6/27/11 Santa Monica, California

We made it to the sunshine state of California...
After cruising around Red Canyon and Arches National Park in Moab, UT, we headed southwest to Zion National Park. It was the weekend in one of the biggest tourist spots in Utah so I was planning on making some cash playing music yet there was no nightlife in the town of Springdale in the Zion National Park and we ended up at the bar rather than playing music. There we met a biker name Chuck who informed us that we had made a mistake to party with an old man as he kept buying us shots of Crown Royal. 10+ shots of Crown and Whiskey later we closed the bar down and spent time over at their hotel next door while meeting another fellow there named Louie who was another traveler on the road. Turns out that Louie was going on the same hike as us the next day and also heading to Las Vegas.

After one incredible hike at Angels Landing in Zion we hit the sun dried road to Sin City. Walking through the trashed streets of Vegas, littered with pornography on every street. Young girls walk around like sluts as we pass Erotic museums, casinos with live dancers, and the homeless on the smut covered streets. We had a hotel to stay in with Louie as we spend the night in Vegas gambling and drinking.
Unimpressed with the Vegas lifestyle, we then took the route 15 over into California towards Los Angeles, and eventually to Venice Beach and Santa Monica. We spent the day in Santa Monica playing music and running aorund in the terrible traffic. Although there was a strange vibe about the lifestyle on the beach there, we managed to meet friendly folks all around the Venice Boardwalk.
Trying to find a safe place to sleep was a little more difficult in Santa Monica. For the two days we had stayed there, after some windy driving up the west coast, we found a perfect spot in the foothills of the mountains where other RV's and cars had settled for the night. The next day we wake up to find a ticket on our windshield for parking over the 30 minute limit between the hours of 2:00 - 4:00 a.m. where others did not get tickets on the same strip that had no signs stating no overnight parking allowed of any kind. Frustrated by the ticket we received we decided to park on the street where thousands of vehicles stay out overnight without tickets. There parked on 3rd street, I awoke in the middle of the night hearing voices floating in the wind and a few tugs on the truck. Sure enough it is 4:00 a.m. in the morning and two punks are trying to steal our bikes, oblivious to the possibility that there were two men sleeping in the back. Rushing out yelling out all sort of slang in a sleepy rage they ran off without anything of ours.
There is something terribly wrong with a policeman running you off from a safe spot to sleep only to get robbed the next day.
Our next stop is the tallest mountain inn California and of all the Continental U.S.
Onto Mt. Whitney nestled in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

6/23/11 Moab, UT

Here we are driving through Utah, passing through the canyons and rolling hills of what once used to be ancient land, roamed by creatures of the past and ruled by the dinosaurs. We just left Moab, Utah where we took the day to ride the mountain bikes in the valley of Arches National Park. We took a mountain bike trail up Klondike Bluff, where we passed by the remnants of dinosaur tracks fossilized in the stone. Once at the top of the trail we hit a lookout over Arches that was truly magnificent. There is a deep sense of peace and contentment overlooking the canyon valley and gorge below without any other people for miles. It is truly a different world out West..

From Steamboat Springs, CO, we headed west to Dinosaur National Monument and Flaming Gorge. Dinosaur is part of deposits from an ancient sea formed over a billion years ago where fossils have been found of creatures from a time we only know of from the history books. We camped out in the back country there, on top of a ridge of one of the deposits where It got so windy in the night I almost thought our tent was going to fly away with us inside. With little sleep gained from the gusty winds of Colorado we headed north on the way to Yellowstone National Forest.

We stopped at Flaming Gorge, a deep canyon consisting of rocks of a deep crimson color with water so clear and blue, it was impossible not to swim, and with no one around for miles I found it a good time to strip naked and jump off of the rocks into the luscious waters below. Needless to say, It was much colder than expected and jumped off again. Jon and I hit the road again northbound when we saw snow still covering the mountains that we were heading to with temperatures dropping into the 30's in June. We realized that it was still too cold to be taking a Northwestern route. We headed southwest to Salt Lake City, UT where we spent the night with Jon's family and rode the bikes around a bit through unmarked trails and exploring over a small cave on the mountain side.

We are on our way to Zion National Park in Springdale, UT before we head into Arizona and Las Vegas. Until then I wish the best to all of my friends and family.

6/20/2011 Steamboat Springs, CO

Yesterday was started off in Denver as I picked up Jon from the airport in the morning. From there we headed out West towards the mountains. We were going to camp out in the Rocky Mountain Nat Park, until we were informed in Winter Park, CO that it was going to snow at least another 6 inches out there  ....  Yes, in June. Still snow on the mountains in almost what is going to be July! After a good bike ride in Winter Park we kept on north and stopped by in Steamboat Springs to grab a beer before the rest of our drive for the day. We ended up not leaving to meeting some great Colorado folk living right in town almost. This town has been nothing short of awesome, everyone we have met has been extremely helpful and friendly.
A pristine town nestled in the heart of the beautiful Rocky Mountains.

