9/1/06 Shoestring Stretches Thin

Will I make it through this night? While biking into town I noticed things looking pretty typical of suburbanite America except for Mt. Ranier in the background. It was almost unreal, like some fake back drop found only in movies. I'd love to spend some time exploring this city but I'm so broke I can hardly make it worthwhile. I'll have to kill somehow...

Payed a visit to Tacomas Museum of Glass. Its strange, for the size of the place you'd think there'd be more to it. Just three galleries and the hotshop inside the ridiculous cone. Karen LaMonte had a show up, her "Absence Adorned" cast glass dresses. Totally sweet. Everybody should check her out. Look up her website, her work is amazing. It was awesome to see them in person. I especially enjoyed the reclining figures, you could tell she molded them directly off a live model. Must've been an intense process.

Did some gallery hoppin' in the area. Mostly uninspiring glass shit, but glass shit nonetheless. In a way I can feel that I've found the community that will be able to support my interests. I'm not sure how the process needs to play out from here but this scouting mission was probibly a good start.

Man I've been sick the last couple of days which has made being homeless a total drag. I'm gonna get to Seattle tomarrow. I'm definately going to gallery hop and I might (if I'm crazy enough) buy a ticket to Bumbershoot for sunday. That'll keep me occupied until monday afterwhich I hope Alicia turns up 'cause otherwise I'm positively screwed. One day I'll get my shit together, settle down and do some real work. Meanwhile I'm having too much fun being a loony, fucked up, transient mooch. The End.

8/30/06

Man I shoulda never left. I was in such good hands with Liz in Portland. There life was carefree, none of her roomates seemed to give a shit if I just lazed about all day without showering. That's what I call the sweet life. I left under the pretense of feeling guilty for moochin' so much and that I needed to catch up with Alicia at the appropriate time.

Portland didn't want we to leave. She cast a spell on me, clouding my senses, distracting my better judgement. I missed the turn that I was supposed to take that would bring me over the Columbia and into Washington. I ended up riding up and down the southern shore oblivious to my discombobulated state, seduced by her enormous charm. It took a great act of will to break her spell. At the sight of the sign reading "Leaving Portland" I shed a lonely tear.

Oh if only I knew the troubles ahead I may have never left. I don't recomend riding a bicycle on the interstate. There are off and on ramps the whole way up with speeding cars making unpredictable moves. It requires too much concentration, not that the surroundings are anything to write home about. Its all city outskirts from Portland to Olympia and most llikely beyond. Despite all this I do feel that I make better progress on the interstate. Smoother road surfaces, wider shoulders and plenty of tail wind from frequently passing semis seem to increase milage. I pulled 84miles yesterday without hurtin'...much.

Oooooh...did I tell you about the crank head highway walker? Yeah, as I was taking a rest this wild woman, looking hagard as all hell walks up to me. I can tell that she sees me eating and wants some, so I make polite and say hi. Where is she headed? Seattle. How long has she been at it? A couple months now. Unfuckin'believable. She's dirty and stinking of piss, who knows when she last washed her clothes or herself for that matter. She's wearing flipflops and carrying only a small purse. She asks how much further I'll make it tonight. 20miles is my response. She says she'll probibly see me in the morning. What, you're going to walk all night? Yup, usually do. I'm begining to think she's a tweaker. Time to saddle up. I indicate that I'm making to leave and she just stands there all creepy like. Finally I shake her hand, wish her luck and get the fuck outta dodge like a bat outta hell.

That night I lay me down in this barren patch that turns out to be dead thorn bushes. I think nothing of it until I realise my Thermarest is going flat. After a few failed attempt to reinflate I accept my dusmal fate. Thermarest has been punctured. Three in the morn and it begins to rain. Can this night get any worse? Of course if I had bothered to set up my whole camp with tarp and bivey sac I probibly would've been fine. I'm begining to hate myself.

Cold morning and I've picked up a sore throat. Its overcast and windy and I can see my breath. Nothing to do but ride. By and by the sun comes out and its actually starting to feel nice. I'm making good time and I pull into Olympia at about noon. Its nice so far, I pay a visit to the visitors center and then take a nap in the lawn. Later I go to the library only to find Alicia won't be in Seattle until the fourth or fifth. Fuck. I'm pretty much screwed. I guess I'm gonna have to spread my time out as much as possable. Oh well. I can gallery hop here in town and spend another night. Do the same in Tacoma Friday and Saturday. Get to Seattle by Sunday noon and then god knows what. What a life. What a crazy, mixed up, confused, batshit life. Somehow I think it will work itself out. It always does...I hope.

