And Now We Drive: Day 1 & 2

On Thursday morning, we departed from Camp Crossroads for the first official leg of our cross Canada journey. The 15 hour stretch from Muskoka to Thunder Bay would be the first real test to our RV, and the first indicator of what our new lives on the road were going to look like. We decided to set up camp in Sault St Marie. Where else better than a Wal-Mart parking lot? After we set up a pretty decent camp outside our RV in the back corner in the lot, we fired up the generator and played a little bit of hoop on the side of our RV (thanks to Charles for an amazing job installing the basketball net). Of course our lawn chairs and Coleman grill also marked our territory. Our first night together in the RV proved to be encouraging. Everyone slept great, and despite it’s claustrophobic appearance, it sleeps the five of us very comfortably. We were up at the crack of dawn Friday morning to finish the drive to Thunder Bay. Even in the early stages of the trip, there are a few things that we have learned about the Open Road.

First, honk at every other RV, truck and construction worker. There is only one rule to honking: you can never honk too much.

Second, while driving the backcountry of northern Ontario enjoy the beautiful scenery and if anything vaguely or potentially like a moose, it definitely was a moose. Do not let anyone tell you otherwise.

Third, Things will spill. Deal with it (Grandma Koops cushions already have a little Dawn dish soap, coffee and Gatorade to add character and aroma).

The fourth little thing we learned in the first few days of our road trip is that if you know the lyrics to a song, your going to sing along. I mean we didn’t hook our ride up with 1000watts of power, some nice new 6X9’s, new tweeters and a 10” woofer just to hum along.

Posing with any and all Canadian over sized attraction is a must.

That’s all for now,

Cheers,The Boys

Reunited: Day Zero

Jer and I were finally reunited with out dear Princess (RV) and the boys. Seeing them cruise down the Crossroads main road meant a few things to us. First and foremost, relief that our baby made it past Grimsby (Take that Mr. B) Second, is that we now had a few extra hands for the day’s duties, and third and most importantly, it meant our trip is now officially afoot. You see, as an excuse to see our friends and grab a few amazing meals, we offered our capable hands for a few of the more laboring duties of camp. Reporting to Henry (head of maintenance), we explained to him the idea of our trip and why we were offering a day of work. He regaled us of his similar cross Canada adventures in ’73 across Canada with a few great buddies. Needless to say, he was in complete support of our trip and that seemed to be reason enough to assume that we were fully qualified for the days tasks. He the proceeded to hand Jer and I two STIHL Chainsaws and said if we have any problems, to figure them out ourselves.

We had a nice big job to do on our own time. Cutting trees like butter, and hauling logs is a good thing to do if your manhood is ever in question. (However this day is also the scene of Jamie’s Tractor incident. Not to be disclosed quite yet)

Our next duties involved the set up and christening of Camp Crossroads very first Blob. Dragging those anchors was a meager price to pay in comparison to the privilege of being amongst the first few to test out the unreal contraption that is a Blob. We were happy to be the guinea pigs so that all the children would remain safe for the duration of the summer.

Our day at camp also included, ping pong, delicious camp meals, foosball, swimming, & witnessing a legendary Zac Reimer Frisbee golf hole in one. But of course the fiesta-de-resistancé was our evening event far after all of the campers were asleep for the night. The Event: MANBALL. I wouldn’t even bother explaining this gargantuan game in detail because it would be impossible to do it any form of justice. Just know, it’s a game of three on three with full contact and is played in the tractor warehouse where every mans manly pride hangs in the balance. The footage must be witnessed and is soon to come.

This day was a fantastic day no matter how you crack it. Tomorrow… we drive.

Cheers,The Boys

Trailer Park Boys: T minus 1

This day was pretty fantastic. Too much neatness to describe independently, so here’s a pretty simple run down.

08:00 Breakfast at mini-yo-we

09:00 Climbed a legitimate rock face with a harness and belay

12:00 Found Hope’s trailer park

13:00 Met up with our dear friends Hope, Grace and Jewel

15:00 Saw a deerv 10 ft away. (tried to feed it, failed)

15:30 Canoed

16:00 Climbed a Cliff, jumped it.

18:00 Dinner in Huntsville

19:30 On route cottage, delayed by- and witnessed a dynamite construction explosion on HWY 169

21:00 Discovered Party Island, met some new friends at the Dwyers

22:00 Opened parting gift of new muscle shirt bestowed upon me by Kellermann to break-in

24:00 Midnight cereal bowl, heavenly snooze.

If you ask me, that is a pretty successful Muskoka day. It is not very often you can get so much neatness in one location. However, we are kinda missing the crew and are excited to be re-united tomorrow at Camp Crossroads.

