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The drive down from Tacoma to Eugene was easy – and slightly wacky.
Firstly it turned out that Tori had left a whole bunch of stuff (books, air bed pump, drum machines) in Tacoma – although fortunately none of it was crucial. This continues Tori’s streak of losing things – whereas so far Shawna has not lost a single thing. What is going on – some kind of tour transference? Our hosts in Tacoma tried to suggest it was because she was so creative – but the band weren’t buying it.
And then as we were passing through Portland, with Shawna and Marilyn in the van, and Tori and the rest in the car, Shawna almost missed I-5 and had to dive across traffic to make the exit, closely followed by Tori. So Tori then thought it would be funny to play a prank, and got on the cell to Shawna moaning about how she’d missed the turn and was heading East on some other freeway – and spent a happy minute or so listening to Shawna and Marilyn making desperate recovery plans – only for Shawna to suddenly whiz up an exit to start tracking back! At that point Tori was screaming “we’re behind you” but it was too late. And then at the top of the ramp they found a Starbucks, so decided they might as well get some coffee! So we ended up at the top of sequential freeway ramps in Portland coordinating coffee orders by cell…
While waiting, Tori and Sara and Emme noticed they were sitting in the parking lot of what appeared to be a Dungeons and Dragons superstore - strange! And then a car limped into the parking lot with its bumper hanging off – closely followed by the truck driver whose truck had bashed it (leaving his truck in the middle of the road blocking traffic), followed by witnesses offering contact details and then the police. Quite a little drama! Amusingly, Sara noticed that the truck driver was wearing a T-shirt saying “Champion Driver” – although she suggested that might be for demolition derby? And the truck had a sticker saying “I am a professional. Safety is my goal. Please call 1-800…” – hands reached for cell phones…
Thereafter, back on the freeway, things calmed down – although it continued with downpours and sunshine in alternating twenty minute periods. Which did mean that as we approached Eugene later on, we saw the most perfect triple rainbow, with a incredibly well defined central span (you could even see the delineation between blue, indigo and violet), and at one point a complete arc. A sign…?!
Once we reached the hotel in Eugene, we turned right round and headed out again (cue much muttering at not having time to do makeup properly etc.) for a meal with some new Eugene friends at a student bar – which was very nice. And then on to Neighbors, Eugene’s (only?) queer bar – which was in a converted McDonalds (although there was no sign of Ronald?). Just another night of dancing (Shawna), networking and flyering (Marilyn), and boozing (pretty much everybody).
Firstly it turned out that Tori had left a whole bunch of stuff (books, air bed pump, drum machines) in Tacoma – although fortunately none of it was crucial. This continues Tori’s streak of losing things – whereas so far Shawna has not lost a single thing. What is going on – some kind of tour transference? Our hosts in Tacoma tried to suggest it was because she was so creative – but the band weren’t buying it.
And then as we were passing through Portland, with Shawna and Marilyn in the van, and Tori and the rest in the car, Shawna almost missed I-5 and had to dive across traffic to make the exit, closely followed by Tori. So Tori then thought it would be funny to play a prank, and got on the cell to Shawna moaning about how she’d missed the turn and was heading East on some other freeway – and spent a happy minute or so listening to Shawna and Marilyn making desperate recovery plans – only for Shawna to suddenly whiz up an exit to start tracking back! At that point Tori was screaming “we’re behind you” but it was too late. And then at the top of the ramp they found a Starbucks, so decided they might as well get some coffee! So we ended up at the top of sequential freeway ramps in Portland coordinating coffee orders by cell…
While waiting, Tori and Sara and Emme noticed they were sitting in the parking lot of what appeared to be a Dungeons and Dragons superstore - strange! And then a car limped into the parking lot with its bumper hanging off – closely followed by the truck driver whose truck had bashed it (leaving his truck in the middle of the road blocking traffic), followed by witnesses offering contact details and then the police. Quite a little drama! Amusingly, Sara noticed that the truck driver was wearing a T-shirt saying “Champion Driver” – although she suggested that might be for demolition derby? And the truck had a sticker saying “I am a professional. Safety is my goal. Please call 1-800…” – hands reached for cell phones…
Thereafter, back on the freeway, things calmed down – although it continued with downpours and sunshine in alternating twenty minute periods. Which did mean that as we approached Eugene later on, we saw the most perfect triple rainbow, with a incredibly well defined central span (you could even see the delineation between blue, indigo and violet), and at one point a complete arc. A sign…?!
Once we reached the hotel in Eugene, we turned right round and headed out again (cue much muttering at not having time to do makeup properly etc.) for a meal with some new Eugene friends at a student bar – which was very nice. And then on to Neighbors, Eugene’s (only?) queer bar – which was in a converted McDonalds (although there was no sign of Ronald?). Just another night of dancing (Shawna), networking and flyering (Marilyn), and boozing (pretty much everybody).
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