8/28/06 Good To Be Here!

I had a nice couple of days scopin' out Portland on foot. Gallery hoppin' proved to be the most worthwhile yet. This one place had original Dali prints and a replica Michelangelo's Pieta. Another place had these cast acrylic resin sculptures that looked like glass. They had these amazing translucent ghost images within the transparant interior. I wanna be able to do that with glass.

I really wanted to go down to Eugene and visit with Erica, my friend from the restaurant we worked at in Madison, and her husband Adam whom Liz and I knew from high school. There was some apprehension because some people wanted to check out this strings festival and I thought I would have to bike on my own which would've made for a really tight schedule. But then I lucked out. When Liz and her boyfriend found out the cost of the ticket price they changed their minds which means I got a free ride ot Eugene! Pow!

Eugene was quite the bizarre ride. Take a slice of home (ahh, Madison, forever you'll be in my heart) and add a dash of eccentric hippy, about two tablespoons of cracked out homeless and a pinch of "oh shit, we got kids now? Fuck, let'em do whatever" and you've got yourself a pipin' hot peice of Eugene pie. Basically a smaller, crazier Madison, WI. I felt at home.

Erica and Adam were busy when we rolled in so we took a walk down to the Saturday Market. Score one for our team. Take a crafts fair, a farmers market and a hippie fest drum circle and roll it into one burrito, then throw that party every week! Amazing. Liz and I threw off our sandles and danced like mad pagans on the concrete. I could feel the city embracing us with her psychic arms of insanity and tolerance.

Later we met up for drinks and got drunk way too fast which brought us all to bed quite early. Adam, trying to be hospitable suggested that if the cats were bothering me I could just put them in the bathroom for the night. I couldn't bring myself to commit such an act of cruelty so I just sucked it up like a man. Lexi, she's but a year and a half, kept me up by licking my fingers and purring loudly in my ear. In my half conscious state I imagined a cougar had prowled into my campsite. I lay there and awaited my fate with cool detachment. Eventually morning came.

Liz and Allen took their time waking up. The plan was to go hiking but we didn't really leave until one. We b-lined to the coast and checked out some seals before heading into the woods. Moss curtains draped every surface and ferns grew high on the branches of the dead. We came upon a pond with newts which excited Liz to no end. Their bellies were bright orange, brialliant against the murky brown of the ponds bottom.

The path crossed the highway and down into a dense patch of these weird otherworldly pine trees that formed a canopy overhead and a spacious habitat below. Then down to the ocean. The beach was white sand and overtly foggy. The waves crashed in and the mists swirled about us. We were in a dream land, visability was down to fifty yards. The beach was almost deserted , we pretended to be alone and it was mysterious.



Climbing up from the beach we crawled through a secret tunnle made of roots and branches and we were on the hobbit trail. The mist and the moss made for a wild time/space displacement which stretched the few moments it took to get back to our car into an endless jungle safari.












We took pleasure in a seafood dinner and headed for home. Parting with Adam and Erica was bittersweet but I know I have good friends in a good place. I shall have to return.

8/23/06 Portland!

Yeah, so I was bitchin' about them Willappa hills but they ain't got nathan on the endless climbs of the Pacific Coast Range. So many times I had to stop midway up the mountain pass because it was too much for me. Talk about a blow to the ego. From Cannon Beach I climbed 1,600ft to the summit of the mountain. Little did I know that hwy 26 had two more in store for me. Ouch.

Cannon Beach was actually pretty fly. Kinda touristy but real cute, lots of original structures. They had a lot of galleries which were pretty decent. I had some dirt cheap pizza and strolled the beach a bit. Haystack rock looked straight out of the "Goonies."

I ended up camping out on the summit of the Coast range. It was 8pm and getting dark and I had no idea where the top was. Just my luck where I decided to lay me down was it. I was so disappointed in myself, I just got up early and rode. Good thing I was basically over the range. It was another 25 miles of flat all the way to Portland which was just what the doctor ordered. It was kinda relaxing. Riding into town kinda sucked because it was on the highway which constantly had on and off ramps intersecting my path. Quite risky. One dude honked at me even though I wasn't even close to disrupting his trajectory. I flipped him off for a long time.

