We are ready to go to Castro.

(I'm really tired and would be perfectly content to stay home and not go to a party)

(Is this really going to be anything compared to the halloweens of past with all of our friends out there on the east coast. I'm thinking no.)

We're gonna go meet this dude we've met, Thomas, and then have fun.

Phillies won!

HALLOWEEEEEEEEEEEN!

Hey y'all!

Sorry, Paula Dean is on the television and I can't resist.

So it's our last day in San Francisco and I'm packing to leave! Awesome. But tonight is Halloween and we're going out out out! Actually, I don't think we know what exactly we're doing or being so that's a big question mark. I think we're going to just wear silly outfits and walk around and revel in the general craziness. We went out last Saturday and it wasn't even Halloween and people were out and about, many in costumes so I'm expecting the crazy.

Anyway, then we get to wake up early and leave! No, it won't be fun, but it does mean I'm that much closer to a good old fashioned Allie Gevarter dinner, which, for those of you in the know, is a big deal. That last sentence had five commas. I am King of the Clauses.

Now for the real reason I posted this: a new video! Once again I am amazing and clicked here and clicked there and have another mini-retrospective of our adventures. This one is heavy on the Chicago since we filmed everything there because it was Day 1. Which was two months ago. Again, crazy.

Finally, I suggest clicking on the video to get over to the video's youtube page because now you can click "watch in high quality" directly underneath the video. So if you're computer can handle that, it's a much better watch.

I'll post the info later because I have more stuff to do. KHAN!

because my childhood friend carolyn's opinion is important.

sometimes i get excited and don't want to use periods. or commas. or sentence structure.
i redid that section, for reading ease.

lumos.

hollaaaaaaa!

i just caught myself up on L, S, and M's posts, and laughed, and then read all your comments, and cried.

i didn't really cry, but i thought it would sound good.
i miss you all! airen, expect a postcard soon. and by that i mean, today i'm going to buy one and then hopefully mail it out in the next two days.

shout outs to the tamm's, fortunato's, and townsend's, who are faithful readers of these here words from what i'm hearing. hey, townsends, you guys wanna get a place together when i get home? how about on stokes avenue? across from that place with the treehouse in the back, mayhaps?

ya'll, we are loving san francisco. as we loved portland. i can't speak for the team, so i won't, but these two cities have been my tops so far.

portland was BeAuTiFul. there's some sort of statistic connected to biking that's impressive, something along the lines of it being the most biker friendly city in the country. wait that might actually be it. listen, i just woke up, so i'm tired. anyway, we biked and walked our life away in portland. because we could. also, we reunited with my buddy jared who moved out there a year ago, and he showed us the town, man! it was great to see him. he came over for a family dinner one night, then we all went out dancing on goth night. it was weird. the thrift stores in portland were off the hooook, guys. so super cheap, so super quality. i bought a dress that would plant me right in the middle of all those hip indie kids in new york city. and a crazy gold wallet! the portland community was overwhelmingly friendly. what else? OH, they showed the presidential and vice presidential debates all OVER! the city is so politically conscious. incredible. we watched the second prez debate on a huge move screen, surrounded by drunks who hated McShutUp and loved our man.

yoga. yoga yoga yoga. lizz sean and kimbly got so into it in good ol portland. i started doing double sessions some days. the hot yogas ROCK. the intense stretching ROCKS. the centered feeling you walk away with MORE than rocks. i had spattered around with yoga in the past, but had not practiced as regularly as this till now. i fell in love, and i'ma stay in love. i think they other two will as well. i think mike's jumping on in frisco, too.

what else? OH! i played in an open mic that i found out post-set was a competition, and i won second place! i won an hour set that i could not play, as i am now 18 nauseaus hours away, but (it's 11:11. i always see it. AlWaYs.) i'm entered in a showcase now for this March. it's with 23 other singer/songwriters, and the winner walks away with $1,000, 10 hours of free studio time, and radio airplay! sick, right?! it all took place at this completely cooky bar that was filled with friends of Lizz's and kind kind hippies.

