We check into the hotel. The main reason we get a room that night is to utilize the hotel hot tub to relieve our sore bodies from long day(s) of skating. Detroit was fun, and we’re back in the suburbs for a night of relaxation before hitting the road to Chicago the following day. Beer run: necessary. 

At the hot tub, there is a young family. Four young daughters are pretty much running the place, but that doesn’t stop us from enjoying our beverages and our own company. Darnell, Chris, and I are straight chilling, unwinding. Shortly, friends of Chris will arrive and join us for the hot tub session. Life is good. They arrive, and we are immediately kicked out of the hot tub area. Nice try, but we quickly retreat to our room to kick it. Our hotel room’s window is right next to a separate rooftop, and we take out the screen to climb out on the roof and enjoy the breezy summer night from atop the parking lot. 

Many smokes and beers later, we are having a micro dance party being jolly and not really worrying about anything. Chris’ friends that visit are a couple of cute females, and they provide some great company. Fun night, no trouble, only good vibes. So glad to have had the great times in Michigan that we did. The next day, we all go to breakfast/brunch and start planning our trip onward to Chicago. On the interstate, Darnell and I decide to stop in Ann Arbor (home of University of Michigan), because we heard there was a pretty sick skatepark there. The park did NOT disappoint. There are few skateparks that are on the level of the public skatepark in Ann Arbor. I’m actually not sure who built the park, but the concrete was poured well, every type of obstacle was there, and the whole place flowed (like a river of pure stoke). Aside from a bad fall in the deep pool, it was a great session. We grab some pizza and head further west on the road to Chicago, another city I’d yet to visit. 

At the ripe hour of 11 pm, we roll into Maywood, IL. Darnell’s dad’s family is all from Maywood (greater Chicago), and so we stay with them. It is it late in the night to stay with Darnell’s grandma, so we arrive at his aunt’s place (right across the street from grandma’s). Diane is a trip. Good people for sure; she lives in a very old house that somehow only has pictures and furniture form the past owners. Many black & white photos of white people (Darnell and his family are black), so that was a bit weird but she is a great host. The next day, we link up with Darnell’s grandma and get breakfast with her. Such a sweet lady and someone with many years of experience. She left Mississippi for Chicago when she was 23 years old (in 1953) for a better life as a black person in racist America and better pay as well. Her perspectives and opinions were fascinating, and I’m so glad I got to spend a bit of time with her. The rest of that day was a normal work day for me, sitting at the lap top and catching up on communication. That night, we chill out and watch some local skate videos I had picked up so far on the journey (from Pittsburgh, Toronto, and Calgary) and get some rest for a long day of skating in downtown Chicago the next day. 

We wake up, eat some food, drive into downtown to near where we have an AirBnB set up for us to stay that night. With a killer rooftop view of the skyline and a short ride to the train, we’re stoked. We get on the metro and are in downtown in 20 minutes. So amped to walk up to ground level from the subway and start pushing a brand new city! Some of the first things we do are see “the bean” and some other touristy shit. Got that out of the way. We push along the water and take our time finding Grant Park skatepark. The new (less than a year old) plaza is so nice! But it’s a hot day in Chicago (in the 90s), so we don’t last long. After heading back toward the water and skating a historic natural quarter pipe on Lake Michigan, we find a city beach to try and cool off. There’s a quaint taco stand right on the beach, so we grab some tacos and change into our suits. We were shocked to feel how cold the waters were in the midst of mid-August temperatures upwards of 90°F. So so cold, it was a challenge to get completely under to relieve yourself from the heat. So glad we got some beach time in though! Necessarily refreshing is the best way I could have put it.

Leaving the beach, still in our swim trunks, we return to pushing the streets of downtown Chicago. Spots are common but not usually skateable. Lots of security and pedestrian traffic cramps our efforts, but we still get some great skating in and get to see the city in a great way. We stop again for a coffee and wi-fi (gotta post to Insta…), and then start planning to get back to the crash spot. So many Cubs jerseys on the rail - Cubs vs. Reds in Chicago is that night. We finally arrive at out AirBnB-provided pad. 

Michael is our host and a great one at that. Good person with some good life experiences and really nice place for visitors to spend time. After showers and a beer on the roof, we make moves for dinner. Deep. Dish. Pizza. At Pequod's to be exact. Weird name, dope food. Following a great meal and decent buzz, we get a drink at another place just down the street. Then skate back to “the view”. I’ll skip the details of broing down, but Darnell and I chilled for a bit longer and had a great night on the roof in Chicago. The next morning, we’re each burning up from the sunlight pouring into our room, but that’s okay because we both want to go skate. I spend a bit of time typing and drinking coffee before we head out. 