It was really good to see Liz again and just be able to settle down. She's got a sweet house in the hippy district with lotsa nice roomates who're all very generous. I like it here.

Last night we all went out for pizza and beers. Everyone in Portland is a beer snob, but they've got a ton of fine local breweries so can you blame them? Things got sureal when the Balkan folk singers just busted out in song like they owned the place. It seemed like totally the wrong venue for them but people were dancing all traditional and shit, very serious for some reason. Then this chick on a unicycle barreled through the door and all hell broke loose. We had to leave before being swept up in Balkan night fever!

8/21/06 Astoria!

Cold morning and yesterday was a cold ride. I don't know about thiss coast action. Its all overcast and windy. If it rains I'll freeze. I've been riding hard from Port Angeles for the last three days. It took me that long to get here, Astoria Oregon. I had higher expectations of this town for some reason. Oh well.

Riding south on Hwy 101 in Washington was ugly. After the beauty of Olympia National Park it was all clear cuts and stunted growth of previously clear cut forests. The hills were brutal! Yesterday I rode through Willappa Hills and that just bit ass. I'm prayin' for flat land, and hows about some sun? Yesterday was alright because there was some intermitant ssunshine. But as I was rolling over the four mile bridge that spans the Columbia River and leads from the southern border of Washington on into Astoria, an ominous bank of darknesss rolled in from the west. Its been cold and dark ever since.

I'm gonna take a slow day and get to Cannon Beach today. I'm gonna check out the galleries there, apparently there's a show of some significance going down. I'm gonna call Liz and hope to god she offers to pick me up 'cause I'm pretty sick of riding my bicycle.

Two nights ago I camped on the waterfront park in Hoquiam, WA. There were blackberry bushess all over the place. I smooshed some blackberries into my morning oatmeal. It was the straight scrumdiddly.

8/17/06 Back To Port Angeles

So I picked up the real trail the next day and took it down to the creeks edge. By and by it led to a huge log that spanned the creek. I walked the log only to find it not connected to the other bank. I clambered over its roots and hopped ashore but the bank was steep with no path in sight. Frustrated at this conundrum I back trailed in search of an alternate route. I found one little diverging path that spilled out onto a rocky shore. It did not look promising. I looked across. On the opposite shore was a log pushed up againts the bank by the current. Oddly enough there were rails bolted to its side as though it were meant to be a bridge. I looked further up and sure enough there was another section of log with rails bolted on, this one was connected to a path. Judging from the clean edge someone had obviously cut it with a power tool, but why? Curiouser and curiouser. I had to wade across the creek which was treacherous for having a current and slippery rocks. I was kinda pissed. Who's maintaining these trails?

A little ways up I came across the main trail that indicated the exit was immanant. I was relieved, a few days without human contact was sweet bu I was tired, hungrey and sore. I made the trek to Merrymere falls which was all fascillitated and heavey with tourists. Nice waterfall. Tall. And then it was out.

I ended up hitching a ride back to Port Angeles from this rat bastard. He was racist (refered to Muslims as "towel heads"), sexist (said women are dumb because they consider children their primary concern when they should be looking after their husbands who make all the money, how old school is that?) and just plain belligerant. We did agree on a few things, weed is sweet, George Bush is dumb and religion is fucked up. Well I wasn't really gonna argue with him. Shit, he was doing me a favor. Back at Thor Town I passed out hard. I'm gonna lie low and then head to Portland tomarrow. I'm comin' for you Liz!

8/17/06 Olympia: Two Nights

Managed to kill some time by hiking about in Olympic National Park. I wanted to see what I could handle with my CamelBak so I loaded it up ass much as possable and just went. I'm so glad I did. I got a shit ton of sweet pix. My hike lasted two days and two nights. It started out as a real steep ascent that took me into alpine forests and meadows. Eventually I was walking along a ridge that sloped away sharply on either side. This offered stunning veiws of the mountains on both sides of me.
















