• Erick Carpenter
  • Erick Carpenter

2004 Turned Left @ Albuquerque

Alaska to San Diego via Key West. Ski every hill we could find going down to Colorado. Traded skis for Rollerblades and hung out in Key West for two weeks. Ended up in El Cajon for a bit until we were able to buy our home in Poway Leia mais
  • Inicio da viagem
    1 de fevereiro de 2004

    Alaska

    1 de fevereiro de 2004, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ -4 °C

    Alaska to San Diego via Key West. Started in Anchorage, drove through Tok, Liard Hot Spring, down south until we ran out of snow to ski in Breckenridge then traded our skis for roller blades and hit Key West... sometimes Key West hits back. Roller blades and I separated ways after that.Leia mais

  • Key West

    1 de maio de 2004, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    And this is where a story begins. Lynda and I were on the gulf coast, boogie boarding and I am out trying to catch a wave and I see Lynda on the beach and she is holding her face as if something is wrong.

    I paddled in like crazy, got to the beach and she looks up and says "I caught a wave wrong and it pile drove me into the sand". Her face was scraped up super bad and she was worried she broke her shoulder. Turns out, her shoulder was fine, but her face? The biggest shiner I have ever seen. her right eye was just one big swollen bruise. I freaked.

    We were going to our home town of Roswell, and I was going to ask her parents to bless our marriage and ask for their approval. She called them up and let them know what had happened... now, we are traveling through the deep south. everytime we pulled in to a restaraunt to get something to eat? they would look at her, then look at me and say words like "Little lady do you need some help"? Then look at me like I was about to get stomped... and I am standing there wanting to say something, but what could I say? She looked really rough.

    We finally got to Roswell, and we meet her mom at the door. Her mom looks at her, then looks at me... oh boy... well, I went ahead and asked for their blessing, and her mom makes the comment "Just be nice to my daughter" went right over my head. The following year, her divorce was finalized, and we eloped to Kauai. Finally her mom admits that she thought I was beating on her, as almost everytime she called, she would laugh and say "Momma, got a bruise".

    I looked at Mrs Smith, and said "are you crazy"? I know for a fact if I ever hit her I would wake up wrapped in a sheet and she would be standing there with an iron skillet, saying "My turn"... Lynda told her, "no mom, for the first time in years I am playing hard enough to get hurt". and her mom laughed. In all my years, I have NEVER raised my hand to a woman. Ever. In fact over the 20 years of our relationship, we never fought. not once.

    Later, I received a wooden plaque from her parents "You have our blessing" and on the back it said "we love you". I keep that plaque on my wall in my living room. It has more meaning to me than just about anything else.
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  • Roswell, New Mexico

    15 de maio de 2004, Estados Unidos ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

    Went to Roswell, our hometown, to ask for her parents' permission to marry her. I wanted their blessing. little did I know, every time Lynda called home? "Momma"! "got a bruise"! and she would proudly display a bruise from skiing, and other high energy sports we were into, including boogie boarding. We were in Florida, heading for Roswell, boogie boarding and she got pile driven into the sand.

    I mean bad. I got to the beach, and she looked at me and said, "I may have broken my shoulder". and she had this red scrape on her right eye that?

    Turned into a legendary shiner.

    So. here we are in the deep south and going up to a restaurant. "Lady? You need some help?" everyone would ask and look at me like I was a woman beater... and all I can do is say, "OMG no"! "not me"! so we get to her mom and dads, and she opens the door, and here is her daughter who ran off to Alaska to hook up with some schmuck from her past... and here is a shiner. I mean from cheek up... Black as night. and her mom looks at her and looks at me... (we had told them about it and how she got it, assuming they believed us).

    Mom did not believe either of us.

    So, when I asked for their blessing? Her response? "Just be nice to my daughter" and that comment?

    Went right over my head.

    2 years later, she finally realizes that "yes indeed", Lynda did get hurt playing... for the first time in years, she was playing hard enough to get hurt. We were living it up...

    That aside, I have a plaque on my wall that they made for us. Giving me their blessing.
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  • Final da viagem
    1 de junho de 2004