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Seattle, WA - Pies and Pints with Jonah Sissoyev

Friday, June 17, 2016
8:00 PM 9:00 PM 20:00 21:00

Pies and Pints 1215 Northeast 65th Street Seattle, WA, 98115 United States (map)

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Ira Wolf and Jonah Sissoyev bring The GoWesty Tour to Seattle, WA on Friday, June 17th for a show at Pies and Pints at 8pm.

Ira Wolf

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On Thursday we made the spontaneous decision to drive from Colorado to Montana and look at a house we’d found online. That afternoon we met with a realtor, looked at two properties, got a pre-approval from the bank, and by the next morning we were making an offer on a home that we knew would take us years to fix up. Maybe it was a bit rushed, and maybe even irrational, but after six months of constant travel the idea of being in one place was sounding too good.
We spent the day with friends and wandered about town while optimistically chatting about all the improvement projects we were going to do and the cute neighbors we would have and the beautiful story this giant step would create. It all felt so perfect and settled.
At the end of the day we ultimately lost out to a cash offer and I was left feeling pretty heartbroken. I’d already begun stress-planning my winter around the insane amount of work that would go into our new “home” but still was caught off guard by just how disappointed I was to not have this dilapidated house to call my own.
You see, I love this life of wandering that I live, but there are times when routine and familiarity and community pull at my heart. There are nights when we sleep on real beds and play card games with friends followed by mornings when I don’t want to get back in the van and do more driving.
And then, I look back on moments like this one; chasing sunrise across a desert in our little mobile home-soaking in the spontaneity and freedom and beauty of a life on the road. I’m instantly reminded of the fickleness of my heart..
I believe in the universe pointing us in the right direction. If we were meant to have the house, we’d have it, and we’d happily settle into a routine in Missoula for the time being. But as we roll along today toward the west coast and our vanlife community for @descendonbend I’m a bit relieved to have a little more carefree wandering in my future before I find my place to settle.

The countdown to @descendonbend is on! Only a few more days before we’re rolling around in the dust with a bunch of fellow van lifers/lovers. We can’t wait to share some songs with y’all and soak in some extra joy as I turn one year older on Saturday night. Who will be there to celebrate with us?
P.s. We are stoked to be rolling in with Ruby this year, but if you are in need of a dope van like this beauty I borrowed last year, give @bendwesty a shout!

I drank my early morning tea between chills from the cold and the awe of nature as a pink sunrise slowly lit up the peaks and fall colors of Maroon Bells today. It was another bucket list view, and one that I can still hardly believe was real. My heart forever belongs to the mountains.

My first ever Red Rocks experience was exactly as perfect as I’d always hoped it would be. With a few nights off in Colorado we found out about this show just in time and I’m so glad we did. Gillian Welch, Dave Rawlings, and The Punch Brothers are some of the greatest musicians of our time. It was easily one of the most inspiring performances I’ve witnessed and I still have goosebumps thinking about it.

Whatever the opposite of a morning person is, I’m that. Still, I’ve seen more sunrises in the past two weeks than I’ve seen maybe in my entire life and each one has been so worth it.
Give me desert views like this and I could potentially be converted into an early riser after all.

(3/3) We slept for twelve hours and woke before sunrise to start working our way down the river again. By the time we were moving in the water once more it was clear that we’d underestimated this hike. I have some issues with my knees and hips already, but it’s never slowed me down on a trail before, not the way it did in this canyon. If I’m honest, the second day of our trip was kind of excruciating.. Hiking one mile felt like three, and every step shot a stabbing sensation into my leg joints. As hard as I tried to focus all of my attention on the beauty surrounding me, I was hurting; grimacing with each forward move.
We had the morning to ourselves again and moved slowly and carefully over the boulders and trees that years of mud slides and flash floods had brought down to the river. We stopped more often and tried to take in the magnificence of it all, while keeping our minds off of our tiring bodies. It wasn’t long before the canyon began filling with day hikers working their way up from the bottom to catch a little bit of the magic that is “Wall Street”. Knowing we were nearing the finish line renewed our energy a bit. We didn’t stop for lunch and were out of the water around noon, a bit earlier than we expected (given our slower pace). The temperature had already started climbing rapidly in Zion and we decided to drive toward water. Neither of us had been to Lake Powell before, but it beckoned us with the promise of an escape from the heat.
We (by we I mean Lee) got the van stuck in the deep sand on our way down to the water, and a fellow Westy owner rushed in to help us push our way to the beach. We parked next to him and chatted briefly about the hike we’d just finished. Then, almost immediately, we were soaking our exhausted and aching bodies in the cool water as the sun sank slowly behind us.
I’m still creaking and wincing as I move about this week, but the soreness from the adventure will fade long before the memories do. The Narrows were on my bucket list for a reason, but the experience was even more awe inspiring than I could have ever dreamed.

(2/3) After a couple hours of walking in the river, the canyon began growing more narrow and the walls kept creeping higher. We took our time wandering through the water with our mouths gaping and eventually stopped for lunch on a small sandy bend. Perhaps the greatest part of this stretch was that we had it all to ourselves. We wouldn’t completely appreciate how special it was to spend the entirety of the first twelve miles on our own in the canyon until we got closer to the bottom the next day.
Around the eight mile mark we began noticing that our bodies were responding to this type of hiking differently than any previous treks. The weight of the water-filled boots and the technical footwork required to traverse the slippery rocks was causing strain on muscles we weren’t very familiar with. In response to the extra muscle work, our joints had started to protest and our pace slowed as we continued toward camp. Thankfully the views were enough to distract us from our angry joints.
We arrived at our campsite in the late afternoon and quickly put the tent up and made dinner in the glow of canyon light. We crawled gingerly into our sleeping bags at 6pm and played twenty questions until we fell asleep a half hour later.

(1/3) We originally hoped to do the narrows hike on Wednesday and Thursday, but with the weather being a bit unstable and the potential for flash floods looming, we decided to wait. The forecast for the weekend proved to be much more promising, so on Friday morning we woke at 4am in hopes of lucking out with a coveted backcountry permit. Hiking this route requires a permit, but there are only a few given out and the competition is intense. By the time we arrived at the visitor center there were already seven people in line ahead of us, some who’d been there since 2am. Thankfully, we still got lucky and by about 7:30am we had our golden ticket and began packing and planning.
Our friend @jmeshe and the crew @zionadventurecompany hooked us up with water boots, walking sticks, and an early morning shuttle to the north end of the park where the trail began. The rain from the week before had turned the road into deep mud, so we had to be dropped off about a half mile above the trailhead. We started our walk around 8am with 11 miles ahead of us before our campsite. It was a lovely three mile walk through a cattle ranch at sunrise before we entered the river.

For the last three years I’ve been dreaming of backpacking the narrows from the top down: a 16+ mile hike through a water-filled slot canyon in Zion. It’s never worked out in the past, but the timing, the weather, and the stars all aligned this weekend to finally make this bucket list hike of mine a reality. And what a magical trek it was..
Expect an over abundance of photos and stories in the coming days as I come down from the high of the trip.

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Ira Wolf

It was a treat to share some songs with you. Thanks for being there! https://t.co/H0bTAaMzaD
about 20 hours ago
Ira Wolf

https://t.co/hfHKa27ZRR https://t.co/YqGBJopgVg
about a day ago
Ira Wolf

RT @vanlife_diaries: BIG NEWS! @irawolfmusic will be performing at the Taos Vanlife Gathering August 16-18 at @hotellunamystica. 🌵We’re… https://t.co/usecvOR1Gn
about a week ago