i buckled myself and the dvd player in, and we were off for our tourcation/operation safe return.
our first stop was in columbus, oh. i had been through columbus a couple years ago when i was the merch girl for my friends' band, show me the pink. we made an hour detour on our way to cincinnati to go to columbus to go to buckeye donuts. it's the best donut shop ever according to zach archibald. i'm not sure how great the donuts are, i'm vegan and the donuts aren't, but their iced coffee isn't bad.
i played a show at the monster house. everyone there was incredibly nice. ryan, who set up the show, and his roommates were so nice and welcoming. i even lucked out and got my own bed! the show was rad, too. there, i met a band from oakland called knifey spoony, which is a hilarious simpsons reference, so you know they're good.
they ended up helping me with a show in oakland through a guy named 'miguel in oakland.' more on that later.
this is a picture of knifey spooney hangin' tuff with the dvd player.
then it was of to chicago. i had never been to chicago before, but i knew that i would like it. it's home of this american life, oprah winfrey, michael jordan, kanye west and shellac (and many others). what's not to like? i was right, chicago was great.
in chicago i met up with an old friend who would be my travel buddy until oakland. we met while living in gainesville, fl and briefly were in an amazing, but factitious hip hop group called fashion, fashion! with such hits as 'outting in my audi' and 'that bitch hit my car (oh, no! she didn't).'
ladies and gentlemen.... catharine!
we took i-90 all the way to seattle. i-90 is a beast, a beautiful beast, but a beast none the less.
at one point, late in the night in minnesota, i had to pee. we exited off the interstate and went looking for a gas station. what we found was SO much better than a gas station. unable to find a gas station open anywhere, we pulled off into a series of warehouses in hopes of finding a good pee spot and that's where we discovered this:
the jolly green giant! (also proved to be a good place to pee)
after that we were on our way to the badlands. the badlands are magical! and yes, this experience is enhance if you listen to bruce springsteen on the drive. we'd hoped to see bison, and even though we didn't see any, i didn't leave unsatisfied.
i found out my show in olympia was canceled, so i called up an old florida friend, sara, who now lives in seattle and was able to stay with her. i blame nirvana and the movie 'singles' for making me think that seattle was foggy and bleak. seattle is beautiful! so beautiful!
from there we made our way down to portland. on the way i fulfilled a high school dream.
portland was awesome, too. in portland we picked up my friend ashley, who had been traveling and farming for the past 4 months.
this is ashley:
we stayed at her cousins' place, who lived in the most hard to get to neighborhood i have ever been to. e v e r. despite this they were really sweet and let us cook food in their house.i played a house show in north portland and it was great.
from here i went to lake shasta, ca. i was really excited about this show. and love the idea of musicians getting together, playing music and camping in the mountains. unfortunately, this was the beginning for me of some weird cold that still hasn't totally gone away. it was made worse by the high altitude. the whole time my ears were ringing and my throat was sore. even still, the show was great and i met some really great people! the drive was pretty, too.
next on the list: oakland!
as mentioned earlier, knifey spoony put me in touch with miguel in oakland. without hesitation, miguel agreed to put together a show. and even though it moved locations a few times before finally settling at a coffee shop on telegraph, it was totally rad and lots of people came out. a few old friends from florida came as well. maren
and matt.
another rad thing about oakland is this dive bar called eli's. it's owned by a guy from richmond, and, just our luck, they were having a southern barbecue the day we got there. oakland is also where we met up with my friend skids.
ladies and gentlemen: skids.
this is where catharine peaced out.
from here we went to ventura, ca.
disclaimer: all the of the shows i played were great. everyone i stayed with was amazing. the following statement is not to discredit that, but should, instead, show how AMAZING it was.
the show in ventura had to be my favorite. i played at my friend michael's house. it's called the 86 house. which caused momentary confusion for me in an email from michael titled '86 show.' '86' is kitchen talk for all out or no more, but my concerns were assuaged once i read the email. right when we walked in i was hugged by no less than three strangers. michael arranged for us to have a room to sleep and our own bottles of wine. we were also assured that in the morning there would be bagels and coffee waiting for us, including tofutti spread! brook dalton played first, he ruled.
