(no subject)
so here is the play by play.
GAINESVILLE, FL > CHARLOTTE, NC
day 1: i miss my flight and conveniently end up stranded in charlotte drinking tequila with some of my best friends. thank you tiffany for pick me up and dropping me off! you're a doll.
CHARLOTTE, NC > PHOENIX, AZ
day 2: i arrive in phoenix, walk a couple miles from the airport to my brothers work. we eat some dank mexican food and have an early night in with the family.
PHOENIX, AZ > PORTLAND, OR
day 3: wake up early. 7:30am flight to portland. we ended up cramming in the plane and then not leaving for about an hour and fifteen minutes. i guess the plane was broken or something. arrive in portland. check in to this amazing hotel, the jupiter. kind of skeezy, kind of perfect. the doors were chalk boards that you could draw all over. every room had ipod hookups. and were designed in minimalist, college kid, urban outfitters kind of style. this hotel is connected to a bar/lounge/diner/venue called the doug fir. low lights and sexy as fuck. the hotel had an outdoor hang out kind of areas with a bunch of couches. on one side of that and still connecting to the hotel was a hair salon and tattoo shop. coolest hotel ive ever stayed at. so, we wonder around town, eat some delicious sea food, hit up a jazz bar, drink a pile of beers, head back to the hotel. my brother and i wonder out into town. find this metal bar/pizza shop, everyone was on coke and acting ridiculous. one thing i like about portland was the homeless people. they all sleep on the bridge at night and nobody bugs them and they dont bug anybody. they are all very polite and not beggy or moochy at all. they might ask for money but are very polite about it and are very cool about no being your answer.
day4: we wake up at a reasonable hour, get some coffee across the street and head out to play some golf. this golf course has its own brewery, winery, and distillery. i tried it all; amazing beer, less than average wine, great liqueur. its a par 3 course, dollar a hole, and the course surrounds a bar. we could only play 13 holes because lynard skynard played there the night before and they were still cleaning up the other half of their course. after wards we took this 4 mile hike up this mountain which had a beautiful view of the river and all the mountains. well worth it. back to the hotel to shower up and eat some dinner. stuffed myself at this really cute mom and pop italian restaurant. passed out for a bit. met up with sean monistat at the bar downstairs. him and julie were taking a little graduation present vacation up to portland. had a beer at that sexy bar down stairs and then went to the metal bar/pizza shop. apparently, suicide girls are based in portland and the metal bar turned into a dance club with suicide girls dancing on these thin runways hanging from the ceiling by chain motors. sean and i wonder back to the place he is staying at to drink 40s of mickeys and hang with julie. julie was doing a photo shoot with a guy whose photos i have been looking at online since i was 15. crazy.
-random fact: portland loves mac and cheese. every restaurant had gourmet mac and cheese on the menu.
PORTLAND, OR > GRANTS PASS, OR
day 5: very convenient when you travel destination happens to be just on the other side of 200 miles worth of vineyards. went to a pile of vineyards and did some wine tasting. we went to some place called 'four graces' and met a very charming french guy who was running the place. we went to a couple others but he recommended us to my favorite of the day. i forgot the name, but it was freaking gorgeous. it was on the side of probably the highest hill and had this gorgeous view over looking the valley. we didnt do any tasting there, we just bought a bottle and enjoyed the view while we drank it. kept heading south until we got to eugene, or to eat lunch at a rogue brewery. amazing. every single thing on the menu was somehow cooked with one of my favorite brands of beer. mmmmm. kept driving until we finally got to grants pass.
GRANTS PASS, OR > EUREKA, CA
day 6: once again waking up early. my parents pretty much just wake up at 8 and i had to get on their schedule. anyways, we rented a raft and headed on down the river. it was my first time white water rafting. it was okay. it was all 1's and 2's. i guess good for my family. parents are getting old. it was nice, but not very exciting. we werent really fighting the rapids, just kind of steering the raft. got out, got a beer at a bar. the bar tender carded my older brother but not me, that was a first. there were some fires so we had to change our route. we had to get to eureka, but it was just going to take us twice as long.up and over a mountain range then down the coast. once we checked into this freaking condo in eureka we went exploring. drank a couple pitchers at some brewery. i forgot the name but i know have seen there beer in florida and definitely drank it in az. they make indica pale ale and 8 ball stout. forgot the name. parents went back to the condo and my brother and i once again went exploring. the door guy at the bar let us in without the cover because im from gainesville and he is from tampa. apparently like 15 years ago he used to play for this metal band that limp bizcuit and marlyn manson used to open for. half the band used to live in gainesville like 10 years ago. so im drinking $2 24oz pbr's and being a little social and we end up going back to this guy from jacksonville's house. in eureka you can grow up to 99 plants if you have a 215 card. all you need to get one is a california id card and $200 a year. you can buy and sell to anyone with a 215 card. so for $200 a year, its just cool to smoke weed. anyways, jacksonville guy takes us back to his house and shows us his grow room. some hippy gave me free weed. eureka, might be a lame town, but it is fucking awesome.
day 7: take our time waking up for once. since we had a condo and a full kitchen my brother and mom went shopping and my brother and sister made breakfast. we then went hiking through the red woods. freaking gorgeous. trees with 25' diameters! holyshit! so beautiful. went back to the condo and cooked up a dank ass fish dinner with the family. went to bed early watching fletch.
EUREKA, CA > SONOMA, CA
day 8: pretty much woke up and started on this gorgeous drive down the coast. we couldnt even get to the freeway if we wanted to because it was on fire. all of califorina was practically on fire. nice scenic drive through the mountains and along the coast. we got into sonoma and stopped at saint francis vineyard. the most delicious wine and beautiful facility. checked into our hotel and made reservations for our diner. it was the big fancy diner night. we showered up and drank a bottle of wine. wondered around town and finally got seated at 'the girl and the fig'. gorgeous hostess, gorgeous waitress. she was real witty and sarcastic, but really knew her shit about the food and wine she was about to serve us. mouthwatering french food all nigt. from the fromage tower, to the fig salad, fucking amazing. i got a steak and finally tried out some gourmet mac and cheese. i figure if there was a place to do it, this was it. so good, i want their recipe. this was our fancy diner of the trip, so we got desert, ough the desert. those of you who know me know that my weak spot is chocolate. god damn, i cant even put it into words, but it was truly phenomenal.
SONOMA, CA > HALF MOON BAY, CA
day 9: my dad, my brother, and i went out and did a pile of vineyards in the morning while my mom and my sister went shopping. we went to ravenswood (i think, i know ive bought that shit is florida, strong red wine, no pussy shit there) and then 2 others, god damn it i wish i could remember their names. the first one was the oldest vineyard in california and just looks like all the vineyards you see in movies, it was very nice. the next one was fun.a very light hearted place with a tasting room in a cave. met back up with my mom and sister and we off to san francsico. we stopped to trying and get lunch at lagunitas brewery, but it ended up being more of a wearhouse and a place to get lunch so we went to some crap sports bar. rode over the golden gate bridge and scooped up my friend sonya. she was my first girlfriend ever, our first date was to see the matrix in 7th grade and then we inhaled helium behind the mcdonalds. we didnt even hold hands, we were that lame. anyways she came out with us. we got some delicious irish coffee and met up with a family friend who i have never met before. her name is bard and she is a riot. she recommended a great thai place and we all went there for dinner. the food was great, but it might have been the creepiest place ive ever ate at. very surreal. we were in the chinatown part of san francisco and this place was underground with security cameras everywhere. huge fish tank with everything you were about to eat hanging out in it, where you could see through the tank and into the kitchen. in the pictures on the menu, all the poultry they had was just cooked, they didnt even bother taking the heads off ot he ducks and chickens, they just cooked them. weird. anyways we then went to see this blues guy daniel castro play. he was pretty damn good to be honest. hung there, drank a few beers. dropped sonya of at her place and continues south to our hotel in half moon bay, it was like 45 minutes south of the city and way cheaper to stay.
HALF MOON BAY, CA > SCOTTSDALE, AZ
day 10: woke up and eat the most delicious continental breakfast i have ever ate. they had freaking chocolate croissants! mmm chocolate. anyways, started the day of with some beer tasting at the half moon bay brewing company and then got on the road. stopped for a chowder bowl in monteray beach. and kept driving. this was supposed to be our do a million cities in one day, southern california day. but because of the fires we had detours everywhere and just decided to go home. drove all day and night through the desert. saw some really great fires in the distance. so much smoke, some of the mountains looked like volcanos erupting. anyways, drive, drive drive, we got into scottsdale at 5:30am.
