In case you are unaware, I have wanted to go to California for as long as I can remember. Not just go to California, but go there and be a complete tourist. Complete with tours to celebrity houses, the Hollywood sign, and of course a trip to Disneyland!
Well I can now say I have been to LA and did not do a single thing that I have listed above. But oh did I have the LA adventure I have always wanted!!
Story time:
We landed in LA at about 1030pm. By the time we got all 50+ bags off the carousel it was about 11:15. I was then asked to help one of my squad mates get to her connecting flight that was taking her home for a few weeks to seek some extra medical care. At this point my plane is still to just sleep in the airport. I thought that was what most of my squad was doing. By the time I got back it looked like I might be the only one staying there, which I wasn't technically allowed to do. That is when Erin walked over and asked if Malerie and I wanted to go with them for the night. At this point I just agreed so Malerie didn't have to stay in the airport, but it turned out to be a great choice!
First order of business is renting a car. We hop on the first bus we see that says they have cars available and end up at Hertz. They quote us some price that is WAY beyond what can be spent on a car and tell us that Avis normally has better prices. So we hop back on the shuttle thinking we would go back to the airport and find the Avis shuttle. God had other plans. In walks the bus driver Derek and upon seeing all our packs asks up what we are doing. We get to tell him about the Race and then he asked us where we were going. We told him and instead of taking us to the airport he took us right to Avis! And then he asked to pray for us. Of course we said yes! When he was finished we asked if we could pray for him. So there we were in a Hertz shuttle bus parked on the side of the road in front of Avis having a big prayer fest while the ONE other passenger on the bus looked on in completed confusion as to what was taking place. It was wonderful.
After what seemed like days, we finally found ourselves loading our stuff into the car and heading out to our first destination of the night: Walmart. It was about 230am at this point. We were pretty much the only people in Walmart, it was pretty nice!
With our supplies restocked and enough sweets to make the state of Rhode Island sick we headed to our next stop: THE PACIFIC OCEAN!!! This is a bucket list item for me, to be able to but my feet in the Pacific Ocean. So at 430am we grabbed our goodies and began running to the water. Being from Florida I have experienced sand my whole life, and mainly hot hot hot sand. But this experience was different. The sand was so cold it hurt. In fact the sand was colder than the water. But cold sand or not I was making it to the water!
It was a glorious feeling standing there waiting for the waves to wash up over my feet.
Cameras are flashing, there are lots of gleeful squeals, and I am just in awe of how God has had this moment planned for me all along. And that's when I hear it.
"This is not good. Uh, guys, I can't find the keys."
Erin is frantically searching every pocket on her person looking for the keys to the rental car. We start looking around, but we are right at the edge of the water and I know that if they fell out here the likelihood of finding them again is slim to none. We stop and hold hands and just begin to pray. Normally in these situations I begin to panic, playing every worse case scenario over in my head. But not this time, I knew we had to the airport at 9am and I knew God had plans for all of us to be in Thailand so I knew things would work out.
So we begin by looking at the pictures we had just taken. Sure enough there is a photo of Erin and Melissa jumping and you can see the keys flying out of Erin's jacket. Then there is the picture Malerie captured were we are looking at the jump shot on the other camera and the keys are washing away next to us.
The keys were gone.
So we had to call the company and explain what happened. They told us they would send someone out within 100minutes. So we did the only logical thing we could think of: we had a birthday party for Erin, since that was the reason for the whole night to begin with. Cupcakes, cookie dough, chips, and chocolate covered coffee beans. Let's not forget the cupcake eating contest! It was so much fun! Lots of laughs and happy faces.
I guess it just shows how far we have come and how much our trust in God has grown. I had no doubts we would make it to the airport on time. I knew God had plans for us. And so when things didn't go the way we planned we just went with it. That is what happens when you begin to realize that what stresses us out doesn't stress God out. If God isn't stressed out why should I be?
So that is my LA adventure. It was one of the best nights of my life! I can't wait to go back someday and see all the sights, but I still don't think they will beat this night!
