Room Two-Thirty-Three

Shocking News! was just received,

that we have all been deceived,

except for room Two-Thirty-Three in Lee's asylum on the hill.

That all we know in Prairie Town,

of beggars who clothe our walking ground,

was misrepresented by the appearances perceived...

Found Saturday Afternoon,

the news leaked only to a few,

including Doctor Pedigrew, who seemed fast asleep in general surgery.

That what lay beneath the chest,

of one where the streets it's head did rest,

A Heart! T'was quite similar to the one's in me and you.

Pedigrew a bit shaken,

a man rarely mis-taken,

felt the colors of his soul turning from bright white to dark blue.

Memories rushed to his head,

of wicked games he often lead,

at cost of Mister Fish who lived outside of Prairie Station.

Mister Fish was getting old,

ninety-four the story told.

he spent eighty years on the banks of the Willow River Run.

Fish a man of many skills,

the son of drunkard carpenter Bill,

who for a baby's bourbon breath would sell his drunken soul.

Now, Pedigrew built dams of shame,

blocking tears to which he blames,

on the wrongs he'd cast on Mister Fish outside of Prairie station.

So Pedigrew took the rail,

to seek out Fish through wind and hail,

where he'll dig a grave to burry all the sorrow with his name.

But, what he found when he arrived,

Mister Fish less then alive.

He screamed and wept and dug a hole where Mister Fish would lay outside Prairie Station.

Pedigrew then sat beside,

The Willow Run and tried to hide,

from the fog, rolling low and slow, that caught us all by surprise.

Welcome friends,

Tonight we are lucky enough to cater to a special guest, Sir Murphy Leftwig of Wales.

Now, he's joined us under the condition that we inform you of his blossoming article entitled "Left of the Perfect Arch", which will premier in December's issue of TIME Magazine. The piece is aimed to expand the ideals of "anti-Liberal comic relief". We do, however, have a surprise for our audience tonight. You will be able to pick up a copy of this article after the show! (Applause)

Now we are very pleased to have you on the show Murphy.

Brilliant, I was certainly excited to receive your call Thomas, and I assure you my wife was quite keen on the idea of traveling to Paris for the weekend!

Beautiful, we are all happy then. Now let's cut to the chase. What on earth have you been up to as of late?

Well upon finishing my article I decided to holiday in Manchester with a dear mate. We really weren't up to much, as of course we both were keen on a weekend of downtime (haha), and I must assure you our days were filled with much laziness! (Laughter)

That's just great, Manchester really is a great place to get away. Tell me, Murphy, did you happen upon any football?

Ah well of course! My mate who was catering to my stay is actually quite the football fan. He was kind enough to take me to the Sunderland match, which proved to suit my fancy as well. Oh and I must tell you of these young men we met outside of the match! They were quite the characters if I must say.... They're names were Phenz and Dizz I do believe. Odd names I might add.

Do go on Sir Murphy!

Well it all began like this...

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Blah Blah Blah...... Blah Blah.

Well from Manchester we headed south to Paris. We got to see the Louvre, Ms. Mona Lisa was looking spectacular as were the hundreds of ceilings! Every night starting at 9 on the hour the Eiffel Tower lights up like an enormous fire cracker, so we braved the storm of North African pocket venders to catch the show. It was amazing. We also got to visit Josh's Aunt and Cousin one night. They made us some delicious soup served with baguettes. It was nice to see some familiar faces again! My favorite part of France was our visit to Normandy with the Deanovics'. We got to see all of the beaches that were stormed in the D-Day invasion as well as many sites that were key to the recovery of France for the allies. The trip also included a visit to the American grave yard, where we got the chance to walk through and pay homage to all the soldiers who gave their life for liberty. I felt very moved by the whole experience.

