To Who It May Concern

It was brought to my attention that I'm still in Montana... on the blog I mean. For my own sake I should quickly make sure that changes, as I wouldn't want to spend any minute in Montana that I didn't absolutely have to. However, the mustard was quite nice up there.

See: 9 fingered Curt's Fine Yellow Mustard

Kansas came and went, and a huge thank you should be sent to the Renfro family for taking us in, feeding us, and ensuring that we had a good time in Lawrence. We saw KU's campus and some of their many state inspired street names, but the real story here is that we're home. I feel weird re-hashing things that happened so long ago.

It was an amazing ride. We've experienced more that we could've thought possible: city life, rural America, local breweries, countless parks, art-houses, restaurants, highways, backroads, you name it. People keep asking me my favorite parts of the trip, and honestly I don't have an answer. My mind is jumbled from all of the intake. I just know it was an amazing three week departure from normalcy.

Can this be a summary? No not really. I'm at the disadvantage of relaying through characters and scripts, and I'm nowhere near talented enough for that.

~The way I see in in my head is the way old maritime movies show nautical-types throwing out maps across a candle-lit tables and knocking off a hundred artifacts in the process~

Making an attempt:

The Caucasian race is a dying breed. The melting pot label was absolutely solidified, as we saw more and more Hispanic and Mexican culture the further we went west. Arizona Grant had informed us that they had made a legitimate attempt to change the official language of Phoenix to Spanish. Spanish radio stations dominated the waves, Taquerias blossomed in between street corners... The face of America is changing.

Along the same lines, Native Americans are absolutely exploited. Every billboard in the southwestern region related to Native American crafts, quilts, tools, jewelry, etc. hoping that the very idea of bottled culture will bring white folks and their billfolds running. Since we didn't stop, I can't really say how legitimate it all was. My hope is that it's separate from any kind of mass-produced arm of corporate America and showcases the skill and trade of a people. It's hard not to fall in love with the Native American model.

Fast food nation. Carls Junior, In and Out Burger, Jack in the Box, Del Taco, and all the familiars that come to mind with those two beautiful, alliterated words. You can get it anywhere, which is pretty alarming really. You realize it's a problem when you witness 40 McDonalds exits in a span of 10 hours.

The thing I had such a hard time getting out of was routine. The social-sphere of familiar faces, burger-joints, hang-outs, institutions... the whole of it vaporized not thirty minutes away. For every inch of freedom you get, a little bit of vulnerability comes with it. There's absolutely nothing quite like being out in the world. Most of it chalks up to some sense of self-discovery, the fear of the great unknown, the sheer uncertainty of it all... but some of it boils down to detachment. Sometimes we didn't know what city we'd land in, or what we'd see, or how long we'd remain in a box on wheels. Consciously it's a beautiful thing, but it's the subconscious you've gotta watch out for. Too much change isn't good for a man, thankfully I had two safety nets in friends.


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It crashes like waves. My mind comes to it from time to time unprovoked. It gets a little lighter, the chambers a little more forceful, and the pegs a little less reliable. I kind of drift places. It's what I wanted. I had every reason to believe the trip was going to be hellacious... braced myself for the bad, and hoped like hell the good would peak out in spells.

It wasn't perfect, but it's how it will be remembered. Things are like that, you know? Like when you say you hated high school, or how the summer between two educations was the best summer of your adolescent life. It's all got a feel to it. For me, that feel was monumental. Life changing. So joyous my heart wants to explode.

That's why we do it. That's why these things exist. Young and tanned and hopeful and desperate and teeming and alive and the potential to do something completely your own. We were the West Coast personified. Perfect? Yeah, if you ask me... it was.

Thanks for being a part of it with us