kitty posted this link in a comment. i just read it and it's so poignant and passionate. i'ma pass it on to ya'll:
http://www.lordtonymackenzie.com/desiderata.html

speaking of poignant and passionate, conor was the shiz. he cried while he sang. he talked to us like we were his straight up buddies. he loved his bandmates. SUCH A GREAT SET. long, too. like two hours, man. i guess i brought myself into san francisco without even realizing it. post-conor, i met up with some kids i know at an art gallery roller rink! san francisco dressed to the nines for this guy -- the costumes were out of control absurd. all around. we all skated our butts off, sweated our i don't even know what off, and had a great time. "dancing queen" came on and we lost our shit, obviously. gem of the night = i spotted a familiar face, and realized after a bit it was ankur from season one of beauty and the geek. i yelled his name to be sure, and when he came over it was confirmed. nice guy. he was super interested in the details of what we were doing so far from new york/jersey, and we were in the middle of some story about travel when thriller came on and he DROPPED to the floor. he then proceeded to dance the ENTIRE song out, along with half of san francisco. those f&kkers know jackson's dance. all of it. ALL OF IT. we were impressed, and we plan on learning it in entirety as well.

let's backtrack, because we can.
we got into san francisco late after day two of driving, and hit the ground running, man (keep the carrr ruunniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin!). our first stop in this beautiful city was the vesuvio cafe, which carolyn and i fell in love with on our visit here. i had an irish car bomb (hey mom), because i had my first one there two years ago (hey dad).

there is so much to tell about frisco. so much, guys.
the hills are alive, that's for sure, but not with music -- with hardcore ass-shaping incline. so intense so great / if you go to pier 39 at fisherman's wharf you will fall in love with the 200-500 sea lions that hang out there barking and sleeping and competing for the best spot to lay out / i played an hour set at a bar where i competed with boisterious fun drunks taking vodka shots. luckily i was tipsy so it was super fun. at one point i said raise your hand if you can hear me -- it was a semi-rewarding experiment. after awhile i just started yelling SHOTS! and GO PHILS! after my songs. let me tell you a man who did not speak a lick of english bought my cd afterwards and THEN gave me an extra dollar just because. the bartender was sexy he had an english accent so i was obviously in / i bought a new journal cause the one i started on this trip is full LUMOS! / city lights is still incredible, we wanted to go the first night after vesuvio but it was closed. we went the next day though and believe you me i could stay in that beat literature room for days on end. so into their writing. kate if you are reading this it's so tough that you are not here with me for all the beat history here. it would be awesome to be seeing this with you through jerry's teaching eyes. god damn that man is great / we took a trolly ride all through the city, mikey passed though and met us at the end where we had 16 minues to explore before getting back in the car and parking somewhere else. the parking here is SILLY expensive ($1 for 24 minutes), so we try our best to either get free parking or get the eff out / golden gate park is the gosh darned greatest. mike and i spent some stereotypical time on hippie hill and made friends with toothless chris, who was looking out for us like her life depended on it. she was great, just like hippie hill just like san francisco just like this trip. there are some Serious thompkins square crazies in and around golden gate park. if i lived here i would sit in that park and people watch my hours away.

there are parks on every other block in SF. it felt the same in portland. green everywhere is a beautiful thing.

listen. 1/5 of me wants to stop everything i'm doing and park it permanently in san francisco. i know this was my plan over a year ago, and being here only solidifies it further. in actuality, there are a plethora things i want to do before moving my body here, but believe you me, it's going to happen.

mike is awake now, too, and sitting across from me eating some apple jacks. lizzie is reading upstairs. let me clarify: in the bed lofted above the bathroom and closet. sean, i believe, is still sleeping. but he could be playing a game of hide and seek and waiting for me to find him, and that's why he's being so quiet. on this trip i have learned anything is possible.

we're planning on going to a beach today. there's a clothing optional beach that we are wanting to hit as well maybe, and we want to bike/walk across the golden gate bridge. also these guys need to see the san fran bush man. they know he is in the fisherman's wharf vacinity, but who he is is a suprise to them (carolyn, i'ma take video). are all these things happening today? no. no they are not.

last night we found out about a silly string party at the toxic tire beach. something like that. it's shady and we're intrigued.

my fingers are tired of typing and your eyes may or may not be tired of reading.
i love you all a lot a lot a lot. especially you. and You.
shaunna -- see you So Soon! can you not wait? are you freaking? i think you know how we feel.
most other readers -- see you November 28!
M, D, J -- see you at our dinner table on the 27th!

LUMOS!

hi, guys! it's me. that girl on the trip who threw blogging to the wayside post-denver.

go phils!

i have made a promise to my very own self that i will not leave this house tomorrow until i post pictures online for the first time since london. following that, i will be writing in bessy's last stand. this guy, right here.

go phils!

tonight i'm going to see conor oberst sing his poetry all night long!
after that, i'm meeting up with the family at a crazy costume roller skating party situation.
i don't know the details, but i think it's going to be wild.

go phils!

time to go walk around san francisco for the day. i'm really into taking long walks in this city. the hills are a joke. straight up vertical sometimes. almost.

peace, love, etc etc etc.
!

This is me stealing Mike's thunder (and one of the best photos)

So, I know that at any moment Mike is putting the zillions of pictures we have onto facebook, but I can't wait any longer to show you all this one (click to enlarge):

For those that couldn't tell, this is the world's largest frying pan. For those who also did not know, I'm from Long Beach, NY and this is Long Beach, Washington. Both cities are little beach towns. LB Washington has a Kite Shop. Along the west coast we have run into many a quaint kite shop I have had us stop in and love. I'll save the details for the photos, but a kite has been purchased.

Yes, it is true, my little Kitty is here. She's lovely and being a great addition to the group. She did the TWO DAY drive from Portland to San Fran. It was a trek of a drive, I tell you. We thought it would take 18 hours, but it took 24 hours and was divided into two 12 hour days. On top of it, for about the last 8 hours of day two's drive, we were all nauseous because of the windy, windy, windy and tiny, tiny, tiny cliff-side Highway 1 and 101. The views were fantastic, fantastic, fantastic. Ginormous rocks in the ocean! Small little towns! Roads of nothing but cliffs and no bathrooms for miles and miles and miles. We also found a giant T-Rex at about 10pm the first night.


The group has pulled it together and we are going to go get some Mexican for lunch, then groceries. We've been doing quite well with eating in. Aside from when we are on the road we really do not eat out. Go us! After lunch, we are going to City Lights, the big ol' bookstore owned my Lawrence Ferlinghetti!


love. love. love. and more to come.

Goodbye Portland, Hello Kitty!

So we said goodbye to Portland this morning, a little later than we probably should have. We're currently sitting in a Super 8 Motel room in Arcata, California on our way to SAN FRANCISCO. Basically we've been driving all day (a good 12 hours) and we're super tired. Today we saw the Oregon Coast and tomorrow is super big redwood trees!

Also, Miss Kitty Tooher has joined our group, turning our foursome into a fearsome fivesome, and she drove Bessy for about 90% of the day's journey, quickly establishing her awesomeness.

I'll reflect more on Portland later. I just wanted to check in and say hello. Hello!

Roadtrip Moments Part 1

"tell everyone to bring headphones to work tomorrow!" - Lizz, wanting you all to prepare for this video

So I actually totally really finally put some clips together and made a little clipshow. It's a simple gathering of clips I hobbled together, so don't expect "Ellen video" levels of production value though it's still highly enjoyable. Afterwards, I'll give the info of each clip.



1. Me trying to sleep in the car after Lizz took us to dutch windmill.
2. Visiting "The Keeper of the Flame" - Wichita.
3. Hedwig dies - Rocky Mountain National Park
4. Sean and Kim's "Ugly Sweater and Mustache" bicycle ride - Denver.
5. At the Sizzler, Kim tries clam chowder for the first time - Omaha.
6. Yellowstone gorgeousity.
7. Downtown Wichita has a lovely water feature and occasional drum circles.
8. At a park in Omaha, I ran into a girl's cross country team and said hello.
9. Out dancing with Jack, Lizz's first "roatrip crazy." Shout out to Shannon and Amanda!- Chicago
10. Our entrance into Chicago was quite adorable.
11. Driving to Yellowstone? Not sure. Somewhere awesome in Colorado. Also notice the blatant corporate sponsorship.
12. Kim wanted to stretch, so she did some cartwheels at a rest stop - Indiana
13. Who can resist "Dancing Queen?"
14. Lost our minds from cabin fever whilst driving into Omaha
15. Aunt Mo took us to this atmosphere museum, which was super interesting. You can make tornadoes!
16. Going out for dinner with Stephen in Chicago. This was Day 1 of the roadtrip.
17. Cousin Brad took us for a ride on his golf cart around Uncle Jim's house. Sean and Lizz had to jump off because we were all too heavy. But they forgot their lumos. Thankfully, I left one and they made it back to safety.
18. A friend stops by and says hello.

