Denver to Kansas City

That was a long 600 miles. No detours, no slow downs, nothing really. Barely any curves in the road. Just a straight six hundred mile shoot from Denver through the prairies of Kansas all the way to Kansas City (on the Missouri side). We stopped to take a few photos and to get gas and let Morph stretch his legs a few times. It ended up taking us a little over nine hours with the stops, plus we changed time zones, so we didn’t get to the hotel until about 11, so this will be short.

It’s gonna be extra short now because I can’t remember what I was gonna say. No wait! As I typed that it came back to me. Maybe I’m not on the road the way Kerouac was - actually, it’s definitely not the way Kerouac did it - but being back in motion across the country for the second time, knowing I have essentially the whole rest of the month to do more of the same is exciting, It’s a special chance to get around in a way that not everybody does, so I try to appreciate the moments when I notice them. I also deliberately haven’t driven much if any over the speed limit because for the first time I’m trying not to rush myself on this trip (which is even more unlike Kerouac, he had Neal Cassady at the wheel). I think generally I’d like for this to mean something, even if it doesn’t really mean anything at all. All this time driving through all this space reminds you of your insignificance, and the dream to be somebody stands in opposition to that notion. I don’t know, maybe one day I’ll write a novel in one sitting or maybe I’ll do something else that will resonate someway. For now I’m just happy to be on the road.

-J.P.

Moab to Denver

Another reminder that I still haven’t changed the time zone that this app thinks I’m in, so it’s still July 8 where I am. In fact, most of these posts will say they’re from the next day because it’s already past midnight on the east coast, but trust me, it’s still July 8 for me.

Anyway, we’ve touched down in Denver! Day 3 travel is in the books. Today’s lesson? It’s worth it to take the scenic route.

We woke up in Moab, I got a workout in (!) and then had some coffee in town. It’s become our routine to find a coffee shop somewhere in the town or city we’re staying, sit for a while, and do all our daily NYT puzzles (wordle, crossword, mini, letterbox, connections). Yesterday we sat at Cafe Feellove in St. George, and today was the Moab Garage Co, which was our favorite of the two so far. Morpheus also got a TON of love today. Everyone was giving him some good scratches. We finished our puzzles relatively quickly and hopped in the car for Denver, excited because it was only going to be a little more than five hours and we’d get here around 6, with plenty of sunlight and time to have dinner. Boy were we wrong. Interstate 70 was closed for a while, then only one lane was open, so we opted for a detour in hopes of not sitting in too much traffic. The route took us down route 24 through Glenwood Springs, where we happened upon a distillery and I played piano and sang with a couple of guys that were spending their day drinking. 10/10 would do it again. The liquors were delicious too! David, who was tending the bar, gave me a couple samples. The Turtle Juice and the Horchata Colata were my favorites. We’ll be back to ride the highest roller coaster in North America, which is situated at the top of a mountain looking over the town. Then we went through Aspen, which was a gorgeous pleasant surprise. I definitely will be back to ski there. On the way out, however, we hit a snag in the mountains. Sat in dead stop traffic for about two hours for the second day in a row because the road narrows at a couple points along the pass. But just when I was starting to think that our alternate route wasn’t worth it, Colorado gave us one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. Independence Pass is by far, the most beautiful sight I’ve seen on our trip so far. There was literally a wedding happening in front of snow capped mountains and shimmering ponds and giant trees forever. The whole rest of the way through the national forest and little Colorado towns was worth it. In life, it’s definitely worth taking the scenic route, even if it takes a little longer to get to your destination. It’s late, and we have our longest day of driving ahead of us tomorrow, so I’ll leave it at that.

-J.P.

St. George to Moab, and Wishing Well by The New Hippies

What a beautiful drive full of empty space and awe-inspiring rocks. That pretty much sums up Day 2. We drove 340 more miles through Utah and honestly the whole thing was pretty breathtaking. It really does a lot to remind you of your relative insignificance in my opinion. But in a really nice way. In a way that makes you grateful to be alive and on the planet at this moment. We stopped off for a bit at the Salt Wash view point about halfway through the ride and took some photos that I really can’t wait to see because I think I got a really nice photo of Bryana. We’re at the hotel now and we’re done for the night. Tomorrow we’ll have breakfast, hang out in Moab, maybe have lunch in Arches national park and then we’re off to Denver, which I’m excited to visit again.

Two other things happened today that were noteworthy to me. First, we passed the site of a photo I took when I drove through Utah the first time in 2015, on my way to California to move into the house on Jacaranda. The first time I drove across the country I went with Frankie, my best friend growing up. I didn’t know anything about what the country looked like outside of places I had been for vacations, sports tournaments, or school, and it really opened up my world. In addition to that, that trip kind of felt like the beginning of the rest of my life at the time, because I packed my car full of all my things and took it to California, feeling like a man on a mission to make it somewhere, somehow. Seeing that same ridge on route 70 brought back a lot of memories and made me feel proud to have taken myself this far down the road. Which brings me to the second thing that happened.

At the onset of our drive this morning, I was feeling frustrated, which is becoming a very familiar feeling on release days. Today, Wishing Well by The New Hippies is out in the world, about six years after its creation. Honestly, this may be my favorite New Hippies song of all time. It feels right to me - everything that The New Hippies means to me, how The New Hippies sounds sonically to me, and the essence and attitude of The New Hippies - it’s all in this song. It encapsulates my modern mood as an artist in my 20s, and as a man in this world. Though I find myself disillusioned, turned off, and my nature is generally to say nay, I push myself to stay open, to remember the good times, and to hope for the best for everyone. I really, really, hope you listen to Wishing Well, even if it’s the only release of ours that you listen to this year. This song is really special to all of us. But these songs (New Hippies songs in particular) are going mostly unheard, and to be honest it hurts my heart. I can’t make total sense out of it, but rest assured I’ll keep trying to breakthrough.