Cheers,The Boys

Muskoka: T minus 2

When Jamie and I woke up at our place in Waterloo Monday morning, we knew that it was time to get some more KM’s behind us. While our goal was Muskoka, we only made it to Missisauga before we made our first stop. Why? The answer is simple. Jamies Yaya and Papou live there. (Grandma and Grandpa in Greek obviously). When we got to their cozy abode off Dixie Road, we were greeted with whole fresh cucumbers directly from the garden as a warm up for the amazing lunch that was about to ensue. Before our arrival Yaya told Jamie she wouldn’t have much prepared. While I would be fine with whatever scraps of free food I could find, Jamie assured me that would not be the case. He wasn’t wrong. The smorg of a lunch consisted of deliciously seasoned souvlaki with a wonderful salad and amazing roasted potatoes. The hospitality was much appreciated! (Also don't think that we didn't leave without enough food to keep us going for the next 3 days)

Our drive up to Muskoka was a nice one. Our first stop was Camp Miniyowe and we were arriving unannounced. The people here are so friendly, so it was all fine and they even offered us a warm bed (well, couch) and a nice meal. Also, Jamie fit in perfectly. He was a little nervous especially when I told him I had forgotten to give notice to the director, but with an impromptu camp name, campers seemed to remember exactly who he was. “Oh ya! I remember you ! You were my counselor my first year at camp!.” It was quite comical. Also when Pirates invaded camp to steal the Honor Horn and wreak havok on Boys Camp, one scallywag in particular looked all too familiar… I have been excited for a summer away from camp, only because it would be free from waterfront alarms and missing campers, but I forgot that Monday was they day that staff always did the missing camper drill. I was happy to participate in the drill, however, when a camper actually went missing right when the practice alarm went off, my dreams of a stress free summer had been snatched away. (the camper was found sleeping in his cabin and in perfect health). Anyways Jamie and I ended up helping run a few activities in the early evening. Jamie ran ultimate Frisbee (he was in his element) and I ran kayaking (you may not know, but in my element, I have extensive training in the sport). Dinner was marvelous and after some catching up with old friends we went to bed right on time for the 23:00 staff lights out.
Post by JE

Waterloo: T minus 3

On Sunday, Jer and I said our final goodbyes to our homes in Niagara and officially left for the road. We didn't get far, arriving at our home in Waterloo only an hour and a half later. I must admit it is kind of nice to have two homes (well three when you consider where we will be living for the next 5 weeks). All in all, it was great to have a place to eat and sleep in Waterloo, after all we needed to be ready for the early morning pickup from Traces Screen Printing the following day. Check it out.

Pretty neat eh?

Cheers, The Boys

Garage Sales: Putting the FUN back in Fundraiser.

If you haven't read our Garage Sale preview post from a week ago, here’s the 10 step run down on our fundraiser. (1) Any Blessing Pot would be better with more money. More money = More blessings for others. (2) We had an idea how to add money to the pot. (3) People in our culture have lots of “stuff” they no longer want or need. (4) We contacted those people. (5) We picked up and removed the donations from these peoples homes (here we found some top notch stuff) (6) We planned and advertised a garage sale. (7) We had a garage sale. (8) POWER HOUR. (9) We dropped of the remaining donations left over from the sale at Community Care (10) The Blessing Pot is now better off simple because it has more money. How much better you may ask? Keep reading.

Bright and early Saturday morning (we are talking 05:45 early) Adam and I climbed my roof and mounted a camera to record the days event at our garage sale. With a garage and basement full of donated items, the first customers were already milling around the end of my driveway to have first pickins’ as we hastily unpacked our boxes at 06:00 on the dot. (Good omen)

By 07:00 everything was unpacked, sorted by category onto different tables, and our sale was bumpin! With our fanny packs clipped tight and sun visors in place, it was time to sell some treasures.

Here is where we give a special mention to Josh WIillms and his amazing selling skills. This guy could sell you a bag of dirt and make you feel great about it. My favorite Willms line of the day was fed to a nice gentleman who was interested in buying this toy rocking horse. Josh places his hand firmly on the toy, leaned in close and said “…And you wanna know the best feature on this here horse? She doesn’t poop and ya don’t gotta feed it!” The horse sold right then and there.

We are super thankful for the incredible help from our friends Julia, Lindsay, Ryan, Mackenzie, Caleb, my brother Mike and of course Grandma Koop. Toss in some perfect weather, and a great location and you got yourself one heck of a G-Sale.

There must have seen at least 600 people through our yard between 07:00 and 14:00. The lawn was packed with happy bargain shoppers all day and we made tons of sales. However, around 14:30 we started to see a decline foot traffic and also a decline in the average quality of the treasures. This was when the savvy Garage salesman realized that everything had to go, or else he'd be left with a pile of crap.. erm "useful items" on tables in his driveway. And nobody likes being left with a pile of "useful items", tables or not.

