Cross-country.

CHET CHILDRESS CAME DOWN to my house in San Diego to get out of the Portland rain and to get a skate mission going. One night at the bar, after a bunch of drinks and pitchers of beer, Chet says, "Let's get on the road!"

I've been across country with Chet a few times before, and it's a blast. Tons of spots to skate, people to see and spots to search out. Chet said he wanted to go for two months or longer months or longer. That was it, the next morning I asked if he still wanted to do it, and it was on. We started making phone calls and got the wheels turning. Two months--who goes on the road for two months?

How did you get the trip going?

Chet called Nike and Label and told them what we were working on, which was a nine-week cross country article along with finishing up Chet's interview for Thrasher and starting to get footage for the Nike video coming out. That's all they needed to hear. Chet's track record of driving cross-country and getting photos and video is 100-percent. We did think about taking off to the Cayman Islands for a week to hook up with Berard and Duffy who were there--nobody would have known until we came back with the footy, but that was all talk at the beginning.

Who else was going to travel with you?

We put the word out to some key players, but some people had prior commitments with their other sponsors. Also, a lot of skaters wait for their sponsor to call them up and tell them where they are going, and then have the TM babysit them. Sorry, I've seen it happen to too many people. Rakestraw and Alfaro jumped on it; they were finishing up their Label video parts and were hungry. We also knew we'd be hooking up with other dudes around the country to skate with. Rakestraw drove his truck with Alfaro in it. Kyle Berard hooked up with us for two weeks. Mike Peterson flew into Virginia and took it up to Philly with us for a week. Hooked up with Dan Murphy in NC, Gilley in Alabama, and a lot of other people in different cities that we knew.

You took Chet's car on the trip; how come no rental?

Chet didn't give a fuck about his car and wants to see how many times it can make it across the US before it blows up. I think it's been across seven times since he bought it. We also rented this crazy sport trailer from U-Haul to carry all the beer, lights, generator, grill, camping supplies, and skateboard crap.

How did you find spots?

We knew some of the better parks to skate, and some spots we skated a few years ago. The locals in each town were the ones who took us to the ditches, pools, and abstract spots. Also, Chet is down to drive around and find spots anytime. He can just sniff them out. I don't know how he does it, but he has an incredible eye for it.

So Nike and Label picked up the bill?

Sessions and Label kicked down, and Nike picked up a larger portion. Chet figured how much Nike ropes on him to go on a trip with their team, and he ends up getting a photo or two for an article. So he said give me X amount, and I'll drive my own car and come back in a couple months with all this. OK, here's a check. Bingo. So hotels, gas, a lot of meals, supplies, beer, and whatever was taken care of.

Who came along to film?

Grant Shubert (aka Shark Attack) was hired by Nike to film, but he had an accident in Texas at a fullpipe and broke his knee cap in seven places and had to go back to LA after two weeks. He was killing it too, skating and filming. Cracking beers every morning, just ready to take care of business. It put a damper on the trip for a week or so without a filmer. We had a VX2000, but it's hard to get someone to film fight when everyone wants to skate. Then we flew in the Nike filmer, Joey Digital, which got us back on the map.

Did you have a schedule?

No. That's the best part about doing it yourself, you have an idea where you want to go, but if Austin, TX is treating you good, you stay there for a week. If not, you bounce and get a re-hype in the next city. No demos or shop visits, just freestyling it.

Did you run this by Thrasher, letting them know you were hitting the road for two months?

No, I figured Jake and Mike Burnett are always down for the road. That's how Thrasher operates. We also kept it on the down-low, just in case Chet and I killed each other within the first week and abandoned the mission. It's funny, because Mike called me up about an hour into the trip when I'd just cracked the first beer. I was like, "Fuck, they need me to go on a trip next week ..."

So you guys stayed in hotels for the entire trip?

Hell no. We stayed at people's houses, friends who we knew and have met the past few years driving cross-country. Out of the whole trip, we spent about 20 nights in hotels, sometimes just to get a good night's sleep and get off the floor, or to get out of a party house for the night. We stayed at Berard's new house in Norfolk, VA. The cops were swarming the crib in the morning while we were packing the cars up. I guess a lot of street signs and bushes got thrashed the night before, and the neighbors were pointing at us while were driving out. Thanks goes out to everyone who put us up in their houses!

What about camping?

Yeah, camping was on, mostly in backyards.

How many miles did you travel, and what states did you skate?

We drove 13,000 miles and started in San Diego. Hit up Phoenix and Flagstaff, AZ, El Paso and Houston, TX, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, PA, NYC, Rhode Island, Boston, MA, and some others. We were hoping to hit Colorado on the way back but started running out of time. Two months goes by quicker than you would think when on the road. There's so much to cover in the US.

How many times did you get stopped by the cops?

A big fat zero! Somehow we were under the radar the whole time. The trailer for the most part had a tail light out; maybe Chet's Volvo station wagon with no stickers on it is incognito. Oh yeah, Rakestraw drove back from Raleigh, NC to San Diego in his Toyota pickup by himself and got pulled over two or three times. They thought he was sketchy and running drugs.

Did you breakdown or get any flats?

The only breakdown was on the way home, in Arizona. The car started smoking, but it ended up being a large plastic bag that had gotten caught under the engine and almost caught on fire. We got lucky. You see accidents all over the freeways and it kind of freaks you out while you're driving, but it also makes you more alert.

Damn, you guys got lucky!

Yeah but we did hit a snow storm in Flagstaff, Eight inches. Had to shovel out the car and had a five-hour drive in the snow--so many cars in the median on the freeway abandoned. But I'm from the East Coast, so I had snow driving skills. Kyle Berard drove up with us from Virginia to NYC, got his window broken and some shit stolen out of his car. They got some skateboards and a digital camera, and when I found the car in the morning there was a Visa card sitting on the seat. Also got wind that they were selling Berard's pro model World boards at the Brooklyn Banks the next day. Fucking rookies!