Ahhh Penelope, our beautiful purple 1970 city bus turned tour bus. What do you all think of this name? We’re trying it out for the week. We love Penelope and hate her at the same time. So far we’ve gone a few thousand miles we think (odomoeter is broken so were not sure of actual count) from Victoria to the Black Rock Desert to Vagas to LA to Sun Valley and now we are lumbering down the road toward Seattle. She doesn’t travel much more than 55 mph and since the gas gauge is broken and we’ve had quite a few adventures running out of fuel in places like Vegas and Compton.

Our wheels are an important part of our great adventure. She’s put us through trials and tribulations and our most recent discovery is that she doesn’t have heat. Now this didn’t phase us in the 90 degree weather down south, but as we’ve hit snowier and rainier parts of the country, it would have been nice to have known this earlier, but once again…what doesn’t kill us will make us stronger (this is a quote we learned from pro mountain biker Rebecca Rusch who we just interviewed on Tuesday). Take yesterday morning for example. Penelope decided not to start. This wouldn’t normally be a big deal, but the temperatures were around 34 degrees Fahrenheit with freezing rain, we had trouble finding a plug to charge the battery and we really wanted to start making our way to Seattle.

A few hours later though with some coaxing, a power boost and one bloody finger (Duncan cut his finger on something sharp while trying to charge the bus) we were on the road west. It was sad to leave all of our new found friends in Idaho, but the show must go on. We have a lot more things to cross off the list and we had a feeling if we let Penelope sit too long she might never start again. Besides we got word from the local police (who were very friendly about it all) that the person’s house we were parked in front of had called them and asked them to remove us from their sight.

duncan IM’s news of his bloody finger

So we’re back on the road and ready for more adventures. Write us if you are in Seattle and tell us what you want to do before you die. We just might show up on your doorstep. Or come join us in Judkins Park on October 27 at noon for a war protest, #62 Join a protest.

And one last thing, remember that guy, Jamie Bestwick, we learned how to do backflips from in California? He just won the overall vert at the AST Dew Tour in Orlando. Read all about it on Fuel.tv. Way to go Jamie!

–The Buried Life Crew

PS Check out our first meeting with Penelope here

dave gets fresh on the floor

Last night we kicked it in a private dance studio in Sun Valley, Idaho, where Dave taught Shannon Engkraf to breakdance. Shannon teaches hip-hop to little kids in Ketchum and has always wanted to learn to breakdance, so this was one dream Dave was more than happy to help out with. They busted out the moves for over two hours.

dave stalling

And after the session when we got to know Shannon more, we found out she had a stroke last summer. This really gave her a scare and helped her see that there is no better time than the present to step it up and do what you want to do in life. Here’s the email she sent us at the end of the night:

Dear Buried Life Crew,

I really appreciate your effort in connecting me with something that means so much to me. I truely cannot continue further with many other deams in my life until I prove to myself that I can be the best break dancer that I can create. I have so much passion and respect for the art of movement, and I really think that breakdancing is one of the highest forms of movement. It takes so much strength and determination that it really defines the people that choose to incorporate it into their lives. Your efforts have influenced my passion in life and I really wanted to thank you all. –Shannon

We were more than happy to help Shannon cross this one off her list and can’t wait to come back to Ketchum in six months to see how her progress is with the new moves she learned. We’re pretty sure she’ll be a breakdancing queen when we get back to town. According to Dave, her coach for the evening, she’s really got what it takes. Dance on Shannon. - TBL Crew

We just received this email from a Buried Life follower and we thought it was pretty appropriate for Halloween. The message is this: don’t suck blood…give it! Check out what Catherine had to say:

Hi - Great site and fun things to think about… Which leads me to
suggest a thing for you to do ASAP from your list. AND you can keep on
doing it after your first time! I’ve been a blood donor for over 25
years - come on guys! It’s EASY, PAINLESS, and does so much good for
others! Plus you get FREE donuts and juice afterwards! It’ so simple
to cross off your list and it’s a GREAT place to meet ladies who are
assured of your healthy status (no STDs nor AIDS!) And of course, you
will feel good every time you donate that your donation will SAVE
LIVES. They give you cool gifts randomly and you get terrific gifts
when you reach donation milestones, I’m trying to get the faux-wood
electric wall clock, achieved after 5 gallons donated. I’m almost
there. Lastly, if you do an Apheresis donation, you lie there and
watch movies and meet other cool, like-minded folks. Great way to
expand your circle of friends.

Here are a few blood sucking sites:

American Red Cross

56 Blood Donating Facts

Also, did you know that October is breast cancer awareness month?

Check out these boobalicious sites:

Keep-A-Breast

Boarding For Breast Cancer (B4BC)

Sorry for being m.i.a lately but the last couple days have been unreal (and internet has been sketchy). Dave and Duncan both successfully rode a 1200 lb bull!!! You’ll have to see the pictures to believe us but it was totally insane. Dave rode for 6 seconds, Duncan for the official 8 and then Dave returned to the ring to ride an enormous beast with 12 inch horns for a full 3 seconds! It was a life defining moment for both of them and will be an incredible part of the film. #8 is complete!!!