So naturally, as an astute sales crew we initiated PowerHour© Everything in the yard was now a buck. That is right. 1. Buck. Charles must have sold two truck loads of stuff in the last hour. Adam said it best as he announced to a small crowd “We don’t want this stuff… But you do!” I sold a woman a wooden table for 1 dollar- Awesome transaction.

So if you haven’t caught the drift by now, the day was an astounding success. If I had to put a dollar value on the success of the day, I would say it was a one thousand five hundred dollar success of a day.

Sorry, I don’t know if you heard me. I said a ONE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED DOLLAR day.

THAT'S WHA I'M TALKIN' BOUTT!

We are so thankful for everyone that donated items so that we could have more money to buy things for the folks in need that we meet along the way. The Blessing Pot is now quite a bit happier, and we are too. Muskoka, here we come!


Cheers, The Boys

p.s. Video to come. just waiting to be re-united with Adam and his iPhone footage. We'll hit you with the link when it's done.

written by: JG

Tasty Quotes

The best way to find yourself, is to lose yourself in the service of others

-Mahatma Gandhi

Hobos Nest.

Sendy milk.

Cheers,The Boys

Meet The Boys Part 5/5: Adam Epp

Well the last two have finally got to us with their little diddy's about themselves. Must have been lost in the mail. long awaited by some, indifferent to others, here they are:

ps. as far as charles' bio goes. I must admit, (and if you know him well you would agree) it's a very fitting bio for him. it just makes sense if you know charles, so I didn't even bother to argue.

Hello friends. The name is Adam Epp. But people mostly call me Epp, Eppers, Eppiphone, Eppilepsy, Eppic, Eppileptic Shock, E-Town, E-money, E-digs, Epp-digity-dog, annnnndd pretty much any other word you can make with Epp. Full name is Adam William Henry Epp....the third. Jokes, one and only. If you say it with an British accent though, it sounds like royalty. Right?! Soo I just finished my first year of my BBA co-op at Brock U, and I’m STOKED to get away from this place for 5 weeks...no offense. ;)
I’m approx. 6’ (6’3 if you include the faux hawk) 185 lbs and LOVE sports! I’m kinda a natural athlete and love tryin new things! My main sports are hockey and soccer though. Been playin right out of the womb pretty much.
I’m a lover not a fighter, but I’ll fight for my love.
LOVE music, LOVE guitar! Fun Fact: I pretty much know the lyrics to every song that deserves to be known, and then some....I often wonder how much smarter I’d be if I could transfer that brain space into something more constructive. Oh well, Don’t Forget the Lyrics anyone?
LOVE vee’s (v-necks), literally the only t’s I wear. And LOVE short-shorts. Normal t’s are too constricting, can’t breathe. And these legs need to be shown off, lets be serious here.
But I owe all I am, and all that I have up to the Big Guy. He’s blessed us ALL with so much, and I can’t wait to give it back.
Open road baby!

Ps. I have a tendency to ride dirty.

Meet The Boys Part 4/5: Charles Neufeld

Hey, I'm Charles.

Video Series

Along with this blog, we will be doing steady video updates. If you are a YouTube user, we would love your views and subscriptions. Here is a little teaser.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUcjHaqtZtM

The Premise

If you are stumbling across our blog for the first time, or have met us at some point on a journey, this post is for you! Please read about the premise of our trips in this post, so that all the stories and events to contained within this blog will make sense.

Where we typically stay:

Before we head out on a trip, we usually establish a few contacts (including family, friends, churches, etc.) that are interested in hosting us for a leg of the journey, or that can provide us with opportunities to serve.

Where were plan to go:

Due to the nature of our trips, we don't typically care for an itinerary or schedule. We plan to go where we feel we should go, stay where we find hospitality or people who need help. Duration is typically as long or short as we feel.

What we plan to do:

Put simply, help people. We all have been blessed, so when we get on the road, we try to give back a little. Initially we thought we would mostly be giving in terms of hard labour, but we soon realized that there are many ways to show generosity generosity on the road. Some of these ideas include:

• Construction projects

• Coffee for strangers

• Free beach BBQs

• Buying groceries for folks in need
• Buying supplies, and clothes for those in need

• Gardening
• Helping people move

To do some of these things, we have collected some cash for a "Blessing Pot" which is a staple on all of our trips. All of this money is used to fill the needs that we come across.

Contact us!

Please if you have any ideas or advice for us we would love to hear from you!  You can email us at experiencetheopenroad@gmail.com or jeremyjacobenns@gmail.com. We want to know how you have found us! Comments on this blog are always welcome.

Aim for service and success will follow.

Home is where you park it,

The Boys

The Project Officially Begins Here.

