Portland and the Mostly Safe Driving

So the Peking House was some of the best Chinese food I’ve ever eaten (Yes Tara, better than Pagoda). The GGTS guys and their friends were pretty fantastic the entire time we were there, even yesterday afternoon when all we did was sleep on their futons.

We left for Portland at around 5:30. We were told that the 94 miles between Olympia and Portland took about 2 1/2 hours. It turns out that the 94 miles between Olympia and Portland takes about 1 hour. This was a good thing though, because the directions we were originally given were far too confusing for us to find the Ash Street Saloon. After numerous phone calls to Heather (the promoter of the show) we finally got directions that worked (thanks, Deej) and help from the map of a slightly Asian lady with a “sectional” map of Portland.

We loaded in at 8 p.m. and played at about midnight. This gave me time to hang out with DJ, who stopped by for a while and watched the first two bands (names escape me right now…) with me and $4 worth of beer (somehow he bought 5 beers with only $4. Accountants are way smarter than me).

The show went well. Naturally, a large part of the crowd was there to see the bands that were actually on the bill (which we weren’t, having just gotten the spot earlier that day) and so a chunk of the crowd left. But the people who stayed seemed to enjoy it.

After load-out, we got to Quinn’s friend James’ house and I ran into an old aquaintance from Missoula, Rosie. We hung out for a bit and crashed. After a solid 3 hours of sleep, we were up for the 10 hour drive between Portland and Stockton, CA. I started the drive, and, hyped up on pep pills, Mountain Dew, and a quick jog around a rest area with Ben to get my blood flowing and the caffiene (damn no spell-check on myspace!) firmly entrenched in my system, I drove the 7 hours from Portland to Redding, CA. I then sat down in the back seat, ate a chimichanga, and fell asleep for an hour.

The interstate in California is ridiculous, where the speed limit is actually something reasonable (like 70), the drivers all go 95 and hate Tahoes. Where the speed limit is 55…well…it fucking 55 on the interstate.

We got to Stockton okay, and are now about to sit down for dinner with the Upstarts. We play a show with them tonight, and then head up to Cheers in Vacaville (Sacremento), CA to play tomorrow night. Then it’s down to LA and our last two shows. Then there’s the king hell of a bitch drive back home for 15 hours and a host of states that I don’t particularly care for.

When I get home Sunday, and after I sleep all of Monday, it’s back to work at my new job starting Wednesday. Then I hop back in a car (fortunately, it’s without the four extra passengers) and head up to Missoula for Mary’s graduation.

It’s been a long fucking month.

On a side note, the Motley Crew song “Home Sweet Home” actually resonates with me on a personal level now. I feel like I’m 60 after we finish gigs.

Edit: Being the forgetful dick that I am, I forgot to mention that both Betsy and Tia from Olympia drove down to Portland to see our show. They were both under age and couldn’t get in, so rather than going home, they hung out outside the bar and danced in the rain to our music. Pretty cool.