SCOTTSDALE, AZ > TUCSON, AZ
day 11: slept for a couple hours, took a shower. went down the street to where my friend cody used to live. he is still there so i hung with him for like 10 minutes while my family got their shit together. cody was my best friends for years and is one of the two people (other than my family) that i always see when i go back to arizona. except this time, the other one, ashley was in san diego, damn it. anyways. drove back to tucson. and immediately went downtown. of course we stopped at eegees on the way. went to this place rocks and ropes to do some climbing. they still have my brother and i on record. the last time we were there was in 1994 and there was a note made "MUST WEAR HELMET". they let us slide on the helmets but it was a really good time. huge rush. kicked my brother and sisters ass which was very satisfying considering how much they rag on my never doing anything physical and eating horrible. after wards we went to quite possibly one of the best mexican restaurants around. god i miss mexican food. anyone if florida who agrees that mexican food is crap there but thinks they know this one place that is 'real' mexican food can shut the fuck up. there is no real mexican food in florida, period. its all tex-mex and some if it is pretty damn good, but it is no mexican. god damn this place was good, carne seca burro served enchilada style!!!! god damn. went back to my brothers place with just him. we watch a couple episodes of 'its always sunny in philadephia' and let our food settle. we then wondered downtown and met up with jarred. thats right jarred. hardcore motherfucker rode his bicycle here from gainesville. wondered around, went to a few bars, saw a greatful dead cover band 'top dead center' at a place called the hut. $2 for any mexican beer. i was drinking $2 negra modellos, so good.
day 12: today, woke up at my brothers and then went to yoga with my mom. i am clearly out of shape. i cant keep up anymore. i mean i havent done yoga in 3 years and it was bikram. ive only done bikram yoga, but that truly kicked my ass. im about to take a shower and then lay around and probably watch a movie with my family. since my dad retired he has been trying to cook. i guess he will be cooking his famous meal tonight. ill see how that goes. i might meet up with jarred again tonight. and i will be on a plane tomorrow back to gainesville. see you fuckers there!
GAINESVILLE, FL > CHARLOTTE, NC
day 1: i miss my flight and conveniently end up stranded in charlotte drinking tequila with some of my best friends. thank you tiffany for pick me up and dropping me off! you're a doll.
CHARLOTTE, NC > PHOENIX, AZ
day 2: i arrive in phoenix, walk a couple miles from the airport to my brothers work. we eat some dank mexican food and have an early night in with the family.
PHOENIX, AZ > PORTLAND, OR
day 3: wake up early. 7:30am flight to portland. we ended up cramming in the plane and then not leaving for about an hour and fifteen minutes. i guess the plane was broken or something. arrive in portland. check in to this amazing hotel, the jupiter. kind of skeezy, kind of perfect. the doors were chalk boards that you could draw all over. every room had ipod hookups. and were designed in minimalist, college kid, urban outfitters kind of style. this hotel is connected to a bar/lounge/diner/venue called the doug fir. low lights and sexy as fuck. the hotel had an outdoor hang out kind of areas with a bunch of couches. on one side of that and still connecting to the hotel was a hair salon and tattoo shop. coolest hotel ive ever stayed at. so, we wonder around town, eat some delicious sea food, hit up a jazz bar, drink a pile of beers, head back to the hotel. my brother and i wonder out into town. find this metal bar/pizza shop, everyone was on coke and acting ridiculous. one thing i like about portland was the homeless people. they all sleep on the bridge at night and nobody bugs them and they dont bug anybody. they are all very polite and not beggy or moochy at all. they might ask for money but are very polite about it and are very cool about no being your answer.
day4: we wake up at a reasonable hour, get some coffee across the street and head out to play some golf. this golf course has its own brewery, winery, and distillery. i tried it all; amazing beer, less than average wine, great liqueur. its a par 3 course, dollar a hole, and the course surrounds a bar. we could only play 13 holes because lynard skynard played there the night before and they were still cleaning up the other half of their course. after wards we took this 4 mile hike up this mountain which had a beautiful view of the river and all the mountains. well worth it. back to the hotel to shower up and eat some dinner. stuffed myself at this really cute mom and pop italian restaurant. passed out for a bit. met up with sean monistat at the bar downstairs. him and julie were taking a little graduation present vacation up to portland. had a beer at that sexy bar down stairs and then went to the metal bar/pizza shop. apparently, suicide girls are based in portland and the metal bar turned into a dance club with suicide girls dancing on these thin runways hanging from the ceiling by chain motors. sean and i wonder back to the place he is staying at to drink 40s of mickeys and hang with julie. julie was doing a photo shoot with a guy whose photos i have been looking at online since i was 15. crazy.
