Wednesday, July 8, 2009






Portland, Oregon is a nice little town. Ben and I got haircuts the day we arrived so that we would look as together as everyone else. We were set up with a place to stay on our first night via Friend-Bennett, which was lovely, but we spent the other three nights in car. The neighborhoods reflected Ann Arbor's enough to make us miss home a bit. We had parked in a quaint-as-fuck part of town called "Sunnyside" and spent the majority of our time there. There was a lot going on around us, with the holiday and all, and we ended up meeting a group of like-minded young folks at a birthday party that was pouring out onto the sidewalk. We haven't really met a lot of people our age (it must be that we're so cutting edge to be exploring), it was interesting seeing what our peers are up to in the northwest. Turns out it's mostly shotgunning tall-boys of PBR, but it was insightful, nonetheless. 
On the 4th we celebrated by seeing the Dirty Projectors perform at a hip little venue in south-east Portland. I thought it was great, I usually get bored at live shows, but they did a great job of keeping everyone moving. Except for Ben--He felt cramped and hot, so he watched from the hallway. The video posted below will give you a little taste//
 Backtracking a bit...
We managed to avoid the bleak and boring Interstate from LA to the border of Oregon. Highway 1/101 is (are) beautiful, and easy. It took us straight through Redwood National Park, where we stopped and played by the water despite the bitter bite of the pacific winds. 
Now we're in Seattle. It's sort of like Gotham. We haven't been rained on yet, but it's been a perpetual state of grey. That's what is expected though, I'm not complaining. We're staying with Ben's sister Leigh, and her man Terry, which is great. Ben and I wake up late and shoot zombies on the Xbox until they get home from work, then we eat (really awesome) dinner. It goes without saying that the days here have been good. 
We're all going to camp out west tomorrow. The coast of Olympic National Park is supposed to be beautiful, according to Leigh and Terry. Ben will finally see the tide pools he's been itchy to get to. 
After that we start the eastern drive towards home. I think we're both ready to be back. 

-Evan