Welcome to Colorado!

Well we made it. After exactly 8,888 miles we crossed the border to Colorado. What a trip. From Seattle we drove 2 long days to make it to Boulder, stopping in Boise, ID and Salt Lake City, UT. Both nights we couch surfed and stayed with some nice people. Driving through Wyoming on 80 is the worst. In all directions for as far as you can see there is nothing bust empty land. We were low on gas and used the GPS to find a station. Garmin took us about 10 miles off the interstate into some small ranch town. When we got to the destination there was a stack of hay where Garmin said the gas station would be. We're not on good terms with Garmin anymore.

The first night in Boulder we couch surfed with a girl named Katrina. As soon as we arrived she took us on a hike which was perfect after sitting in a car for 9 hours. Boulder is a beautiful place. The Rocky Mountains hug the west side of the town so no matter where you are in Boulder if you drive west you will end up somewhere in the mountains with great hiking/climbing/etc.

The second night we couch surfed with a girl named Aubrey. We met up with her and her friend Ashley at a cafe before they took us out around Pearl St. They both work at a costume store and they took us there that night while it was closed. We were the only ones in there and the music was playing loud and we got to try on a bunch of the costumes.

The next day we headed to Denver to meet up with our friend Rachel from Binghamton. While we were planning our trip back in May she mentioned to us that her Aunt lives in Denver and we made plans to meet up at the end of the trip. We went out to the red rocks amphitheater with her little cousin Jadin.


We spent the weekend in Denver then headed back to Boulder. I spent some time at the university to meet with the professor I will be working under. We found showers in a bathroom on the bottom floor of the engineering building which we gladly used. Between spending time downtown and on campus we hiked a portion of the flat irons.

We met back up with Ashley and Aubrey and they took us out to a summit that over looks Boulder and Denver. We then crashed at their friends' Anna's place. Apparently they only hang out with girls whose names begin with A. In the morning we made blueberry-bannana pancakes before I dove Dan to the airport.
Before Dan took off we got a security guard to take our picture. I sure am going to miss this guy.

The West

Well we just got to Boise, Idaho, after a long day of driving from Seattle. We are couch surfing from Seattle to Boulder, staying here in Boise, Salt Lake City and a couple couches in Boulder before finishing the road trip. Couch surfing (couchsurfing.org) is a website where you can search anywhere throughout the world and find people who offer their couches for a night or two.

The past week has been spent along the west coast from northern California, up through Oregon and eventually to Seattle. The drive along the coast was beautiful with several stops to check out the beaches.

It was tricky finding camping so close to the 4th of July. We were able to find some rustic camping in northern California where we drank some of the Champagne that Al's friend gave us and made a fire.

The next night we made it up to North Bend, Oregon, and camped out again before heading north to Portland. Oregon is a great state, people are nice. very scenic, and no sales tax! The first two nights we stayed with Rissa, a girl I met at CU Boulder's open house. We went hiking just outside of the city and found an awesome cave that we crawled into and some swimming holes to cool off in.

The next day I found out that Lovers (http://www.holdmyclothes.com) was playing a show at this tiny venue downtown.
After the show I dropped Dan off at Rissa's because he was getting tired. I went out to explore the city. It was 1:30am and there was a tattoo parlor open right next door to a bar. I decided to check it out as alcohol and tattoos can sometimes be an interesting combination. I met a guy named Cameron who was getting a tattoo with a girl that he met a year ago but hasn't seen in months until today. When they met up they decided to get matching tattoos of a tooth with a smiley face and lightning bolt cavity.

We started talking a bunch and the three of us hung out until 4:00 am before I decided to go back and get some sleep. The next day Dan and I explored Portland for a bit and tried thinking of places to stay for the night. We were trying to find some rustic camping out near Mt. Hood national forest but the ranger station was closed for the holiday. I gave Cameron a call and he told us that we can crash at his place.

While meeting up at his place we saw a couple people walking by who asked if we were going to the party. Apparently some guys got evicted from their house and they were holding a huge party for their last night there. We showed up to the eviction party and the front lawn was filled with about 100 kids. The Jizz Wizzards were setting up to play a show in the basement. It was a wild time.

Soon after someone spilled beer on the band's mac and the music ended. Cameron decided to take the party back to his place. We made a bonfire in the back yard and invited people on the street to come join. The next morning I sent Cameron a message thanking him for letting us crash at his place and showing us around Portland. He wrote back saying no problem, and mentioned that he got fired from his job for waking up too late.

