Kings of The Road
We are two friends who went on a road trip around the United States 20 years ago to serve churches. We kept a journal as we traveled and are reading through the journal and remembering our adventures. Listen and laugh with us as we go back in time and inspire others to go on an adventure.
Kings of The Road
36: Teak Tales from Philadelphia, PA
Get ready to cringe and chuckle as we recount the gut-churning youth group challenges of yore. Yes, we're talking about the milk chug gauntlet and the cinnamon spoon fiasco, not to mention the infamous saltine cracker test. As Scott elaborates on his bizarre fruit avoidance tactics – think bell pepper over banana – we can't help but advocate for the return of these wacky yet unforgettable tests of will. These stories aren't just about enduring goofy trials; they're a testament to the bonds and memories formed in the trenches of adolescence.
But our nostalgia trip doesn't end there. We're also musing over the peculiar allure of teak wood on battleship decks and the art of maintaining teak swim steps. Wonder why we're so fascinated by teak's resistance to water and mold? Tune in and discover why, despite the mild exasperation of our families, we can't stop talking about it. This episode is a mishmash of history, humor, and the kind of friendship that can only come from shared experiences—like obsessing over a certain hardwood. So grab your oil and a sense of adventure, and join us for a good old-fashioned walk down memory lane with a side of teak trivia.
What a great day for you, for me, for Andrew, because we get to hang out and talk about a road trip that we went around serving churches, sleeping in Walmart parking lots, seeing God work in different ways. Kings of the Road podcast. If you don't already like, subscribe on Facebook, instagram, go to iTunes and review five stars. Or if you don't like it, five stars and for average, five stars. So just really really want you to give us five stars. It's very helpful. I mean, I don't know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they always say that on the podcast, so I'm assuming that it helps the algorithm drive you up. So I I heard the other day.
Speaker 2:Um, you know, I'm a businessman and I connected with somebody on linkedin, the uh, the social network for business people. Yes, what a weird place linkedin is first of all.
Speaker 2:I don't know much about it but I do. That's the best place to know about it. But I connected with this person that's got like a big mailing list newsletter and I don't know. But anyway, in one of the, in one of the correspondence, this woman says like oh, please be sure to subscribe, because sometimes the linkedin algo won't show my followers the newsletter. And I'm like oh, are we using the term algo for algorithm? Now? Oh yeah, I hadn't heard that, I've ever.
Speaker 2:No, that's good right and then I'm like, can you? Yeah? And I'm like, is it cool to hear and use slang that's created by business professionals in their like I don't know how old she is 40s 50s?
Speaker 1:probably not, but it could just be LG or we can go like shorter. You know we got to really get it down. I'm sure I'm surprised. I don't know who you are.
Speaker 2:I guess I want to know are the young kids these days saying algo in reference to the Insta or the TikTok, if you happen?
Speaker 1:to be younger than us and listening to this. That's probably a pretty small audience, but if you are that person, let's tell us if you are below 40. Is algo in there? Uh, we were just having oh well done.
Speaker 1:Yeah, in our pre-production meeting we were whiteboarding some things and we got into a conversation that we decided to go live because, um, I wanted to make sure that it was recorded for all time. I don't know if this is still true and I hope. Again back to our younger audience. They're both Andrew and I grew up as youth group kids. I mean me probably a little more so because I started earlier, but I would say you would define yourself as a youth group kid where, growing up in the 90s in youth group, there was such a great zone to be in because there was an energy in the room and there were some like adults that we put air quotes around who were in charge.
Speaker 1:But they came up with ridiculous ideas. And then you have a bunch of 16, 15 year olds who are willing to try these ridiculous ideas. And so there's this great area that youth ministry allows for you to have done some absolutely silly, crazy, stupid things, but you need to have done those, and I don't know where that is today. I hope they're still doing that in youth ministry, but I hear like Chubby Bunny is no longer today. I hope they're still doing that in youth industry, but I hear like chubby bunny is no longer allowed. You can't do chubby bunny.
Speaker 1:Um, we used to play this game. I don't know if you remember. Andrew told what would you do for a buck? Oh yeah, and so it would be one dollar, and then you had to one up each other. So the first person would get up there and do like one push-up. It's like, okay, I'll do five push-ups and by the end the the one that lasted, one that I remember, by the end there was three leaders, so they're probably again 18, maybe they're 20 years old, and they did the human blender, where the first person would take a bite of an apple, spit it into a cup.
