Skate the STATE - day 3

Steve does some retooling as Cory looks on

Nebraska skater and York resident, Eric Eckert, was out of town on a skate trip to COLORADO, but offered up his house for everyone. We awoke to a clear but highly windy day. A group of skaters from Lincoln including Cory, Lucas, Trey, and Jordan, had linked up the night before and they were planning on skating the remaining 51 miles into Lincoln with the main group. With even more heads in the mix, it took awhile to get moving.

I was stoked to see a kiddie pool rolling down the street in the wind.

Publicity stunt for the local newspaper

51 long and windy miles to go...plus some hills!

Steve and Dave Nelson head out on the 1st leg - Jordan films

Cory and his fresh legs made good time

Steve heads out on another leg in the wind.

Arty shot of the day....Phil pulls for a pit stop.

Steve and Andrew at a pit stop in a farmer's front yard.

Back into the wind...fresh off a break.

Supporters started showing up 20 miles outside of town

Steve breaks into the CITY LIMIT.

Loads of Lincoln skaters and supports showed up at the Capitol to welcome them HOME.

Closing statement on the steps of the Capitol.

And so wraps up my three days on SKATE THE STATE.....
Mike Smith gets huge props for making it all happen. And thanks to all who lent a hand along the way!

article from skatehive.


steve's video from his perspective

some of steve's photos

Skate the STATE - day 2

We awoke in GRAND ISLAND to chilly and rainy morning. I slept good in the van, but the road warriors.....well I can't speak for them.... Few were up when I ventured into the house. Slowly breakfast was ingested and we made our way to the outskirts of town...

Steve was my only passenger... Poncho on and somewhat ready....

Phil and Steve... pancho brothers.

take off in the rain... leg 1 begins. 4 more to go before York.

Crossing the Platte River, the swallows were swarming.

Phil was pissed early on... already getting the double BIRD.

Steve loved getting choice roadkill shots

This was the only POLICE interference that I saw and he let us be after our explanation.

This qualifies as my arty shot for the day.

this is where the land began to toss in some hills

before noon the sun was out and the ponchos were off

Steve looking grizzly at a mid day rest stop

steve and I sessioned the curb in the background.

Steve joins HK on a NIGHT RANGER tune!

 This is a rare shot of HK in action....in the sticks.... small town NEBRASKA.....side of the road.....a little collaboration is always nice....p: hearnebraska.org

small town / BIG SILO curb skating....

Phil was so frazzled from a long day that we went straight to the brewsky.

Ended the night at one of few restaurants in YORK, NE.

 Not much on the menu for a vegan... steve wasn't a happy camper either.... I broke down and bought a container of hummus at the grocery store...
The thought on everyone's mind.... "Will we make Lincoln tomorrow night?"

Skate the STATE - day 1

THIS CLIP was one of the first I filmed once I linked up with Steve and the SkATE THE StATE gang. I drove from Topeka, through Lincoln, into Grand Island.....{former home of my sister} and then met up with the gang on the West side of GI. So the gang had already had 7 days of skating first starting in Scott's Bluff. So my day 1 is their day7. Their goal was to skate the length of the state from Scott's Bluff to Lincoln, some 440 miles in an effort to raise money for a Lincoln indoor skatepark called Bay 198.

Steve skates up to the rest stop

I can't recall when I saw Steve last? Was it when he moved out?

TRAIN shot of the gang at the first rest stop that I encountered/

I drove 10 miles west of Grand Island and met up with Steve, Phil, and Mike and the support staff of Angie, Andrew, & Amber. I was now support staff #4. They would skate 10-12 miles non stop and then rest up. At this point, after some relaxation and hydration, it was only one more leg into Grand Island. A group of local skaters were set up and poised to meet us in town and then skate with us to the skatepark for a session.

Taking off on the last leg of the day.....

Art shot of Steve framed in the steel bridge

The kids and the media await the Skate the STATERS

Mike and Steve roll in.....

One of my favorite shots of the trip!

Steve leads the gang to the skatepark

PHIL grinding the vert wall at the GRAND ISLAND demo. He skated 40 some miles and still put on a demo for the kids! Did I mention that he's entered his 5th decade on this planet. He's owned Precision Skate Shop for 25 years. We skated with the kids for close to an hour and then bowed out to eat.

