fucking fall.  sure my biking days are numbered but i got some good ones in the past week or so.  but man do i love always wearing a hoodie, or thermal, and the act of getting all bundled up just to go out on the balcony and smoke with my roommates.  i guess that’s more of a winter thing but that’s on the way soon.

man have i been getting some good sleep lately too.  i cant believe how sleep deprived i’ve been this past year.  i had gotten used to 4 hours or less per night.  now i’m getting between 6 and 8, and it’s been awesome.  and i dont even sleep in that much on weekends!  finally my schedule allows me to do this.

the new drums are excellent.  i also sold my old kit to someone and made more money than i would have had i traded it in.

i bullshat my way through a paper (and i havent pulled a paper out of my ass in about two years) and got a pretty damn good grade on it.  ”still got it!”

rediscovered a love for halo, and been having some pretty good games in that realm.

it’s a grey-headed afternoon headed for a grey-headed evening and i’ve got nothing to do all day.  this will be the best relaxation day ever.  there’s just enough pot for some onies, half a case of beer on my floor, smokes to be smoked, shared itunes libraries floating wirelessly, no homework on the horizon, i just ate a burrito, i havent showered and i’m pretty comfortable clothing and temperature-wise.  AND! we just bought one of those digital tv converters so now we can pick up legitimate, clear channels, 9 of them!  

(we dont have a fancy tv or cable, just enough so we can watch pbs and lost)

on with the relaxation.  this bed is comfy but that couch could be even better.  maybe the balcony.  i dont know why but i’ve never been more excited to do nothing all day, but i know that i need it today.

productivity starts tomorrow.  

i should finish these tour days.

DAY 10: June 10, 2008 Denver, CO (day off)

got up, got gas, and got to the fun.  trevor and i spent the day at Elitch Gardens, while gabe and logan went to a movie and explored denver further.  Elitch Gardens was an amusement park (formerly 6 flags) with a full water park attatched to it.  it also happened to be sunny and 96 degrees out.  holy shit what an awesome day.  any weariness or stress from being in a hot van for hours a day was literally washed away.  we hit up the “mind eraser” roller coaster the most.  it’s name was pretty accurate.  we got sassed in the line by a high-schooler.  we sassed her right back.

denver has a lot of beautiful people too.  not saying the midwest is “ugly,” but at the same time i kind of am.  except for fargo, duh.  it reminded me of sweden (a very attractive, albeit boring, place!).

i spent thirteen fucking dollars on a bottle of sunscreen.  i had to.  we were too dumb to pack any, and without it trevor and i surely would have FRIED LIKE FUCKING CHICKEN FANGERS, thus making the remaining 5 days of our journey feel like, quite literally, hell.

we went on every ride we possibly could and spent some time in the waterpark, and then went back to hit all our favorite rides again.  ate at a fake 50’s diner in the park, they made a mean burger.  shit.  

around 6 we met up with the other guys and left denver on a very beautiful and relaxing sunny evening.  stopped at a quiet taco joint in a town outside of denver.  i didnt eat, but went next door and bought a traveller of whiskey.  the next day we were going to be in williston, meaning i needed booze.  we slept in the van that night.

DAY 11: June 11th, 2008.  Williston, ND (day off)

we woke up somewhere in montana and i finished the drive with gabe.  we could have played in Vermillion, SD today, but the kid didnt get me any info for the show until we were in Iowa (5 days prior).  I had assumed the show was off and we had planned our trip differently because of it.  so he emailed me in iowa and said the show was on, but we decided to skip it because it was an additional 13 hours out of the way and we just couldnt afford it.  so we just went to williston.

we showed up mid afternoon to melissa and josh’s place, and got started shortly after with some scotch on the rocks.  probably around 4 pm.  we talked, watched a little tv, and went out to a local bar.  josh bought me a pbr and a jim beam sour at the same time, and continued to do so throughout the night even though i had money.  we played some tunes, played some pool, talked with his buddies from the oil rigs and took some shots.  i sold my pbr button on my hoodie to some girl for $5.  at last call josh bought 16 cans of pbr from the bar and we walked back to his garage where we drank them all.  trevor drove and crashed josh’s go-kart and we all laughed.  we made fun of some 16 year olds who were there but weren’t friends with josh.  i passed out in dog pee i think and gabe and josh continued to light fireworks off in the garage.  what a fun night.