Headed to the shop. Uprise is the best example of an OG skateshop that holds down the skate scene for the local community. Street skaters for street skating, a shop full of skateboarding goods and nothing else. It’s always good to connect; bought a shirt while I was at it. From there, we pushed to an under-the-bridge park, which, honestly was kind of shitty. But it at least had a cool breeze in the shade. :) We then pushed up the street, seeing and hitting spots along the way, back to the car to head back to Maywood. Heading back to Maywood from Bucktown was interesting, passing in and out of good and bad neighborhoods. 

Our AirBnB pad vacation turned back into grandma’s house’ stay, which was still great. Loaded up the car for my drive the next day. Darnell was going to fly back to the east coast, and I was road bound once again. That evening, I met up with a friend I made at a conference. We had coffee and caught up, and it was really nice to have just a conversation at a coffee shop for the sake of having a fucking conversation at a coffee shop. Thanks Jason. 

So fast forward to the next morning. It was once again time to check the oil, tire pressure, and other vitals… Whatever. McDonald’s breakfast got me in the mood to grunge it out in the car all day. This was the first day alone on the trip after Pittsburgh, and it was bitter sweet. Traveling with Darnell was a real treat. He’s chill, patient, independent, all qualities you need have in a road trip companion. Yet, at the same time, it became so much easier to do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted, the only human in the vehicle. Thanks Darnell, for the great times, but it was solo at that point. 

Onward to Madison, WI, where a friend of mine from undergrad at NCSU is now in grad school of U of Wisconsin, studying engines and creating awesome shit. I was so stoked to go to Madison and have a long (Labor Day) weekend in a small (but super fun) town! Leaving Chicago, I decided to take the non-toll roads and cruise through the slow-speed country corn fields. This was a great idea, so chill cruising through fields.. Hitting rush hour traffic (on a Friday) coming into Madison was the only thing that cramped the style of the day. Had to stop the car once to let it cool off, but sure enough, I made it to George’s house, where he had a cold brew ready for my awaiting hand. 

Madison is a really unique town. Everyone there (most are university-affiliated) are proud as shit of their city. It’s a really nice place. Sure, they get some gnarly winters, but the landscape is great, they have great summers, lakes, safe neighborhoods, and a thriving young culture, not to mention they have the state capitol building right at the end of State Street. (State Street is like Fayetteville St. in Raleigh but better.) 

Arriving in Madison was great. I was there safely and SO glad for that. The car survived, and I was there for a long weekend of fun and new experiences. That night, George (my friend from NCSU) had his hour on the radio station at WSUM, the college station at U of W. In college at NC State, he also DJ’ed for the local radio station, and he’s a hip hop guy. Fuck yeah. An afternoon of skating around campus, having a beer on the lake, and meeting his roommates, we head to the studio. Apparently, at NC State they wouldn’t allow cursing on the radio, but at Wisconsin, they don’t give a shit. So we played some really trappy stuff and had a blast. I was high and chillin’ on that studio life in Wisconsin. 

The next day:

We hit up the farmer’s market near the state capitol. So many cool things to see, and the crowd for this farmers’ market each weekend is unreal. A really large community. We then grab a coffee and ride over to the skate park (the new skatepark had technically not opened, so we hopped a fence and skated for about 15 minutes before pressing our luck too much). The park was super nice and new; smooth and crispy (if you’re down with the lingo). So nice; I’m very happy for skaters in and around Madison, WI. 

Directly after skating home from the park, we get on bicycles to go to a local keg ball game with some of George’s friends. Now, keg ball is fucking awesome. There are other ways to describe it, but I’m sticking with “fucking awesome.” Basically, it consists of a game of kickball but with a keg at 2nd base. When you arrive at 2nd base, you have to fill up your cup with delicious beer. You have to finish your cup before you’re allowed to leave 2nd base. So each time you have a decent run: BEER. There were small teams, so you needed to chug your beer and get HOME so that there was someone else to kick in the line-up. We eventually teamed up with another game of keg ball, which made for a better drinking experience but MUCH more beer. I could go on, but I’ll skip to the end of the game where we convince some foreign exchange students to accompany us back to George’s place where his roommates were throwing a “6th grade” theme party. 

