! well, i’m back. actually, i’ve been back since late monday night.
but now’s the first time i felt like writing anything. the tour was a freaking blast. it was everything i could have asked for, and then some.
i got a chance to get out of atlanta for over a week, i got to drive around the southeast (and especially to florida), and i got to really just hang out for 10 days with 3 of my buddies. what else can a guy ask for within 48 hours of leaving town, we had a run in with some nazi cops that would stop at nothing to try to search our van. they pulled us over for some BS infraction @ a gas station, after basically circling our van while we were filling up. they ran our tags, our insurance checked out, and we weren’t speeding (as we were parked!
), so we got out of there fine. they didn’t even end up searching our vehicle. but it just goes to show you how small town police need to find better things to do. honestly, i think i had the most fun in spartanburg staying at angel’s house for 2 nights (angel is the former manager of IPS and still a good friend). we all had a couple of drinks, and it seemed all of the craziest stuff that went down, went down that night (and while in satellite beach, but i’ll get to that in a minute). mark was doing beer nose shots, and since we had a video camera out, it was lke we were filming a jackass episode in angel’s living room.
people were getting slapped, kicked, hit and other assorted hilarity as well. at least, it was funny at the time. i think if we didn’t film it, it wouldn’t have been as funny.
lets see i bought a sweet ass ted nugent shirt on the first day of the trip, i bought another amazing shirt from a guy OFF HIS BACK @ a show in west palm beach. i think i paid 3 bucks or something for it. then, to recoup costs, i think i sold a few star crunches to some kids, and some girl a pair of my boxers. when the night was over, i had turned a profit.
i won’t even begin to talk about the ethics (or lack therof) of selling boxers to complete strangers. ah, and after i threw up on one of my pairs of dickes shorts, we just waltzed down to a DICKIES STORE (yea that’s right, a store that only sells dickies merch) and bought myself a new pair. i wish they had one of those up here.
the night i threw up was the 2nd best night by far. it was the other ‘off’ night we had (no show) so we decided to have some tasty adult beverages. well i hadn’t eaten all day, and figured if i chomped down on some tasty taco bell, i’d be fine.
wrong. i got drunk pretty fast, and pretty much all i had eaten and drank came back up by midnight or so. oh well. before it all came up though … wow.
it was a blur, but we played a nice game of cards, went over to a gas station and made fools of ourselves (i think jason got in an ice cream freezer), watched marko knock himself out with a phone book, and a ton of other retarded things that were only funny to me when i was drunk i’m sure. we couldn’t have asked for better weather. well, i take that back.
it actually started out freezing cold over in huntsville and in north carolina, but as we got over into south carolina and worked our way down the coast, it got nicer and nicer. i don’t think it rained at all during the entire trip … and savannah, west palm beach, and the clearwater areas are all so beautiful. i’d kill to live in any of those areas.
i’m going to look into it as another option after my lease runs out this year. it’s funny how a simple little trip with 3 friends can help you realize a lot about yourself, what’s important, who’s important, and even why. it sure as hell isn’t school, or having tons of money, or any of that petty shit.
i also remembered why my brother is my best friend. we never get to see each other anymore, so to get a week and change to hang out with him and brian and mark was awesome. i realized i wished i had someone back home to “miss” – someone i could call from the road, to tell about my day, you know.
i didn’t really have that, and it kind of sucks. i realized how much i love being in a state where it’s mid november and you can go to the beach – i WILL move there, oh yes. atlanta is not the city for me. i’m trying to dupe the IPS boys into moving down there with me, that’d be even more amazing.
anyways, i’m done typing. i wish i could tour with a band i knew, be a “roadie”, if you will, all the time. i mean, i’d like to know them, so i could be on the same level as they are, so to speak.
if i travelled with some band i didn’t know, it’d be totally different. but since i KNOW these guys, it’s blast. it’s just a super long road trip with your friends, with no real destination.
if they go again and i can muster up the time off wherever i’m working and school and all that jazz, i’d love to go again. the layout isn’t pretty yet, but check out the pictures from the tour. it’s kind of IPS centric, as i was taking pictures for their site, and a video we were making … but still a lot of good scenery pictures, some of me, and a