Further along I came to Happy Lake which appeared stagnant and scummy. I was a little disappointed. That night I camped on Boulder Lake. It too was kinda gross and there was a group of teenagers who were being loud and obnoxious which made the experience less pleasant. A small family of deer wandered through my camp, nibbling on the undergrowth. They seemed completely unconcerned with my presence. I was preparing dinner the whole time, making plenty of noise but they didn't seem bothered at all. Strange.



The next day I began the descent which wrecked havoc on my poor knees, particularly my left which has been bothering me so. It was sweet though as alpine forestss gave way to lush jungle. Ferns began to crop up and moss gathered everywhere, so green and wet. I came across several creeks spilling down the mountain towards the sea.

At one point I came across a sign post marking a ssplit in the path where my map showed none. It only indicated two paths, the one I had come down and another labled Barnes Creek Trail which I persumed was my destination. The third path appeared unmarked. Later I found that I was completely wrong, that this one was marked and obviously the correct path, but in a way I was glad. Sometimes getting lost is the best.

The Barnes Creek Trail began to ascend again which I found ssusspect. It headed off to the east which was suspect as well. But it crossed over wild creeks spilling down the mountain, tumbling over sculpted rocks and spraying the dense coverage of moss. This is what egged me on, beyond all logic. I knew I was going the wrong way, perhaps getting lost, but it was too beautiful to retreat. I found areas where trees had fallen, spanning the gully carved by the ancient creek. This made for good adventure climbing over and photographing the watery terrain below.


It was getting late. I knew I was lost. I decided to turn back. My knees were terribly sore at this point and my flat feet were beginning to feel the burn. At the second creek crossing I decided I shouldn't walk any further and made my camp. Luckily I had just enough food to squeeze out another night. This place was lovely, secluded. I hadn't come across another soul all day. No obnoxious teens to contend with tonight. Just me, the river and the stars. I cooked beans for the second night in a row and slipped down into my sleeping bag. Good night.

8/13/06

I need a life line. I'm running out of cash and I can't get a hold of my contacts in Seattle. Basically I'm screwed. The last couple of nights have been weird in a draining sort of way. I'm just glad to have found refuge at the Thor Town hostel in Port Ageles, WA.

My last night in Tofino was kinda bogus. After scoring my bus ticket to Victoria I scoured the town for some affordable accomadation. I found nothnig so I gave up and set up camp in the city park.

In the morning some locals observed my behavior and looked disgusted. I felt as though I had betrayed the peoples trust. It was a shady feeling.

The bus ride was all right. It made me feel as though I had made the right decision as the scenery wasn't so spectacular that I would rather have rode the bike. Plus it saved my knee some trouble. Once again upon arriving I found that the hostels were mostly booked. I had to hole up in this filthy place with shady folk who were rude and unpleasant, getting in fights and hating each other. Not my idea of the hosteling scene.

I poked around Victoria for a day, checking out local shops and popping into galleries. Once again I was mostely dissapointed although some things were better then what VanCouver had to offer. I was pleasantly surprised at one point to hear some phat breakbeats pumpin' out a shop window, so I slipped inside to find WhiteBird Lounge, a sweet little cafe/fashion/record store. The owner dude told me of the thriving D'n'B scene in Victoria and gave me the heds-up about the Jungle Niteclub, a local drum'n'bass hotspot. So I went. The decks were rockin', lotsa fresh sounds but the dancin' on the floor was weak. I was dismayed. Of course I took it to the hard floor but my knee was buggin' out on me. Oh well I shall have to return.

The show got out at three in the morning which left me three hours until the ferry sailed for Port Angeles. I had intended to leave last evening and subsequently made no arrangments for that nights accomadations. I ended up crashing in this weird space behind the hostel. It was perhaps the strangest night on record. It looked as though homeless folk regularly spent nights there. There was this funked out mattress folded up in the corner and the place stank of stale urine. I didn't really get any sleep but I dozed off a little only to be rudely awakened by the cruel noise of some woman leaving the hostel abruptly, threatening to call the police. Shady hostel.


By the time I made it to the ferry I was whipped. I hadn't showered or brushed my teeth since my stay in Ahouset (three days) and I was lookin' pretty ragged. People kept staring at me and giving me the evil eye. What a world.

So I pulled into Thor Town hostel at about nine in the mornin' and promptly passed out. I slept until about four in the afternoon and then ventured out to get dinner. I made burritos, yum. As I was cleaning up a young couple rolled in. They were headed up to Hurricane Ridge in Olympia National Park and offered to take me along. I shoulda brought my camera.

