Days 520-526! Woo! What a week! I wrapped up my time in KC, I released music, I finished off my time in Kansas City, and I went on a large roadtrip to start off my week at Bonnaroo! I had a blast at the Lake and I CANNNOT WAIT to hang out with all of my friends at Bonnaroo!!

I woke up on Thursday, June 5th to a sticky note on the fridge of Ally and Maddie’s house:

It’s a bummer all my friends work during the day, but that gave me time to chill out and relax. I ended up playing a fair amount of the Nintendo Wii, making a mii, and playing MarioKart.

I also played some guitar and did some things around the house for my friend Maddie who has been spending time away from home for work. It’s the least I could do for her letting me borrow her car while I’m in town!

Thursday evening, I headed into the city to hang out with my friend Ryan and my old roommate Jacob! We got dinner and drinks at Brewery Emperial. It was super great to catch up with Jacob, hear all the news from his world, and share some fun stories from my travels.

Friday, June 6th was an exciting day! Not only was it time for a trip down to the Ozarks with some of my friends, but it was also finally the day when my first song was releasing on streaming services!

I know last week I showed off the amazing cover art made by cousin Sam… but he updated it and here’s what the new one looks like!! I love it even more!

You can stream my first single Loneliness by Landlocked Beach Bum on all streaming platforms! Here are a couple links:

As we drove down to the Ozarks, my friends gave the song a listen and it sounded like they all really enjoyed it! Which of course, I was very happy to hear!

Our drive to the Ozarks took around 2 hours to Warsaw, Missouri. It was pretty rainy on our drive which we weren’t super thrilled about, but we were going to make the most of the weekend rain or shine!

We stopped by Walmart to pick up food and drinks for the weekend and then arrived at Ally’s family lake house!

One of the best parts about the lake house, is it’s in the middle of nowhere. There’s practically no cell service, so for most of the weekend I was off my phone and relaxing with friends! The rain cleared up too and we were able to get out on the water for a beautiful sunset!

Saturday, June 7th brought with it a slew of shenanigans… AND another song release!

My second single Koh Tao came out to all streaming platforms! My cousin Sam also updated this cover art as well! He’s so freaking talented!

Koh Tao can be steamed on all steaming platforms including: Spotify and Apple Music!

I played this song amongst my other songs I had queued on the speakers this morning and my friends were impressed to hear this song as well! I’m a big fan of the songs I made, since I made them for myself. But it’s really nice to have my friends and family hear the songs as well and enjoy them too!

Saturday was a gorgeous overcast day full of drinking, boat riding, bar hopping, and more drinking.

We went by boat to 4 different bars and were joined by Ally’s family lake friends. Honestly… I don’t remember the last bar we went to and I was told I face planted into my dinner… it was a long day. But, I was alive and well for karaoke at night and we had a blast singing our hearts out in the small bar, called Jungle Bar, near their house.

Sunday, June 8th was another full day on the water! I could’ve stayed all day… but I guess people had to work on Monday (couldn’t be me). But we stayed at the lake till around 3pm! We boated around all morning and stopped at a bar for lunch, and then people hopped on the water skis and wakeboards.

I decided to refrain from the waterskiing this trip due to my foot still healing and not wanting to injure myself prior to Bonnaroo (the music festival I’m going to in a couple days). But in exciting news, I did get approved for Medicaid! So I’m now covered in the US, which is very important!

I said see you later to Ally’s parents and the lake and we set off back to Kansas City.

When we got back, we all decided we wanted to hang a little longer. So we ordered some sushi and had a family dinner at Ally’s house. I also ordered one of my favorite Laotian/Thai dishes Laab. I of course shared it with my friends since none of them had ever had it before! It was a nice taste of one of my many homes.

Everyone headed out and I finally got a shower in, which felt exquisite after a weekend of no showers (only rinse offs in the lake). I also threw my clothes in the laundry to prepare for my next adventure. Ally, Mikey (her boyfriend), and I chatted for an hour or so and then called it a night. I said my see you laters to them as they were off on a road trip in the early morning.

I have some awesome friends and family. Not just from the lake trip, but they’ve let me crash on their couches and have been just so fun to hang with again and catch up with. I’ve surrounded myself with a lot of really good people.

I woke up Monday, June 9th and FaceTimed my parents!

I gave them a nice rundown of the week and weekend and I heard all about theirs as well! FaceTimes are a lot easier now that we’re back on the same time zone.

I had some to-dos before noon. I went and filled up Maddie’s car with gas, I took out the trash, and I finished repacking my belongings. And just as I wrapped up, my friend Josh rolled into the driveway to take me to his house in Lee’s Summit.

We headed straight to where his wife Lily works at a cafe and enjoyed a couple drinks while we waited for her to finish her shift. Then… we swung by a much anticipated meal for me… Taco Bell!!

It’s fair to say that I was pretty pumped to have my first Taco Bell experience in around 2 years! It tasted just like I remembered and hit the spot… but I must’ve lost my Taco Bell tolerance as the bathroom was calling my name later in the day.

We all hung out for a bit at their house and then headed out to a local pool hall to hang out for the afternoon.

I had a blast hanging out with them and playing one of my favorite games! I’ve only played it a little over the last couple years… we had dinner here, played a bit more, and then headed home. We called it an early night, which I definitely needed after the long weekend I just had.

Tuesday, June 10th, I woke up to an empty house as Josh and Lily were both at work. I relaxed, messaged a contact I have about an opportunity volunteering in Honduras (might be my next adventure), worked on my blog post, and played guitar.

I was playing some magic the gathering with Josh and we heard a knock on the door. It was my friend Troy and his girlfriend Natasha! They were picking me up for our very long and overnight drive to the music festival Bonnaroo! It was around 5pm and we set out on our drive.

We stopped a few times for gas, bathroom breaks, and stretching. I told Troy I was more than happy to take over a stretch of the drive but for some reason he drove the entire way! I nodded off a couple times but I didn’t get much sleep. Around 3:30am we were in Manchester Tennessee waiting for the Walmart to open for last minute groceries.

Walmart opened at 6:00am on Wednesday, June 11th. The parking lot was packed with festival goers waiting to enter the campgrounds. We quickly grabbed what we needed to survive camping at the festival for the week. We then drove to a nearby school to wait for ticket will call.

I didn’t need will call but Troy never received his wristband and Natasha was having troubles with hers. At 8am once will call opened, they were quickly in and out with wristbands.

I then drove us to the campgrounds and we were on the grounds of Bonnaroo!!

We got in around 8:30am and were immediately getting roasted by the sun. I lathered on sunscreen and chatted with the groop members already there. I had to wait to set up my stuff since other people in my group were bringing me my camping gear.

It took a while, but in the afternoon, my friend Harrison finally arrived with my tent I’d be staying in. By this point, I was really tired. But I wanted to go see my first set of Bonnaroo, Yoni the harpest. I’ve been trying to see her the last few times I’ve been to Bonnaroo but I’ve never made the time.

This set was in the Grove. The Grove is an area everyone puts and leaves their hammocks. So there were people sitting about and tuning into an electric harp.!

For the rest of the night, I chilled out at camp and headed to bed on the “earlier side.” At least early for the weekends festivities!

Hope you had a wonderful week!

– Elie

Here’s a sneak peak to the EP cover art! Keep an eye out on Sunday, June 15th when it releases!

Also some cute pictures from the past couple weeks that I just got: