neil callaghan, new hampshire

still angry at Canada, we drove straight through to New Hampshire to hang out with Neil. we arrived in the middle of the night, and i literally ran straight from the van into his house because dark summer camps in the middle of the woods are where things in horror flicks happen. turns out it wasn't scary at all, it was beautiful, and we spent the afternoon outside with the bbq grill, eating until we were way beyond full. after the show, i realized i was starting to feel the onset of tour crazies, and i think perhaps the last photograph captures it. maybe it was the Stone Temple Pilots blasting as we were loading up the van. 

buffalo, new york

Niagara Falls! not much else to say, really.

ontario, canada

crossed the border fairly easily. had the van searched, sat in customs for a few minutes while they verified our show, and watched the kilometers on the speedometer for the first time. played in the middle of the day (weird) in a big theater (weird) to some kids who didn't say a word to me afterwards (weird). i thought they hated us, but apparently i was the only one they didn't talk to. hmm. we drove back into Buffalo where we got harassed by the US border officer, and drove away with rattled nerves to meet the Tobias family for dinner. we were supposed to have two more Canadian shows, but we were denied the second time we tried to enter. it's a complicated story, involving work permits, taxes, band equipment, and nerves, but everyone was incredibly nice, and gave us advice for next time. defeated, we went to jeff's sister's house and played Rock Band all night.

detroit, michigan

packed apartment. sweaty show. nice kids. mannequins. banana hats. oh, bearded dude is Shawn, who did the artwork for our new album, Dirty Versions. thanks Shawn!

chicago, illinois

despite the looks of pure boredom on luke and i's faces, this show at People Projects was fantastic. we ate mexican food with joel before the show, which apparently made us scream even more than usual.

madison, wisconsin

jazzman scott & sharks walked around madison all afternoon, feeling like we were in athens. ah, the college town. show was at the Nottingham co-op, who had a great view of the lake and very uninterested punk rock tenants. they sat on couches while we played, so i did too. sometimes you just have to try and fit in. i found an ERC, sat for a couple of hours, and started to miss home.

lincoln, nebraska

played a basement show, scary staircase and Andrew WK mural included, with some super fun bands. caught up with one said super fun band at a rest stop the next day for hugs. meeting other bands who are excited about music and like being in a band is great. strangely enough, people like this are hard to find.

colorado

we had a show cancelled in salt lake city, so we had the fine idea to drive straight through to denver to see my parents. fifteen hours later, we arrived, hugged my family (and grandpa max, our 15+ year old bichon, see top picture), and promptly passed out. next day we played in denver with not one, not two, but THREE reggae bands at a big venue. things broke, people thought we were weird, and my parents were there to witness the show in all its awkwardness. awesome. fortunately, the next night in colorado springs made up for it. got to hang out with old friends (from middle school!), ex-bandmates, and my brother. drove away well rested and with full stomachs, thanks to the Paulsen family.

just outside of colorado, we were reminded of exactly where we were. thanks, america.

missoula, montana

we drove through the Cascades, where there was snow! real snow! not the slushy wet 'snow' georgia claims to get once or twice a year, but real fluffy cold goodness that we could run around in. arrived in Missoula, watched a colorful sunset, played with great bands and met a ton of incredibly nice people. this last picture is for corie-- a calendar specifically of HALL AND OATES, a different album cover for each month! amazing.

this must be where pies go when they die

for twin peaks fans: here is the waterfall and great northern lodge featured in the show. yes! we went hiking all the way down to the bottom of the falls, humming the theme song the entire way. five minutes down the road is the Double R Diner, now called Tweedy's, where we wanted to stop for a cup of coffee and slice of cherry pie, but we were running incredibly late to our next show, so we had to settle on just a few pictures.

seattle, washington

it was jeff's birthday AND free cone day at ben & jerry's (!!) so we wandered around downtown to try and find ice cream. no luck. we did, however, find the space needle, the public market (fish tossing anyone?), the seattle art museum (SAM!) and a ton of construction. i've never seen so many buildings being built in the middle of an existing city. 

portland, oregon

i didn't take too many pictures of the city itself, none actually, but the drive from northern california to portland was amazing. we left early to meet jennifer for lunch in eugene, and caught all the morning fog where the winding mountain roads met the ocean. these were the best pictures i could take while driving and trying not to crash the van.

sonora/twain harte, california

i'm only putting one picture in this post because, while the show we played in sonora was pretty great, this family we met was incredible and deserves their own post. we've been very fortunate to have people take us in, feed us, let us sleep on their floors and extra couches, but this stay was something else. i could go on and on about how sweet, smart, interesting, and artistic they were, but i won't. i will tell you that Rae cooked us amazing food-- post-show bananas foster, and an amazing breakfast of dutch baby pancakes, an egg & turkey sausage scramble, fresh fruit, and crispy bacon. if you know anything about we versus the shark, you know we're a breakfast band, and if you happen to make us breakfast, you earn a special place in our hearts and stomachs. ANYWAY, now i'm hungry. an extra special thank you to Steve, Rae, and Shamus for taking such good care of us.

mountain view, california

the last night of tour with the Valley Arena we played in a coffee shop to a couple people on their laptops, a few interested kids, and a clearly freaked out soundguy who wanted the volume turned way down. at least we warned him that we were loud. we got a hotel room in a hotel where my shoes matched the carpet. yep, tour sure is interesting, huh?

san francisco, california

we actually had a full day to wander around san francisco which was nice since normally we only get an hour or two to find pre-show food after pulling into a city. chris and i started in the Haight & Ashbury district, walked through Golden Gate park, and met mike to continue through Chinatown and downtown. total walking time: six hours.