Photos
Paul Strouse
Story
Ryan Coppenger
The trip started off just about how I thought it would, Paul running 30 minutes late, we loaded up Daisy and hit the road ( Daisy is the name we gave our 1978 Dodge Lazy Daze R.V.). Larry took the first shift driving and nobody argued with him. It was so exciting to finally get going and get out of Long Beach. We had lunch at a good BBQ joint in San Louis Obispo and kept going.
The team consisted of Paul, Larry, HG and myself Poppa Coppenger. The group had two brief meetings in which we discussed the plan of attack. At first the plan was to leave mid-summer, be gone two months and do a big square around the United States. I knew this would never happen, but planned for it just the same. We scheduled a departure date and some of the cities we wanted to hit up on the trip, the main ones I wanted to visit were Portland. Home of Jared Mees, one of the best bands in the Northwest. Also wanted to check out the Grown Children. 
We left Long Beach and drove all day up the beautiful coast and got to San Fran for the first night. We had trouble finding parking but eventually settled on a cozy street. The grade was at least a 45 degree angle, and it reeked of urine. We went to a few nearby bars but left unsatisfied while a bum tried to join us in the middle of the night, thanks for showing us a good time Zach. 
We left bright and early and headed north, it was cool driving across the bridge and through the winding neighborhoods of San Fran. We drove all day and decided to stay the night in Humboldt.
Not a big fan of Humboldt.
Dirty stinky hippies everywhere. The kind that would steal your drink when you weren't looking. At least we had a flat parking spot. HG and I shared the table bed, Larry and Paul had the master suite. 
A little side note about Daisy: None of us really knew how to work anything on her, and it wasn't till we met the old people in the parking lot that we learned what stuff was. We still didn't use the toilet but just shared a giant Gatorade jug to piss in.
After leaving Humboldt we drove to Lincoln City and found a nice casino to park at. Paul and I snuck in the pool to shower while Larry proceeded to break into another shower. I found a cool liquor store where I bought my first cell phone. It's really just a flask, which actually came in handy during the trip. 
We woke up early and headed out, the driving situation was as follows, Larry and I doing the bulk, Paul and HG doing a 30 minute shift here and there. To be honest I wish HG didn't drive at all. Every time he took the wheel it felt like we'd drive off a cliff or something equally horrific.
We got to Portland in the afternoon and headed to Jared Mees' boutique. During the day we went to the Washuga River and met up with Jared at a cool bar. Paul had a date so Larry and I drank some big fruity things. The next day we found where the locals on the Washuga River. We found some cliff jumps, rope swings and even did a train off a waterfall, this was my funnest day of the trip.
We left there and headed on to Seattle. We showered at the YMCA, then went on a mission to find this laundramat that never existed. We eventually found one but by that time we were super sweaty, ball rashed and pissed, Larry and I took the bus back to Daisy while Paul stayed to finish the laundry. We took the bus back to downtown and had lunch, went to the famous fish market then met some ok 18 year old strumpets that were very new to the dancing buisness. We went back to Daisy had lunch, drove to some other part of Seattle and went to the worlds deadliest bar. We did a duck fart then hopped on a tandem bike taxi. It was a tandem bike with a bench seat welded to the back, we got some beers then headed back to the dance club. A great night and adventure.
We were awoken to a hit and run, as in a big truck slammed into Daisy while we were sleeping. We decided to get up and hit the road, it was a short little trip but we made it, I couldn't believe we were already at the boarder. Not too fast though, Daisy doesn't like stop and go traffic so in the ultimate protest, she died. Paul and I were showering the radiator with cold water, evntually we had to push Daisy across the highway. Soon she cooled right down.
We entered Vancouver. To be continued...