P.s. We’re back in Austin.

Paige here. I’m going to add some thoughts to what David told you guys about.. Just because I can. :)

The concert at Falling Whistles truly was a wonderful night. As David mentioned, everyone was incredible captivated by David’s music and that was surprising to see. But wonderful.

On top of that, we met (and reunited with) some incredible people. Of course all the boys I know from Falling Whistles were there.. Sean, Jon, and David. My dear friend Whitney who we’ve mentioned lives around the corner and came and brought along her old roommate who we missed on our first stop through LA. I got to see a girl who I was a roadie with.. Yay Kristin! :) There was a girl I went to camp with in EIGHT GRADE who’s made her way out to LA that showed up.. small world, huh? It was just so lovely seeing all these old faces and meeting new ones. I met a guy named Brandt who’s doing some amazing things for homelessness. He spent a year being homeless and also did a documentary with PBS showcasing how mega-churches treat the poor.. Check him out at http://www.myspace.com/adoptajesusfilm. We also got to meet more of the people involved with FW as well as many of the people they’ve befriended in LA. It was truly, truly wonderful.

I think David told you about the next night with his show in San Diego.. I’m not sure he mentioned the last two days though.. We stayed with our friend Joe on Friday night at his sweet house (which happens to be very close to the beach). On Saturday, he threw a little housewarming party and so we spend the afternoon just hanging out with people. I also got to do my last mini portrait session on the beach with Stacia (who went to DBU with David) and her husband who’s a rescue swimming for the Coast Guard. Way cool.

Saturday night started off slow but we (David, Andrea, Joe, and I) eventually made out way over to Alex Collins’ house in Spring Valley where they’d constructed a huge slide into their pool. David took a ride on a bike down the slide and I eventually just went swimming, which I think deserves some applause since I was freezing my Texas butt off. Either way, it was a fun night and nice way to wrap up out time hanging out with our San Diegan friends.

Sunday we grabbed one last meal with Andrea and John (my two teammates from IC) and then we headed back north to Del Mar to stay with some of my parent’s old friends who live out there now in a monstrosity of a house. They took us out for sushi, we caught up on life and then David and I crashed out to prepare for the journey home.

On Monday we headed into the California desert toward Salvation Mountain. If you don’t know what Salvation Mountain is.. Please take five minutes and google it. It’s truly incredible. Leonard Knight (the man behind the mountain) gave us the last tour of the day, as well as a DVD and some postcards to share. I took a TON of photos (so get ready) and he shared his story with us. I was completely blown away by his work, although I had seen photos. And he was so completely excited to talk to us and show us around, even though he’d given the same tour to 40 other people that day. Thank you Leonard!

We planned to camp in Slab City, which is the last free camping site in America. But if you google it or visit it you might understand why. :) We set up shop, played some card games, ate our dinner of fruit and pretzels, and went to bed. At 8pm. After an hour of tossing, turning, and sweating, we decided it just wasn’t a cool enough place to keep us from heading back to Texas.

So we packed up, ate some Denny’s and drove through the entire night until we got to El Paso, which is where we are now. Tomorrow, we’ll officially arrive back in Austin, TX. We could not be more stoked.

Keep checking back.. we have a ton of videos and photos to post! AND we might even plan a Folktography.2 down the road.. who knows. East coast anyone?

Wenatchee, WA is the most unsuspecting town for me (David). This small country city has been a favorite stop of mine for the past year. I’ve met some cool folks who have been super supportive of my work and have been so welcoming every time I’ve come by to hang. Tuesday of last week was no exception. A good buddy, Rich Haney, booked me at this local coffee shop, Caffe Mela. I was blown away by how much attention to detail the owner Darrell gave this place. Great stage, nice lights, wonderful sound, and even a grand piano were there to greet me.  Rich did a great job promoting and we ended up with a packed place full of intent listeners. At this point in the trip it was the best show by far. It was the type of show that reminds me why I love doing what I do. Thank you Rich and thank you Wenatchee. I will be seeing you guys very soon.

Unfortunately we couldn’t stay long. I had a show planned for LA two nights later so Wednesday morning we peaced out for a 20 hour drive. Fun times trust me. The silver lining was the scenery. We headed south back down through Washington, Oregon, and one of my favorite parts of the country, Northern California. The sights were breathtaking. Mt. Shasta is without a doubt one of the most beautiful things in the world. We ended up driving quite a ways but had to stop 4 hours shy of LA from fear of driving the car off the road. Motel 6 sucks but we managed and 5 hours later we were back on the road again.

Paige had two shoots booked in the Malibu area but unfortunately only one showed. We wanted to be more sad at the time but I think the only thing on our minds was a big fat nap. We headed straight for a friends place and chilled out. It was a nice way to spend the afternoon before the show.

That night I played the Falling Whistles house there in Venice. I didn’t know what to expect from this and was blown away when 50+ people showed up. Throughout the summer Falling Whistles opened their home up to the neighborhood every Thursday. Food, drinks, music, and bonfires were some of the normal happenings on these evenings and this night was no exception. Not only did 50+ folks come out but each one of them gave me their full attention. I was completely taken back and very humbled by the response. There are some incredible things happening in the Congo because of Falling Whistles so to be welcomed with such love made for a great night. Officially my favorite show of the trip.

I had a few old buddies come out to the show and Paige and I stayed with two of them that night, Stephen and Katie Keating. We hadn’t hung with this couple in almost a year so there was a lot of talking, some Taco Bell, and plenty of exhaustion. I don’t think we crashed out till close to 4. Thank you Stephen and Katie for being ballers and good friends. We’ll see you soon.

The next afternoon we took off for San Diego. Sarah Shreeves hosted this house show and she did a fantastic job. Cookies, Wine, Chips, Dip, Christmas Lights, and a whole slew of San Diego folks made this night great. This town is great. When it comes to California San Diego is the place that I’ve spent the most time therefore I meet the most people therefore I hang like a crazy mo when I’m here. Thank you Sarah and thank you San Diego for reminding of two things 1. You are amazing 2. I too can kick ass at beer pong.

And that’s a wrap. Well for now anyway. Tomorrow afternoon Paige and I begin our trek back to Austin, TX. We can’t wait. We’ll be camping at Salvation Mountain tomorrow night, El Paso on Tuesday night, then we’ll be rolling into the ATX just in time for a dinner at Home Slice on Wednesday.

If you’ve kept up with this the whole time, Thank You. I still have a few more videos to post and believe it or not they will be up and ready for viewing before I get back.

Think of us while we’re on the road the next 3 days and if you’re in Texas we’ll see you soon.

David