A few days ago we left my aunt, Denise's place to head for dryer climates. We had a great time using the internet, sitting indoors, and charging [all of] our batteries. Her roommate, Crowley, is a great cook, and her fiance-ish (they're having a ceremony, but not really a marriage, so I don't know what to call it), Mike, has been all over. He played us a song on his guitar and gave us a tour of his camper-converted Greyhound bus, parked beside their house. Their other roommate, Marion, told us about walking around all day in downtown Portland, on a sunny (rare) day, and not being able to see anyone smiling. I assured her that they must have been out there somewhere, she just missed them. Her dogs (a Tibetan mastiff, that looks like a huge wooly rat, and a little blond spaniel) have a tendency to poop in Denise and Mike's section of the house, seeing as how its cold outside. Marion’s boyfriend, Brandon, has two pit-bulls and a Honda S2000 stroked to 2.2l.
Years ago, (in Texas) I bought a USB game controller for the computer from E-bay for about 4$. I used it forever before stepping on it one day when I was drunk. I borrowed a 20$ Saitek one from my brother, but it just stopped working due to faulty construction. I was checking the physical connections inside the device, after it became unrecognized on multiple machines (as a last ditch effort). While I was taking it apart, Mike saw the back of the controller (with the screws loose in it) and picked it up thinking it was his brand new PlayStation 3 controller (that it is almost identical too).
He naturally panicked briefly, before we cleared up the confusion. Don't worry, I know that a PS3 controller shouldn't be left "sticks down" or disassembled by houseguests.
As I was putting my tools away (under the hood; a space previously designated for my spare battery), I was checking my fluids. I'm due (miles-wise) for an oil change, but it still looked somewhat golden, and was right on the line. I was trying to show Lauren how to check various systems, but she wasn't interested. Brandon was just getting ready to change his alternator, so I heckled, and eventually pitched in. It was nice to work on a car again, but I specifically bought this truck to have plenty of knuckle room; his roadster cut up my hands, but he gave me a glass of my favorite whiskey while I worked. For the record, it’s Black Velvet: 8 Year Reserve; I know it’s not the best, but I've got some sentimental attachment.
While we were in Vancouver, Lauren cut my hair, and all three of us got baths. We dried our sleeping pads, stocked up on beer, and headed towards the coast after making one last trip to the "old neighborhood" in Portland for some salsa and a free paper. It was dark when we got to the coast, so we went to sleep in a hotel parking lot. When we woke up we realized that we were at Haystack Rock, from The Goonies. I can't remember if I've ever seen that movie, but the rock was cool (the geological formation, and the Sean Connery movie).
Next day, we got up and putzed around the parking lot a little bit. We looked at the rock, and used their bathhouse. I noticed that I have a chipped headlight, and I called home to see if we still have some headlight covers that my Grandpop used to have. Apparently, my parent's cats have fleas, and my Great Aunt Freid died a little bit, but she's okay now. My Grandmom left for Texas, and we waited for the rain to stop and headed south. I filled up in Oregon (mandatory full service) and the attendant forgot to put my gas cap on (I should have listed for the click). Also, he washed my windows while standing in the rain. I drove 300 miles and stopped for gas again. That’s when I found out about the cap. The attendant said my tires looked low, and I guessed all four tire pressures to within 1 psi (know thy vehicle). They weren't low, but he put a few pounds in the back because they felt a little warm (and I'm already paying for full service), they are for a light truck. My truck is light when I don't have everything I own in it.
We found a Wal-Mart and spent the night. In the morning, we went to a McDonalds for internet, but the inside was closed for remodeling. I bought a new gas cap and called about the old one. They said they had it, and I could swing 600 miles out of my way to pick it up. They are mailing me a check for 7.07$. I walked through the drive-through (i didn't feel like driving), and I got a McRib for the first time.. meh. We went back to that Wal-Mart and went to bed. They ran us off in the morning (they thought we had been there for 3 nights instead of 2, even though we bought something both days). We went to the visitor center for Redwood, and on into the park.
Redwood is awesome; we stopped every few miles. Lauren even found "her" tree. It was just some unnamed tree in some grove. We took a bunch of pictures, made a sextant to measure its height, and measured the circumference with my throw rope. While we were there we met some people from a town we passed through in Vermont, a few months earlier. We had premade supermarket subs, and slept in a Best Western. By "in" of course we mean on the premises; we have not paid to sleep anywhere on the entire trip so far. We ate our free continental breakfast, pooped in the lobby's bathroom, and headed to a beach with "volcanic" black sand. It was black, it just wasn't volcanic. I didn't care, i didn't want to get out of the truck, I was enjoying the windy, one-lane road, and couldn't wait to back track. We continued as close to the coast as possible, all the way to a beach on Rt. 1 that allows enroute camping. Last night we had ramen and watched the sunset. Today we stayed in and argued all day, while I played a Gameboy game and drank beer.
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