Speaker 1:And then they'd take a bite of a cheeseburger, spit it into a cup. Second person puts all that in their mouth, chews it up, spits it into the cup. Second person puts all that in their mouth, chews it up, spits into the cup. Third person drinks it all down. You never want to do that in real life, but you really want to have seen someone do that and that was the great part, and we need that. Maybe that's taken up now by game shows and things like that, but, man, we need that still to happen in the world.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I don't know if I just feel like it would go, yeah, like it would be filmed on a camera. The parents would be like, wait, what happened at youth camp? And you're like, well, well, they loved it, yeah, but it doesn't seem sanitary. And now, now they're wanting to do it at home and I don't want to be the human blender. Um, you know, it just seems like something that I don't know if it's a smartphone or if it's like over parenting or what it is. It just seems like we need more of that. We need places where you can do things like that, like you, you know the term.
Speaker 2:Like there's all these different terms for types of parenting and one of them is, like free range parenting is, yes, a term now right which is sort of the opposite or antithesis of the, the helicopter parent or the what's the other one like lawnmower parent, where you clear a? Path for kids, or whatever but yeah, and and it it's sort of like everybody was a free-range kid back then because there was no way to know right what actually was going on, like once you sent your kid to youth group.
Speaker 2:You weren't gonna find out. There was no sending pictures, there was no video, yes, so I wonder that is a shame. Like my, my oldest goes to two different youth groups now um, which is cool. Yeah, like our, our church is a smaller church, so they I think sixth grade, they let them go um and then she's. There's another church she goes to with a friend where she's also in sixth grade, but I don't know if they do that stuff. I should ask her.
Speaker 1:I doubt it. I really doubt it. I think that that age of youth ministry may not be around, but I am all for bringing it back. And the reason it started is I'm going to do a similar game tonight at our youth ministers join away party, because I am a youth pastor of the age of. Let's see if we can make you throw up, and that's a goal that we have. So I'll report back next week on how it went. It's going to be. It is going to. It's going to be pretty great.
Speaker 2:Well, that that makes me me. Yeah, just the term. Throw up it like that did seem to be a goal with a lot of them too, because I remember so many different ones that would end in that, like the milk chug challenge right, which probably made people lactose intolerant for the rest of their lives, but that's a great game yeah, what is it? A gallon of milk in an hour, or something like that?
Speaker 1:And we're on the street. It's physically impossible, have you? I've been around many people who have tried. I've probably been around seven different groups of people and I've seen no one succeed.
Speaker 2:You're probably the reason that all those people tried. If I had to guess.
Speaker 1:Oh, I'm definitely the starting point for a lot of it. And then in our Alabama youth group that I was leading for a little while between youth pastors, we went and we did it one year and then the next year. They're like we've been practicing, we're going to do it this year. I'm like, okay, here we go.
Speaker 2:And that's the thing too, like, the kids literally eat this stuff up, right, yes, they love the kids literally eat this stuff up, right, like, like they love it. Kids need a good challenge. And then there's the other one. It's like the teaspoon of cinnamon right, you put a teaspoon of cinnamon in your mouth. Can't be done. Have you tried that? No, I don't think I've ever tried it. It's so hard.
Speaker 1:And then there's one with saltines oh a table.
Speaker 2:Yeah, saltines oh a table.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, the bigger one. There's a certain number of saltines, it's like 15 or 10 in a minute. Yeah, and you can't have any water and it immediately feels like your mouth is a Saharan desert. You're like you don't realize and by the end it's just blowing chunks of saltines out.
Speaker 2:These are so important to childhood so I remember. I remember another one, so so fun interesting fact about Scott. Uh, oh, Is Scott doesn't like fruit.
Speaker 1:I don't like a lot of fruits. This is true.
Speaker 2:And like very much, don't like. Like you would eat. You would for sure do the human blender. You would drink that, right you. You would lick the youth room floor. I've done that.
Speaker 1:You've done both of those things.
Speaker 2:You've done the cinnamon thing. You've tried. I don't know if you've done the milk jug challenge.
Speaker 1:I haven't Because I don't regret it. You kind of have that problem.
Speaker 2:You kind of have that problem.
Speaker 1:So I think that would go well.
Speaker 2:Like. For you it'd be like a nice glass of milk. So there was one time I don't even know what game it was but the penalty for losing the game or the round of the game or whatever is you had to take a bite of this thing that we called the money ball, and I think this was on houseboats. So you know, at this houseboat camp I remember that's exactly what it sounds like it's 15 kids on a houseboat.
