Yesterday was a fun-filled day of Witt Nation activities, and by activities we mean mostly driving. We woke up early to the space needle on our right and The Sound on our left in the not so rainy city of Seattle. We quickly cleaned out the van to transform it into the president's motorcade. On the way to Portland we discovered that President Erickson enjoys the musical styling of Robby Williams and Michael Jackson, he even shared a few youtube videos with us. After an entertaining three hour drive, we arrived at Meriwethers Restaurant in Portland. We had a surprisingly large and lively crowd with alums ranging from the class of '43 to the class of '05. After a lot of great conversation, we sat down for lunch and listened to President Erickson give a few updates on the University. It was exciting to see so many people this far away from campus interested in staying engaged with their alma mater. After the event we took a few minutes to explore the Alphabet District in downtown Portland. We bought a few trinkets, loaded up on coffee and got back on the road heading toward McKinnleyville California, for the night. We were on our way to meet up with Chris Heiliger '03, Beth '97 and Tim Dominick at the home of former Wittenberg employees Chuck and Nancy Dominick. After Chris's expert advice to try to get through 199 before dark, we mastered the art of holding your bladder. We arrived at the Dominick's to a warm welcome of pizza and beer... are they true Wittenberger's or what? After a great night's sleep and a quick breakfast of delicious homemade muffins, we headed to the beach to enjoy some fresh air and soak up the local scenery. On our way out of town Tim, Chris, and Chuck gave us a tour of Tim and Beth's organic coffee business Sacred Grounds. We sampled the coffee, learned a little bit about the business, and Chris gave Ben a burlap coffee bag that has become his new suitcase. The coffee was so amazing that Ashley P. has now turned into a coffee drinker! We highly suggest that everyone look into the coffee and support a great Wittenberg family business. Thanks to some Witt Nation CD's made by Chris, we now have a new playlist for the road. We are so happy right now! We are now on our way to Sonoma, a little more awake and a little more convinced that Wittenberger's across the nation are just awesome!
~ The Ashley's
Click this link to see photos and videos from the Portland event!
Greetings Witt Nation! This is Ashley Petersen, Assistant Director of Alumni Relations and former 'roadie.' I am just meeting up with crew here in Jackson, WY., and it has been an amazing time already. We arrived in Jackson on Monday and have been soaking up every bit of the lifestyle that we can. Due to the limited alumni base in the area we stayed with a friend of mine from high school, Alex, and his roommate, Jedd. When we arrived Alex took us floating down a creek on inner tubes. The mini rapids combined with the view made floating just the right mix of exciting and relaxing (even if the water was freezing!). That night we took a dip in Alex’s hot tub, grabbed pizza and headed to bed. Yesterday we woke up and headed to our event at Betty Rock Café. We had the pleasure of meeting Lynda Ochs ’66, her husband Don, and Andy Tyson ’91. We quickly realized that Lynda was a Chi Omega just like Ashley and me. It was great talking to her about how different campus was back in the 60’s. Andy gave us some interesting info about Wyoming telling us a little about his company, Creative Energies, and the use of alternative energy sources. There is a big push among students and faculty at Wittenberg to become more environmentally aware. It was great to hear that Andy was so knowledgeable and willing to help out with efforts on campus. When we got back to Alex’s from lunch, he was packed and ready to take us on a hike in Grand Teton National Park. While we were a little nervous about hiking in “Death Canyon” and carrying bear repellent, we trusted our guide. Within five minutes of hiking, a moose and her calf were 30 feet from us on the trail (apparently this situation can be more dangerous than seeing a bear). We had to wait a while for the moose to get away from the path before we could pass and took a few pictures in the meantime. The view on the hike was like nothing I have ever seen. We hiked down to Phelps Lake and spent a few hours hanging out on “the rock,” listening to music and jumping off the 30-foot drop into the water. It was also freezing but the view made it totally worth it. Ben compared the scenery to something out of a Bob Ross painting, and we all agreed. After returning from the hike we took a tour of the Four Seasons Resort where Alex and Jedd work. It was incredibly impressive and definitely worth checking out if you are looking to vacation out West! As we drive out of Jackson through Yellowstone (or as Manson likes to call it, Jellystone) National Park, I can’t help but wonder how it gets much better than this.
