I parked in the back of Bleu's place in Maryland. They brought me out waffles in the morning, and we traded shirts, something of mine for a pink op ivy crop top that I still have to this day. That morning I drove over to Apes Estate to hang out with April, and we talked for a while before getting a tour of their house. One of the kindest, sweetest humans in the entire world, it's always a treat when our paths cross. I stayed somewhere outside of town, if I recall. I made the drive to Philly to try to skate FDR, which, with my healing foot at the time, wasn't much use, but I tried anyway.

I made my way to New Jersey for the first time, and was treated to Tank Girl on VHS and Monkey Ball on Gamecube until midnight by Elaina, after which I slept for four hours until we woke up early enough to see the sunrise. At this park on the north shore of New Jersey where we could see the light glinting off the skyscrapers of Manhattan on the other side of the sea. It was so fucking worth it.

Kept driving ever north through Connecticut, through Rhode Island, all the way to the tip of the cape in Massachusetts. I heard that Provincetown was the gay vacation destination, and immediately felt out of place with my crusty traveling self. Too queer for the gayest town I suppose, or maybe just too broke.

On the north shore of the cape, I remember it so fucking clearly. I wanted to go for a swim, and it was raining. I figure, I'm going to get wet anyway, so I change into my swimming clothes and walk down to the beach where everyone is packing up and leaving. I jump into the ocean, the only person in the water because I guess everyone was scared of getting wet at the beach, and this pack of seals just swims right past. Close enough to touch, and I was the only one who got to experience it. It was fucking magical.

After that, I kept on driving up to Portland, Maine. This was the point that I was trying to get to, the goal of the journey. It was the farthest north I'd ever been. I took some pictures of the light houses, ate a lobster roll, got back in the van, and started driving west.