Speaker 2:All the food is loaded in at the beginning of these games and and so we had to play a game and we had to come up with something that was gross to eat. So we took a. We had a bell pepper and we filled it with everything we could find, so I'm pretty sure it was like salt pepper mustard. I remember a lot of mustard, probably ketchup, goldfish crackers, probably country time lemonade Powder. What else could we have put in there? I don't know. Anything we could have found was inside of this hollowed out bell pepper, and you lost whatever it was, and so it was like you had to take a bite of the money ball, but we offered you an out. We said or you could take a bite of this banana. I think that about broke me and you yeah, it was was. I remember the dilemma.
Speaker 1:It about broke me and I did the money ball you did the money ball I did it about broke me, though I still have like a, like a memory. There's somewhere there that I need to therapize out, because it's still like I can tell this story. I'm like, oh, it's hitting right about here.
Speaker 1:I can still feel it. I still know. No, I know and I yeah, that about broke me. That's one of those stories and I don't know why. That was a time where I was like I don't want to do this. I do not like bananas. I think they are disgusting and they are so bad. I like so many other fruits. I've become so much better about this. And I like so many other fruits. I've become so much better about this. What's strange is what you said. I like almost all foods, just not sure what happened, and my sister is the same way. So there's something that happened to us and we're not sure if it's the way my mom eats cantaloupe or what it is exactly.
Speaker 1:Well, it sounds like a makeout with a melon when my mom eats, and so it's a real experience that we're still trying to figure out where it's coming from, but I'm just really hoping that we can find a way to bring some of these things back, like kids need to lift the youth room floor from one side to the other and have a ton race.
Speaker 2:I remember.
Speaker 1:It's a thing that should happen. You, you haven't grown up until you've you know, yeah, chewed up someone else's food, spit into a cup and then had the other person drink it Like well gosh.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I, I do. I remember seeing people's tongues after licking the floor and just like coated in fuzz and dirt it was black we had kids we had just like a two liter challenge once and we had a bunch of like.
Speaker 1:We poured two liters into pots and then they all had straws and we tried to get them to like whoever drank like there was like three or four, two liters in the pot. That was the most kids throw up I've ever had. Throw up was because they were just like trying to pound soda.
Speaker 2:That was the time I was like well, I think what we're trying to say is if is it's important, if kids aren't throwing up in youth group, then then we're losing souls. Yeah, if kids aren't throwing up in youth group, then we're losing souls.
Speaker 1:And if you're a parent of a kid who throws up, high five them. Do not call the youth pastor and say why did you make my kid throw up? Say well done, billy. I'm proud of you for raising your hand and volunteering to be the one who tried to put 35 marshmallows in their mouth.
Speaker 2:It makes you a stronger adult, for sure To do dumb things when you're a kid.
Speaker 1:Yes, Agreed, these are. This is the goal you have to these are rites of passage.
Speaker 2:We can't be so safe and coddled. Let them go. Yeah, let them drink the hot sauce you have to. Squished into a hard metal corner of a mail jeep with 18 of your closest friends, 22?.
Speaker 1:That was the record.
Speaker 2:we got 22 people inside of your little red mail, jeep? Where is?
Speaker 1:my little mail jeep. I have an example, but I had a CJ5 mail truck and it was red and it became a thing for us to figure out at youth group how many people we could get in there and just load in, and I think the record was 22. We taped it up to the wall one time Remember we had duct tape challenge and see how long we get them to stay a lot of duct tape and youth group yeah, yeah again like this is living.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean. Even so, another thing that we did on houseboats we didn't do this much. This was more at the at the other location the delta.
Speaker 2:I was gonna say which, so that houseboats are, you know, I don't know, 40 feet long or whatever, yeah, and when there's 15 kids and a couple youth leaders, like there's no, like there aren't beds, so everybody sleeps up on the roof, like you're literally just lined up on the roof and that's where you sleep, great. But one night for dinner, um, we would do a spaghetti night and instead of serving it on plates, we would boil up all the noodles and all the sauce and we'd go up to the roof with a tarp and we would just pour the spaghetti and the sauce directly on the tarp and we're like dinner and the kids just had to go up there and we'd all wear our bathing suits and we would just eat spaghetti together with our hands, as much as you could eat. And then, when you're done, you just jump in the water.
Speaker 1:Jump off of the roof and you just brush yourself down.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And all the fish are happy that night. You're happy yeah.
Speaker 2:Just no second thoughts, like we're doing this, and I'm sure there were kids who were like what? Like this is my first experience. My parents signed me up for this camp. I don't want to do this.
Speaker 1:I've never been away from my parents before and they were just like coated in spaghetti sauce. I've been away from my parents before and they were just like coated in spaghetti sauce and the one thing that like was a veteran move. You don't want to be the first one in because it's so hot. You think you want to be the first one in but like the center holds the heat of the spaghetti.