and this is michael.
and i was pleasantly surprised to find out that my friend lindsay recently moved there, too! 
all in all, the show was a success and i really met some of the most exceptionally nice people i've ever met. and i've met some nice ass people.
another awesome thing about the 86 house was the art. it was covered in art, and all but a few pieces had the number 86 in it somewhere. really beautiful.
from here we were off to san diego. two good friends of mine now live there, erica
and ashley 
. ashley had been sleeping, but erica and i decided to liberate her from rest!that night i played an odd show, but it was a show none the less. the whole time i played there was a girl in front dancing.... i don't play danceable stuff, but she worked it out. she also was my greatest defender. a group of people were talking really loudly right by the stage, she turned to them and yelled "SHUT THE FUCK UP!" and they did. she made my night. her and the jukebox at the bar next door that had turbonegro, otis redding and the replacements.
then the long haul that looked like this until we got to austin.
also, on this trip i saw so many windmills. and they are magical. each one.
in austin i got to finally reunite carrie and the dvd player. they were both so happy.
i also got to catch up with some old friends from the hot minute that i lived in dc. we were all interns together and they ended up getting married.
brook and bo!
thanks to my friend jen, i was able to play a really neat show at the mohawk. i played inside after a really great patio show from dax riggs, who was in acid bath, which is a big deal if you like stoner metal.
from here we had another long haul to florida.
the next show was in st augustine, fl. i went to college in st augustine for a bit, but really hadn't been back there in a good 7 years or so. my friend, rich, set this show up and it was definitely the wildest venue. it was called ring of fire and it calls itself as a 'honky tonk.' it had piles of hay, barrels of peanuts and stuffed animal heads all over. above the stage was a big sign that said 'howdy.'
and this served as the backdrop. 
also, the bathrooms were labeled as followed: dude's and chick's
real talk.
the next day i played in gainesville. gainesville is my hometown and is one of my favorite places to play. my family lives in gainesville, but had never seen me play. i always thought that they didn't want to, but it turns out they were just waiting to be invited. oops.
i played after a misfits themed alleycat race. logically, there was a misfits cover band, and that ruled. and this guy was in it.
the next night i played in savannah. savannah is a magical, crazy city. the social worker in me wants to move there and try to make it better, the regular person in me says just go visit and take pictures of graveyards. savannah has the best graveyards.
i played a show at samita's house, a friend that i met through an old roommate.
remember back in california when i said i was feeling sick?
well, in savannah this had turned into almost unable to speak with a hacking cough. i spent the whole night not talking. fortunately, the other performer had brought a pa, otherwise no one would have heard me at all. i ended every song with a cough, and my weird raspiness hit an all time high. with that said, it was still a good time and beautiful night for a show.
this is samita
this is her backyard. 
these are her chickens!
at this point i only had one more show to play in roanoke, and it wasn't for another day. ashley and i decided to head back to richmond. i couldn't think of a better remedy than my own bed to help cure my sore throat. i went back home to richmond and slept! it was great.
the tour ended a bit lackluster. on my way to roanoke i got a flat tire. through a miscommunication with the insurance company it ended up taking a lot longer to get a new tire on the car. once i was back on the road i hit really intense rain and thundershowers. the kind where anything over 40mph feels unsafe and you can barely see in front of you. it was hopeless at that point. there was no way i was going to make it to the show on time. i called the venue and apologized, returned to richmond a bit disappointed and out $80 on a new tire.
wah wah wah.
but the good news is i swam in the pacific ocean, saw alcatraz, got hugged by multiple strangers, returned carrie's dvd player, met really amazing people, caught up with some really amazing friends, witnessed the magic of windmills and got to go on tour across the country! and that rules.
tourcation forever!
stay gold, julie
