Final Day: Breezy Point
November 27, 2012: Our last day in New York we drove the “Beast” into Breezy Point to ground zero. Police, fire crews, volunteers, shelters, bulldozers, army personnel flood the streets. Homes are demolished, sand is everywhere and colorful debris lies in every nook and cranny. It is a depressing site, however the amount of workers and rebuilding that has already happened is a relief to see. Most of the homes remain vacant. There are very few home owners or local people (only relief workers) in the area. It is everything we imagined, everything you have seen on the news and photos, and more.
The Uhaul is Unloaded
Finally, after a long haul across middle America, we unloaded the Uhaul. Thank you Loomstate for donating the warehouse, Joy Lewis & Nic from Surfrider NYC for helping us out. We are advised we can’t just go down to locations and pass things out. Rather, we must sort thru each piece donated and then pass out items to those in need. We had such a huge load of items that it wouldn’t be till this next Thursday until a new crew of volunteers that work with Joy Lewis will be there to help out. We will keep you posted on the latest news with the donations.
After a few hours of unloading the Uhaul, we finally had the “Beast” empty. We closed up the warehouse and head back to the city for an evening fundraiser with a few fellow city friends, Patagonia employees and Waves for Water crew.
Tomorrow, before we depart back to the west coast, we will go to ground zero and document Breezy Point.
-DL, Patagonia Bowery crew and Mary-
-Patagonia Pride-
Day 6: Family Ties
Day 6: We left NJ and the Halpin’s fun Funeral Home early Friday morning. We were hoping to finally drop the Uhual “Beast” off at the warehouse and unload, but due to the holiday weekend we were instructed to wait till Monday. We decided to head to my cousin, Susie’s, home in Long Island instead.
When the hurricane hit, I had completely spaced that Susie and her family was living in Long Island. Luckily, Susie’s home wasn’t too damaged. However, her entire neighborhood was without electricity and, since her home had a generator, they quickly became the host house for the neighborhood taking in several families. Susie was a big part in this adventure East. She was our “real life” grounds person reaching out to us, explaining to us what was really happening on Long Island and what we could do to help. We had so many amazing people emailing us, calling and telling us things to us prior to our departure, but when it’s someone from your immediate family, it’s just hits home.
We left California on Nov. 19 and arrived on Susie’s doorstep, five days later, on Nov 22. We pulled into the absolutely stunning neighborhood of Manhasset and were greeted by Susie, her husband Armondo and her three gorgeous children. Luckily, there driveway was large enough to park the “Beast.” It felt so good to finally be in New York. After such a long trek, being near family was an incredible, warm feeling.
We unloaded our bags from the “Beast,” showered, made ourselves at home, and before we knew it we were on a train to the city for the evening.
Amazing meal, great drinks, fun new friends, city life, and reconnecting with family equals a hell of a fun time… WAHOOO… We finally made it!!!!!
Thank you Delellis/Petrucelli Family for hosting us for the weekend. I am so glad you are in our lives! We can’t thank you enough for your love, generosity and hospitality.
Oh, and “Dino” our mascot was a hit with her kids.
Day 5: Last Leg
Day 5 was our last leg from Ohio to Pennsylvania to New Jersey. We ended up spending the night in Dayton, Ohio where poor Karon got extremely ill. We are still not sure if she picked up the similar flu bug I had or if it was food poisoning from one of middle America’s fabulous dinning establishments. Karon basically got wiped out after driving non-stop from California to Ohio. She spent the night hugging the toilet bowl and sleeping on the cold tile floor. Super fun Thanksgiving we had…not quite. It was my turn to drive the “Beast.”
The next day we woke up and headed for the final haul into NJ. I had a friend, Dave Halpin, who was kind enough to reach out to us and offer up his families “home/business” for the night. He explained on the phone to me that they have a giant parking lot for us to park in, the family business is on the lower level and the top floor is the apartment. This sounded ideal, considering we didn’t want to drive into the city with a giant 26 foot Uhual and not have a place to park or sleep. When we pulled into the beautiful town of Bloomfield, there was Dave standing on the side of the road waving us in. We were so pleased to finally see someone we knew. We entered into a long driveway in between two gorgeous old three story homes. We started cracking up when we realized, the “family business” was a funeral home. Dave greeted us with a warm big smile and hug. WAHOO…we made it!!! It felt like forever, but we were finally on the East Coast. Who cares at this point if we were sleeping in a funeral home or not. We were just so happy to be here.
~Poor Karon Sick with Flu~
~Slowly & Steadily we are ariving East~
~We have arrived at the Halpin’s Home~
Dave explained to us why he was here taking over the family establishment, gave us the full tour of the home and patiently answered my zillion questions I had about funerals and death. We were so intrigued. This was definitely a first for both of us. Day 5: Sleeping in a funeral home in NJ.
We ended our 11 hour day on the road in a great pub sipping on drinks and finally eating a tasty meal.
~Embalming anyone?~
Tomorrow, we cross the bridge and head into the city.
~Karon, Dave & I~
~Breakfast in NJ Fine Diner~
~Our First Site of Xmas and Colorful Leaves~
Thanks again, Dave!
Jetty Girl – Project Save Our Surf
On November 19th, professional surfer Mary Osborne and Project Save Our Surf’s Vice President, Karon Pardue, began a journey across the country to deliver needed supplies to those who are still struggling after Hurricane Sandy stormed through the eastern United States. Mary and Karon have been kind enough to let us ride along with them via Mary’s social media feeds.
Day 4: Complete
Once again, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone reading. We are super blessed, honored to be working with so many great people and can’t wait to arrive in NYC. It has been an another extremely long day for both of us. We traveled thru Missouri, Illinois and stopped off in Dayton, Ohio. We plan on arriving in Jersey or NY late Friday or early Saturday morning. We will be dropping the Uhual off at wharehouse on Long Island and meeting up with our ground crew from Surfrider NY Chapter and Patagonia Bowery store. Thank you again to everyone who has been following us, texting us while we are in the car and cheering us along. Every little bit of your support makes us smile and continue to move forward.
Let the journey continue…
Karon driving strong…
Random pit stop
Winter time
Illinois
License plates..so many different ones
Vino-2-go
“Rhino” our new mascot since “Dino” was left behind
We are en route to Joplin, Missouri to stay the night. We are slowly getting closer to NYC. @patagonia @olukai @officialmauijim #psoseastbound