With less than a week left until our planned departure, we are really starting to ramp up our excitement, and effort levels as we prepare for this trip. For those of you familiar with our blog we now introduce the new trip design. As you will learn, this blog is now equally shared by the 5 of us. So Jer and I would like to thank you to all who have been checking us out over the past year, and encourage you to continue to do so as we make our way across canada.

For those of you who have just started reading or those we have met during our trip, Welcome for the first time and if your curious to read about our trip in its entirety, that began here. So if your wondering about all the junk prior to this post, because it doesn't appear to relate to what the trip is about, please note Jer and myself (Jamie) have been using this blog to document our school year at Wilfrid Laurier, Jer's aid trip to Bolivia, and all the in between. Check it out if you care to, but everything from this point on will relate to our trip The Open Road Project

PSA regarding our fundraiser.

This is just a little letter and poster that we've dished out to a few people we know. And seeing as we got this blog, and more than 2 people look at it, we figure why the whack not just toss er up here. Here's the rough hypertext translated version:

Garage Sale FUNraiser!

Who: The Open Road Project

Us: Jeremy Enns, Josh Willms, Adam Epp, Charles Neufeld and Jamie Grantis [from left to right]

When: Saturday, July 16^th 7am – 3pm

Where: 5 Simpson Rd, near the Lake and Lakeshore intersection.

Why: To raise money for the blessing pot, supporting the Open Road Project. (Please see letter attached)

What YOU can do: Come out and show your support at the sale!!

-or-

Donate your pre-loved items that you no longer have room for in your life!

We would be more than happy to pick up and remove your donated items

at your convenience/ASAP and with much appreciation!

Once we have your items will either be sold at the garage sale or donated to the Benefit Shop and forever out of your life and out of your hair!

PLEASE RESPOND ASAP!

RE: Garage Sale Fundraiser

Dear family and dear friends,

As you may know, or at least will come to know by the time you have finished reading this letter; four close friends and myself have a bit of a creative plan for the summer. We have all had different experiences with missions in our lives, and we have decided it high time to take it into our capable hands and make a mission of our own. Plus, we love doing awesome things, so why not combine the two… right? Here is the low down. From mid July to the end of August we will be driving across Canada in a 1979 GMC Vanguard RV that we purchase and have been fixing up. We plan to stop in most major cities, with some random small towns along the way for a balanced experience. While the likelihood of this trip being void of fun is about as likely as this trip going by without a single technical or automotive glitch, we would like to emphasize that we intend to go on this road trip with purpose and by faith. As I mentioned earlier we have all had previous experience with missions and feel the spirit of volunteerism close to all of our heart. We have literally countless plans for creative ways to outreach/voulenteer/just do good to random people. We will be staying with contacts, and several organizations along the way. Of course we will offer ourselves to their needs or the needs of their church first and foremost. After all, I can’t imagine anyone that would be hard done to find a practical application for a few willing helping hands. However, it’s the creative stuff that we want to focus on for the sake of this letter. Often generosity can be instrumental in our zany plans for random acts of kindness, and for that reason we have created an idea of having a blessing pot. This will be a fund that we will all contribute to, and will be used 100% for the sole purpose of blessing or helping other. Now, you may be reading this and thinking to you self, Oh boy. Here it comes, this is the part of the letter where they are going to ask us for money… Actually quite the contrary. In the past we may have come to you our dear friends to be sponsors for instrumental events or trips in our lives. And for that we cannot thank you enough! But, now as adult men we are proud to have worked hard this summer to make this trip possible by our own means. But we would still like to offer a neat way we could use your support if you care to do so. Rather than asking for $$$, we are asking for you junk. Please, not your useless garbage, but rather your used items that you have stored up somewhere with no longer any use for. We would be more than happy to pick up at your convenience. (Likely in our RV + trailer) and donate it to a fundraising garage sale at 5 Simpson road on Saturday, July 16. The entire proceeds of the Garage sale will be added to our blessing pot and used in full to bless the people we meet on our adventure.

Please consider if you have any things that you do not need in your life. We are not huge fans of the “stuff” and “clutter” that is endorsed by our culture, and see this as a dually beneficial initiative even in our own lives before we leave. Also everything not sold with be donated to the Benefit Shop in Niagara-On-The-Lake and out of your houses, garages, rented spaces forever!

Thank you and God bless,

Jamie Grantis, Josh Willms, Adam Epp, Jeremy Enns, Charles Neufeld.

***please feel more than free to leave a comment if you have a response to this letter of any kind!

pps. the blessing pot is growing daily! Thanks to all in support.

these are just honestly awesome.

click HERE to recognize awesome.

An Ode to Ikea

IKEA is a place to cherish. For whats not to love?- Neat furniture, children occupying ball-pits, neat scandinavian vocabulary, and a bigger double-bunk-bed selection than any kid could dream of. But perhaps the most enticing factor of this superstore is its menu. where else can you walk in slap down a $5, order 4 hotdogs, 1 soda, 1 soft serve ice cream and a bag of Swedish candies for you and your friends. Get some change back too boot. That's why we have proposed IKEAfoods ® to be located in and around every University and college in the province. Pending trademark, corporate and legal concerns.

