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Photos/text: Kevin Conners
When Bob Pratt (owner of Staff BMX) called and told me that he wanted to fly Brad Gethard and J.J. Palmere out to San Diego to go on a trip with Joe Riley and myself I was stoked for five main reasons. One, this was the first trip in a while where all I was there for was to have fun and shoot some photos; the rest was up to Joe, Brad, and J.J. Second, I got to shoot and hangout with J.J. about a year ago and had a ball, so the chance to see him again was a welcome one. Third, Joe was going. Joe and I have traveled numerous times before and no matter what happens it always ends up being a fun and interesting time. Reason number four: Brad Gethard. Growing up in Baltimore I had always heard rumors of the local shredder from the Tom’s River park, and getting to finally meet him in person was a plus. And lastly, did I mention it was a trip where the whole point was to have fun and shoot some pictures along the way?
With that said we loaded up two cars with no real plans or directions as to where we might head. That ended up being the best idea we could think of, and it actually worked out. We got to ride the Primo ramps, Moorpark, Skate Lab, some other amazing street spots, and ended up making it out to Vegas to show the crew a few of my old local spots. 
Highlights from this trip for me include listening to Joe talk about how much fun he had at the “shady” establishment we just left, followed by him singing Tom Petty at the top of his lungs. J.J.’s vision quest—the kid had never left the East, had never seen a palm tree, and sure as hell had never sung so much Alice Cooper in his life. Brad’s late night stories of his “girlfriend experiences,” all while sleeping next to a grimy J.J. Brad and J.J. both mysteriously getting a soar throat the same day, to the point of needing to go the hospital. Kelly Bolton’s van—that thing is a rolling bedroom. Joe doing amazing tables out of a mellow quarter straight to roof, showing the local shredder how it was done. And of course, just having no plans and taking it day by day.
For me this trip had all the right makings to be a great experience and it was just that. So the next time I have to plan a trip, I am not planning anything except for good friends and experiences to come. Thanks to Bob at Staff for making this all happen for us.
And in case you were wondering, yes, we shot a lot of video on this trip, so watch for it on Vital BMX sometime next week.