Speaker 2:You need that kind of to dissipate, spread out and yeah, everybody else has touched it by that point, but you don't have the like yeah, there was your mouth there were like there were no worries about germs no nobody ever got sick, maybe they did, but we never knew yeah, we never knew we.
Speaker 1:Bye yeah, your week's over. Go home your week's over. Yeah, are we still in?
Speaker 2:DC. Oh yeah, we are. We are in DC. Shall we get going then? I think we shall All right. Well, it's day 42. It's a Monday. It is the 8th of November 2004. Day 45. No, it is the 8th of.
Speaker 1:November 2004, day 45. No, what? No, that can't be right, it's like 38 or 37.
Speaker 2:Oh, I must have done. I must have done like a multi-day entry, because it says day 42 and then it says through day 45. And, sure enough, in the journal the next day is day 46. Wow, I really cut a corner here. Okay. Well, this is a lot packed in here. I haven't read ahead even. Okay, let's see. Let's go Down to DCC and now back up. I may just combine a few days here, because this was time spent in New Jersey and time spent in Jersey just ain't worth talking about. Okay, our contact came from Pastor Bob. This fellow was the pastor at the church bob went to while attending princeton seminary. Okay, so pastor bob was the pastor of good shepherd lutheran church in torrance, where one of the churches that sent us out our home, exactly yep yeah, yep, so we went to jersey because he had a contact there.
Speaker 2:So, uh, we connected with him. So this man, david, now lives in Palmyra, new Jersey, which is only minutes from downtown Philadelphia, pennsylvania. Naturally, we show up and he is nowhere to be found. He answers none of our calls and he knew that we were going to be there. We talked to him earlier that day. And he knew that we were going to be there. We talked to him earlier that day. We sat around for two to three hours before he finally calls us and tells us where his house is. So we're like just in the city.
Speaker 2:We talked to him earlier. Yeah, come on down, come on, Go sis On your way. Yeah, yeah, very awkward. He's the type of guy who will talk and talk, but when you speak he becomes very disconnected and then interrupts so that he can talk some more. Oh boy, I hope he's not a listener, oh no. Maybe. I hope he is, and this is something that he needs to hear you know.
Speaker 1:20 years later Some love.
Speaker 2:Yeah, this is how I felt. Anyways, on Tuesday we didn't do much. We took a chill day. Wednesday david was supposed to go to philly with us, but he was suffering from kidney stones ouch oh, this is a that's like my major memory of him yeah, I hadn't thought I forgot about that, but now that you are a person who has experienced this?
Speaker 1:yes, I've experienced kidney stones. Yes, I experienced one kind of, I think when we lived together. I don't know if you remember that. Oh yeah, I had my side pain and it was weird. And I went to the urgent care and they, I had a side pain. I woke up with a really bad side pain. I was like, oh, that's weird.
Speaker 1:And we had a secretary at church. He's like just go to the urgent care and I'm like 24, so I'm like I don't do that. But I go and they're like put you into this thing. And oh, you have some blood in your urine. Yep, it was a kidney stone. Here's some ibuprofen, a little uh screen that you need to pee through, and good luck. And I'm like what? Because the only memory that I have is of this guy like right in agony in his kitchen, yes, walking around, yes, and I'm like this is horrible, this is, this is the plan. And yeah, that was the plan. And so then that, that and the time that I almost lost my mind because of the airplane, if you remember that story, were like two moments this is like a break me podcast day where, like I legitimately have had like, come to jesus, moments of like, okay, god, what are you teaching me through this situation?
Speaker 1:because it messed me up and I have, I have memories of us in that, in our property of me sitting there, and so then any. So what happened? To complete the story? I had that horrible pain and then it never came back. But they told me, oh, it comes in waves. And I'm like, oh, so you're?
Speaker 2:in fear that it could return at any moment now.
Speaker 1:So where's the wave? So I go day one no second wave. Day two no second wave.
Speaker 2:Oh man.
Speaker 1:But then we're on day 15, 15, and I'm like when's it coming, when's it gonna come, and so I'm just not in a good like place, like my mind's not a good place I'm losing weight. It was one of those things where oh my gosh, I have a very.
Speaker 1:I have a memory of us all me, you, we had friends over. We're watching a movie and I'm just like feeling like these, like rib pains, being like is that the kidney stone? Is that what's going to happen? Oh man. So and then fast forward to like a year and a half ago. I got another kidney stone and it is horrible. It is horrible. That was a real one and I spent all day. It was like one day and then another day, and it's just. It's just horrible. There's just you, just, and their. Their plan is survive, serve.