At least for now mention our names or blog address and redeem free refills on any-size beverage at the Burlington store location.

(not valid with the already free offer of refillable drinks at all IKEA store)

Fun Run.

Jamie here. Just so ya know, in a foot-race between Josh Willms and myself, we both think we would win. Obviously we can only think of one possible resolve.

we are going to have to race. ...as fast as we can.

This all started tonight on this fine thursday, walking down the pier. Wilms ran fast, I thought that I could run faster, so I said "Wilm, I can run faster". Now, If this was just some measly, insignificant difference of opinions, it could have been settled right there on the spot. however, for a victor to be named without proper footwear available, and insufficient prep time or race materials, yadda yadda yadda... the race is set for one week from today. Thursday the 30th of June. mark that day down, history will be made. and luckily for you if you care (or at least use our blog to soothe your boredom bored) This event will be fully covered on this here blog. I have signed the agreement making it even so if I lose.

With the location TBD, this event will include timed scores. A cap gun start. a finish line ribbon. pre-race bets. photo finish. loser buys beer. and a whole lotta foot in the mouth for one of us. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

To Each His Own.

In response to jer's eScoot post to which you may note I was visibly not a part of, I have a brief story I would like to share.

A few days ago I was driving out to Niagara On The Lake to hang with the boys until I was forced to wait at the canal bridge. In no particular rush, I wasn't too inconvenienced. But my attention was drawn behind me to a ROARING noise that made me question otherwise. My astute knowledge for Motorcycles indicated to me that this boisterous roaring noise was coming from none other than an 1800cc CVO softtail Harley Davidson. Seated in direct view of my left side review, I had full view of the culprit. Imagine now the most classic biker you can picture. Old tough guy, long hair, handlebar moustache and so much leather you feel bad for cows. Just as I was observing this rather macho specimen, my attention was diverted when around the corner zipped two men (if you can call them that) sitting very poshly, knees together on their very own bright blue scooters. Tooting their horns as they puttered past us, almost tangibly my gaze was pulled back to my side mirror as I witnessed our friend on the hog shutter the most disapproving and insulted expression. as the bridge came down, i'm just glad the two scooter dudes didn't try and give our friend the biker wave, for I fear that could have gotten ugly.

PS. I am not criticizing electric scooters out of jealously, nor do I think they are lame, I just think this event was funny and the timing perfect. Heck, these scooters are pretty dang awesome. So are old men who ride Harley's. After all, to each his own.

Electric Scooters: A friendlier way to travel.

The other weekend was, well, to put it literally: beautiful. I have a neighbour who recently started a business in Old Town Niagara on the Lake renting and selling E-bikes. As a business student I wanted to see what this new venture was all about so Willms, Adam and I went and rented some. Well let me tell you, this electric scooter things is a great time. Wanna hit up some bike paths? Sure! How about rip down the road? Why not! Wanna race? Bring it on baby. These bad boys have some pretty good pick up and max out at a whopping 43 km/h. How awesome is that? I cannot describe the freedom experienced while cruising on one of these, dreads blowing in the wind, spirit free. Also, everyone in Old Town seemed to be jealous of us, pointing, smiling and laughing along with us. Here are a few pics.So if you are looking for something nice to do on a Sunday afternoon with your girlfriend or with your best mates, give eSkoot a call. We highly recommend it. Look how cool.

Chapel Time.

We mentioned way back in December when we visited The Ol Stomping Grounds of our plans to re-visit Eden and run some presentations about life after High School. Today was that day. Jer and I were in bright and early to present in the morning Chapel about our individual adventures over the past few years. We talked a lot about what God has done through our experiences, and what He means today in our lives. We told stories and lessons we've learned based around pictures from different worldwide destinations, we'll include those pictures now and if you care to, ask us about any of them- We are always more than happy to share.

Our presentation followed the common theme: "From Eden to _____" because we felt it portrayed our similar starting position to the hundred of kids sitting in the seats in front of us. After all, our whole goal was to inspire and encourage similar experiences for those who were listening.

From Eden To New Orleans (staring years ago)

From Eden To Isreal

From Eden To Egypt

From Eden To Australia

From Eden to Africa

From Eden To Laurier (Our house next year)

From Eden To Bolivia

From Eden To the Open Road (future plans)

Meet The Boys Part 3/5: Jeremy Enns

Business Juniors.