06/19/11 Denver, Colorado

Well folks, I made it out West.
The drive from Michigan was long and flat but I managed to get here in one piece. It was quite a sight as your coming over the hill in Colorado and then all you see is the flatlands with the Rocky Mountains in the background looming above everything else. It has been a busy few days trying to get together two mountain bikes and accessories to be able to place them on my truck but was able to get it together for $1,000. The first night in Colorado was not to impressive... I headed to the college town of Boulder, which is nested in the foot hills of the mountains. I thought the scene there would be very different than it actually was. I played the banjo on Perl street mall and made some extra funds but was not impressed at all with the people I came across. I decided to leave and not come back to that town as I stayed in Denver saturday night.
My second day in Colorado was much better as when I was buying a mnt. bike from a fellow on Craigslist, I stuck around, had a few beers and met some awesome people. I stuck around there for a few hours, getting the true feel of Colorado locals. The neighbor also payed me $20 to play some banjo on his porch for his kids and the neighborhood to hear. Although I missed most of the day to busk on the street corner due to getting a hitch installed on my truck, I headed back to downtown Denver to post up after the Rockies baseball game.
I am now heading to the airport to pick up Jon, and from there will be geared up for the summer trip.

Until then,
Tyler

6/12/11 St. Joseph, Michigan

It has been almost a month now since I first arrived into Michigan and I only have 3 more days remaining until I continue my journey out to the West where I play to stay for the summer and fall. Although working 12 hours a day is getting tedious, I have also been having great times with family. I have been working on more banjo songs for my routine and have played more piano in the past month than I have in years. This weekend we played for a birthday party and played at the River's Edge bar the weekend before. Also, Friday night I went out with my cousin Maria and her boyfriend Mike out to Silver Beach in the night hours. It is a very relaxing feeling up here by the lake.
Although, I have been itching to get back on the journey more than anything. I only have 3 full working days until the long drive to Colorado which will be made much easier having some money saved up. The fellow who I have been painting with, Scott, has been a real kick to work with. He is the type of man that would pull over at any part of the day to dig through a dumpster for any signs of Copper, Brass, Aluminum, or just any metal in general to take to the scrapyard.

Summer road trip '11 is about to begin....

5/26/11 St. Joseph, Michigan

Its been almost 2 weeks settled in St. Joseph, Michigan staying with family as the Colorado Countdown begins. I have been working 12 hour days making almost $200 each day I work painting condos on the beach. It is a beautiful place up here but It is continuously raining each day making it difficult for work at times. This work has been the best opportunity for me to get prepped up for my trip out west. Last night I found out that my best friend Jonathan back at home is going to be joining me on my journey on June 19 in Colorado for a few weeks as we rage across the west coast.
Today instead of working in a nonstop downpour we headed to the Casino at Four Winds which was my first experience at gambling in a casino. Scott, the fellow I have been working with gave me $20 to gamble off and ended up with $200 cash within the hour but the lucky feeling was lost when I kept throwing money in and walked out with $60. Scott is a great man who has been working me as much as I need to including weekend and is paying me well for my hard work. He is probably the best boss I have worked for as he is just some old hippie who lived the lifestyle I am living now in the 60s and 70s. It is a good time listening to all of his stories of his travels and gives me good insight on experiences to come in the near future.
I will be catching my first Phish show in Detroit, MI on June 3rd with my cousins while I am in town. I am very much looking forward to the show as I will see all of the friends I traveled with on Furthur tour as all of the vendors from the show follow Phish tour each year. From there I will be hitting the road to Denver, Colorado and work my way to Telluride to see the heart of bluegrass at Telluride Bluegrass Festival. The festival is sold out but with the funds to pay for a ticket at face value I don't believe it will be a problem getting inside to see the funk down. After the festival I will be joined up with my friend to travel for a few weeks.

Seems as though these fellows enjoy gambling on table tennis. We will be setting up a tournament match 1v1 with money on the line before I leave to the next town. Let us hope that those winter nights of continuously slamming on ping-pong will pay off.

Just keep truckin' on.

5/16/11 St. Joseph, Michigan

It was good to visit back home for a week to spend some time with friends and family but shortly after wards headed back up north to spend time with other family in the hopes to make some extra cash for my summer trip out West. On the way up to Michigan I was stopped in Indiana about to call it a night when I met an old hippie while playing my 5-string banjo outside of a McDonalds. Russell was his name, and he explained to me about his work of transporting commercial vehicles around the U.S. after listening to me play some bluegrass tunes. This fellow to whom I just met, asked if I would follow him back south to Fort Knox, KY so he could drop off his truck and get a ride to the border of Michigan. I was convinced to have the extra company when he told me he would pay for the rest of my gas to get to St. Joseph, MI. It was far from a boring drive having the extra passenger on board who was just another happy traveler.
I arrived into St. Joseph, MI to stay with my cousin Kyle who also works on website design and is a great musician. It has been awesome to spend time with my cousins and the whole family up here. Ever since I got into Michigan though it has been long hard work on the websites and such. (I will save you from listening to the boring, long details.) There is a big music scene with my family and their friends up here and I have been playing keyboards with them while I am around. I haven't even been playing the banjo at all since my stay, just the piano, but it has been quite awesome. We are going to play at the Livery tonight for some drinks and fun.

I will be here in town for another 12 day at least in the hopes that I will make the Summercamp music festival before I make the trek out West.