It was a hell of a task pedaling back from the field to the house party, but as soon as we arrive we see a SLIP ’N SLIDE. I’m drunk at that point and LOVE that type of stuff, so I go straight for the slip n slide, fully clothed. "Can’t wait to tear it up” type of thing. The next day, I found smelly, musty wet clothes (the ones I left outside after drunkenly slip n sliding in the backyard). I’m not going to tell the full story of the party, because: 

1) I don’t remember all of it.
2) It was too much to tell. 

It was typical yet awesome college party. Met some great people. Drank some beer. Learned a lot about the mid-west. 

So there’s that. The next day, everyone is VERY hungover. We all went to breakfast and then back to the house, where all of us just chilled ALL DAY. Watched “Straight Outta Compton” and highly enjoyed it. That night, we grilled burgers and pineapples and had a grand old time. The following day, we ate special cookies and vegged out a bit more after skating a more full session at the brand new skatepark.

The people and the experiences I had in WI was so much fun. I will always remember them fondly. I had such an amazing weekend in Madison but was also ready to leave for more adventure in the Rockies. 

And with that, I will leave you with another intermission. Until the next chapter, I bid you all adieu. 

 - 7PlyEpic

Okay, so now that I’ve thoroughly bombarded your brains (for anyone reading this) with ideals and mantras from my own thoughts on the road, here’s a more traditional travel blog approach. I’ll actually start telling the story. And the best place, I think, to start is the departure from Pittsburgh. I grew up in North Carolina, and this was my third time visiting PGH, so I find it fitting to start the documentation at the beginning of my quest to new places. 

I have a travel buddy now.

Darnell, a friend from NC, had taken a train to Pittsburgh to travel with me for the first leg(s) of the trip. We’re hyped! We head north on I-90 to Buffalo, and shortly thereafter, Niagara Falls. Fuck it, why not go to Niagara Falls?! Darnell and I had never been, and it’s a “wonder of the world”. Fuck yeah. Honestly, it’s what I expected. Big ass waterfall. It was pretty tight - I’m glad we went there to check it out. The power of that thing is very impressive, and to think about how long it’s been going along is pretty mind-blowing. We went to the touristy Hard Rock Café near the parking lot, had a beer, and got a coffee to go. Driving across the border, I thought we were going to get hassled for sure. I mean, here I am with my life in my car. I have a damn man bun like a stereotypical hippie, and I’m on a "road trip” with my black friend just passing through Canada on a cross-country trip to California, moving there for "business". Does that sound like a half-ass cover story for smuggling drugs or what?! No doubt, the border agent lets us right through, and we’re on the Canadian highway. 

It was only about twenty minutes of free driving before we were chugging along slowly in traffic headed to Toronto, still about 110 miles (or about 70 kilometers) out of Toronto mind you. We blasted Drake the whole way (thanks Darnell, seriously). *Gotta rep the 416 when you in it doe.* We didn’t have any data/service on our phones in that country, so we lost GPS and found ourselves deep in the city when we realized we were NOT near the suburb we are going to stay in. We get off an exit right near Rogers Centre (where the Maple Leafs play) to find a Starbucks and some Wi-Fi to redirect ourselves. About 45 minutes later, we arrive.

Now, our hosts in Toronto are particularly interesting and awesome as fuck. The Elliotts. My friend from a leadership development conference that I met in NYC is THE man. Clay Elliott is a cool cat, and apparently all of his family are cool cats too. We arrive there with no cell phone service, so we find the address and knock on the door. His mom answers, and we walk in awkwardly, saying "I’m there to meet Clayton." They’re TOTALLY cool of course. 

I met Clayton in New York, but the last time I saw him was at Burning Man, where is he was essentially the ring leader for a group of 8-10 people and the master of all things good vibes and burner tips. His brother, Adrian, was also at Burning Man with us that year, and he greets me with a big hug as we get down to the basement. It’s always good to have a genuine loving welcome. Clay arrives later, when we’re out in the back yard enjoying a smoke and catching up. I meet his other two younger brothers who are also cool and inviting. We end up getting stoned and going to a Mediterranean place for a late dinner. Come back to pass out. 

