4-16-08 Quality Over Quantity

The hotel we stayed at was amazing! I fell asleep so easily. I think it was because of the pillows. It was really funny because I had fallen asleep with my laptop in my lap and when I woke up it was on the floor. Whoops! After taking a refreshing shower, I got all of my stuff gathered up and ready to go. The only thing that ruined my morning was I couldn’t find half of my stuff! I was getting mad because I couldn’t find my socks! Ugh! I have been so disorganized for the past couple of days. When everyone gathered near the Penske, we had a rundown on our event for the morning. We were going to El Diamente High School for a presentation and a ceremonial tree planting. Before we headed out, a couple of bike club members were going to escort us to the high school. It was really fun along the way because I got to talk with one of the members. We covered why I was doing the trip and what the trip was about. She also told me a little about herself which was really neat! When we got to the school, the mayor and a council member greeted us. It was funny because as we rode into the school a lot of the students were staring and that was embarrassing. It got even worse for me, because when we walked into the auditorium there were a bunch of students waiting for us. Jeez I was nervous. I think the pressure of being in front of so many people affected the way we presented our speech. Many of us sounded nervous. Also, a bunch of times we sounded like we didn’t know what was going on. Luckily Tim’s humor saved us a couple of times. But later on our chaperones were really disappointed in our speech. Before we left we got to plant a tree, which was super fun. We all loaded our bikes into the Penske and with less than happy moods headed for Salinas. My whole entire day, after that was spent calling contacts. It was a slow and vigorous process, but the end result felt great. I managed to call all of the cities we'd be visiting over the next two days, to figure out events and accommodations. I did start to tire a bit when we were heading towards Pacific Grove, but I wasn’t going to stop there. All in all I think I did a darn good job! Along the way to Salinas, it was decided that Sydney and I would be giving the next speech. This was perfectly okay with me, but Sydney seemed a little nervous, which was why I went with her. We nailed the presentation and I got interviewed for a local TV station. I was worried that I would mess something up, but luckily I managed to flawlessly pull through. Our next stop was Pacific Grove. Along the way the land was spectacular! I loved being able to see all of the irrigation and all of the vineyards. I wish that I could stay for longer, but we were running on a time schedule. When we got to Pacific Grove, we were early! I couldn’t believe it, but sadly none of the chaperones would let us go explore by ourselves. I was very bummed because I wanted to go see the ocean, but it wasn’t so bad. Oh by the way, Justin got strep throat, so we had to rush him off to the hospital. This is why we were not aloud to wander off. Since the other group still hadn’t gotten back, we headed for City Hall. We almost didn’t ‘make it on time, but luckily we found the room we were supposed to go to. Before we spoke, the mayor introduced us and Sydey and I did our speech again. It sounded even better than the first time! Just before we left, we were offered a free dinner, which we gladly accepted. The food at the restaurant was fabulous. The night was full of laughs and good memories. I finally felt a little of the tension from the day start to fade. When everyone was done eating we headed for our hotel. About ten minutes into our ride I fell asleep, only to be woken up because I needed to give all the cars directions to the hotel. I fell asleep again while giving directions and so all three cars missed their turn and spent a half hour driving around lost. Needless to say nobody was very happy and I really didn’t like that, since I wasn’t the only one who fell asleep. Jeez! Well I’m getting really tired and I have a full day ahead of me, so I’ll say goodnight!