Home and Basketball

“home is wherever i’m with you”

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Home

So after a really great road trip up the coast, I’m finally back home in the warmth (literally) of my SoCal apartment. I’m exhausted but it’s a good exhausted. If I am going to be tired from something, I want it to be from traveling and being with friends. I feel like my brain is on overload with everything I got to see and do. Now back to reality where I am a little behind on a freelance project so let’s hope and pray I can get a lot done tomorrow and Thursday.

In other news, MARCH MADNESS HAS OFFICIALLY STARTED with the first two games of the tournament. Well, I guess technically they are only play in games but still the Iona vs. BYU game was pretty great. Iona CHOKED big time. I have no idea how you let a 25 pt lead slip away like that.  That’s the madness! I finally got around to filling out my brackets. I have a couple upsets and I have Syracuse winning it all. (Sorry Tar Heels. Don’t hate me but I just don’t think we will pull it out this year. Let’s hope I am proven wrong)

P.S. If you didn’t catch it, the title of this blog is a play on a movie.

I GOT TO SEE CHARLES IN SEATTLE!!

After 3 long years, we are finally in the same state again. Even if only for a little while, I was overjoyed to see my friend again.

I Wish I Would Have Slept More In Seattle

Yeah…

I took that.

Be amazed.

The last stop on our epic road trip was none other than Seattle, Washington. I feel kinda weird being here because my parents lived here when I was in college for 2 whole years and I never came out for a visit.

We left at 7:15am from Portland and arrived in Seattle around 10am. Being Seattle, the first thing we did was find a coffee shop. This place does have some pretty amazing coffee. Cafes out here are EVERYWHERE! They never end. Here is what we did in list form:

- Pike’s Public Market (the place with the fish market where they throw the fish)

-The first EVER Starbucks

- Gasworks Park (not much too it but a pretty amazing view of the city skyline)

- The Space Needle (we didn’t really feel like paying $20 to go to the top)

-The Fremont Troll (It’s a massive sculpture of a troll under a bridge…probably the strangest underground tourist attraction that I have ever seen)

And all of that was just day 1…

The next day (today) we went to the Ballard campus of Mars Hill Church. None of us had ever been but we all had heard a lot about it and I have heard a lot of podcasts by Mark Driscoll. This specific campus was almost a spitting image of the Summit Church in Durham. It was in a warehouse, the chairs were the same, etc. I was kinda blown away by the hospitality of the church. We walked in and were immediately greeted by a guy (who’s name I am ashamed to say, I can’t remember) that walked us over to the coffee area and then proceeded to try and find a friend of his for us to sit with. While walking, I learned that he knew of Summit and subscribed to JD’s podcasts (small world).  For the most part of the day we just bummed around the parts of the city we hadn’t seen.

Conclusion about Seattle:

This isn’t really a city built for tourists who want to do things for free. Basically everything fun/interesting costs money. It seems like a city that would be fun to live in cause there is a lot going on but as a short trip, it leaves much to be desired. Also, with the cold/dreary weather that was a constant, it made it hard to do a lot of stuff. It’s a great place to find a coffee shop, sip coffee, and work or read though. I am definitely glad I got to experience this city though.  Will probably never live here (at least by my choice).

Another post coming soon to showcase probably the most exciting part of my trip to Seattle…

Portland: A City Divided

I have spent the last 2 days exploring the city of Portland, Oregon with friends. The city is divided east and west by the Willamette River and each side has a very distinct characteristic. Both sides have great things about them.

The city as a whole seems very chill. The majority of the city seems to get around by bicycle and they tout this fact throughout the city with stickers, street art and a plethora of bike racks.

WEST:
Our first day in the city we strolled around the west side. The western side of the city is where one will find all of the city’s “high rises” (there are actually no real high rises which is why it has been so apply dubbed “Stump City”). Upon entering the city, we found street parking on one of the side streets (which was amazingly free unlike LA) and walked to the city streetcar. Though the transit system is no where near the size of New York or even Boston, it does a very good job of getting people around at minimal cost.