We had decided to go up to Seattle the next day for the 4th of July and see my buddy Micah. Micah had some bikes for us and we headed down to Gas Works Park. We had heard that the fireworks show there is one of the best in the country. We met up with Micah's buddies, a bunch of engineers who graduated from RIT the year before and moved to Seattle to work at Boeing. We took a walk to Freemont which is famous for being the location of the center of the universe. That's right, the center of the universe is located within Seattle, now you know. We then headed back to the park for the fireworks, which were amazing.





And now we are in Idaho, leaving in the morning for Salt Lake City. We should be getting to Boulder by Tuesday, yeeha.

California

We just arrived to Portland, OR after driving up the coast of California from Los Angeles on Highway 1.

We met up with Al in Los Angeles. Apparently he knows some people and the first night we were there we got a free dinner, free drinks and VIP/back stage passes for a show at The Music Box, one of the largest music venues in L.A. The venue is huge and we were allowed on the balcony upstairs to meet the bands and what not. We met the owner of the place and he told us that he has to make $300,000 a month just to break even.

The next day we were hooked up with free kayaking in Marina Del Rey for a few hours and then went to Santa Monica beach and walked around the pier for a bit. There were people on slacklines, rings and monkey bars. Slacklining is a lot harder than it appears.


Epic Slackline Fail.....................

Afterwards we headed to UCLA's campus to throw the frisbee around for a bit then to Westwood. We walked into a grocery store for some watermelon and two girls asked if we wanted $15 each to fill out a survey. After filling out a questionaire on our favorite celebrities, consumer brands, TV commercials and what not we left with $15 cash each. Not bad. We also found some free chairs on the side of the street and carried them back to Al's place.

The next night we were hooked up with more free food and drinks. There was a line forming outside the Music Box since 9:00am for a show and we were told we could get free VIP/back stage tickets again but we declined. Al knew someone else who works with Jimmy Kimmel. We ended up going back stage of Jimmy Kimmel Live that night where there was more free food and drinks. As we were arriving Megan Fox was just leaving but we were introduced to David Arquette.

We left LA and headed north up the Pacific Coast Highway. The beaches along the coast are gorgeous. We found a camp site not too far off the coast. We got there late enough and left early enough to avoid the fees. Continuing up north we made it to Big Basin and checked out the Redwoods.



***Hey Dan here. I have to interrupt because Jesse failed to mention the event that cost us about 12 hours in the car in a big loop between L.A. and San Fransisco. So we were driving up the Pacific Coast Highway for 3 hours or so before we had to fill the gas tank in Santa Maria. No big deal. We continued another 3 hours before stopping for food in a town called Carmel just south of Monterey. We were about to get food when Jesse realized he left his wallet on the gas pump 170 miles south. Oops! We were lucky enough to have a receipt for an iced tea from the place so we were able to get the address and phone number. Some good citizen must have turned in the wallet so we backtracked 3 hours and then turned around and headed north again almost to the point where we ate lunch. Epic Roadtrip Fail.....lol..!!!!****

From there we ended up in San Fransisco. We stayed with two girls Jesse met in Italy for a night. That night we met a kid who took us out the next day to show us around the city.

Arizona Rocks!!!...Get it....

Just got in to L.A. We are beat. Arrived to Flagstaff, AZ the other day. We stayed with Max and Cat, two amazing friends who just moved out there from Binghamton. We headed to Sedona, just 20 miles south of Flagstaff the first day there.



We got back and heard there was an open mic at the bar across the street from where we were staying. We also heard they give free beer to performers. Dan and I practiced a couple songs I wrote back in February. Somehow after driving 4,000 miles we didn't have any inspiration to write any new songs, but I am sure they will come.


The next day we drove about 7 miles outside of town to Mount Humphreys, the tallest peak in Arizona. We hiked to the summit and back down, with a little hail and snow on the way up. Just under 9 miles in total it was an incredible hike. The Grand Canyon, 60 miles away, was visible from the top.




The next day we woke up super early and headed up north to the Grand Canyon. Max works on the trails at the canyon and took us from the rim to the bottom and back up. It ended up being an 11 hour, 16 mile hike.







We made it down to Phantom Ranch taking the South Kibab trail, which lies along the Colorado River, shown above. On the way up we took the Bright Angle trail, which smells like mule piss because that's the trial that the guides use to take tourists down that are too lazy to walk.

That night Dan headed back to Flagstaff and I stayed in the canyon to camp for the night. I found out that camping in any nation forest is free as long as you drive at least five miles off of the freeway.

22 miles of hiking in 2 days does a number on you, especially if you're not in shape. We're both sore, but it was an incredible display of badassery. Also, living at a higher elevation affects your body's ability to metabolize alcohol. Two beers are enough to get you more than buzzed.
So Flagstaff is a cool place in the middle of a hot state. Lots of young people and lots of stuff to do.

We are staying with my brother, Al for a little bit in L.A. before heading north.