#endlessride

🚲 Every uphill struggle brings a breathtaking view. Keep climbing.

🚴‍♂️ From city streets to mountain trails—one bike takes you everywhere.

#endlessride #surfing #surflife #surfrides #surfing🏄 #oceanlife #sealovers #waves🌊 @surfingwa.ca @surfandrepeat https://www.instagram.com/p/CETn0RJoUY1/?igshid=1uggx5ll8s84x

Always late to the party... still workin’ on the website... The last one is actually a photo of my coffee. 🧱🧱 Meanwhile, my dear Lenore @lenorejurkyova gave me a great idea. Go ahead to my @behance page (direct link in bio) - behance.net/xzouix and get a free wallpaper / lock screen for your phone! There are three artworks waiting for you. Happy season! (can’t wait for #winterseason to be over lol!) ⛓ #wip #website #xzouix #endlessride #takeiteasy #zen #ionlyhavetimeforcoffee #blackasmidnightonamoonlessnight #noir #artesobscurae #darkaesthetic #digitalcollage #freedownload #lockscreen #wallpaper #beautifullwallpaper #yourshotphotographer #shotwithcanon #canonweather #zenlandscape #saferintheforest #bestforestmood #winter #holidayseasongreetings #hello https://www.instagram.com/p/B59_pM3h7yB/?igshid=p9bdck9r48g7

Perpetual Rodeo #EndlessRide #GITS

So having lost this bet JUST about every time he tried it the girls would go back to what they were doing new drink in hand and these schmucks were out another 20 bucks.  When I finally asked the two girls who were sitting to my left who were there with their friend Edgar who these two stooges either never saw or just had no respect for him if it worked they just chuckled. From there I soon joined their group. (Still drinking green teas) The girls were Caroline, an adorable little brunette and Lacey a little blonde bombshell with tattoos in the right places. Lacey was Edgars girl and Caroline was her BFF.  Edgar and I hit it right off and he was the one to invite me along for the evening. We went to the bar he works at which happened to be right next door.  Great news is I stopped drinking Green Teas.  The bar wasn’t all that busy but they had some other chill friends there and it was a decent scene.  Terrible news it’s a $20 all you can drink beers from the tap.  This is where my night probably heads south.  The next thing I remember is its 4 AM and I’m near the capital building in Des Moines.  My hat is MIA.  I get back to the hotel eat the shittiest sandwich I have ever drunkenly purchased and pass out.  I wake up the next morning and all I know is I have my ID.  I closed my tab. My butthole doesn’t hurt and both kidneys are intact.  It was in this moment I decided that the drinking needs to be curtailed while in the city.  It was an eye opener but a great time too (I think, I hope)  Either way I felt refreshed and was now heading to Nebraska.  In Omaha my cousin Doug and his family were nervously awaiting my arrival just as nervously as I was anticipating getting there. I had not seen Doug in damn near 20 years and both of us obviously weren’t quite sure of how it would go.  From the moment he opened the door though it was as if I hadn’t seen him since last month.  His son Noah ran to the door and immediately took a liking to me.  I was wearing my Roots, Rock, Reggae hat and he complimented it instantly.  Needless to say I placed it on his head and it didn’t come off the rest of my visit (it may still be on his head today for all I know.)  Doug’s wife Santha was a wonderful host as well and also quite the fun person to be around.  I truly enjoyed her company also.  Santha’s children also were a blast to be around.  Her son Truett taught me things about computers or at least tried to.  It was the first time a 13 year old spoke complete Greek to me that was about something important that I actually wished I understood.  Far different from the ridiculous banter of Firefly “knah wut im sayin fam”  And her daughter Caissa and I joked about typical teenage life.  All in all it was a great stop and it was right around July 2nd which was my grandfather’s birthday and traditionally when we would hold our family reunion every year growing up.  After a few days in Omaha I was moving south west.  Colorado was in my sights and only a 7 hour drive from where I was.  It was the 3rd of July and I had a cool idea of what I wanted to do on the 4th.