From there, we visited a couple coffee shops, went to Powell’s Bookstore (which is the largest independent owned book store in America and was pretty awesome), and roamed the city. Later in the day we visited a recommended donut shop called Voodoo Donuts. They have some of the most amazing donut flavors I have ever seen. We had a maple bacon, cocoa puffs, and a peanut putter and oreo donut. They were fantastic!

At the end of the night, we had sushi for dinner. Before we went home we stopped by a pretty amazing bike bar called Hopworks Urban Brewery. By “bike,” I mean bicycle of course. Very good beer but the atmosphere was nothing really special.

EAST:

Day two, we explored the east side of the city. This side was very different.

I didn’t really get any pictures of the area because I spent most of the morning and afternoon in a coffee shop editing. From what I saw, it looked like a very independently owned side of town. Everything was small, unique shops or restaurants. Nothing too special or anything to write home about but pleasant nonetheless. We visited Mt. Tabor Park and just chilled for a while which was really nice since we had been going non-stop for 2 days straight. For dinner, we went to a place called Dick’s Kitchen. Had a very good burger and to top it off, an amazing Grasshopper milkshake with a bit of a twist. It was a vanilla milkshake with creme de menthe WITH a shot of vodka. Added a nice kick to it.

Tomorrow…Seattle!! I am really looking forward to it for a couple reasons. One, my parents used to live there and I never got to visit. Second, my friend Charles lives there and I get to see him after not seeing him since we graduated from college. I am quite excited!

Roadtrip advice

Don’t drive on HWY 1 after San Francisco. It kinda sucks. Sure, the curvy roads are fun to drive on but there is nothing to look at. Stick to the 101 (yeah I’ve adapted and started putting “the” in front of highway names but I can’t seem to do it with 40).

240 Miles North

So it’s 2:40am and I am officially done with my first driving shift of our west coast roadtrip. The following is a short timeline:

0-100 miles
Music: fun., Explosions in the Sky, 90s Pop
Feeling great! No one on the road for the first time since I’ve been in LA. No traffic. Passed by Six Flags. I had a really good time there last year with friends. Driving through the mountains on those really winding roads going 75 mph was pretty awesome.

101-150 miles
Music: Ben Rector, Mat Kearney
Entered the desert. Just flat straight driving. Nothing but 18-wheelers on the road. Reminded me a lot of driving in Texas. Drank a 5-hour energy drink and I’m eating Twizzlers so I’m feelin good. The moon is crazy bright.

150-200 miles
Music: Mat Kearney
Starting to get kinda tired but still feeling good and enjoying the open road.

200-240 miles
Music: Mat Kearney
Ok now I’m exhausted. We need to pull off so I can stretch and we can switch. Pulled off at a gas station. Switch!

Lee DeWyze – Sweet Serendipity

This track is super catchy and it’s another one that I’ve been really enjoying lately.

Fun – Some Nights

This song is my jam right now!

Goin on a roadtrip

Leaving tonight at 10pm with 3 friends on what I hope to be a pretty epic road trip up the CA coast to Portland and Seattle and back again. Should be good times. Hopefully I’ll remember to post as I go along. If not, forgive me.

Adventure is out there!

Had an amazing time with friends this weekend at Disneyland!

I was just talking with my roommate about how amazingly creative and innovative Disney is. While at a park surrounded by children with ages ranging from infants to high schoolers, we (as mid 20-somethings) also stood in awe of some of the most fun rides and attractions on the planet. The best, however, was the amazing World of Color spectacular. This show was possibly the most amazing lights/lasers/fire/water/smoke show I had ever seen.

It was like the Bellagio fountain on crack! They were projecting scenes from Disney films onto mist and smoke while a beautiful symphony was being played and water was shooting into the air. I was blown away and for the 15 minutes that I stood there watching the show, I felt that feeling again. That feeling that anything was possible. That feeling one has for a short period in each of their lives. I felt like a kid again.