Summer 2008

Coast to coast

Yes, we jumped into the chilly Pacific on August 2. Yes, there is still an excuse to continue checking the site...

A slideshow of the best of No Stranger Land will appear shortly.

No Stranger Land t-shirts will be available even sooner.

We ask that you please continue to check for updates as we absorb what just happened these last 75 days and attempt to reflect the journey's overall meaning.

Thanks for following along!

-DC & BT

26 days under par

RENO, NEVADA - August 1 -- We are a short drive or a very long walk away from swimming in the Pacific, and I can almost taste the salt water. There was some confusion that the journey was over after the last video post, but that is still a bit premature because the completion of the trip will be met once we reach the opposite coast.

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Brian and I have been staying with Scott and Taylor in the 'The Biggest Little City in the World.' Seeing the new Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly movie, Step Brother, made me feel like I wasn't trekking across the country anymore, but just hanging out with a few good buddies.  

Scotty works for the Reno-Tahoe open, a PGA Tour event. My first volunteer opportunity was introducing Art Sellinger, the two-time long drive champion, to a crowd of people eager to watch him crush some golf balls. I was unusually relaxed standing in front of the audience and the news cameras. Michelle Wie hitting balls at the driving range behind me didn't even get my palms sweating, perhaps the confidence I have in myself has grown more than I can measure from the summer. Art  gave a quick tutorial of the game of golf and then hit some wacky shots, including a golf ball through a board, a watermelon and off of a baseball tee.

Our second day of volunteering was during the actual PGA Tour event. Brian was on crowd noise control on the green of the par-three sixteenth hole. Going with the Spanish theme, one side of his sign read 'SILENCIO' while the other said 'GO LOCO.' The sign was fitting with the mariachi band playing in the background. At one point, a pro golfer threw his hands up in frustration when the band accidentally started playing while he was concentrating on a birdie put. I was at the entrance, wearing a sombrero I'd clipped off the wall, making sure people were of age and had their passes to enjoy margaritas and the upbeat atmosphere.

So, we're in Reno, headed for San Francisco and the finale to the trip. It's a bittersweet feeling to see the end of the journey. I don't want it to end but am excited to complete something that seemed so distant on May 20th.

-DC