Firefly Music Festival that is, but before we touch on that let me bring you up to speed.  I recently spent a few days, roughly 4 miles in the woods, in the western portion of the Allegheny National Forest.  And what I quickly learned there was that 4 miles just wasn’t far enough away from civilization.  What concerns me is that finding seclusion may become more difficult for me to achieve than I originally thought.  Maybe I just picked the wrong area for my first attempt at camping out deep in the woods, or maybe there really just are people everywhere.  In either case there were many great experiences and lessons learned during my first stop.  I never claimed to be fully prepared or completely knowledgeable about the experiences that lay before me, but I am committed to learning from them and prepared for the challenges that await.  I cut my stay in the Allegheny short based on the weather forecast, knowing I made camp near a water source and there was a predicted thunderstorm which was supposed to hit the area hard I opted to clean up early and take to the road again.  It was at this time I got to truly realize the unpredictability of the road and enjoy the unexpected turns and twists.  My friend Courtney had seen I was at Niagara Falls and reached out to see if I was still in upstate NY and offered to have me visit her and her family at their place near Ithaca.  Obviously her place would be a lot nicer then my tent or jeep in a downpour so even though I had just driven south from NY to PA I doubled back and spent the next two nights at the cabin.  And what a great place it was nestled back off the road built on the side of the mountain. Courtney took me to a local brewery (which seems to be a recurring trend at my stops now) and then I spent the rest of the day drinking a growler of IPA from the brewery.  It was that Saturday night at the cabin that another friend of mine, Ashley, reached out to tell me about an extra ticket she has for this coming weekend at the Firefly Festival.  Now talk about going where the road takes you, here I am going on my fourth week of traveling and I’ll be less than 3 hours from home.  After I decided to take Ashley up on the offer to join her and her friend Paul (who I haven’t met yet) at Firefly I said thanks to Courtney and her Family for their hospitality and headed to Culpeper, VA where my Aunt Susi and Uncle Les live.  Susi and Les were sitting in their house Sunday evening thinking that I was in the Allegheny.  They had just finished dinner with my Granma who I did not know was also visiting.  So I got to surprise all three of them with my visit. It is here at Les and Susi’s that I have been “recharging” for the last couple days.  They have a beautifully landscaped home that they built in the country.  Between getting to spend an entire day on Monday with Granma (something we haven’t done enough of) sharing stories and laughing while working in the yard and later going to dinner.  And hanging out with my Uncle Tuesday and Wednesday having our own laughs walking the property and enjoying all the beauties of his land and of the nature and wildlife on it I feel renewed (it truly is amazing how a visit with family just lifts your spirits and energy) and ready to jump back into my big adventure.   Which brings me to Firefly, what the hell am I getting into here?  Its 4 days of music with 100 plus bands and I think I know maybe 8 of them.  I’m hoping one of my many readers will be able to give me some insight here.  I’ve got a few concerns with this idea.  Is this even my scene?  Will I be able to last through 4 days of this music?  Will I stand out or blend into the crowd?  Am I gonna be the old guy?  Those who know me best know that I love my reggae, and reggae inspired music, as well as punk and rock bands.  What I can’t stand is what some people call “music” music to me has to be played by a person on an instrument.  NOT A COMPUTER.  Obviously this is my opinion and you can call me close minded or ignorant and that is fine we are all entitled to our opinions.  I prefer stubborn, maybe I’m just set in my ways.  But I have my concerns for a reason.  Not only do I want to have a good time myself I don’t want to be the reason other people don’t get to enjoy themselves at the festival. I guess the only thing I can do is keep an open mind and make the most of it.  I’m looking forward to writing my follow up to this piece.  Until then Live Endlessly.

As I have previously stated this trip feels all too natural, instinctual is how I put it I believe. In my early days of dispersed camping I found myself 3-4 miles into the forest.  I immediately noticed the heightening of my senses.  From my sensitivity to every sound to how easily I notice the smallest changes in my surroundings.  In my regular day to day life I never found myself to be this sharp. It has nothing to do with not being stoned either as I know most of you who know me best might immediately think. That is mainly because I still have plenty of a stash and have not cut back one bit so far.  My gut tells me it is because there are fewer stimuli in my surroundings giving my sensory system the ability to focus on one task.  There really is something to be said about slowing down the pace at which not only you operate, but also how the world around you does too.  It may be attributed to not being in my comfort zone and somewhat staying on edge (which surprisingly isn’t nearly as bad as it sounds).  But I am far more observant of not only every decision I make, but also of every step and movement I take.  It has always been said that when you get too comfortable shit happens, so in a way I feel better knowing I am on high alert.  It does help having a logical mind in these elements though because it is far too easy for ones imagination to get ahead of itself when you are alone and in the woods.  Other self-observations I have made are my new found love of cleaning up, something I have never been fond of.  Mostly because I am aware of my surroundings and I am a guest in these places.  And much like when you are a guest in someone’s home you suddenly find yourself paying more attention to the mess you may make. Additionally, and quite possibly most uncharacteristic of me is I have not only been wearing pants, but shoes as well. Obviously this should prove my reasoning for always being “that guy” in shorts and flip-flops “I’m crazy not stupid”. Or it comes down to the one driving force that keeps us all alive to begin with…FEAR.  Yes, I’ll say it proudly; this little expedition certainly knows how to scare the hell out of me.  In areas with known rattlesnakes, bears, and other predators even the smallest field mouse can scare the shit out of you as I learned the other night.  Simply because it is unknown and even though what I seek in all of this is exactly that it still has the inexplicable power to intimidate the bravest of souls.