I have this friend who has this saying. His name was Vidar Gunderson and he is from Norway. During the time we lived in Australia, we became pretty good friends and he would always preface things he said to me with his one favourite phrase. He would say:

"Hey, From Business man, to Business Junior, Listen to what i say... and then he would say what ever it was he was going to say. It might have been about football or money... Thing is, despite his pretty good english- his thick Norwegian accent made whatever he was going to say pretty funny, despite how smart it actually was.

I loved this saying. It reminds me of good times. And today, I had the perfect opportunity to use it.

Just about an hour ago, I was walking home from work, talking on the phone with Willms, when I see down a side street off Lakeshore, to my delight 3 young boys hosting a lemonade sale. I of course took the little detour to assess their operation. I must say i was quite impressed. They were offering: popcorn bags: 50¢, Freezees: $1, and of course Lemonade 50¢.

I walked over anticipating I would be able to give them a few tricks of the trade from my days years ago as a Roadside Refreshment Associate. Remarkably, they needed no mentoring whatsoever. Their operation seemed to be running at maximum efficiency and I must say i was very impressed. I poured out around 6 dollars in change from my shifts tips, so I could purchase one freezee.. plus tip. One thing I do remember from my lemonade stand days is... I made more money from tips than I actually did sales (lemonade sales in kind of a niche market kept afloat by generosity).

As I spilled the coins on the table, and told them they could keep it all, despite only being my pocket change less than 6$- the one kid said "WOW, thanks mister!" as the other kid counted it aloud ...twice.

it was an awesome purchase. A freezee never tasted better, and I was revelling in the good old days where my brother and i actually used to use orange pilons to block our road and cause cars to detour slowly past our stand at the end of the driveway. (great for business- terrible for neighbours and car accidents)

But today the customer service was impeccable. They served me a freezee with a napkin and cut it for me with scissors. Their advertising was well done with handmade signs all along the street, and they had already even incorporate my favourite trick, the bundle sell where they offered lemonade, popcorn and a freezee for $1.50 at a discount of $0.50.

They had covered every area I thought I might help them with. (despite the construction cone trick, which i thought i would keep to myself). Also I noticed hockey sticks, a net and skateboard strewn in the driveway and I realized that they have solved the one problem that I had always struggled with... bordem. They realized that at any given time only one of them had to wait at the booth while the other two played, until someone came along to which they would drop what they were doing and all run over. Genius.

I thought about asking to take a picture of them for the purposes of this blog, but I had chatted with the boys long enough and I could see the mom unmistakably watching through the window. I obviously meant no harm and was totally supportive, but thanks to Dateline, she was getting suspicious.

So i decided to walk away but before i did I told them some wise words. From business man- to business Juniors; Have fun with the lemonade sale. BUT remember don't eat all your merchandise. I could see they had gotten into the popcorn and freezes, which was also mike and my biggest problem.

Meet The Boys Part 2/5: James Grantis

Birth Name: James Anthony Grantis

Credentials: Honours BBA, Wilfrid Laurier; Sandwich Maker Extraordinaire

Bio: If you’ve been following this blog frequently or know me rather well- much of the information that I am about to disclose will likely come as little surprise to you. However, if you do not; Nice to meet you, this is who I am: I live in a great part of the city of St. Catharines, and despite living only a 5 minutes walk from the lake, I am the city kid of this crew. I've slave tirelessly to prove my self to my fellow countrymen, and despite the fact that I rode in a stroller, not a tractor or combine when I was young- they have accepted me as one of their own. I love sports, and competition of any sorts will just about do. I have one brother and I compete with him in some sort of skilled or athletic activity daily. Over the next 5 weeks, I expect no less from my boys. I have lived for at least a few months on three continents, but plan to add to that very soon. Travelling for me is right up there with playing basketball, climbing mountains, exploring cool places, and brushing with danger. One of my favorite writers wrote this quote in my favorite book Into the Wild. He wrote:

“The core of a mans’ spirit comes from his new experiences…with the best joys in life found in one’s passion for adventure.”

- John Krakauer

And despite the very strong spirit adventure that resides in my heart, it has become pretty clear to me that my mind has decided I am a businessman.

So right now I am just living my life. and pretty much figuring it out as I go.

The Ancient Stomping Grounds: Col. John Butler

After reading the last post, thankfully, you know that I am safe and that Jamies mission although in vain, produced a fun time for all involved. Now I will inform each of you to the goings on of Wednesday the 1st. A few months ago, Jamie and I wrote about our Old Stomping Gound, Eden High. Last post, Jamie eluded to an elementary school crisis and Col. John Butler, was in the midst of a serious one.

I heard that my old primary school is shutting down.