Speaker 2:I hear it's a worse pain than childbirth, and there's no way to verify it, I have had that verified by a woman.
Speaker 1:Oh, yes, she said. She said Kenny stone and she's had a baby, and she said I would prefer the baby. Now, I don't know if the fact is you end with a baby, whereas a Kenny stone, you just end not in pain anymore, so there's nothing to look forward to. Well, yeah, but then you don't have to care for a baby. I know that's, that's the plus. The way you and I see it, yeah, but the way that other people see it sometimes it's a little different. So I, it was so bad, but I do have that memory of him, just like watching his kitchen, I still I can see where his kitchen was.
Speaker 2:He's like ah yeah, dude, I don't we also recall I don't think I wrote this down, but I'm pretty sure at one point, because I don't even I don't know if we stayed inside their house.
Speaker 2:We didn't we slept outside in the rv yeah, we slept in the rv in their front yard, yep, and I remember one time we went into the house for some reason and his wife was like cleaning the house but had like the music on really loud and was like mopping but like dancing and we like walked in and we're like oh, and like it totally startled her and it startled us and it was like one of these like really uncomfortable, awkward, like oh, I'm sorry, I just came in to use the bathroom.
Speaker 1:I don't know. I think this this is one of those times where this was truly a connection that we just had through the church. Right, there was almost no, and and even I think bob was like, oh yeah, I think one of my old mentors from when I was in seminary lives around there and like this, just the random connection. But here we are doing the same thing and working for the same God, doing kingdom work, and that again that's like the youth ministry thing.
Speaker 1:I think that's one of the huge benefits of being in the church you just meet new people, you have new experiences, your world expands, your worldview expands. You have random two 20 year olds coming into your house because they're sleeping in your front yard trying to do ministry around the country, like that doesn't happen normally unless you are active in the kingdom of God, and so I think it's such a cool like thing, it's such a cool adventure to like step into when you are willing to just invest yourself in the church. That's so different than even being a member of other things. So, yeah, it's just us and that couple was one of those true moments, yeah, and where I'm trying to remember. Then I know it comes up but I can't place the state, the people that we absolutely loved and we helped them hang drywall, tallahassee.
Speaker 2:That's it. They're the best.
Speaker 1:That was cool, that was so cool.
Speaker 2:I know I still get a newsletter from them. Do you? I do.
Speaker 1:Oh, you should forward that on, because they that's something we should try to have on, do you? I do? Oh, you should forward that on, Because they Now there's someone we should try to have on. We're working on getting Blake Edwards on, so, blake, if you're listening, come on, that's right, yeah.
Speaker 2:It's happening. Blake, you kind of tried to give us the runaround. Well, I'm not as I'm not, as I'm not as yeah. Funny.
Speaker 1:Funny? Course not, but it's no reason not to come on, jesus, we've been perfected this art for nobody.
Speaker 2:Episodes now yeah, yeah, we're practically like podcast royalty. Oh yeah, that's, that's what we understand. We get calls from all the big stations for like do you guys do consultations to help? Our the podcast personalities yeah, all the podcast stations, yeah, they're big. I mean, I assume they would do that if they could find us.
Speaker 1:It's hard to hit our numbers.
Speaker 2:Yeah, not really. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. We're all over the place.
Speaker 1:Okay, come on guys. Come on, all right, we're here for you All right.
Speaker 2:So, needless to say, david didn't join us the rest of that day on account of his medical condition. However, we still went in to Philadelphia, but only with his son, nick. Nick is 17 and a very cool kid. We went and saw the Liberty Bell and walked around South Street where we got Philly cheesesteak sandwiches at Jim's. Now, this is a big Philly debate, it is If you're in Philly, what do you got to get?
Speaker 1:Yes, you mean the sandwich, or how do you order it?
Speaker 2:Well, you just ruined where I was going with this.
Speaker 1:Thanks, a lot Dang it.
Speaker 2:Sorry, we were not on the same wavelength.
Speaker 1:I was going to say I apologize. I was going to say I was going to say Got off the rails If you're in Philly.
Speaker 2:what are the things that you must do in Philly? I already gave one away.
Speaker 1:You gave away the second one.
Speaker 2:Liberty Bell Got to see. The Liberty Bell Is number two. Is everybody thinking Philly cheesesteak, or is that, or cream cheese.
Speaker 1:Oh right, yeah, I don't even know if that's anything to do with Philadelphia.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm trying to see that kind of goes along with our thing the other day of like what cities are known for their thing, Like Philadelphia. Nobody's like cream cheese town, usa.