We then traveled by train to Switzerland, where I'm writing you from today! This place is truly spectacular. I've never been anywhere so engulfed in beauty. Josh and I feel very blessed to have the opportunity to visit here. Each day we have gone on a hike with our buddies we've met here. The last two days we tried to hike to the peak of the Schilthorn, the mountain we're on, but were defeated on both occasions. I feel very humbled by the fact that we're unable to conquer this land. Actually I feel a sense of respect and honor for the mountain. I believe this land was created to be respected and not conquered, however there is a fairly successful restaurant on the peak... We are insatiable. Anyway the views are tremendous and our friends here are really great people. Tomorrow we depart for Florence, Italy. We are excited for that, but ever more excited for Herms!! We will be in Italy for three days before we go.

Thanks to our faithful followers!

We love you and miss you all very much!

May God bless you and keep you all!

With love from Gimmelwald,

Casey

manchester

so in manchester we were staying at one of casey's families friends places, actually in a little town called gee cross which was just east of manchester. we got in about 9 in the morning oct. 1st at the hyde bus station which was at the bottom of this hill below where we were staying. so we walked about 25 minutes uphill to this cute little neighborhood where the flat was that we were staying at. we got there and dean, casey's friend, wasn't home so we sat and waited for a while but got to hungry so we left and went to to a great spot to have an english breakfast braun, basically a eggs sausage sandwich. was real good. we headed back up and dean was home now. he was a real great guy, real funny and so generous to let us stay there. hes a real unusual european to because he loves american football, specifically the vikings. our kind of guy. so he had espn and every american sport channel we could have asked for. dean got us all settle in and had to head off for work, so he left us and we needed to do some catching up on sports. so we watched sports just bout the rest of the day til later that night when dean and his girlfriend steph took us for dinner. Day Two, first full day in manny, dean had to leave for business and was getting to go to califonia to watch the Berkley v. USC game that weekend, unbelievable. so we got to hang with steph the rest of the time there. so day two we woke up, case made some money breaky sandwiches and we sat and watched some more sports. it sounds terrible, like we were wasting our trip away but honestly, only place in all of the UK, maybe even europe that someones gonna have espn. so we had to take advantage of the opportunity. but later in the day, steph was moving from her apartment and moving into deans so we went over and helped her get everything together for her move the next day. after she took us out to one of her favorite indian spots. it was real nice. Day Three, we woke up and headed over to stephs to get everything moved into her storage space. we packed it up, shipped it out, made it happen and then after all the packing she took us out for lunch at this real deal cantonese restaurant. and when i say real deal, i mean real deal. we ate so many things that i had no idea where they came from or what they were called. we did in fact, no lie, dine on some fine chickens feet. not half bad actually. after our late lunch she took us over to the manchester united football teams stadium. we had no idea there was a game going on, if we would have me and case would have tried and gotten tickets. but manchester was playing sunderland and we walked outside the stadium and listened to the crowd just erupt and go wild when manchester scored. it was an awesome experience. we rode home listening to the game on the radio, they tied 2-2. Day Four steph took us into manchester. it was a pretty cool city, kind of reminded us of minneapolis a bit. we walked around and heard some peruvian flute bands playing in the streets. after steph took us over to the manchester city football stadium, another team that manchester has. we headed home and me and case, after dinner, walked up the hill to this oldstyle english pub that was on top of this hill that over looked all of manchester. it was real sweet. we got in the pub, got some funny looks, had our drinks and then head back down the hill to deans. Day Five, our last day in manchester. steph wanted to take us out to the countryside of england, so we drove out to this great little traditional english town. we stopped in at one of the restaurants for some english tea and scones, some good ole tea time mates. she also took us out to this cool old house and church with all these green, lively trees and lush fields surrounding it. it was real great to get to see that part of england too. so the next day, which would actually be today, step got us to the airport, said goodbye and headed for paris. and here we are now, staying in our hostel with some professional rollerbladers that are on tour in europe. ones actually from Plymouth, minnesota and is the best in the world i guess. pretty sweet, some good fellas. but there ya have it folks. lengthy update, but we love you guys. not a day goes by that we dont miss home and miss you guys, but we're loving it, living it up and hope you guys are all well.