In other news: Jonnie’s thumb is officially broken from training on the mechanical bull and he will be getting surgery this week. We spent a whole day with the wonderful Debbie Boyd, professional fly-fisher (and model!) and caught a total of 6 fish (dave-2, jonnie-2,ben-1,dunc-1) to complete number #44 “Catch Something and Eat It” on the list!! We also headed to the hills of Idaho to tackle #60: Paragliding, which was the closest thing to flight we’ve ever experienced.

All in all it was an extraordinary week and a testament to the live-it-to-the-max philosophy. If you’re still reading please log off and go do something outrageous!

Sent via Palm Centro

training on a mechanical bull

This one has been a long, long time coming: the infamous #8 - Ride a Bull. Dave wants to be a stuntman when he grows up and will have some serious hands on training today at the Young DNA Cattle Ranch in Boise, Idaho. He worked three jobs in Calgary last summer (saving up for Tour #1) and watched cowboys ride everyday on tv and at the Calgary Stampede. When we couldn’t make it to to this year’s Stampede in July (shout outs to Jameel, Suzie and Lee-Anne) all hope was lost. But now, three months later, dave will finally have his chance to ride!

ice!!

We arrived in Ketchum, Idaho on Thursday and couldn’t be happier to be here. With all the go-go-go of San Fran and LA it’s a breath of fresh air (literally) to get into the mountains. Our first stop was to the ice-rink to volunteer with the Sun Valley Adaptive Sports program to skate with a great group of local kids. Even though we were supposed to be the ones teaching them, it turned out to be the other way around. Thanks to Tom for letting us drop in and to all the kids for being so friendly. (photos-Kyle Jewell)

dave and his junior lookalike

preparing for a mega jump (over ben)

jonnie showing how the camera works

We arrived in Sun Valley on a Wednesday night with no idea what to expect. The weather forecast was for snow, which would not have been good news for the bus, but luck was on our side and the snow never manifested. Instead we had sun and blue sky for the next few days. After spending weeks in cities, the country was a welcomed scene.

Ketchum, ID, the town just below Sun Valley ski area has one main street, 4 stop lights and about 4,000 very friendly people. From the moment we arrived in town it seemed like people opened their doors to us, giving us places to stay, taking us out on the town, and helping us cross things off on our list.

In one week we hope to accomplish 4 things on our list
#10 Learn to Fly
# 8 Ride a Bull
# 60 Go paragliding (we went paragliding)
#44 Catch something and eat it

We even came up with a new one run with the sheep! Don’t ask. We’ll be filling you in on that one shortly.

Right now we are facing some of our biggest challenges so far though. We’re trying to go a little Hollywood. We want to #55 Kiss Rachel McAdams, #59 Get Ben a date with Megan Fox, #79 Dance with Ellen Degeneres, #46 Do a sketch with Will Ferrell. Any suggestions on how to get these ones going would be greatly appreciated.

Right before Halloween we’ll be hitting up Seattle where we plan on meeting up with a group of kids with cancer and taking them on a shopping spree of a lifetime in a toy store, then joining a nationwide war protest in Judkins Park (#62 join a protest). Come find us there on October 27. It’s almost Halloween so we might even be rocking costumes! Any thoughts on what we should be? Email us at: Jonnie@theburiedlife.com

–The Buried Life Crew

Photo: Dave and Jonnie check out a protest last winter in Montreal.

ali mongo: king of san francisco

It is my pleasure to introduce you to a man who goes by the name of Ali Mongo - a sliver of a man born around 1815 in Mongolia who has lived in over 89 countries, has 8 teeth left, eats only Guiness and Cognac, sells hot dogs and his paintings for money, and is probably one of the happiest people I have ever met in my life.

We got to know Mongo at the 7K Bridge to Bridge Run in San Francisco last week after he offered us free pretzels. We asked him what he wanted to do before he died and he indulged us with a glimpse into his extraordinary life, the majority of which I couldn’t understand through his toothless mongolian accent, but from what I gathered, I liked.

mongo and duncan sharing a “laugh”

What I could decipher from that conversation was that one of Mongo’s dreams was to have his art featured in an art festival in Berlin. The next day, we realized that we may actually be able to help Mongo with his dream, but having no way of contacting him, we were forced to do a little detective work on the streets of San Fran. With a little leg work, we were told about the main cafes where Mongo usually ‘kicks it’ and sells his art work. After about 3 hours of questioning people and searching, we found Mongo sitting at one of the cafe’s sipping on a guiness with a box of art.

When we told him that we had tracked him down to take some pictures of his art so that we could send them to a Berlin Art Festival he was so ecstatic that he started laughing, hugging us, saying things in his toothless mongolian english that I couldn’t understand. With a twinkle in his eye he ordered another bottle of cognac and told us more about his wonderful life. We joined him for a drink, snapped some photos, bought some of his artwork and listened to a bit of his broken wisdom.

I was left with the imprint of a man who has next to nothing yet has done just about everything and has the smile to prove it. My hat goes off to you Mongo, see you in Berlin!