-random fact: portland loves mac and cheese. every restaurant had gourmet mac and cheese on the menu.
PORTLAND, OR > GRANTS PASS, OR
day 5: very convenient when you travel destination happens to be just on the other side of 200 miles worth of vineyards. went to a pile of vineyards and did some wine tasting. we went to some place called 'four graces' and met a very charming french guy who was running the place. we went to a couple others but he recommended us to my favorite of the day. i forgot the name, but it was freaking gorgeous. it was on the side of probably the highest hill and had this gorgeous view over looking the valley. we didnt do any tasting there, we just bought a bottle and enjoyed the view while we drank it. kept heading south until we got to eugene, or to eat lunch at a rogue brewery. amazing. every single thing on the menu was somehow cooked with one of my favorite brands of beer. mmmmm. kept driving until we finally got to grants pass.
GRANTS PASS, OR > EUREKA, CA
day 6: once again waking up early. my parents pretty much just wake up at 8 and i had to get on their schedule. anyways, we rented a raft and headed on down the river. it was my first time white water rafting. it was okay. it was all 1's and 2's. i guess good for my family. parents are getting old. it was nice, but not very exciting. we werent really fighting the rapids, just kind of steering the raft. got out, got a beer at a bar. the bar tender carded my older brother but not me, that was a first. there were some fires so we had to change our route. we had to get to eureka, but it was just going to take us twice as long.up and over a mountain range then down the coast. once we checked into this freaking condo in eureka we went exploring. drank a couple pitchers at some brewery. i forgot the name but i know have seen there beer in florida and definitely drank it in az. they make indica pale ale and 8 ball stout. forgot the name. parents went back to the condo and my brother and i once again went exploring. the door guy at the bar let us in without the cover because im from gainesville and he is from tampa. apparently like 15 years ago he used to play for this metal band that limp bizcuit and marlyn manson used to open for. half the band used to live in gainesville like 10 years ago. so im drinking $2 24oz pbr's and being a little social and we end up going back to this guy from jacksonville's house. in eureka you can grow up to 99 plants if you have a 215 card. all you need to get one is a california id card and $200 a year. you can buy and sell to anyone with a 215 card. so for $200 a year, its just cool to smoke weed. anyways, jacksonville guy takes us back to his house and shows us his grow room. some hippy gave me free weed. eureka, might be a lame town, but it is fucking awesome.
day 7: take our time waking up for once. since we had a condo and a full kitchen my brother and mom went shopping and my brother and sister made breakfast. we then went hiking through the red woods. freaking gorgeous. trees with 25' diameters! holyshit! so beautiful. went back to the condo and cooked up a dank ass fish dinner with the family. went to bed early watching fletch.
EUREKA, CA > SONOMA, CA
day 8: pretty much woke up and started on this gorgeous drive down the coast. we couldnt even get to the freeway if we wanted to because it was on fire. all of califorina was practically on fire. nice scenic drive through the mountains and along the coast. we got into sonoma and stopped at saint francis vineyard. the most delicious wine and beautiful facility. checked into our hotel and made reservations for our diner. it was the big fancy diner night. we showered up and drank a bottle of wine. wondered around town and finally got seated at 'the girl and the fig'. gorgeous hostess, gorgeous waitress. she was real witty and sarcastic, but really knew her shit about the food and wine she was about to serve us. mouthwatering french food all nigt. from the fromage tower, to the fig salad, fucking amazing. i got a steak and finally tried out some gourmet mac and cheese. i figure if there was a place to do it, this was it. so good, i want their recipe. this was our fancy diner of the trip, so we got desert, ough the desert. those of you who know me know that my weak spot is chocolate. god damn, i cant even put it into words, but it was truly phenomenal.