A kind, local couple put us up for the night in GRAND ISLAND. That evening while decompressing we caught the local news that had a clip from the previous day. CLICK HERE  It was lights out after the news. Another long day awaited.......

KC, Lawrence, & Topeka

From Wichita, I was going to drive to Salina, then Topeka, then Lawrence, then KC, then LINCOLN. But in the end, I didn't go to Salina at all and went straight into KC and met up with a long time skate pal and little brother of a girl I liked in high school..... BRETT COX. He suggested FUD since it was fairly close to his work and he likes it. I was blown away by the menu..... So much to choose from.

Brett and I dine at FuD! soooo good.

I went with 2 tacos that were out of control.

Brett and his NINJA commuter.

It was refreshing to catch up with Brett and hear how he offsets his boating habit by commuting on a crotch rocket. Sounds like he's eating pretty well and exercising....not skating so much, but that's ok. I have great memories of skating at the MARPLE Skatepark with Brett and Brodie.

Dan in front of Escapist in KC.

I always feel so honored to meet vegan skate shop owners. Dan is a long time vegan and we met last year at CROSSROADs but have been trading vegan restaurant tips for years. We even got to skate together on this trip. The rain cut it short, but it was fun nonetheless.  Skating in KC was the next day..... so after Escapist, I visited Studio Skate Supply on my way into LAWRENCE. today was the day the BARN ramp was a go.

On my way into town I stopped by and met Rod at White Chocolate and grabbed a bite to eat at the Tenth Street Veg Bistro.

Tofu marinara custom plate  !  local Lawrence tofu

I met JP Redmond at the Lawrence Skatepark....  THIS IS MY BEST MEMORY of the LAWRENCE PARK.....wait for it at the end....

JP got a couple lines.....on the mini ramp. This is what I could muster. Then we drove out to BARN ramp.

Mike Crouch and Joel the BARN owner

JP had set up the session and I had called my longtime skate comrade, Mike Crouch. Wasn't sure if he'd show up.... It turns out he's elusive in his older age. I hadn't seen him in years...like at least 15 years, so I was completely elated when I saw him get out of a car with who turned out to be Justin Shiney and Dirty AL. I tried to get Andy Brayman to join us but that didn't work out. We skated the barn all evening and I'm sad to say that I got no useable footage of Mike....none that would do him justice anyhow.... JP killed it all night. Here is one of many sick lines.
Joel, the owner, was hurt so he just hung and told us story after story.  I drove back into town with MIKE. Slept in his driveway and kicked it with his family in the morning.

Mike's kid and dog were fun to hang with.

Andy loves the bowl at Penn Valley

I'd set up a skate date with Andy Brayman in KC, so I picked up Dirty AL and we were off to KC to skate for the day.  

Penn Valley Skatepark in central KC

This is the park where we met Andy and Dan from Escapist... It looked like ran from when we pulled up, but it held out for about an hour.  I got this clip of AL, but no current footage of Andy or Dan.{these classic clips will get you acquainted with their legend status}..the rain came too quick. It was rad hanging out with AL for the day. I'd heard so much about him from Steve Andel. Steve actually called that afternoon and the two were reunited over the phone.

Dan Askew recommended  - the Blue Koi

Scallion pancakes!!!!

Noodle and tofu

Grabbed lunch with Andy and Al before Andy had to get off to the studio. We caught Dan getting lunch to go as we rolled up. AL and I walked around the hood and found a vegan bakery, but I was stuffed from Blue Koi.

It's good to know where MUD PIE is now....next time I eat there.

We dropped back by ESCAPIST and Dan sorted out a session at Sean Malto's TF since the rain kept coming. I'd seen a few pics of the place and it was all very cherry.

Al nosepicks Malto's mini ramp

The lay of the land at Malto's indoor.

I dropped Al off in Lawrence, got some food at THE MERC, then dropped in on Brett's sister, AMY.

Quinoa salad at the MERC

Amy's lego DEATHSTAR

And I ended the night at Pat and Char Brazil's in Topeka. My mom went to college with Char, and Pat introduced my dad to my mom. So I've known the Brazil clan all my life. It was great catching up and talking about old times. Char made a great vegan dinner for us that evening!

Pat and Char Brazil

next up....SKATE THE STATE in NEBRASKA.....