inspired by a post-birthday email from gramps, i'm blogging again, though spottily i imagine...

im back on the go... traveling for a month in the pacific northwest with my friend tolu.

so far this trip has been great... tolu and i met up in san fran last saturday and ran around the city for a week with aida for almost the whole time. we saw many an old friend, ate many a cheap delicious meal, and saw many a sight on the twenty-something budget! san francisco is an amazing city... super vibrant and diverse. it feels like every few blocks you walk you're in a completely different place. china town feels like the closest you can get to asia without leaving the continental US, hippy hill in golden gate park (and haight ashbury for that matter) is pretty much the closest you can get to the 60s without leaving 2009, and the mission feels like some mix of brooklyn and a city in mexico (keith is making a list of reasons why the mission is like a third world country, although we've decided not to call it third world because that is so on the out).

there are too many stories from sf to try to fit in the blog right now... but i will say that some real highlights were seeing old friends from st louis -- staying at kacie's amaaazing house in orinda, crashing with jake in the filmore, spending a day with colin, kacie, deb, and stephen, and a night at colin and stephen's warehouse in an old cookie factory (those really good pink cookies with rainbow sprinkles!), and of course, a cozy night at keith's new home in the mission.

yesterday we split on a greyhound bus, saying our farewells to aida who is off to korea. the bus was full of characters, and a few fights may or may not have broken out, but overall it was pretty beautiful despite getting in 3 hours late. now we're in eureka, ca with kristyna and oliver. this town is great -- the perfect combination of a small community and a place with lots to do. we went to the farmers market in arcata (aka. hippy heaven) this morning, took a long walk on the dunes by the ocean... and then played in the ocean!, made hot cocoa, explored a few used book stores, and went to the local co-op to get some last ingredients for the big meal we're making tonight. speaking of which, it's time to cook.

mrf