Well, my roommate and I just got back from an amazing road trip. I have family in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, so first thing is a 9 hour drive to see my family up there. It was great to see all of them, complete with a family dinner, with fresh corn picked 10 minutes before dinner đŸ˜€
The map of where we went.
After we were in Sioux Falls for 2 days we went across the state, stopping in Mitchell to see my good friend Brian Klock, who builds some of the most original custom bikes in the nation. Also in Mitchell is the worlds only Corn Palace. So, obviously, we had to see it.
After that we headed for the hills. It’s a 5 hour drive across the state, and a bit boring for most of it. But we got to stop at Wall Drug, which is basiclly a huge tourist trap, but it has a cool history. While we were in the West we went to all the touristy things….including Mt. Rushmore, The Needles Hwy, The Cosmos, Deadwood (Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok’s gravesites), and of course, Sturgis. About this time of year the biggest bike rally in the nation takes place. We were there a few days early, but bikes were slowly descending on this very tiny place. I had never been to Strugis, and my dad being the custom bike builder that he is, I needed to at least see it. It was crazy. I will never do it again in a car. Perhaps once I get a motorcycle.
We stayed in Rapid City, SD for a few days and were there during this thing called Summer Nights, so we walked around a bit and stumbled upon an alley that was covered in grafitti. We were told later, it’s an alley that is legal to graffiti and anyone can do it. So, the next day we added our own little mark in the sea of graffiti. Also while walking down the alley, I practiced doing enviromental portaits. I did two of them, but i’m only really proud of one of them.
Art Alley, Rapid City, SD
Art Alley 2
My roommate's graffiti, in the middle stage.
I grab this kid off the street...he was a nice guy sporting a superman shirt cut in half down the middle.
A few days after all of this, we drove down to Denver, CO. Our main goal of the whole trip was Warped Tour. Which was awesome. I loved it. We saw Reel Big Fish, The Reverend Payton’s Big Damn Band, Drop Kick Murphies, and Anti-Flag. We also got to go to Scum of the Earth Church which was founded by Five Iron Frenzy. It was a good church, good people. If you live in Denver, you should check it out.
Gotta love Wyoming and it's big skys
We packed our own lunch...but they wouldn't let us take it in...so it turned into our dinner.
we were waiting for a band to start...it was hot...
Reel Big Fish in concert was fun.
After all that we went to the Denver Art Museum. We went to the King Tut exhibit and also visited a lot of the modern art. They had a cool exhibit by a photographer named Sandy Skoglund who sets up full installations then photographs them. Typically the installation itself isn’t shown to the public but the DAM requested this installation to be permanently shown at museum.
an art piece in front of DAM
Sandy Skoglund's Fox Games
The Marriage of the Virgin Raphael
The artist of this painting would go out on the street and grab people off the street and ask them if they wanted to pose for a painting. Once in the studio he would have them flip through an art history book and pick a painting to immitate. These guys picked The Marriage of the Virigin by Raphael it’s kind of cool. I like the concept behind it.
We made one more stop in Kansas City and stayed with my friend Brian Webster…After that we came home…it was a long trip, but totally worth it. It’s always good to see friends and family before a big life season change such as starting grad school.
Anyway there are more pictures on flickr…check ’em out if you want…
All In A Days Work: 
