This is kind of hard to write…we’re sitting in the middle of a high school pep rally held in a library..It is annoyingly good to be around these spirited teens…here we go…

April, Lily and Sarah began the last leg of our Art for Peace Tour last week. Many thanks to all those who donated, in some shape or form. Much love to Ben who took care of van repairs! Upon the morning we left, Kaze and Nik stocked us full of dry goods for all our camping needs.

After camping in Redwood National Park, we traveled to Veneta, a town outside of Eugene, Oregon, for the annual Oregon Country Fair. Xdrop performed with members of Eleven Eyes, who formed the band Inspire for the weekend performances. The fair had our jaws hanging low and eyes popping out as we strolled through the deep forest of Alice’s Wonderland, a campsite we snuck into thanks to Tim, Matt and the nice guards at the gate. We witnessed a subculture that came together to celebrate an alternative, organic lifestyle, all while promoting the arts. We especially enjoyed the stiltwalkers, beat poets, drum circles, costumes and live music. Of course, on some level we found as we roamed from booth to booth that a lot revolved around money. Meeting Martita and her husband was inspirational. They are 65, artists/dancers with 8 children who explained the evolution of the counterculture and its relocation from San Francisco to Oregon. They told us it is our world now, as they put emphasis on our role as young adults. The performances went great- Sarah and Lily danced in hay. We had hay in places that hay shouldn’t be. Sarah performed “The Next Adaptation” in multiple locations throughout the entire fair. Some people were in awe, others barely noticed… We camped in tweakerville, the cheapest place on site. We were bombarded with people who had alterior motives in their interactions with us(drugs, sex and bad rap). The most genuine person we met was an 8 year old named Alexis. She showed us her game of placing glow sticks on the ground and as people tried to pick it up she would yank it back by the string attached… we ended up giving our free tickets to her family who were appreciative and surprised we didn’t charge them. They promised us the best grilled cheese sandwiches next year.

Headed up to Portland to see good friends, Rachael and Jones who took us in though they worried we would smell bad. They took us to the annual Mississippi Street Fair and around the city to check out future performance venues. Thank you for the showers, the indian curry dinner, and use of your laundry facilities! We’ll be ready to help you move in to your new place in S.F. when we get back. Met Grant, a war veteran at the fair who was interested in us returning to perform at their protests for peace. In Portland, we felt an energy that was fresh, raw and full of creativity…a place we could all see ourselves living in the future.

As we left Portland, we braced ourselves for the next 60 hours of driving to Cleveland, OH. During this journey, we visited our friend Jason in Missoula, MT, enjoyed the bison and Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park. In Cody, WY we stopped in at Granny’s, a local breakfast nook, and sat across from the culturally challenged locals who pointed at Lily’s tattoos, mouths agaped, and spoke loudly of their love for Walmart. A blur of road signs and pee breaks brought us to Madison, WI, for our first encounter with fried cheese curds. Happy Birthday to nephew Kai, and thank you to Angelo for the amazing feast! After a quick bagel with Reem in Chicago, IL, we sped like mad women to our first of two shows in Cleveland, OH. We met our friend John, who was fresh out of outdoor survival school. Wade Oval Wednesdays, a summer time festival on Case Western Reserve University’s campus, was packed full of 700 people, lots of families enjoying the sun. As Sarah was performing “The Next Adaptation” the coordinator asked us to present another piece, so we did. An hour later we were performing for college students at the campus bar, The Spot. Thank you to Rachel for getting us out here, all the accomodations and setting us up at the dorms. We especially enjoyed getting attacked by fraternity initiations involving water balloons.