The next four days, I alternate “work days” and "skate days”. Clayton is a passionate entrepreneur and change-maker, and I share his office. Darnell goes on his own adventures when I work from “home”. Clay’s younger brother Mac, who “used to skate” becomes our tour guide in Toronto, where we come to find that he’s still got it and actually rips! I’m stoked to say I think we got him back into it. He ended up buying trucks and bearings, and I gave him my old deck to set up a new one for our final day of skating. 

We skated the Ashbridge's Bay Skatepark, one of the sicker street-themes plazas I’ve ever skated. So much flow, so many different types of things to skate, and lots of open space and lines. We skated an under-the-bridge park with pre-fab ramps that were pretty fun to skate. We then got poutine (first time for me and Darnell). Poutine is tight! But poutine leftovers are not… 

We ate wings: not bad, Canada. We ate ramen downtown: amazing! We ate lots of things and drank lots of Sleemans. Played some video games, bro’d out and had deep conversations about deep things. 
Our second skate mission was especially awesome - skated all over downtown Toronto all day long, including two skateparks, the local shop (Blue Tile Lounge), and spots all over. Toronto has some really impressive architecture, unique  traffic patterns, and (believe it or not) some of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen. 

After confirming with the Elliotts, I’ve concluded that some of most attractive women (per capita) are in Toronto, Ontario; however, they are very hard to talk to. They (almost all) speak English, so its not that. But women of Toronto know their worth. Pardon my non-PC language, but they know the value of “pussy power” as many locals proclaimed. I was happy to be shot down from attempts at conversations downtown that day. At least I gave it a shot. 

After 4-5 days of time in Toronto, we have to get going back into the states, continuing west. We’re on our route to Detroit. 

My friend Chris, the president of the Skateboarding Club at Oakland University, has brought his skate club to Collegiate Skate Tour events since our very first one in Kentucky, and they are always down for the cause. That weekend, August 29th, was their own on-campus event, the Grizz Skate Jam (their school mascot is the Grizzlies). I’m more than stoked to come as Collegiate Skate Tour and also see Michigan for the first time. The guys are based up in Rochester, MI, and as soon as we get there it’s time for food and beers. We meet Chris’ brothers and sister, and start planning to go out to the local bar to have a good first night off the road in MI. Mr. B’s is the spot, and tequila is the drink. We play pool, drink alcohol, I catch up with all the dudes I know in Michigan, and it’s a great night. I even make some new friends and extend the night a bit too long… But the next morning, we have an event to run.

The local skate scene in Michigan is tight! Everyone there was ripping and smiling all day. There were all types of hook-ups from sponsors, free food, music from the university radio station and live jams from several local bands (they killed it as well!). There was a brand new A-frame ramp (with rail) built for the event, and everyone was having at it. It was, all in all, an amazing event, and I was ecstatic to be a part of it. That night, we go out for some good food and retire for a night of rest. 

The next day, we go into downtown Detroit to skate the city ALL DAY. I was especially excited for this day, because, well, Detroit is a unique fucking place. Whether it be the dilapidated buildings, the renovated areas of central downtown, or the famous Coneys, Detroit has it’s own flavor of civilization. People identify strongly with the city, whether positively or negatively. There is a tight vibe for sure. Our first stop was “The Wig”, the new DIY spot. We come around the corner and observe a group of people (20-somethings) playing keg-ball in the nearby softball field. We walk through the fence opening onto the re-made basketball courts where the skateboarding obstacles are, and there are about three corpses laid out as if they were dead. After 15-20 minutes of skating around, I noticed that those bodies had slightly moved, so no dead guys there. Whew. 

The spot was super fun, and people were friendly. From there we push to an indoor “key holder-only” bowl that was really nice. The guys there were still full-on building, so nothing was skate-able, but the dimensions, transitions, and coping laid were all very well-done. Excited for the next trip up there to maybe shred that thing with the local. We grabbed lunch right after that and then pushed to different spots (closer to the Bridge to Canada). Also, we drive through some pretty ghetto neighborhoods re-purposed to be public art installations. Which leads us to the Ride It Sculpture Park, a semi-famous transition park based in a rough neighborhood, full of kids and grown-ups with full hearts for skateboarding. Sketchy parks with locals killing it are so inspiring, and the Ride It park was no exception. After a few more hours of fun, slams, and makes, we decide to calm the fuck down and organize the night. What better way to have our last night in Michigan than rent a hotel room and buy a full stash of beer. Let’s get it. 

And with that, I will leave you until the next installation.

 - 7PlyEpic