifeguards on it. One is standing up waving everyone to the shore. This means something bad has happened or something bad is coming. Soon after, the double red flags are raised to signal the water is closed. Rumors start flying about a shark attack. We eventually make our way back to the cottage at PCB (Panama City Beach). We turn on the news to hear the scoop. A 14-year old girl was swimming at the sand bar (roughly 100-200 yards out) with a friend. Sharks came. A shark took her leg. Her friend dragged her back to the shore (which is no easy task). A Coast Guard helicopter came to pick her up but she died on the way to the hospital. The lifeguards closed the beach. It should be noted that a purple flag was up. This means there is a lot of marine life near the shore--which could attract sharks. It turns out that on the other side of the sand bar--there were dozens of sharks. The lifeguard said they were about the size of a jet ski. I can't imagine what that girl's family is going through or her friend. I can't imagine losing a daughter or friend on vacation. I can't imagine dragging my dying friend to the shore like that. Please pray for these people.
5. Jonny & Drew
I met up with Jonny & Drew on Saturday night. We had dinner at Panera in Destin. The three of us and Woodson and Hartness at there and talked. After that, we met up with Keyfur and Brittany and Nicky. Compston and Beckham stayed home. Anyway, Jonny & Drew hooked us up with free putt putt at The Track (where they work). It was a fun time. I got to hang out with my roommates. I told them about Turkey. They told me about Kaleo. Drew and I had some really good conversations about what we can do this upcoming semester. I really enjoyed just seeing those guys. We've had some rough times this past semester together. It was good to just get to hang out--no bills, no dirty house, no school, no worries. Just the three of us chilled out together.
6. The Beach
The Beach just has to be a highlight. It was so relaxing to just lounge in the sand and play in the ocean. That's it...enough said.
The guys sittin' on the beach.
7. The Mohawk
On Tuesday morning (day 2), Stephen shaved my head into a mohawk. It was funny. I couldn't decide if I looked like a BA or an idiot.
The Mohawk...
8. Getting rid of the Mohawk
Man, I felt like an idiot. Whenever the mohawk wasn't gelled up, I looked like complete redneck white trash. It was good to shave that thing off. Unfortunately...I missed putting sunscreen right next to the mohawk. I had two bright red stripes. When I shaved the mohawk off, it was of course white skin. I now officially had racing stripes.
Racing stripes...
9. Diversity
We were a diverse crowd. Compston and Beckham are as tight as they come with money. Woodson and I were next on the list. The other four (Keyf, Brittany, Nicky, and Hartness) weren't so much tight. I enjoyed the nights that we ate cheap dinners at home. I only ate more than fast food once. I was content with a sandwhich. Others spent more money than I can imagine on restaurant food. I must give some props to Keyfur though. He was selfless with the cash. He payed good money to buy some groceries to grill out chicken and burgers and veggies one night. Good stuff. Speaking of diversity...I started eating tomatoes. They wore on me in Turkey. They took me in PCB and Destin. I am a tomato eater now. No more "tomat sis" (Turkish for "no tomato) for me.
Family dinner...
10. Kyle Woodson
Kyle Woodson is amazing. He drank 500 ounces of Soda on the ride home. That's around eight 2-liters. Unbelievable. I had to pull over at about 1 in the morning so he could puke. He had just chugged 52 ounces (which put him at 480) or Dr. Pepper. He started shaking. I pulled over. He puked. He proceeded to polish off a 20 ounce bottle of Sunkist to put him at an even 500 ounces for the trip. According to Hartness' sister (she's a nurse), there's a slim chance that could cause diabetes. Kyle Woodson--what a genius.
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