"there is only one wish on my mind, when this day is through i hope that i will find, that tomorrow will be just the same for you and me"--the carpenters

on our way to seattle, we stop in yakima, washington for a gig at gilbert cellars, a local winery. i had no idea that yakima, washington was an up and coming wine location? the wine was damn good too. this is an example of a lovely gig….where they wine and dine you, are thrilled you are there and it just all feels warm and fuzzy.

the crowd was small, but the warmth of the employees and the few patrons that were there certainly made up for it. 

it is also these moments that make realize the world is in fact a kind place. the gig was set up through friends of friends and then also put us in contact with a woman who would house us for the evening. then, get this: she went out of town! she left the key for us, under the mat and offered her home to us. a total stranger! amazing…

it was nice to get a good night sleep: have an amazing bed (therapeutic, what?!) a hot shower and some animal time! her dog, chip was awesome!

yakima itself was kind of a sad, little town. i went for a walk while eric was playing and met some strange characters. still, beautiful nature surrounds you, not a bad trade off? on we go to seattle!

now, i have had some pretty awesome vegan experiences on this trip thus far. i mean, LA? almost all of california is pretty veg friendly, but seattle may take the cake. especially since we stayed close to the university district, where one street houses so many amazing vegan options. i always 'happy cow' my current destination to see what my options are (although i can really make do just about anywhere, it is always nice to have someone else cook for me, have comfort foods of the past and of course, different choices!) seattle may have had the most! my first stop was pizza pi…an all vegan pizza parlor! what?! yessssss….

eric and i settle in at jess and gibbons apartment, who also were out of town and left a key for us. (who are these people? awesome, i say!) we decide to walk a to pizza pi. we always enjoy some good movement after a long day in the car…it was a lovely journey! we detoured through a park..

why hello there?

and just our luck, a street arts festival was happening close to where we were headed. of course, we did a little stroll though..

and then on we go to my heaven: pizza pi!

not only was the guy behind the counter super nice, but he gave us stickers, an informative dvd and a print out of all vegan friendly places in seattle! whoa!

i got the aloha pizza, complete with canadian 'bacon' and eric got the thai chicken (gardein is in fact good!) both were amazing. 

we stroll through seattle and see many interesting sights, like a dog in a baby carrier, on a bike.

we clean out the van and prepare to cross the border to vancouver! i had no idea crossing the border has become such a big deal and eric expands my concerns with previous stories of hassles. the border guard was pretty serious, although it seemed rather funny after it was all said and done. the dialogue went a little bit like this:

stern border guard: what do have in the vehicle?

a nervous eric nassau: um, we have a guitar, two backpacks, two bicycles….

(stern border guard interrupts, glaring unamused)

stern border guard: ---and hula hoops.

a still nervous eric nassau: um, yes. one hula hoop.

well, they let us in!

we go directly to the home of dave newberry, a friend of our friend scott cook. dave welcomes us in his home like we are old friends. if you know me at all, you may have heard me say this, but i will say it again: i fucking love canadians. in fact, i have never met one i didn't like? i love their little accents, their love and consideration for nature and mostly their intellect. maybe i just continuously meet the cream of the canadian crop, but these folks are wicked smart. scott shows up soon after, we enjoy a nice home cooked meal all together and then head over to the gig. we load everyone into the family van, which is always interesting…

they were good sports though! we go to the little mountain gallery, which is a great art space.

if you haven't ever been to a 'music in the round' kind of event, if you hear of one in your town, i highly recommend going. it is such a intimate experience, where you can really get insight into the songwriting process and also the back story to the music. i totally love them!

the stage was full of super talented singer, songwriters. those candadians were damn talented, but i thought eric represented americuh quite well. it was really nice to hear some new music, i enjoyed dave and jenny's music very much and i am already a HUGE scott cook fan.