Naturally, I drop everything, including my cellular device and race off to the rescue. How I expect to save a school from shut down is not important as I think very well on my feet. When I arrived, there were approximately 100 cars parked in the lot, well over capacity. It seemed that many other people had heard the news and were waiting for me to give instructions on how to rescue the place. Before I go any further, let me give you some history, mainly on the name of the school. Colonel John Butler was a dude who fought in a war a long time ago. Ok, continuing on. As I approached the building, I started to hear an orchestra of drums. Good. The battle drums were here. I also heard cheering. Good. People were ready to save my school. However, to my dismay, when I reached the back yard of the school, what I thought was protesting appeared to be a party! I had walked into the final celebration of the school, which when I thought about it, really put me at ease because I literally had no plan. I rather enjoyed seeing some old teachers, chatting about life, telling them that although I look like a rufian, I have half a business degree and reliving the memories of the old school yard. There were musical performances, speeches, a wicked jazz band and best of all: rows and rows of goodies. Mmmm! One of my most memorable interactions from the night was when my little sister and I spoke with our Kindergarten teacher. I went up to Mrs. Scott (who is now much older of course) and quickly told her I had just finished second year. She seemed to ignore me, or not hear, and quickly sparked up conversation with my sister. Julieanne is also going to Laurier next year (awesomeeee!) and told Mrs. Scott she would be entering first year. We then had to leave and as we were walking away, she says to me, "Don't worry Jeremy, you will get to university one day too!" While there is so much wrong with how that makes me feel (why does she think Juls is older than me? I just told her I was in uni, etc etc) I decided just to let it go and have my little sister laugh at me the whole way home.

At the end of the day, it was great to walk the halls of CJB for one last time. Many great memories were had at that school. I got to take home the old jersey I wore when I was a star point gaurd and setter for the school teams. Looks at that dude. You look great little buddy.

So after I realized that the crisis had been averted, not thanks to great planning on the part of the staff at CJB, I headed over to Baergens to watch the game, catch up with my friends and hear about the nice time that they had at the Gorge. I will always remember the secret meet up location in case a similar situation arises in the future. Jamie, your head is on straight and I like that. Keep it up.

The Secret secret of a Gorge-ous Day.

Today was a day like any other. It was however, exceptionally beautiful out. I had a rare, but well appreciated day off work, so naturally i waited until 5- (when Jer would be off) and I intended to come down and hangout. (maybe we would root together for the Vancouver Canucks in tonight's hockey game) when 5 rolled around and my texts remained un-responded, I decided to take definitive action and boldly call his house phone. I came to the sad sad conclusion that nobody in today's day and age should be so foolish as to be OUT of their home....and without a cellular device. this is simply a fact. A way of life. It rung, and rung, and I got no response. I immediately (and justifiably so) feared for the worst.

***Pause Story***

Let me take you all back to a different day, with similarly beautiful weather. A day filled with some adventure as well. Jer, Willms and I, about a month ago, did just a little bit of Trail Blazin that you may remember because we blogged about the highlights that same day. What we DIDNT blog about during that fateful day in April was our mundane safety plans. We didn't mention a fact, that I surely intend to mention now. Any safety/adventure expert will tell you (Jer and I included) that it is absolutely crucial to have a meet-up point or safe spot discussed when travelling in a party. If God forbid you get separated during your adventure, both parties will then know where to go. On April 25th, we heeded that warning and the the three of us concurred on a location. A location that could one day be responsible for our very rescue.

***Resume Story***

That day flashed back to me vividly in my panic as I dreaded all the possible things that could have happened to my dear friend Jeremy. I could not stand idly by while he could be hurt, lost or lonely. I had to take action.

I gathered an emergency task force, but alas I could not alarm them with the heavy news that our dear friend may be in peril. So the trip was disguised as a happy hike down to the Gorge, I kept the burden to myself, and prepared the best I could. Lisa came over bringing only the most necessary survival rations: Watermelon, and Strawberries. Adding to that we prepared some PB&J Sandwiches, a few litres of Apple juice, and we were ready to take on whatever came our way.

Nature Survival Tip #1: Bring tasty rations.

Lisa and I met up with Natasha, Steph, Berg, Adam, and Krugs in a parking lot near the gorge, and finally our leisurely hike-disguised-Rescue, could begin. Initially

we thought it necessary to increase our altitude to get a better vantage point from which we could obtain our position. scaffolding unavailable, we utilize what we had around us and scaled a nearby tree.

Nature Survival Tip #2: climb everything climbable.

I discretely determined our coordinates, but it was as I had feared. Our position was to the east of west, and south of north. we certainly had a journey ahead of us, and we set off for our nice picnic... and to save Jer of course.

Upon our decent into the gorge we were instantly thrown into a death-defying situation as our dear friend Adam fell into grave danger as a causal slip had him hanging for his life. Josh Baergen immediately responded and just in the nick of time too. fortunately for his

heroics Adam's life was saved and we could continue on our hike.... err, ... rescue mission.

Nature Survival Tip #3: Save your friends lives.