After a great event last night at Red Rock Casino we are on our way to Denver for rafting tomorrow. The drive today has been more beautiful than I could have ever expected. I took the first leg of the 12 hour journey and cruising on I-70 east through Utah, listening to the country music playlist on my ipod has been one of the best parts of this trip so far. When we stopped to change drivers the view was literally breathtaking. As we make our way back home and I think back on the diverse set of landscapes we have seen and people we have met I am a little sad that the trip is nearing its end. Yet, I can’t help but be overwhelmed by how inspiring every aspect of this experience has been so far. We still have a lot of miles to cover but thank you to everyone who has made this trip absolutely remarkable up to this point.
Out here in L.A. we had the privilege of staying with alum Andy Wedemeyer '87 and former faculty member Jenny Guthrie. They opened their home to us and even gave us a tour of their neck of the woods. Andy builds sets out here in L.A. and gave of us a tour of studio he has been working in recently. It was so amazing to me to see the different scenes and how much work goes in to creating the different sets. We had a lot of fun! Andy let us walk around in all the different types of sets (including the Jail) and I kept getting confused between real bathrooms and fake bathrooms- everything looks so real. After leaving Andy we were stuck in traffic for a while on Hollywood Boulevard due to the X-files premiere. From what I here, this is an authentic Hollywood experience!
As we were packing up our van in the Starbucks parking lot in San Diego, Nicole Shelton '96 was strapping her surfboard to the top of her SUV. She looked over and asked in disbelief “Are you from Wittenberg University in Ohio? …I went there” . We were so excited that we decided to document the occasion and let you all know that Wittenberg is everywhere!
Kettlehake and our fellow Wittenberg employee Rick Stenberg, we set up a dinner of wonderful Mexican food (seriously…the best guacamole I have ever had) right in front of The Hotel Del Coronado. It was so relaxing to be on the beach at sunset talking to fellow Wittenbergers. The best part of the whole event was seeing the surprised look on everyone’s faces when they walked up to us and realized that there actually were other alumni in the San Diego area. We heard some really great stories last night, including a ghost story about the Hotel Del. After the event, our host Dan Kettlehake took us around San Diego to show us Balboa Park and the Gaslamp district. It is going to be really hard to say goodbye to this beautiful city!
After our longest drive yet we got into Phoenix a little later than expected but we made it!! Our event in Dallas the night before made us a little nervous about the drive. Everyone we talked to about where we were going the next day was a little doubtful that we would make it past El Paso. It definitely was a long drive but we enjoyed the dramatic change in landscape as the Berger crossed Texas and New Mexico into Arizona. The wonderful Morgan Miller ’07 was our host for the evening. She had a pizza waiting for us when we pulled up (which reminded us all that we hadn’t eaten dinner yet) and let us do some laundry! We have had a lot of our friends following the Witt Nation trip but Morgan might be our #1 fan. She has text us everyday with a new message for each city (example: “ West Philadelphia born and raised is where Fresh Prince spent most of his days. Hope your chillin out maxin, relaxin all cool”) . Thanks for all your support Morgan!
Atlanta was an amazing stop! We had so much fun at The World of Coke and talking with Scott McCune. The event brought a lot of great alums out to Hudson Grille and a good time was had by all. Even though we desperately wanted to stay in Atlanta after the event to hang out with alums and/or go see The Dark Knight (we have a picture of Batman hanging up in our van that we cut out of a fruit snacks box) we had to make our way to Birmingham so that the drive in the morning would be a little more bearable. Lea '96 and Jared Millet were our wonderful hosts in Alabama. They greeted us with open arms and Wii Mario Kart- more than we could ever have asked for. We might have lost a few hours of sleep but playing Wii was well worth it. Now we are off to Dallas for an event tonight!
Thursday night, after the event, we had the privilege of staying with Craig Prain ’84 and family. They made us a wonderful gift basket of all things South Carolina and even introduced us to okra (not bad at all and nothing like brussel sprouts as I had once imagined).
As we pulled into Charlotte later than expected on Wednesday night we all were vey curious as to how the next few days would pan out. On our first night in the city we were greeted by Marguerite and Brian Gleason. Marguerite is an alum and now works as a veterinarian n Charlotte. Their hospitality was amazing and we loved getting to know their three dogs and one cat. The Gleason’s have a lot of Ohio State paraphernalia in their house but we left a few Wittenberg gifts with them that will hopefully rival that collection! 
After a great night in Delaware we headed to D.C.
We arrived in Philadelphia last night at the apartment Wes Enicks ’03 and Kate Hasecke ’03 around 1:30 a.m. Wes was nice enough to wait up for us and help us get settled in. With all of our air mattresses laying side by side in the living room, this was the first of many authentic Witt Nation sleep-overs. A few delirious jokes and giggles led to a great night’s sleep and dreams of Philly Cheesesteaks in the morning.