Speaker 1:Do they make it there? I mean, I have no idea, I don't know, but I do like the fact that it's called Philadelphia cream cheese. We all know that, but we have no connection to the city.
Speaker 1:I'm thinking the rocky steps, yeah, oh, that's great, that's really right we didn't do that, though, did we did, we did, we did, we did, we did that. And then they also have that, which is new, but we did it. The independence museum or something like that. Remember, maybe that was right by the liberty bell. That was very cool. Uh, the cheese steak is, of course, a must. Yeah, philadelphia was a cool town. It's where we also, when we were because I think, technically, when we stayed in new jersey.
Speaker 1:Yes, so what we learned at this point in our life? This is a big and if you're from this area, you already know this no one claims to be from new jersey. If you live close to philadelphia, near new jersey, you say I'm from philly. If you live close to new y City, you say you're from New York. But then you ask the specific oh, where in New York? Well, and this is how they answer Do you remember? No, across the river. Oh, you mean New Jersey. Oh, really, yeah, because there's a river that divides. I remember us learning that, like when they would say, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm from Philly, oh, really, well, across the river, no, no, you're in New Jersey then, but no one wants to say I'm from New Jersey. Why is that? What's so bad about Jersey? Yeah, definitely the mafia. Oh, okay, I don't know, I don't know.
Speaker 2:Is it just like?
Speaker 1:oh, you're living in the burbs, you're a sellout I don't know, I don't know. They've got the shore. They do have the shore. We go to the shore.
Speaker 2:Is it just cooler to live in the city? Probably.
Speaker 1:Probably Maybe because people know where that is and they're like oh yeah Philadelphia, oh yeah New York. But Jersey gets a bad rap, a total bad rap. I agree, I agree, it is the it's like the Fresno of California, the Barstow.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly Okay.
Speaker 1:Like yeah, you're in California, but you're in Fresno.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I had one time when I was back from the road trip looking for our first job, you know, and trying to land that first job after college, and I remember one listing. It was like come work at this company or whatever, like Southern California. And I'm like, okay, yeah, that's where I live, Southern California. Look into the details, Fresno. But they advertised it as Southern California and I'm like how dare you?
Speaker 1:How that is not Right.
Speaker 2:Like very barely the South half of California, yes, geographically, but I'm like that is not, that is not Southern.
Speaker 1:California. You're a liar. That is Fresno, that is Central Valley. Maybe to claim that, but not.
Speaker 2:No, if you're. Once you cross the mountains, once you go over the grapevine yep, or you go over the Cajon Pass, it's not Southern California anymore.
Speaker 1:Agreed you or you go over the Cajon Pass. It's not Southern California anymore.
Speaker 2:Agreed, you're in Central California at this point I wouldn't even call yeah, I wouldn't call yeah, right, Oxnard. So if you're on the coast, Oxnard, and up Central California, yeah.
Speaker 1:All the way to.
Speaker 2:I would say you're not into NorCal until you get to Monterey. Agreed, that's where I'll put it. And then NorCal is Monterey, to like the North Bay area, and then from there there's still a lot North, but that's just like a lot and that's just like weed farms, I think.
Speaker 1:Right. People don't know, like even myself, it is so much more of California above San Francisco.
Speaker 2:San Francisco is like the halfway point geographically.
Speaker 1:You think of yourself as like oh, I'm so far north, but you are nowhere near the top of California. No, it's crazy. You're just there and then you have to drive a long way and it's like this is just a massive state.
Speaker 2:And I don't know of anything on the coast between the border of Oregon and basically San Franciscoisco doesn't exist that's why I was doing the same thing I don't think you can get there.
Speaker 1:I've been there, I'm sure, because we did a coastal drive once when I was a kid.
Speaker 2:But I agree, and it's, it's probably gorgeous well, now that I say that I know rivers there, yeah, now that I say that I know the Russian River's, there. Yeah, now that I say that, my mom's definitely going to call me out on this Because she's like we used to go to Van Damme and Mendocino and Big Sur every summer and I'm like, oh right, those are what's there and it is pretty magnificent.
Speaker 1:So I'm recalling but I don't think it's a place.
Speaker 2:Like there is no place of commerce. Large commerce it's like beautiful nature, but not easy access.
Speaker 1:I'm about to look foolish and I'm okay with that. I always had Bidsir below Monterey in my head, but I'm wrong about that.
Speaker 2:Well, do we need?
Speaker 1:to look this up.
Speaker 2:Monterey in my head, but I'm wrong about that. Do we need to look this up?
