I'm in Portland at the university here. My host seems to be flaking out on me because she hasn't written me or called me back and the show is in a few hours. This is not unfamiliar to me since my host in Spokane pretty much did the same thing except he told me that he was going to. He couldn't be there but his roommates could and I called them but got nothing back.
Seattle on the other hand was good.
But before that...
I got to Jackson Hole, Wyoming last Friday after my host in Boulder told me he could get me a show there. Halfway there my Wyoming host calls to say that I can't play at her house anymore. I figured I was halfway there so I might as well get somewhere to sleep. I got there after many hours of up and downs and windy, windy roads and even after watching an highway turn in (literally) a DIRT ROAD... In any case, the drive was beautiful. I think Wyoming is the wildest state in America, in other words it hasn't been "conquered"? Yes?
Jackson, Wyoming is a tourist-y town with its inhabitants mostly being off-season tour guides, waiters, and just kids out of college with time to kill. I got to the house was greeted warmly by my hosts and their post-surgery recovering dog who was wrapped up in doctor scrubs. I went to sleep and woke up before everyone else the next morning and left Jackson around 6:30. The drive to Idaho Falls was stunning. I was hooting and hollering in my car the whole way. Then the drive to Butte and finally Couer d' Alene was okay. I got to Camp Mivoden and found Amy and we laughed and hugged and joked around. Then we went for a dip with Tyler and Emily and Taylor. The camp director was eyeballing me the whole time. Finally he told me to leave so I did.
My host in Spokane did a bit of flaking as well. So I hung out at Emily's house on the outskirts of Spokane with a brilliant panoramic view of the city from the country. She made us shirts to wear on the roadtrip; they say "LIBERATION = JOY!" because that's been kind of a mantra for me the past year. Emily is a bridesmaid at the wedding. We left early the next morning for Seattle. Our jaws dropped and we screamed and again hooted and hollered when we passed through Snoqualmie Pass. We got to a Seattle and met up with a friend of mine from Lincoln: Katie Campbell. She showed us around the market and we saw those dudes throw fishes and what not.
Later, we showed up at our host's house and started setting up. While doing so on the hosts approached me and asked "Is your show queer-friendly?" I was kind of taken aback by this because it seemed kind of random and I interpreted it as "Is your show pro-queer?" It definitely wasn't pro-queer but it wasn't anti-queer, I reasoned. I stammered and asked her why she asked. I think this kind of made her mad and she told me that many of her friends that were coming were queer. I told her that it was universe-friendly. In any case, I think it allowed some tension between us and I wish I had been wiser.
The show went off without any major hitches. I played. We slept. The next morning we left. We explored downtown Seattle on our own and then made off down the coast on historic highway 101. I think I've become numb to beauty on this trip. I see so many beautiful things fly by that sometimes I don't care anymore. I need a love-boost. Anyway, we came down the coast and stopped in Seasdie, Oregon. It was a sprinkly day so we walked on the beach and held our shoes in our hands. We snuck into the Holiday Inn Express and pretended like we had rooms there to use their wi-fi, pool, hot tub, sauna, and the next morning, their free continental breakfast. That night we watched the Bourne Ultimatum (ehhh...) and then slept in my car.
After breakfast we took our time driving down the coast stopping here and there for a photo op. When we finally got to Portland we met up with a friend of Emily's. She hung out for a bit and then had to leave to study for a test. I called another friend of mine and he came a few hours later. Emily was sleepy so she fell asleep on a park bench on the campus of Portland State University and I read my book on How To Teach Yourself Portuguese. My friend Jesse came and took us out to eat on Hawthorne street. Afterwards, we booked it to the show. Apparently, the hosts had forgotten about us too and was still trying to find more people to show up. A lot of people came way later and I started playing at around 10. The next day (today) we had to be on the radio at the University of Oregon for a live thing/interview. So we drove directly that night to Eugene and stayed with a dear couple-friend of mine: The Vickerys from Arkansas. We got there late and stayed up talking and throwing old times. My heart was definitely warmed to see those guys.
Now I'm sitting in their kitchen/computer room/everything in their tiny studio apartment in downtown Eugene. The University is down the street and so we'll be leaving the apartment shortly. I suppose that's all I have to say for now. I have pictures but I don't know when I'll be able to post them.
I really meant to update before getting home but Internet access proved to be a difficulet commodity to get a hold of. The picture above is from the show in Portland. Apparently, the hosts forgot about the show (not new for me) and I ended up playing around 10 when they managed to get a few more friends to come over. The above picture is me and Emily with one of the dudes who lived at the house. This house was actually a duplex but with the walls between them torn down and every room in the entire house painted a different color. We had to leave right after the show because I was supposed to be on the radio in Eugene the next morning. I had been trying to get a show in Eugene on CouchSurfing when one guy offered me time on his radio show for the University of Oregon. It was 9 AM and we didn't want to wake up way early to drive there. Plus I have dear friends (below) who moved from Arkansas to live in Eugene about a year ago. I gave them a ring and we dropped in at around 2 AM. These two were so precious to us--they fed us, gave us a place to stay, and talked till 3 in the morning even though they had work the next day. We woke up and Ben got to morning off to show us around and take us to the radio station. We got there and I sang and talked to the radio dude. 
They went off to work and me and Emily took off for Redding, CA. Since Emily was a bridesmaid we had to make it to the bridal shower. I drove. Emily slept. I giggled at David Cross. Emily couldn't sleep. We ate stale sandwiches. We got to Redding and I hung out with a friend from Prague. The next day we swam and helped set up things for the wedding. It was on a tennis court. I stapled my hand. It hurt. That night Rheu and I slept in a tent trailer. He went to bed early and I stayed up reading Siddhartha.