SONOMA, CA > HALF MOON BAY, CA
day 9: my dad, my brother, and i went out and did a pile of vineyards in the morning while my mom and my sister went shopping. we went to ravenswood (i think, i know ive bought that shit is florida, strong red wine, no pussy shit there) and then 2 others, god damn it i wish i could remember their names. the first one was the oldest vineyard in california and just looks like all the vineyards you see in movies, it was very nice. the next one was fun.a very light hearted place with a tasting room in a cave. met back up with my mom and sister and we off to san francsico. we stopped to trying and get lunch at lagunitas brewery, but it ended up being more of a wearhouse and a place to get lunch so we went to some crap sports bar. rode over the golden gate bridge and scooped up my friend sonya. she was my first girlfriend ever, our first date was to see the matrix in 7th grade and then we inhaled helium behind the mcdonalds. we didnt even hold hands, we were that lame. anyways she came out with us. we got some delicious irish coffee and met up with a family friend who i have never met before. her name is bard and she is a riot. she recommended a great thai place and we all went there for dinner. the food was great, but it might have been the creepiest place ive ever ate at. very surreal. we were in the chinatown part of san francisco and this place was underground with security cameras everywhere. huge fish tank with everything you were about to eat hanging out in it, where you could see through the tank and into the kitchen. in the pictures on the menu, all the poultry they had was just cooked, they didnt even bother taking the heads off ot he ducks and chickens, they just cooked them. weird. anyways we then went to see this blues guy daniel castro play. he was pretty damn good to be honest. hung there, drank a few beers. dropped sonya of at her place and continues south to our hotel in half moon bay, it was like 45 minutes south of the city and way cheaper to stay.
HALF MOON BAY, CA > SCOTTSDALE, AZ
day 10: woke up and eat the most delicious continental breakfast i have ever ate. they had freaking chocolate croissants! mmm chocolate. anyways, started the day of with some beer tasting at the half moon bay brewing company and then got on the road. stopped for a chowder bowl in monteray beach. and kept driving. this was supposed to be our do a million cities in one day, southern california day. but because of the fires we had detours everywhere and just decided to go home. drove all day and night through the desert. saw some really great fires in the distance. so much smoke, some of the mountains looked like volcanos erupting. anyways, drive, drive drive, we got into scottsdale at 5:30am.
SCOTTSDALE, AZ > TUCSON, AZ
day 11: slept for a couple hours, took a shower. went down the street to where my friend cody used to live. he is still there so i hung with him for like 10 minutes while my family got their shit together. cody was my best friends for years and is one of the two people (other than my family) that i always see when i go back to arizona. except this time, the other one, ashley was in san diego, damn it. anyways. drove back to tucson. and immediately went downtown. of course we stopped at eegees on the way. went to this place rocks and ropes to do some climbing. they still have my brother and i on record. the last time we were there was in 1994 and there was a note made "MUST WEAR HELMET". they let us slide on the helmets but it was a really good time. huge rush. kicked my brother and sisters ass which was very satisfying considering how much they rag on my never doing anything physical and eating horrible. after wards we went to quite possibly one of the best mexican restaurants around. god i miss mexican food. anyone if florida who agrees that mexican food is crap there but thinks they know this one place that is 'real' mexican food can shut the fuck up. there is no real mexican food in florida, period. its all tex-mex and some if it is pretty damn good, but it is no mexican. god damn this place was good, carne seca burro served enchilada style!!!! god damn. went back to my brothers place with just him. we watch a couple episodes of 'its always sunny in philadephia' and let our food settle. we then wondered downtown and met up with jarred. thats right jarred. hardcore motherfucker rode his bicycle here from gainesville. wondered around, went to a few bars, saw a greatful dead cover band 'top dead center' at a place called the hut. $2 for any mexican beer. i was drinking $2 negra modellos, so good.
day 12: today, woke up at my brothers and then went to yoga with my mom. i am clearly out of shape. i cant keep up anymore. i mean i havent done yoga in 3 years and it was bikram. ive only done bikram yoga, but that truly kicked my ass. im about to take a shower and then lay around and probably watch a movie with my family. since my dad retired he has been trying to cook. i guess he will be cooking his famous meal tonight. ill see how that goes. i might meet up with jarred again tonight. and i will be on a plane tomorrow back to gainesville. see you fuckers there!