Hope you all enjoyed! LUMOS!

we suck

Yes, we are in Portland, and yes, we do suck. Something must have happened to us in Seattle, wherein we all started sleeping in until at least 11:30, taking a very long time to get our acts together, and not figuring out what we were going to do that day until about 10 minutes before we did it. Actually, that's exactly what started happening and it looks like it may continue here in Portland. But before you start thinking we're wasting this trip just sitting around, know that we are doing stuff, like today we went to an apple tasting at the local Portland Nursery, where we sampled over 25 kinds of apples and pears (Asia has some excellent pears, I'd suggest the "20th Century" pear, which doesn't really taste like a pear). You see, the hard part with visiting these cities is that we don't really know what the cool things to do are or where to find them. Thankfully, we've met some people (some old friends, some new) who've helped us on our journey.

So what did we do in Seattle?

(Note, everything above was written last night, and I was set to keep going, but then those three other losers I have to cohabitate with made me go out and drink beers. Actually, we went to a lovely alehouse and played cards. I got the sampler of 8 beers and got tipsy. Then we went to another bar (the first one closed at 11? what?) and played pooool! Fact: None of us are good at the game of pool, but our lack of skill entertained some of the other patrons. Anyway, let's keep going on with Seattle).

So what did we do in Seattle? Well our first day was absolutely lovely, we went to Pike's Place Market, which was INTENSE, and then sat in some grass and read and called people. I actually think Lizz already wrote about this.

Alright, this isn't working. I'm going to list things we did:
1.) Befriended 8 Canadians
2.) Befriended three different groups of two male friends. Stephen and Raphael, Peter and Adam, and Josh and Kyle
3.) Josh and Kyle were actually met in Vancouver, which was a day trip from Seattle.
4.) Vancouver is the shiz.
5.) Hung out with one Leah Stavely, older sister of Elyse and April Stavely. She showed us where boats (and salmon!) leave and enter Seattle. Another day, she and Drew treated us to a lovely BBQ. Drew can cook. Leah likes spinach and artichoke dip. They live by lovely Green Lake, which is reminiscent of Cooper River, but less disgusting.
6.) Went to a few museums (if you visit Seattle, go around the first Thursday of the month as many of the museums are open for free!).
7.) Watched a lot of The Rachel Zoe Project and contemplated being the cast for Halloween (I think I might be Captain Planet now and paint myself blue).
8.) Other stuff.

We did other stuff, but I can't really remember. OH!, that park Lizz posted about below (Gasworks) was totally awesome, they basically took an old industrial gas factory and put in grass and hills and a kite flying area and we loved it. Overall, Seattle was fun, but very spread it. It's mostly a lot of different neighborhoods that are very disjointed and it wasn't until about a week into our stay that we found the cooler areas to hang out in (like where Leah and Drew live). Totes worth visiting though and the weather wasn't awful awful.

Anyway anyway, we're in Portland now and we're finally staying in a nicer area, which means we've been running and taking walks in the morning (the gang is actually out doing yoga right now, I'm staying home to watch a Top Model Modelthon (finally catching some cycle 10 CBus!) and going to make dinner (I'm going to roast a slab of beef with mashed potatoes and gravy and veggies!)).

I'm noticing I like to write things in parenthesis (they're awesome right!?).

Alright, I'm done yo. Sorry we haven't written more. Maybe this post will entice some of the other trippers to do something. And I have crazy amounts of photos to post. JESUS! Wait, I mean CHEESE US!

bye.

we're in portland.

we sleep till noon every day.

fin.