a group of awesome folks went back to dave's house to hang out. i am always impressed by foreigners knowledge of american politics. i mean, these kids probably new more about what is going on in our country than most americans. it was very interesting and inspiring. the next day, a bunch of us went out for breakfast at Cafe Du Soleil.


 i have a delicious tofu scramble.

dave and elizabeth are awesome!

we walk back to dave and elizabeth's place. it is a rainy, dreary day and we struggle to get moving. we want to explore the city as we are only have a few days here. we try really hard to not let our experience of vancouver be dictated by the weather. so we head out on our bikes to visit one of eric's friends at her work and to go to stanley park. of all the cities we have biked in, vancouver might be my favorite. elizabeth gave us a bike map to use for the day and it was amazing: they have one way bike lanes! many streets that must be shared by bikes and cars, it was wonderful. we go to deadly couture to visit laura, who was super sweet.

we make it to stanley park, which is vast and beautiful, but our plans of our anniversary picnic are thwarted due to weather.

we teach scott cook the dance video and pack up our stuff. on our way out of town, we go to north vancouver to visit the lynn valley park. we get a little education at the welcome center and then head off to see the waterfall. although one must cross a pretty intense suspension bridge in order to get there. a little nerve wracking…but only because i have seen way too many movies where these bridges collapse. why do they do that to us?

it is really beautiful. i just love the colors of the forrest. wherever there is water in addition to the forrest, the air is so clean and refreshing. it is like instant recharge.

we are sad to leaver vancouver, but excited to explore seattle more.

we get to visit with jessica and gibson, who are both working on thesis and finishing up school: jessica her masters and gib his PhD. they are so sweet to welcome us into their home at this stressful time in their lives. we get to catch up and swap stories but then try to give them some space to get their work done. we go over to the linxweiler's to celebrate eric's 40 birthday. we are welcomed by this lovely family, with eric's parents visiting from ohio for the occasion.

my eric teaches eric's young son, cap, his first chord on guitar. it was amazing!! we go out for some drinks with eric and pam. we get to explore a little bit of west seattle, which seems pretty cool too.

great people and good times!

the next morning, we went to possibly the best vegan breakfast in my life. if only i was hungover? this would have been the best greasy spoon recovery spot. the wayward cafe!

we totally feasted!

and it was awesome! coffee and the local paper, vegan comfort food with my sweet baby…does it get any better?

we hang with jess and gib a bit more. eric and gib chat about music and realize that the chima's are one of the few lucky owners of an eric nassau original:

we try to leave them to their work to head out to visit the seattle troll!

we did some errands and went to a sweet record store. then it was time to get ready for the gig at the rogue and peasant. but first, i get to meet up with camille chu and her wookie, matt for some thai dinner. we give the abridged versions of what we have each been doing for the last 8 years.

hooray for chu!

great peeps, they were awesome in learning our dance for the video.

chu is tall and i am...well, not.

eric has often said this to me many times, but it has been cool for me to witness one of his many reasons for having this occupation: the uniting of people. chu and matt are my friends, eric had some of his friends come to the gig, some from college, some from lifetimes ago in columbus and then they bring their friends or families and then the magic happens: a bunch of strangers all get together and hang out for a universal cause which is the support of eric nassau. it is pretty cool to watch!

eric nassau: uniting the world, one gig at a time

chu and i have so much to chat about, we can hardly keep quiet during the set! i really enjoy matt and am happy for my friend to have found such a great partner.

it was such a fun night. the next morning, we have to pack up and reorganize, as always. possibly my least favorite part of the journey? i also realize how eric has developed so many skills from living this lifestyle for so long. you really learn how to pack light as you experience the benefits from doing so. you also put less value on things because their is always a chance they could be lost in the exchanges. their is great adaptability that comes with packing up and moving all the time. although it is not always easy, i am so grateful for all that i am continuously learning on this trip. it is pretty amazing to witness your own growth.

we leave seattle for the long journey to moscow, idaho!