god bless

phenz and diz

london

hey pals, sorry we've been pretty terrible about keepin this deal up to date. but here we are, phenz and diz in paris, france. the fashion capital of the world, kind of feels like a second home for us. really look the part out here. but so its 10:40pm on oct. 6th, we just got in to france earlier today and got settled in at christophers inn. brand new hostel, real nice place, we're feeling pretty great bout it. so our past week or so though we've been in the UK, london and manchester. we got into london about over a week ago now and spent about 4 days there and 5 days in manchester. i'll do my best to give you guys the play by play of our adventures while we were over there. here we go...

once we finally got over the border legally, we got hooked up in our hostel in the north part of london at a place called palmers lodge. its was a real awesome spot with some great bunk rooms all made of this old, classic wood. gave the place a kind of inside a castle/barracks feels. it was pretty cool, we really like the place. and we also got hooked up so phat with one of the girls that was working at the hostel, her name was hedia. just was sweet as they come, a complete doll, she really helped us out while we were staying there. so Day One in london, first full day, we both slept in after being a little tired from our shenanigans at the border and then got up and got the day started a little later. we were planning on catching this free tour of central london we had heard about at the hostel at 4 that day, so we caught a bus into the more down-town/central part of london and headed towards this wellington arch that the tour was starting at. unfortunately there are quite a few arches in london and we picked the wrong one, so we missed the tour. but no big deal right, we faced some conflict before on this trip thus far and still made it work. so instead there was this huge park, called hyde park, that was right across from the arch that we were at. so we walked over there and started livin it up. it was a sweet place, just a huge park and a great spot to escape to from the loud, wild city. it was an absolute perfect fallish day too, so made our park experience real enjoyable. we say some cool gardens, beautiful fountains, and say the princess diana memorial, which i thought was real cool. so after the park we headed back for movie night at the hostel and none other than james bond, everybodys favorite brit, is playing on the screne. Day Two, luckily the free tour runs everyday so we were determined to check it out. and this time found the right arch and got set up for the tour of central london. we were real pumped about the deal and got probably one of the all time greats for tour guides. this guys name was marcel and he was a complete character, but also a complete master of his craft. me and diz loved this guy. so we got to see buckingham palace, the horse guards go by, the princes house and the guards being changed there, we saw downing street, trafalgar square, westminster abbey, big ben and parliament, and a lot of other great stuff (pics our on our facebooks if you want to check em out). so after the tour we headed back to trafalgar square where this art museum was, i forget what it was called. but it was free so we went in and scoped it out. after the museum we headed back and hit up wetherspoons, which was this restaurant not far from our hostel that we hit up just about everynight we were there cause they had this amazing burger and beer deal. burger and beer for under 5 pounds, cant say no to that. pretty solid british burger too. Day Three, we woke up and decided to do a little free tour of our own, we took the tube (there subway kinda) down to the very unimpressive london bridge. the actual london bridge you think of is called tower bridge, but we went and say that too as well as the london tower. after seeing that we had heard at the hostel that abbey house, the recording studio the beatles used for their album abbey road, and abbey road weren't to far from the hostel. so we walked over there to were the beatles took the album picture for abbey road, and abbey house where they recorded it. it was pretty wild. took some pictures of us walking across the road like the beatles did. very nice. so after, we had one last run at wetherspoons and packed up cause we had to leave early the next morning for manchester. we got up the next morning, got sent of by our number one gal hedia, she even planted a kiss on the both of us. better believe it people. and then headed to heathrow airport and caught our flight up to manchester.

