Time ticked down to the very last second, my mind, used to the usual procrastination, was accustomed to packing last minute. I stuffed my backpack to the brim, doubled checked everything, and was ready to embark on a trip that I realized was going to be full of unknown adventures. I knew where we were going but once I stepped inside the “Vista Time Machine” I didn’t know what to expect.
I arrived at Hella Grip HQ in the evening, but the rest of the TGE crew didn’t arrive until about 1 in the morning. They picked up Jake and I and then after crashing at HGHQ, we quickly dipped out to Oregon in the morning. Next, I heard we were getting up at 5:30am and leaving at 6 on the dot. I was honestly surprised at everyone’s enthusiasm to get on the road and make it to the TSI BBQ later that evening. I was excited to get there, but not hyped for the hella long drive up to Portland. The crew consisted of Matt Mckeen, Zack Martin, Parrish Isaacs, Kevin Austin, Matt Grippi, Chema Cardenas, and Jake Sorensen, creating a van full of unpredictable possibilities. With Mckeen behind the wheel, everyone passed out until we made our determined rest stop in Weed, CA for lunch.
PIT STOP
Our first pit stop on the way out of the Bay Area was in somewhere north along the i-5. We stopped at a gas station to refuel for the long trek up to Portland. During our break Matt Mckeen captures b-roll for the trip video.
WEED, CALIFORNIA
We stopped to grab sandwiches at a Subway in Weed, and happened to notice a prime downrail right next to the shop. After we ate, Zack, Jake, and Parrish started hitting the rail.
(Left: Zack Martin - Front Lip)
Parrish Isaacs: Front Board
Once we were done filming, we made it our goal to find the “Welcome to Weed” sign in town to get a team picture. However we weren’t successful in tracking it down, so instead we drove up some random dirt road because Matt thought a team photo with Mt. Shasta in the background would look sick. As we were driving on the road we approached a hill, so we hiked up this rocky hill, to where there were train tracks. On the tracks you could see a perfect view of the valley and Mt. Shasta. I’m pretty sure Parrish wasn’t wearing shoes in the process of going up and down the rocky hill.
TSI BBQ
After the team photo, we continued up the I-5 trying to make it on time to the BBQ. Luckily, we were able to get to there right on time, and were greeted with a great turn out, filled with hella good times. After the BBQ, we prepped for the next day, which was going to have a completely full agenda. Tired, and full of BBQ we crashed at the welcoming residence of Cooper Klaar for the next couple of days.
PORTLAND STREET JAM
Today was the first ever Portland Street Jam, which was hosted by TSI Scooters and Phoenix Pro Scooters. So we gathered up our gear, all hopped in the van, and headed to the meeting spot which was a hill bomb down to the city which was called the "zoo bomb". The hill was super intense, and many riders almost got hit by cars coming from the opposite direction of the street. It was definitely a great way to wake up, get the blood flowing, and start the day. The rest of the day was full of super crazy shit, like dealing with crazy crack heads that were skate stopping spots, and having to deal with the police because a homeless guy tried to fight a scooter rider for riding a spot. Overall, the whole jam was a great turnout and it was very well organized. We ended the day with some bomb ass Portland taco truck food, filming at a couple local spots, and having a private sesh at the D-block indoor skatepark.
PORTLAND, OREGON
After the Street Jam, we planned to ride around the area, riding skateparks and filming at spots for the next few days. One of the first spots we visited was a school full of low blue colored rails. It's a pretty famous spot seen in many Portland scooter videos and Adidas skateboarding videos. As we pulled up to the school there were two guys already there skating one of the crusty ledges that was next to the rails. We then talked about what we planned on doing: should we stay and ride with them, or go on to another spot. Then, all of a sudden, a big van pulls up behind ours and about 10 or so skaters jump out. Earlier that day I had been following Altamont’s northwest trip with the Skateboard Mag down from Seattle to Portland on Instagram. Turns out, they were planning on hitting the same spot that were we at, and showed up five minutes after we had arrived. As most of us were still in the van figuring out what we should do, Neen Williams walks by and greets us, it was pretty heavy. Then other skaters such as Ryan Lay, Frankie Heck, Daniel DuBois and others passed us, and then Matt see’s one of his homies from Virginia, Chris Wimer, who was on the trip with Altamont. Chris then invited us to ride the spot with the rest of the Altamont crew. But most of us decided that it wouldn’t be the best idea to super crew sesh a spot. So we decided to head out, film at other spots and came back to the school later that day.
Matt McKeen executing a frontside lipslide at a spot in Portland.
The following day, we went to Glenhaven skatepark and right next to the park was a high school with a prime red flat bar. The TGE crew began seshin it while Parrish was sitting beside the rail filming fisheye.
Unexpectedly, Jake went for a warm up boardslide on the rail but his scooter flew out of his hands accidentally and directly hit Parrish’s camera. When his scooter hit, the fisheye, that was attached to his DVX, flew right off his camera and into the air, landing right on the concrete ground. I was pretty speechless on what just happened and everyone else was too. In the midst of it hitting the camera, his scooter also hit Parrish and injured his knee pretty badly. This unfortunately put Parrish out for the rest of the day.
