Seattle, WA

Nick: We’re back. After as six week break, me in Indiana and Brian here in Washington, we have been reunited for the second leg of the trip. We’re heading down the West Coast this time, which promises to be the best coast with its sun, beaches, biddies, and… biddies? As to our doings during the break… I worked at a board game store, Brian didn’t, and now we’re both back in Seattle. New updates: Andreas, totally out. Tyler, our friend who you may recall from Missoula, Montana is in. He can’t do the whole leg, but he’s in for the first couple weeks.

Brian: I’m looking forward to this leg of the journey. There should be a lot more camping, especially as the weather warms up. My Christmas break was great and well needed (“well-needed” is quickly becoming one of my most used phrases) and I scored a laptop, which will make blogging/Couchsurfing that much easier. We tried to kick off our trip with a night of snowboarding, but due to my lack of planning, we just ended up taking a leisurely drive up to Steven’s Pass.

Nick: Except for when a giant log that fell across the highway. A cute snow bunny helped us clear it off the road though, so it wasn’t an altogether unpleasant experience.

Brian: So nobody else makes the same mistake I did: There is no night skiing on Wednesdays. Beside that incident things seem to be going well. In fact, the universe itself seems to be blessing our trip; the weather is great today, CouchSurfers are happy to receive us with a variety of events in Portland, OR, and Tyler is a creative writing major, so we expect him to seamlessly merge with and enhance our already amazing style. Pressure’s on.

Tyler: I don’t think I can handle this type of pressure… I might have a nervous breakdown before we even leave. I’m stoked, that’s right stoked, to be on this leg of journey. I basically did this same leg of journey last summer but now there won’t be any crowds and I won’t get all my stuff stolen, hopefully. Sandy cold beaches and life among the redwoods here we come!

Nick: Before signing off for the day, I’d like to take this opportunity to post the states through which we’ve driven thus far, in the order through which we’ve driven through them. Please... enjoy:

1. Indiana
2. Ohio
3. Kentucky
4. Ohio
5. West Virginia
6. Pennsylvania
7. New York
8. Pennsylvania
9. New York
10. Vermont
11. New Hampshire
12. Maine
13. New Hampshire
14. Massachussetts
15. New Hampshire
16. Massachussetts
17. Rhode Island
18. Connecticut
19. Rhode Island
20. Connecticut
21. New York
22. New Jersey
23. New York
24. New Jersey
25. Pennsylvania
26. New Jersey
27. Pennsylvania
28. New Jersey
29. Pennsylvania
30. Maryland
31. DC
32. Virginia
33. DC
34. Virginia
35. DC
36. Virginia
37. DC
38. Virginia
39. DC
40. Maryland
41. DC
42. Virginia
43. DC
44. Virginia
45. DC
46. Virginia
47. North Carolina
48. Tennessee
49. North Carolina
50. Georgia
51. Tennessee
52. Georgia
53. Tennessee
54. Kentucky
55. Indiana
56. Kentucky
57. Indiana
58. Illinois
59. Wisconsin
60. Minnesota
61. North Dakota
62. Minnesota
63. North Dakota
64. Minnesota
65. North Dakota
66. South Dakota
67. Wyoming
68. Montana
69. Idaho
70. Montana
71. Idaho
72. Washington