Vacate Me

Well, hey again everybody.

My last Friday in Montreal, the day we left on our Adventure out west, the week before this miraculous picture above was taken, that was the Friday when I:

1. got a 444$ fine for our band bus in the mail
2. got a 287$ bill from the CRA
3. got yelled at by the Emploi QC lady for not having a job
4. got turned down for a job I was sure I had
5. got on a bus to leave the city for 2 weeks...with no plans for my future and no $ in my pockets.

Money money oh money. It inspires so much stress. My departure from Montreal was fraught with fears of my return and of the disaster I was leaving behind. Then we got on...

THE TRAIN
+++++++++++++++++

I spent the first 3 days on the train in a fog of money stress. The paradox of living like a prince and inwardly dreading my poor reality. These are the weird attractions of being a musician I suppose.

 It wasn't until Jasper, into the far reaches of the Okanagan, that I realized there wasn't a thing I could do in Montreal to change my situation. And screw it.

So I feted with the silverline travelers and played them some Neil Young and we ate our duck confit eggs benny and blazed a trail through the wintry passes of the North into the low plains of wheat and straight through the majestic majesty of the Rocky mountains. Oh Canada, indeed.

EAST OAKLAND
++++++++++++++++++++

A few rideshares and one great game of golf later (thanks Maggie and Jeff!) we ended up in East Oakland, a land I had yet to explore. In seattle we ate some fine charcuterie provided by our lovely hosts, including the BEST TUNA MELT I HAVE EVER SEEN/EATEN. If you make a tuna melt, go buy some pickle chips. Put them on the Tuna Melt. Seriously.

Anyway, once in Oakland we were swept away on a whirlwind food tour of the city, a tour which very happily focused on tacos! I tried Lengua tacos for the first time, that is cow tongue, and I discovered that not only was it a dollar well spent, but Lengua is an EXCELLENT choice in taco country. It absorbs all that delicious salsa and makes for some crazy tender meat.

LOS ANGELES
++++++++++++++++++++

The taco craze continued. We could not get enough taco after Oakland, and after a terrifying rideshare down the coast to LA, we felt we needed to pack in some tacos to soothe our bruised nerves.

Combine Tacos+records+a bright sunny day. This is an explosive combination and could lead to you believing you should stay in LA forever. Then you go to the beach and you surf and you think, yea I shoudl definitely stay here forever. Never leave.

Then you walk down the beach in the sand and look up and hear lots of noise, you walk over and realize it's muscle beach and they're having a bikini contest and everyone on stage looks unreal and confused and you feel nauseous and take a picture and think ok...it's time to go home now.