Two Weeks

As an idea that seemed wishful at best in early 2009, it's exciting to think that in just 2 weeks my friend Dave and I will be starting on a road trip to Indio, California. It's a trip that will take us almost entirely across the Western USA from north to south, obviously with us starting out in Canada and ending just a few hundred miles from Mexico. I can't wait.

Much like my Rushmore trip in 2007, our journey to Indio is being fueled mostly by a desire to explore, relax, and change up the scenery. Dave's folks have a place down there, which was the reasoning in the beginning to even consider the trip. With a bit of time in Salt Lake City, a night of celebrating planned in Vegas, a visit to the ocean, and a few days of drinking in the desert, I'd say that all the ingredients are certainly there for a memorable adventure.

As I remarked to Dave, I'll be shooting pieces of this trip as I do with almost all my trips with intention of putting a small project together. It has a lot of potential to be one of the most meaningful things I produce this year because of the personal narrative involved. This video is likely to be a mix of travelog and self-referential documentary as Dave and I have had somewhat of a touch and go friendship since first year of university.

In high school I sat next to a guy who knew Dave named Todd. He explained that Dave was going to the U of R too, and sure enough on my first day there I met him. Since that first day Dave and I have always been loosely in touch, connected by the same people, and have had our occasional lengthy discussion about things - this trip is by far the most time I'll have ever spent with him one on one though, and with both of us having such a broad view of things I know there's going to be no shortage of things to talk about.

After years of events, parties and hang ups, this road trip kind of seems like an opportunity to clear the air about a lot of things. Not just between Dave and I specifically, but about university life in general. As spontaneous as a lot of the road trip will be, I think it's also a great opportunity to put some of that post-university 'what now?' we're both experiencing to rest - or at least an opportunity to recharge or find some new motivation.

It's tough to say that this road trip is going to be as meaningful as my artistic mind is trying to make it, but let me just say, both Dave and I seem perceptive enough to grasp at any enlightenment the desert decides to throw at us. At the very least, it's a chance to get away from the ordinary.

As a side note, I just happened to be listening to Two Weeks by Grizzly Bear and thought the first few lyrics were fitting: "Save up all the days, a routine malaise, just like yesterday, I told you I would stay". Nostalgia is a powerful thing. Still friends after all these years - here's to a memorable road trip Dave!