Masterdam

hey guys, thanks for the love. its real appreciated. so heres the current update, its sept. 27th 9:05pm and we are here at palmer's lodge in London. its a real cool spot, we're diggin it. but so a little update for y'all and oh boy its quite an update.

we'll start with amsterdam. we spent bout a total of three and a half days there, stayed at the shelter city hostel right in on the edge of the red light. really great hostel, would recommend it to anyone. it was a christian hostel, bumping christian tunes in the speakers just about all day, so it was a real beautiful deal. so first full day in amsterdam, dizz and I get up have some breaky and take to the streets for some walking. we walked all over town checking out the red light district during the day, seeing all the "coffee" shops and all the crazy sex shops and what not along the way. amsterdam is a real beautifully historic place, with all the channels and tiny streets, all the bikers and old buildings. it was great getting a feel for the city just by walking. so later that night we headed back to the hostel for a bible study they hold every night. we sat in and after i got to talking to this amazing, beautiful bronze babe named szvipka (not quite sure on the spelling). she was from germany and was working at a community, almost salvation army like, in the red light. she was a real awesome woman, fired up about faith and serving. our kinda gal. dizz got talkin to this californian mug, steve, a wine maker. he was quite the character, great guy though. so after chatting it up with our new friends for a little, we thought why not check out the night scene in the red light. its straight up wild. the partying, prostitution, smell of weed every where you go, its quite the scene. we checked it out for a little while and then called it a night. day two of amsterdam, me and case heard from steve about this museum park that was suppose to be pretty cool to check out. so we head out, i kinda forget what happened but we decided to say screw it and head back to the hostel to figure out our plans. on our way, by some kind of miracle, we run into our wonderful buddy szvipka and catch as she headed out to the anne frank house. se we decide to head out there with her. we were really glad to see it, its a powerful place. later that night we had some good ole amsterdamian classic pannecoken and call it a day. day three we get up early and buy some bus tickets over to london. we head out to were the bus station is and hang at a park for some time while we what for our bus. what happens next is where it gets pretty wild. gonna post this email case wrote to descibe it to you....

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Bonjour!

Haha as you might guess Phenz and I are in France right now. We are staying in a cheap hotel in a little town called Calais. Calais? You might ask! Thats exactly what I said to the UK Border Patrol officer as she told us that we would be denied entrance into the UK. That being said I guess I need to fill in some blanks. Phenz and I had planned to go to London after our stay in Amsterdam. So we booked a couple of bus tickets and took off. Everything was going smoothly. We had a hostel booked for four nights in London followed by a plain ticket to Manchester where we would meet Dean King who generously invited us into his flat. All this until we were hauled into detainment at 4 am. There we would stay for the next 9 hours. We were each questioned separately by one of the Queens finest border patrol officers, followed by a long session of fingerprinting. Needless to say the UK was quite questionable on the matter of our visit! Once the decision had been made that we weren't going to be aloud in we were escorted back to france by two fine young French law officers and thrown into jail. (Not really though... we were only in there for 30 min. :) I'll show you some picks we captured though, pretty funny). Anyway when we got out of there we were escorted of the police property and dumped at a bus station. Funny how life goes sometimes!

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wild stuff. we bounced back though. we stayed in a cheap hotel in calais for the night and woke up in the morning caught a ferry over to dover in the UK. got through costumes with absolutely no problem. we almost got through without showing any papers and without them even knowing that we were denied to their country yesterday, which kinda makes our fiasco yesterday a little questionable. we got off the ferry took a bus to london and now here we are. un-phased by UK border control and loving life and loving london. so the plan is we are here for the next four days then headed up to chesterville (manchester) to stay with one of caseys family friends for five days. and then we've got tickets to paris. so thats that folks, we dearly miss you all. we love seeing your posts and would love to hear how your doin and how life is back home. we're off to bed here pretty soon, we're pretty spent after the lot we've been through. take care pals, you're in our thoughts and prayers. you have our love.

BLESSINGS,

Casey and Josh

Red Light District

Hello Friends, We have arrived in Amsterdam alive and well. Our hostel is pretty legit actually, Thanks Kari! We're in the Red Light District, which serves as an interesting place to begin our journey. At this time we have a limited amount of internet usage so this will be a short post. However we are working on getting some pictures up for those who wish to view! We love and miss you all though, and can't wait to hear from you guys!

Peace,

Casey & Josh