HOOD RIVER
We then packed our bags, left Coopers place, and picked up Hep Greg who was going to accompany us on the voyage up north. We headed out to Walmart, where we stocked up on food supplies and camping gear for the following days while staying in Hood River, OR. During our trek we stopped by Multnomah Falls, which is a famous waterfall located on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge. It was a great pit stop on the hour long drive to Hood River.
As we arrived at our campsite in Hood River, right after we set our tents up, we went to the famous Hood River skatepark and rode it till the evening. We then made a last minute trip over to Bingen, Washington where we rode Bingen skatepark till it was dark.
On the next day we started our trek up to Olympia, WA. We rode Hood River skatepark once more for about half the day. Lucas Scott Fehringer, from Boise, Idaho also hopped in the van with us for our expedition up to Washington, because his buddies were leaving back to Idaho and he really wanted to go to the Seattle Street Jam. As we were on our way, we stopped by another waterfall where Chema and I were dangling on the edge right next to it.
Millersylvania State Park
We eventually made it to Millersylvania State Park late that evening where we setup our tents and camped for the next couple of days.
The following day, we rode in the Olympia, WA area where locals greeted us at the spots we rode because they followed our team snapchat to our location. After Millersylvania, we traveled up to the Seattle area where we checked out our new camping spot at Tolt-MacDonald Park near Sammamish, WA. We setup our tents at the site, and then took the van out to Bellevue Skatepark where we filmed hella till it got dark. Exhausted from the long park sesh, we packed our things, stopped to get food supplies, and headed back to the campsite where we rested up for the next day and planned to film at spots in Seattle.
ONWARD TO SEATTLE, WA
The crew woke up pretty early and we were out of our campground around 10am. Zack & McKeen decided to go full polar bear and wake themselves up by jumping in the cold river that was right down a path from our site. After we had cooked up breakfast, we packed our things and we were off to Seattle. We arrived at the famous Garfield High School, where we spent the majority of the day. We wrapped up our time there and headed to grub at Whole Foods, where Parrish had been dying to go the whole trip.
After this, we went to the ADVCT Jam at the Sammamish Skatepark where we rode till the late evening. We all began to wish that we had a different campsite since the one at Tolt-MacDonald had a terrible lack of privacy and shade, Evan Yamada then recommended us this campsite/smoke spot in the middle of the woods. It was about 11pm and we followed his car for about 45min and from the looks of it, it looked like we were heading back towards the Tolt-MacDonald park area. A lot of us didn’t think this was a good idea and we were all getting second thoughts, and wondered if it would of been a better idea if we camped at the skatepark.
Eventually, we got to a spot where the car could not go any further and Evan directed us towards a trail where you couldn’t see shit unless you had a light. Some of the guys slept in the van, and the other half went on this trail which was about a 10 minute walk away from the van. As we got to this spot, we quickly started a fire and cooked hot dogs and grilled cheese. I didn’t have a clue where I was, but camping somewhere in the middle of a forest was sick. As I woke up, it turned out we had camped right next to a river. It was well worth all the work setting up our tent in the dark to wake up to such a sick view. We all woke up pretty late however, so we scrambled our things and quickly packed up and headed out, because it was the day of the Seattle Street Jam and meet up was at 11am.
SEATTLE STREET JAM
We got to Gasworks Park in Seattle around 12 and the whole crew started goin in on spots at the jam. At Gasworks Park there were multiple spot battles within the park. The last spot of the day was at a 15 rail up the road where Zack threw fuckin hammers and won the World Scootering (WWE) belt that was given out by Shop Mothership. The jam organizer Kingsley Okocha managed the whole street jam himself, so major props to him. Afterward, we headed out to downtown Seattle where we celebrated Zacks World Scootering Championship win at a bomb sandwich shop. A lot of us were super sore, but we continued to spend the rest of the day filming at a couple spots in Seattle. Zack had to fly home early because he had a family gathering to attend back in San Diego, so we quickly dropped him off at the airport. Then Kingsley invited us over to crash at his place for the night prior to heading home the next day. That night, the most intense Super Smash Bros battle went down between Mckeen and the rest of the TGE crew. Mckeen turned out victorious in all matches and was virtually unbeatable due to his skills in college.
It was our final day, we headed out of Kingsley's place around 11am and began our journey back to Cali, not getting into the Bay Area until the next day at 5am in morning. Leaving the PNW, it was the only day that it had rained the whole trip. On the route back we dropped off Greg in Portland, and said our goodbyes. The whole crew was slumped all the way back to the bay.
The TGE Northwest Trip was definitely a great experience, and I wish we were still camping and on the road. Thank god the TGE van didn’t break down on our way up to the PNW and on the way back. Big thank you to TGE Distribution for making this trip possible, Cooper Klaar and Kingsley Okocha for the hospitality, and all the companies, homies, and scooter riders who make these street jams possible. Thank you to scootering.
- David Coe
WATCH THE FULL TRIP VIDEO RECAP
Credits:
David Coe