New Orleans

After a big drive across Texas we finally crossed into Louisiana and made our way to New Orleans. This place is hot!! It was around 35c while we were there. It made for a sticky nights sleep in the van. But this city is great. It's got awesome food, great culture and very vibrant nightlife. You can go out and see live jazz and brass bands any night of the week. I spent a bit of time driving around the 9th ward and other areas devastated by Katrina. It was crazy to see all the half standing houses still being lived in while the rest of the neighbourhood had moved on and had their houses demolished. I was really pleased to see that Brad Pit had started a project to rebuild whole areas with state of the art eco friendly houses for people that lost their homes. The houses all looked different yet kept the same weatherboard look that that you see all around that part of the world. Lots of writers had visited there and there were a lot of places to paint. I didn't have a lot of time on my hands but it seemed pretty chill and there were no shortage of spots.

Utah to Texas

Did a really big couple of days driving from Utah, through Colorado and New Mexico and down into Texas. While in Colorado we drove to these strange, really old indian villages that are carved into cliff faces on top of a mountain. We could see Aspen in the distance and we were around the same altitude. We decided to spend a night in Roswell, the strange town with a so called Alien sighting in the 40s. What a weird place. The have really overdone the alien thing. We went to the alien museum which was more like a school project. Half of the buildings in town were boarded up and the other half sold dusty alien souvenirs. We also went to Banderra, Texas which is the cowboy capital of the world. It was good drinking in the pubs with the cowboys in the 20 gallon cowboy hats and checking out the local rodeo. In the pic below there is a platform in the background that they make a pony walk up and jump off into an overground pool. They call it Aqua Pony. I think the animal rights people would have a field day. If there is one city you should check out in Texas it has to be Austin. There is a really good music scene there with free gigs in most pubs in town. The bars are packed every night of the week, there is great food all over town and a general good vibe.

Road Runner Country

After the chaos of Las Vegas we headed north to Utah. Utah is a hidden jem. Not a lot of people visit there but there are some of the best national parks in the country. It was like being stuck in a real life Road Runner cartoon. I managed to get a few quick pieces done along the way.

Desert Life

We found that everything we wanted to do and see meant that we had to zig zag our way across the USA. So we headed south through Death Valley towards Las Vegas. Death Valley gets it's name from the extreme conditions that you experience there. You go way below sea level and experience some ridiculously hot temperatures and not much grows or lives there. The place is a barron wasteland. We passed through some bizarre little towns and I stumbled across a great little skatepark in the middle of nowhere.



Arriving in Vegas was strange. We drove for 7 hours through desert without really seeing much to being surrounded by Castles, Fake NYC, Paris, Venice and all sorts of tacky buildings and monuments. We pulled into a hotel car park jumped out the van and went straight for the pool. We ended up sleeping in the van in various hotel car parks and using their facilities over the next few days. It's much cheaper that way.










Like most cities in the USA, once you get out of the central part of town it starts to get a bit dodgy. I don't know what was going on here, but they were up to no good.

To the Bay Area and beyond

We picked up great a campervan in South Central LA to embark on a coast to coast adventure across the states. After a few near crashes driving through Compton trying to get used to driving on the wrong side of the car and road we headed north towards San Francisco and Oakland. It was a beautiful drive up the coast spending a few nights camping out at various beach towns along the way. Once we hit Oakland I knew it was going to be a good time. The place was bombed and very industrial. Within a couple of hours I was out on a night mission with Mags painting near the freeway in the port area. The next few days were spent in San Francisco painting, drinking and hanging out. I love the Bay Area. I could easily live there. The weed laws are really relaxed in SF. I walked past a bar and amongst the group of people who had popped out for a cigarette was a guy smoking a bong. Pretty strange sight. After the bay area we crossed through Yosemite National Park and started heading inland. The national park is awesome. Lots of mountains, deers, waterfalls and great views. Needed a bear proof locker for the paint as they go for anything with an odor.