The sunset was absolutely gorgeous. Those peaks were so high up and we were right there with them. I especially enjoyed the glow of the set sun over the horizon. There was such a stark contrast between the red/orange sky and the black silloheted ridge. Later, while stargazing an old man approached and just started offering up information about the heavens. He pointed out certain constellations and specific stars, he showed us Jupiter rising through the sign of Scorpio. Apparantly we were in the middle of a meteor shower that peaks annually at this time of year. We certainly saw a number of shooting stars. Later, as we left the moon was rising. It was big and orange and the city lights shown beneath her waning face. How strange to spend these pleasant moments with perfect strangers. To think that but a day earlier I was hunkered in an alley in Victoria, derelect and alone.

8/9/06 No Rest for the Wicked

Kennedy River to Tofino was bitchin'. The hills were just too steep, fuckin' destroyed my knee. I tried to take it slow but to no avail. Cruised around Wickaninish Cultural Center at Long Beach Provincial Park.

There were some sweet rocks to clamber over. Then I made my way to Tofino.

Tofino is a neat tourist destination with ocean style outdoor culture such as surfing, sea kayaking, and whale watching. Some neat art happening here, probibly fueled by the tourist scene. Like Nelson the locals seemed kinda standoffish, like they've seen enough tourists already.

I took a ferry over to Ahouset on Flores Island. What a nice trip. They have this "Wild Side Heritage Trail" that is totally insane!
I loved it even while it demolished my knee. The trail winds its way back and forth between sandy beaches to temperate rain forests.
The day was perfect, very foggy and wet.
The beaches were bleakest gray but the forests were vibrant green, so saturated and lush.
I saw nary a hiker and but a few kayakers making camp on the beach. It was awesome. So isolated and these long, endless beaches that were clean, hardly any organic matter marring their pristine sands.


Today was such a non-day. I didn't leave the hostel until one in the afternoon and I just tooled around town looking for a mouthpeice for my camelbak. I lost it somehow and I'm determined to get one before venturing forth again. For that reason I'm taking a bus to Victoria. This will save my knee some trouble. It may also save some money and allow me to hang out in Victoria longer. I think there's some kinda glass art scene worth looking into so I'm excited.

I'm outta cash, I'm gonna have to dip into my bank account and I'm getting lonely. Alicia I want you.

Kennedy River

8/6/06 Its way too dark to write this but I must say, if I was in heaven last night tonight I've found Nirvana. What a fantastic day and what a sweet place I've found to lay me down.

I left my camp on the shores of Cameron Lake quite late only to find a mile down the road the majestic Cathedral Grove.

Tons of huge old growth trees with heavey curtains of emerald green draped luxeriously over their ancient boughs.



I must've spent an hour there snapping way too many picturess. It was rather crowded though so I had to rally.

Further on, as the heat of the day caught up to me I came across the beach at Sproat Lake. It too was rather populated but very cold, refreshing, relaxing, rejuvinating. I can't believe how clean the waters are around here. I swam and drank and lounged around in the sun. Splendid.

I finished off the day with one of those searches for a ssuitable campsite that just draws on and on. However tonight I think I found the champ.

At the base of a mountain that rises forever, on rocks sculpted by thousands of years of pounding water, by the lulliby of the roaring river, pure and blue I've found the place to lay me down.

Beans are almost ready. Eat good and then to bed. Have a magnificent night. I will tell all in the morning. Peace.


















8/7/06 Cold Morning. Last night the aura of the moon dimmed the stars in the eastern quadrant of the firmament. I sat up eagerly awaiting her arrival, waiting to see her face reflected in the river. But she drew a shroud of mist about her. Itss been overcast since. Everything is damp and dewey. And cold. I want to go back to bed. Its still rather early.

8/6/06 Uncle Petey Is F*#@%in' in Heaven

Oh man. Its late morning on the south shore of Cameron Lake. I camped here last night and it is so perfect. I almost spent the night in a campsite up the road and thankfully I didn't. They wanted $17! I found a better site and camped for free! Cameron Lake is super fly with steep mountains jutting up off its shores of ultra pure glacial water. I'm so jealous of the people who own properties on the north shore.


