Life after Mark
Mark left from Oakland Airport and Andrew went to San Fransisco and was sad.
It was a completely different world without him.
Andrew didn't have any rice, so he went and got some from an Indian buffet. This made him feel better...and worse.
He ended up getting lost and had to run with a full tummy back up steep hills to his car to beat Mr Parking Inspector. He did.
But when he was running he ran into an old lady and knocked her over and had to go to jail.
He took some photos to help plan an escape.
This was the cage they put him in.
It was a long way to swim, and he didn't even have floaties.
But he knew a secret Seal whistle and a seal came and gave him a ride back to the mainland. When they got back the dad seal wasn't happy with his daughter for helping a criminal so he pushed her off the edge of his house and told her never to come back, but she did and so he pushed her off again.
Andrew snuck away and was still feeling lonely. But God showed him he cared very much and one lady gave him $90 (read Spiritual update 003 for full story)
Andrew went to Point Reyes to do another hike.
It was the best one yet.
It had waterfalls on the beach
And rocks to climb up.
And friendly deer
And lakes
And streams to test his new waterproof boots out in
And the prettiest views ever with nobody else around to spoil them.
But it did have windy tracks to get lost on.
And lots of poison ivy too. Andrew fell over in it trying to find the right track to go on.
It took him a long time but eventually he found the right track and he still had a long way to walk and it was going to be dark soon. He found a thirsty deer on the track and decided to go another way (another amazing Story told in full in Spiritual update 003)
He ended up 20 miles away from Red Rocket but some nice people gave him a lift.
And some even nicer people took him into their house and gave him food and a shower and helped him get some cream for his poison ivy. The ladies name was Ella and the mans name was Kit.
Andrew said goodbye and went on another backcountry hike.
This one was at Caribou Lakes and it was in the middle of nowhere and Andrew was scared.
But he found two guys and they protected him from the bears.
But they weren't brave enough to protect their food so they hung it in a tree.
And then watched the most amazing sunset ever.
All by themselves on the top of a mountain.
The next day they saw a few more things and then Andrew had to leave and go back by himself but he wasnt as scared now.
It was a long way back down
Andrew got very tired.
But that was ok because when he went to pick up his extra food from a resort he was offered a place to stay for the night and a job. They even fed him a barbecue with grown ups drinks. That night a bear came around and chewed on the building Andrew was sleeping in. He was afraid because his door couldn't lock but he tried to look at the bear anyway.
He couldn't see it or take the job so he said goodbye and went to Lassen National Park
On his way there he drove past a church but decided not to go because it wasn't going to be very exciting. It was also a Thursday and church is on Sunday .
Also before he got there he stopped in Red bluff and took his mothers advice to not stay in the car. He paid money to stay in a campground where he got a $50 fine for parking on the grass. He didn't read the signs but the park ranger wouldn't believe him or listen to his story.
But Andrew forgot about it and climbed up a mountain, but then remembered it again.
But then he talked to the great white tree whol told him to "Look on the bright side"
So he did.
There was lots of bright side to look at.
And even more the next day when Andrew got up really early to watch the sunrise.
It was beautiful
Then he climbed a mountain and reach the top before anyone else. His mobile phone was working at the top so he made a few phone calls and then he heard someone say "Hippo criteria" but he didn't care because nobody else was there and it must have been the wind and it didn't make sense anyway.
Then he left the park and saw some other cool stuff, like this.
And this
And he prooved that everything is bigger in america.
Then he drove past a place with a funny name.
He spent the whole time there making up jokes about the town and thinking of funny situations like having the annual "Weed festival". Here is an example of some of his thoughts. "Mum i know my clothes stink but i refuse to wash them in weed, i'm also not going to spend the night in weed either. I did use the weed post office and weed outside as well. I hope nobody saw me.
Andrew couldn't resist and went to the tourist information and asked "Is this Weed information" "Yes" the lady replied "Good, can you tell me where I can find the nearest dealer" Andrew asked. The lady didn't hit him and wasn't angry.
People must think Andrew is a gardener coz they keep asking him for things like weed and whether he has any herb. In Mt Shasta a black guy name Ronnie asked him if he wanted a bud, I guess he thought Andrew would be good at growing it. When Andrew said "no thanks" the guy said "man, wid hair like that ya'll representin"
Andrew then went to Crater Lake and did a hike late in the day
And had the top all to himself
He even had time to take two photos at the top before it got dark and he had to go down.
Actually he took 3 because he couldn't decide which one was best again.
Then it was time to go and visit his friend Stephanie in Eugene. Her boyfriend Bob was there too.
After a delicious home cooked pizza and a good night sleep in a bed they got up early and went bargain hunting. Stephanie and Bob were worse than Andrew. They filled a whole trolley and Andrew just got a book. Then they went to the coast and on the way they sampled some free wine which was as delicious as the home cooked pizza which was pretty delicious.
They also walked by a stream and saw this sign. Andrew wants his 25 cents back.
That night they played a card game.
It wasn't actually bridge but lets pretend it was.
The winner of the game was Golden Gate
As well as a phone it also had a sunset
It was by far the best at this game
By far.
The next day they went to church and Andrew was trying to decide whether to go to Yellowstone or Hells Canyon. He was thinking about for a long time. Then he went to Portland.
While he was in Portland the other bridges got really jealous of losing to Golden Gate.
So they got their good friend St Helen who is a mountain with a bad temper and told her about it
She exploded with rage and sent trees flying everywhere
Even the asphalt eROADed
Andrew decided that wasn't a good place to be so he took off to Mt Rainer
And saw a waterfall
And a deer
And of course Mt Rainer
Andrew will be in hibernation for the next 2 weeks which means he will be at a camp with no phone reception or email stuff. So don't worry if you don't hear from him in a while. But do make sure you read the statistics below.
