The Plan
We knew there'd only be a few windows where we could make this trip a reality, both of us occupied by other obligations, needing to be "adults" and following what we thought we "ought to be doing." It’d be tight, but we eventually settled on Coleman’s Spring Break from film school—a particularly busy time for Coleman, as he'd be bookended by a handful of projects and events. And for me as well, as I was getting prepared to go on a three month-long backpacking trip around Europe. But even if there was just a small window, a sliver of time, we’d try our best. And it almost didn’t happen.
We pulled out the map, and if we were to do a road trip, it became very clear that it'd have to be a West Coast one. The initial thought was for us to start in Vancouver, my hometown, and then drive all the way to Coleman’s place in LA.
But, we quickly realized that wouldn’t be feasible - we simply wouldn’t have enough time. So, the thought of both of us meeting in Seattle and then ending in the Bay became the more likely alternative. After our trip, we could both film in our respective hometowns, rounding off our West Coast tour.
Our plan would be as follows: I’d take a train into Seattle on the evening of Monday, March 11. Coleman would fly in the following morning from Los Angeles. We’d spend a night in Seattle, and then head to Portland the following morning. After spending a day in Portland, we’d make the long drive from Portland to Oakland on the 14th, and then spend a full day in the Bay on the 15th. Coleman would conclude his portion of the trip on the 16th, and I’d stay until the 19th.
But there was one problem, for the trip to happen, we needed to have our super-secret Canopy Collection prototypes in hand, otherwise what would be the point?
Rueben and I knew timelines would be tight. We knew every day would count. Given how we only really started working on this project in January, we’d only have a couple of months to design and coordinate with the factory to get everything made in time.
Everything was going according to plan; we managed to get our designs in by mid-January. But by the time February hit, so did Lunar New Year, which meant a two-week-long factory break in China. Yet, during the last week of February, we got confirmation that we’d have prototypes in time for the trip, so we booked everything.
The factory finished the prototypes on the 6th of March and shipped them out on the 7th, which only gave us four days to get the prototypes in time for the trip (or five with the time difference). The week leading up to the trip, I could hardly focus on anything else other than constantly refreshing the DHL express tracking page, closely monitoring the location of the prototypes at each step along the way. On Saturday the 9th, it seemed like all hope was lost as the package lingered in transit from China. On the 10th, it made its way to Columbus, Ohio, notorious for lost packages—the Bermuda Triangle of DHL. And then, on the morning of the 11th, the package finally landed in Vancouver, but with a slated delivery for the 12th.
In panic, I reached out to customer support to reroute the package to the YVR warehouse. I’d go pick it up instead to ensure a delivery.
It’s hard to describe the relief of finally having that package in my hands. The most stressful part of the trip was over, this whole project, everything started to feel more “real”. With two hours to spare, I quickly unboxed the yo-yos, packed up my bags, and then headed to the station to catch my train to Seattle. An itinerary in hand, a handful of stops along the way, I was ready for the week ahead. But, like any good road trip - nothing really went according to plan.