Heading out of VanCouver on my way to the ferry at Horseshoe Bay I stopped in West VanCouvers Light House Park. Man that was awesome. Huge old growth trees and moss everywhere.

Massive rocks carved by thousands of years of crashing surf on a gorgeous coast.

I hiked up this hill and took a nap on a soft bed of moss. It was so serene.

I took the ferry to Nanaimo and spent the night in their Cambie Hostel. I think I got ripped by getting their VIP card. They're kinda gross hostels. Oh well.

I think I rode only 45miles today to this sweet spot. I'm okay with that though. At the start of thiss trip I was real gung ho about making the best time I could in a day and covering a lot of ground. And I did. But now I have to budget my time and money accordingly. I think I'd like to stay on the island for about two weeks. I wanna visit Tofino. I want to hike the West Coast Trail or as much of it as I can. I want to make my way to Victoria and spend some time there checking out the art scene and possably making some contax. I don't know what the situation is with ferry rides but if I can I'd like to avoid returning to VanCouver.

Its now the 6th of August and I've got about $125 canadian. I don't want to pull anymore money out of my checking account. If I can make it last for two weeks it'll be a miracle. If all goes as planned I will roll into Seattle on or around Aug.20th. That leaves me a full ten days until Alicia is supposed to show up. Ridiculous. Who knows, maybe I'll have to spread some time out kickin' it in Olympic National Park. Not bad.

8/3/06

I don't know about VanCouver. Gallery hopin' totally blew today. Just a bunch of souped up chintz shops. The glass scene here is weak, crappy blown shit, I couldn't find any cast action anywhere. I must say I'm kinda dissappointed, I expected a little more from VanCouver. Too many aggressive pan handlers and the streets are jusst gross. I was fortunate enough to find some sweet grafetti murals around town. Check the pix.






























I'm looking forward to taking off tomarrow. I'm gonna hang out in some parks, maybe do some hiking as I head up to Horseshoe Bay to catch the ferry to Nanaimo on VanCouver Island. From what I hear there's some sweet country out that way. Whats more it sounds like there's more of a glass scene in Victoria. Boo Ya!

8/2/06

Guess what? I'm in VanCouver! Leaving Nelson I rode hard for Nakusp not realizing it was 90 miles away. The way was quite hilly and I was really feeling the burn. The pain in my knee was migrating to my hip so I ended my days ride at 80 miles. The next day I pulled into Nakusp and stayed long enough for a snack a breather. It seemed like a descent town with gear shops, food co-ops and art happeningss. Nice beach along the lake. Real small though. Probibly nothing to offer in terms of an art career.



Revelstoke was another 80 miles north so by the time I pulled into the hostel I was wasted. Travelers are so generous. Feys, an Aussie reveled at my journeys "100k? Fuck but that's a lot!" and he gave me dessert, bread pudding with ice cream. However I was dissappointed with Revelstoke. It was tiny and had nothing going on. As one dude put it, "its hard to spend money here."

After my last two days of riding I was having doubts about the trip to Lake Louise. Everyone said Rogers Pass was totally gnarly and I was losing it on those B.C. hills. SSo I decided to cut my losses and roll to VanCouver. It turns out Mike, a chef I met hosteling in Nelson was leaving for VanCouver and offering a ride. $60 cheap! sso I took it. It was pleasant enough. Once we got rolling I sstarted having reservations as it turned out to be almost all downhill. That section ended up being the most amazing portion of the trip so far. The mountains were huge! and we just dropped like 12 ton rocks for what seemed like 60 miles straight! We pulled into VanCouver around 7pm and I took my leave. Its touch and go, so breif. What a life.



I'm staying in this run down hostel for $19 a night. They offer free breakfast at the cafe next door and the bathrooms are filthy. I don't dare take a shower, it'd probibly give me AIDS. The town is working itself out, revamping sections as rich chineese businessmen move in and buy condos. A lot of the galleries around peddle native american art to the point of exploitation and yet it seems that the first nations are doing much better here then down in the states.

One way or the other tomarrow will be my day to gallery hop and then I'll take off. I really don't think I have much in the way of an opportunity here sso I'll save my hopes for Seattle. I'm definately taking a trip to the Island though. Gotta see some green soon! I think I'm gonna show up in Seattle broken and confused, too early to crash with Alicia. My luck will run out and I will die alone and forgotten in this mad mad world.