Speaker 1:I'm going on your line of thinking because I think you're probably right. I think so because I'll look it up because I didn't.
Speaker 2:Let's go to the.
Speaker 1:I'm just really quite amazed that that's where.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because we would go like every summer we go on monterey. It's below monterey. Oh, big sirs, what am I thinking of? Fort bragg is what I'm thinking of. Okay, so, yeah, so, sarah rosa is up there.
Speaker 1:Fort, brad mendocino.
Speaker 2:You're right about mendocino yeah, that's what I yeah, but then you get into humboldt and that's where it's like yeah, there's not a lot. There's so so much, there's so much more Trinity National Forest, like what? I don't know what that is.
Speaker 1:We should do a trip up there in the boats.
Speaker 2:Yeah, eureka, yeah, but we used to go to a place called Clear Lake quite often, which is kind of from the coast and north from sacramento where we uh lived for a little while yeah, medicina fort bragg, that's where we used to go okay, um sorry still, still a lot more up there, but but no big towns. No, no, no, agreed, um, it's very empty. It's very empty as far as very empty.
Speaker 1:As far as population, yeah, so I guess that's the same of like Jersey, okay, but back to Philadelphia, okay. So when you're in the line ordering the sandwiches, the Philly cheese sticks.
Speaker 2:Okay, well, hold on hold on, hold on hold on. Sorry, go. So if you're from that area and we just said that we went, you know we were on South Street and we got cheesesteak sandwiches at Jim's. So this was the thing we asked Nick. Hey, nick, where's the best cheesesteak? Right, and he goes Jim's on South Street. Right Now, jim's on South Street is not one of the two that are the famous. Where did it come from? That's Pat's and Geno's, and they're right across the street from each other. They are In West Philadelphia, where I was born and raised. On the playground is where I spend most of my days Chilling out, relaxing acting all cool.
Speaker 2:When a couple of guys who were up to no good started making trouble in my neighborhood.
Speaker 1:I got in one little fight and my mom got scared.
Speaker 2:She good, but started making trouble in my neighborhood. I got one little fight. My mom got scared. She said you're moving with your auntie and uncle in valer, you whistle for a cat.
Speaker 1:Yeah, uh, anybody who's our age knows that was just in your back pocket yeah, I can't not know that you didn't.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I didn't I was.
Speaker 1:I was like oh no, we're gonna have to know which are the original. I don't know them. That's what's happened in my head. Yeah, as you're saying this, I'm like I don't know them. That's what's happened in my head. Yeah, as you're saying this, I'm like I don't know them.
Speaker 2:This has become a. This has become anytime I hear anybody or meet anybody in my life who's from Philly or says anything about Philly, that's my go-to, like Pats or Genos, and then they'll always be like some other one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, this is great. Yeah, because there are times I feel like you need me to help. You just came through there, man.
Speaker 2:Well done Well you know, I have to supplement my lack of knowledge of sports.
Speaker 1:That's so Because of With the G-States.
Speaker 2:As a male person.
Speaker 1:Yes, you can't talk about football Trying to talk to other male people at times.
Speaker 2:I got nothing when it comes to sports Right, so you go straight. So I'm like yeah geographic things that are knowledge like ah, philly cheesesteaks go, so anyhow. Okay, we end up at gyms, though. So we end up at gyms, which, he says, is the good, is the best one, and it was good, very good. Now, uh, I think we'll we'll get to talk about oh, we talk about it in a couple of days, so we'll save the Pats vs Genos story, but this is where we learn how to order, right?
Speaker 2:no, no, that's it either Pats's or Gino's. I think Pat's Okay Because, okay, we'll spoil it Jim's was, so it's a cheesesteak, right. There's two components cheese and steak Right, and there's debate over what's the right kind of cheese. Well, jim's is a provolone shop. It is Only Jim's is a provolone shop. It is Only Jim's was a provolone. I think so Okay.
Speaker 1:So if you're from this, area.
Speaker 2:You definitely know where we're going with this you said enough so all right, okay, that evening. So, let's move on. We'll come this is Monday through, I don't know a couple days later. When we get two days from now, we go oh boy, Now I'm reading ahead. We're going back in time. My writing goes all over the place, so you're just going to have to bear with me. But we'll talk about the other cheesesteaks later.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:So that evening um we had a friend fly out and stay with us in the rv um outside of this pastor's house. So on thursday the three of us took a tour of the battleship the uss new jersey. It was huge, very cool tour. We went on the big tour that shows all of us the guns that are sort of the guns and that sort of thing. And then that afternoon we picked up Hindi Eric Hendrickson, who is now Scott's brother-in-law, at the airport, and we all drove out to Atlantic city.
Speaker 2:There we go, and that's where we stopped, and that's where we stopped. That, that synopsis of day 42 through 45.
Speaker 1:Now here's the thing we learned about the New Jersey ship. This is where we learned about Teak right, that is correct.
Speaker 2:That is another good trivia. I've used that a lot. I ask my wife that all the time she never cares this question. Never once cared about this question.
Speaker 1:I care, I care deeply, because that's why we're friends. Let me tell you something, andrew why is teat used on battleships?
Speaker 2:I never thought of that. That's the material used on the decks of battleships. Well geez, Scott, I never thought of that, Is it so that's the material used on the decks of battleships it is.
Speaker 1:It's a particular wood because it has certain characteristics that are very useful for battleships. Is that right?
Speaker 2:I wonder if you know what they are.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, I know battleships are used in wartime, so they may. You know they have to cross the seas. Does it have something to do with withstanding the harsh weather conditions at sea?
Speaker 1:It does, in fact. They are very good in water and they don't slip, so you can walk across them almost all the time and not be slippery, and mold doesn't grow on them, so they don't become slick like that. And it has one other characteristic that is very good, so that's why they use it on the back of swim steps. Most boat swim steps are built with teak, that's correct.
Speaker 2:Also, so is a lot of patio furniture built with teak, because it withstands the harsh outdoor conditions and the mold.
Speaker 1:Also, this episode was brought to you by teak, the wood that the Lord made it. Also when it gets hit with a bomb, which is not as useful or needed on the swim steps. But when it gets hit by a bomb, it doesn't splinter, it pulverizes. That's right, scott Sawdust. So one doesn't have to worry. The bomb is already enough to worry about. By the way, we were hit by a bomb. Now you don't want to add on to oh no, and now there are large splinters of wood going around. So teak solves that problem.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, oh man, the bomb went off on the deck. That must have got him. Actually, it was a piece of splintered wood. He should have used teak Right. Teak, the tempered glass of wood, that's exactly what I was thinking. Trademark, trademark.
Speaker 1:Done yeah trademark, trademark. I don't know why that seems like such an insignificant fact, but both of us were like.
Speaker 2:That is the takeaway of the day it pulverizes it doesn't go.
Speaker 1:It goes in my head. It's like the bomb hits and instead of there being splinters. I just see, oh, it's like. I see just a cloud of sawdust. Yeah, like I'm really I'm really unfortunate hit by a bomb. But that sawdust really spectacular, does it have sprinkles, sparkles in it?
Speaker 2:you know, it's funny to me too, like before that I never really gave much thought to the word pulverized Like what even is pulverized but as soon as the guy described it I was like, yeah, okay, I get it, I get it.
Speaker 1:And probably every time we're in your boat we're like ah, nice tea, a swim step, we got right here.
Speaker 2:Fun fact family this swim step. I'm standing on. We know Dad. Oh, all right.
Speaker 1:That's exactly when you said I've told my wife this many times and every time she doesn't care. I feel like I've done the exact same thing with Emily, where there's like oh, did you know? She's like yes, I realize that it doesn't mold and it just pulverizes, move on, but you do have to oil it.
Speaker 2:Do you? Do you oil your swim step scott?
Speaker 1:so, uh, my swim step is not wood, it is a plastic, I know oh well, you know, one day you can sorry I will one day I'll teach swim step andrew do you own your swim? Step I sure do scott hey, listener, I just want you to say that we are literally talking about oiling teak swim steps. Don't read into that don't read into it, because you do need to oil your. So if you have a teak swim step or teak furniture and you haven't oiled it recently, it's time, it's time, it's time.
Speaker 1:If you only listen to this episode for one purpose. You know what it was Go oil your swim step.
Speaker 2:You know, we've talked about what will we do with this podcast Once we, you know, return to California and the road trip itself is over. I think we now found our topic. We're going to devote. We now found our topic.
Speaker 1:We're gonna devote, we're gonna pivot this podcast to entirely talking about teak and proper teak would care property, so that'll be fascinating. Slowly transitions from kings of the road to teak care. We have to come up with a better name than that, but kings of the teak. So if you learn nothing today, you learned one thing that doesn't work, sorry. Teak doesn't mold, it's not slippery and it pulverizes have a great day.
Speaker 2:Don't worry, we won't talk about teak anymore. That's not true. Join us.
Speaker 1:Join us, we go to this, we go to this about water hall of fame and stuff. So we're probably gonna talk about teak and mold. It will resurface. Good point, see ya.