We continued along the river, until we were startled by the undeniable sounds of a rock slide. Normally, the advice in this situation would be to remain clear of this dangerous location entirely. However, in the moment Tash and I notice a rather large boulder tumbling in the very direction of a cute family of chipmunks dwelling next to two small children, and an elderly lady. As it would just so happen, this assembly was right next to the last remaining herb containing the potential cure for cancer! The hurling rock was gathering speed and Tash and I only had a split second to act if we to prevent the pending disaster. Again, we were just quick enough and innocent lives were spared.

(Note: The small children, cute chipmunks, and nice old lady had to all be removed from the scene prior to the taken photo due to obvious safety concerns. The cancer-curring plant is that mossy plant there to the right, but regrettably could not be removed due to Bylaw 237 under the Cancer Cure vs. Pharmaceutical Profits Act that was legislated by Pfizer during its foundation in 1849.)

As we continued on, we decided to stop for nourishment on the rocks by the river, (The location however, I knew to be conveniently close to our predetermined meeting place- and all the while I was hoping that the sent of our cucumber, Mini-eggs and PB&J would attract all hungry-lonely young men from the woods, and re-unite us with our dear friend.

That was not that case however, but we did occupy the time with delicious snacks, hilarious conversation and the good ol' past time of seeing from how far you can throw one hunk a watermelon to be caught in another persons mouth. The game was an instant classic. but still no Jer.

Nature Survival Tip #4: Never underestimate the life saving skill of mouth-reception. One can not rule out the possibility that both your hands and feet will be occupied at the exact time that your only remaining piece of survival food is coming at you. Without the keen ability to catch it in your mouth, you may starve and die.

Having little luck with the reconnaissance and the 8 o'clock puck drop of the Vancouver game soon taking priority of my time, We decided it time to pack it in and hike back. With one last surge of hope, and in co ordinance with the fifth survival tip, We mastered some cliffs but again were unsuccessful at locating Jer.

Nature Survival Tip #5: CLIMB EVERYTHING CLIMBABLE

With not even a whiff of his dreads the entire time, I thought all hope was lost...

We headed to the Baergen's to watch the game, where to my relief and thrill we were met by a fully nourished, and fully unharmed Jer himself! As it turns out he had some elementary school crisis he had to attend, and all my worrying had been unwarranted. we watched the game together and celebrated a 1-0 victory. To this day, 1 day(s) later, i have carried this secret with me. I now share it with you.

For more Nature tips, Check out Lenn and his must-see and informative video: Click Here

Enns Battery & Tire

Hello dear friends, I'm assuming that you know from the title of this post that this is Jeremy speaking. Jeremy Enns, son of Rudy Enns (current president of Enns Battery & Tire), son of Jacob Enns (founder of Enns Battery & Tire in 1971).

I wanted to create a post that could fill you in on how I spend my 8-5 Monday to Friday & 8-12 on Saturdays. I have worked at my fathers Tire Shop since the humble age of Grade 9. I mean 14. The reason I say humble is because I started off sweeping floors. My 95 pound grade 9 body could not handle the pressures of changing tires, except perhaps for bicycles and lawnmowers. However, as the years progressed, I grew in stature and wisdom, and my knowledge of the tire and battery industry grew impressively. Now I like to refer to myself as a Professional Tire Technician, Tire Consultant, or among my friends, as the Resident Tire Expert.

You have already been introduced to Josh Willms. One thing that he forgot to mention, is that at one point, he was also a loyal Enns employee. During high school, we would have a riot out back playing dodgeball with scrap tires, usually ending up soaked with dirty, stale tire water. We would spend our afternoons in the used tire yard shooting wasps with foam spray pretending we hunting aliens on a far away planet. We were fairly immature, and there were a few occasions where Rudy had to ensure we were keeping up with our flat repairs and split us up onto different jobs. Whether we were eating lunch together, sharing freezies with eachother or finishing one anothers sentences, slowly we came to the realization that the other shop guys would make fun of us. They would call us all sorts of nasty names like Seemore and Doless, (chiming in on our apparent lack of motivation) or Tweedledee and Tweedledum (commenting on our apparent lack of tire knowledge). But we didn't care. We weren't going to let that get in the way of our work relationship err friendship.

Making a long story short, Willms ended up leaving Enns for his uncles company All Green Irrigation where he is now a Certified Irrigation Techinician. I have worked my way up the ranks at Enns since he has been gone and quite enjoy my time there (mainly because I'm getting crazy buff). I have spent some time learning about the more administrative end of the shop with my Mom (she is a CA with an office attached to the shop) as well as making myself a little more responsible for making the day to day run a little smoother out in the shop. So if you need some new rubber for the ol' whip, come on down, I would be happy to personally take care of you and your battery and tire needs.

Enns Battery & Tire. Quality service since 1971!