Gone East

For the last month of the trip i based myself in Richmond, Virginia. It was great to actually have a place close enough to a ‘home’ where i could go and chill, see my family again and hang out with good friends. Once i arrived in Richmond i planned to head north to Maine to catch up with more friends and get a taste of the north eastern part of the country. After a short trip into the West Virginian wilderness i headed north to Portland via New York. Highlights from that particular trip were hanging in Albany on halloween and partying, chilling out Maine style with my Portland friends and hanging in NYC with Craig. My first experience of New York City was crazy, coming out of the subway at peak hour and finding my way onto the street, i pretty much sat there for five minutes in amazement. I travelled by train from Portland through Boston, back down through NYC & Philly and the scenery was pretty interesting, a lot different to what i’d seen in other parts of the USA. After a short return to Richmond i had my first experience of driving in America. Considering everything is the opposite i did ok, honing my skills on the interstate. Shit almost got crazy when i drove down the wrong side of the road in downtown Richmond into oncoming traffic. But after a bit of practice i managed to get the hang of it. I spent a few weeks hanging about checking out some shows, catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. Decided to try as much different food as possible, i figured i wouldn’t hace access to the cheapness and ridiculous quantities that come standard with every meal for much longer. Probably got a little fat in the process. After a trip south and a few other expeditions around the city I packed my shit, said goodbye to my friends and headed back to NYC one last time. This time i was with my Mum & Brother so we stayed with a family friend, enjoying the biggest city i’d ever been in for a few more days before heading back to Australia.

I’m back in Byron for the summer. I miss the states and all my friends there, i’ll be back soon.

Roadtrip South

After the San Diego show we headed in land along the Mexican border, it was crazy to see border patrol vans everywhere and a clear view into Mexico while we were driving inland through southern California. We drove overnight and I was stoked to wake up to the mountain outcrops of the Arizona desert. After I lost a shitload playing Uno we finally got to Tucson, Arizona in the late afternoon. The place was pretty cool, a small city with mountains in the distance surrounding it. After the show we started driving again straight away heading for Tulsa, Oklahoma which was like a 16 hour drive. Another overnight drive with the highlight being when i got woken up at 4am for my first waffle house experience. I felt sick after but for some reason i kept going back. Oklahoma turned on easily the shittest weather of the trip so far, it was foggy and the rain was doing spray shits sideways. The show was still huge and the next drive to Oklahoma City wasn’t too far. To pass the time in shitty Oklahoma City we decided to go to a mall which turned out to be almost rundown, also the venue was a durry fest which added to my frustration. The next day the sun came out as we headed for Austin, Texas. The city was interesting and it was funny just being in Texas for the first time hearing peoples accents and laughing when they couldn’t understand you. There was good food and what seemed to be a shitload of bands playing throughout the city all at the same time. I spent the next two days losing alot more in Uno while we drove between New Orleans & back through Texas to Forth Worth. Both places were crazy and Fort Worth was pretty much a cowboy town with saloons, cobblestone streets and desmonds riding by on horses. After the Forth Worth show i was exhausted but stoked i got too see some great shit and hadn’t gotten sick yet. Time to hit the east coast.

Arizona desert

Tucson, Az

 

Oklahoma city was sick

 

Austin Texas sunset

So Cal

I spent about 5 days in Oxnard with a mate, trying all sorts of food. Spent alot of time eating at seedy hole in the wall mexican places, playing a shitload of halo, buying cheap stuff and also got the chance to head into dowtown Hollywood one night to catch a show. The bands weren’t totally my thing but i got the chance to drive along sunset boulevard like on the opening credits of Entourage. We also walked along the street that has all the star plaques in the pavement and headed through beverly hills & bel air for a knock and run on the playboy mansion. The houses were the biggest mansions i’ve ever seen it was crazy to see how rich people were in this part of town. After about a week i met up with some other desmonds who were touring through LA at the time. We hung around the OC for a bit, hit some water parks, i tried my first del taco and then we headed south for my first time in San Diego. We stayed about 3 days in San Diego, hiting the florider and exploring the town. It’s a great spot and it’s still one of my favourite places in the states so far. It was my first time on the flowrider and the other fellas clearly had alot more epxerience on it, i was shithouse but it was still one of the funnest things i’ve ever done.

CALI

I arrived in LA after a crazy 12 hour flight, met up with a friend and decided to hit a burrito shop immediately.  After we ate we headed north out of Los Angeles to his house near Ventura County, the scenery was pretty cool. My first day in the states wasn’t very eventful however i got to witness the amount of Mexicans & pick up trucks around. Other than dosing off a few times i managed to stay awake for the whole day and slept the whole night so i didn’t get too smashed by jet lag. The next day i headed straight to an LA dodgers game. It was a pretty cool experience – hotdogs, babes, a huge crowd, everything you’ve seen in the movies. The crowd went ballistic when the home team won. Also every 20 minutes or so some latino music would come over the PA and all the mexicans would get up and dance and throw shit, it was great. Other than that the first 2 days were spent chilling, enjoying all the food and checking out 99c stores. Welcome to LA.

USA

It’s been a while and alot of stuff has happened since i’ve been on this thing. I’ll be heading to the states in under 3 weeks so i guess this will be updated more soon.

this is where i live.

first day of sunshine in like 3 weeks

misery signals tour feb 2009