Anyway, that struggle is what leaves me feeling extremely frustrated, so I was venting and ranting about it as I started driving. I was saying something like, “It’s really annoying to be not be able to get to where you want to go, where you feel like you should be” and then BOOM. Dead stop in traffic on the highway. A truck was carrying a carnival ride that fell over and started a brush fire, and we ended up stuck in park on the highway for over an hour. Funny how that happens, isn’t it? Doesn’t it feel like the universe is listening? All you can really do is trust in yourself, do what you say you’re going to do, have faith and be patient. It’ll come.

Off to Denver tomorrow.

-J.P.

Los Angeles to St. George

Well, Day 1 in the books. We left LA around 9 am, stopped at MadLab (our current favorite coffee spot - try a dreamsicle latte when you can!) and headed east. It’s a whole lotta space out here in the desert. Seriously, every time I get out on route 15 I find myself wondering how people got there, and especially how and why they stay there. It’s so hot and so vast, it almost begs you to go look for something else. I imagine a child, growing up in a place like Bombay Beach or Barstow or one of these towns we passed that pop up out of nowhere - where you can see the beginning and end of it from the highway - and I wonder what they dream about. Do they long to get away? Do they want for more? Or does the desert dictate the desires of their lives? Does that make for a simpler life? Is that life more full, because it’s easier to comprehend? I don’t know, and I don’t say this to say that one life is better than the other. That’s just what I think about when I pass through.

We stopped for gas a few times - one station boasted a “waterfall urinal that can fit two or three guys” which is really, really not for me. Idk, call me a snowflake but I’d rather not stand around in a circle and piss at each other. Not literally, at least. It was about 105 degrees everywhere we drove through today, so Morpheus has been wearing some shoes to keep his paws safe. They freak him out and he looks like Bambi when he walks, trying to find his legs. It’s hilarious.

We stopped for lunch at a sandwich shop near Las Vegas. It was really good and everyone was really friendly. The guy behind the counter talked to me about my Queen shirt for a while. It’s a weird shirt because it says Queen but I don’t think any of the guys on the shirt are actually in Queen. Freddie Mercury is definitely not pictured. It’s a cool graphic though, so we laughed about that and it turned out it was his birthday. Happy birthday Tyler from near Las Vegas, hope you had a good day.

We reached our final destination for the day, St. George, Utah around 6:30, got a quick bite at a place called The Crack Shack - relax, it’s only chicken and milkshakes - and came back to decompress. Bryana drove the last leg of the drive, which she’s been nervous about but she’s doing fine. It’s very quaint here, and the town looks beautiful against the red rocks during sunset. Tomorrow, we’ll head out to do a quick hike in the morning before we hit the road. One more day to the other side of Utah.

Also, Wishing Well, by The New Hippies, comes out tomorrow. It’s one of my favorite songs we’ve ever done, and I hope you love it as much as I do. Talk soon.

-J.P.

Road Trip!

Tomorrow’s the day! Bryana and I are leaving Los Angeles for my parents’ house in Hopewell Junction, New York. We’ll be taking about seven days or so to get there, we’ll stay in New York a week, and then Understanding will join us for the way back, which will be another 7-10 days. I’ve driven one way across once before, but this s shaping up to be quite the month ahead of us. I’ll keep you updated here, and the music will continue too! New song from The New Hippies on Friday. It’s called “Wishing Well” and between us, I think it’s a consensus favorite New Hippies song among the band. So we really hope you like it. Gotta finish packing and get some rest. Here we go!

-J.P.

Happy 4th of July

How many hot dogs do you think you could eat? Seriously. Why do they do that?

-J.P.

Get Fresh!

I think this website needs a facelift! The artists page at least. Needs to be more representative of our artists. I’ll get to that soon. I’m busy. Leave me alone! Just kidding. I’m just riffing. Hahahahaha. Ok I’m done.

PSYCH!

No I’m just kidding I’m done. Too much coffee today I think.

-J.P.

Pre-Road Trip Road Trip

Understanding left for the East Coast today by plane. Bryana and I drove up to Solvang for a few days before we head east ourselves by car. A road trip before a road trip. We’re gonna get real used to being in the car together. Then Un is gonna join us on the way back. A whole month on the road! I think it’s gonna be a much needed change of pace and we’re all gonna see new parts of the country together. I’m very excited.

-J..P.

Live and Learn

You live and you learn. That’s the saying, right? Well, I’m definitely living. I think. Maybe this is all a dream. Maybe I’m stuck in the matrix and the real me is submerged in some weird liquid with a hose connected to the back of my head. As far as I can tell though, I am alive.

The learning part is harder to understand sometimes. This journey has been a whirlwind of decisions and shortcomings with a few moments of celebration mixed in. I feel like I’m making lots of mistakes. There are moments when lessons reveal themselves to me. Mostly when I’m not actively thinking about them. I just hope I have time to reflect on what we’ve done this year and make use of the things I’ve learned so we can improve. So we can make progress. I get scared that every time I make a mistake it means I’m not cut out for this journey I’ve set myself on. Because I’m not immediately successful, I’m not fit to be a leader. I fear I’ll run out of time and money and never get a chance to realize our potential at Beautiful Idiots LLC.

It’s a struggle sometimes to deal with those intrusive thoughts, but they only block progress. I have to find ways to force myself to push through those moments of doubt, because the truth is I don’t know what success will look like for us. I know what I want it to look like, and I can do everything in my power to push towards that vision, but there are always unknowable factors that will affect our outcomes. As long as I don’t stop, I win.

-J.P.