Portland

PDX, 726

Back in Portland today. I guess there is a heat wave happening, it got up to 88ºF here today.
We rolled over to Atlas Tattoo to look up my old friends Jerry and Dan. As we walk in the door Jerry is about to leave and asks if we need any help. I barely recognize him and actually had to look at his tattoos to verify that it was him. The funny thing was, I'm pretty sure he did the same thing to me. I haven't seen those guys in about six years I guess.
Portland is about the same as ever. The same interesting people on the streets and the same do it yourself attitudes to go along with it. Later on we went over to the Rose & Raindrop for a beer and oysters. That place has not changed one bit either.

Today it's the fourth of July and most of town is closed it seems. Went back over to see Jerry at the shop and talked to him for quite a while. He now has two kids!! Quite a change. The shop is doing well for them and they actually own their own building which is a restored victorian house, it is really nice and very old school. We're hitting the road back out to the coast to Seaside to fly the kite on the beach one last time. I'm also in search of some more fried oysters.... We have decided to cut the trip short in the way of road miles because we are running out of time. It was just so damn hard to get out of California.... Our goal today is to get up to Olympia, WA to stay with Sarah for a couple of days and to see Seattle as well, after that, Wyoming here we come.


I have a song bird who sings on my shoulder. A place to stay he is in search of. His journey has been far and wide however no solid ground awates his light steps. The song bird sings, and searches for his home once more. Madison

Portland has been a very great, I feel it to be of an energy that I would want to experience more and develope in. PLUS great coffee. I like!

THE GOODS:

Atlas

The Redwoods

The Redwoods, 716


Today we came to the redwoods of northern California and southern Oregon. We got lucky with the weather and had a combination of sunshine and fog at the same time which made for a great atmospheric experience. The whole thing left us somewhat speechless... we hiked around in a grove that looks mostly like primordial rain forest for a while and made several discoveries and experiences like drinking water off the hanging moss on the trees.. This posting is pretty heavy on images and less with the text. We were generally busy hanging out inside of giant trees and finding new things to look at.










We ended up camping at Orick on the beach that night. With an abundance of firewood and soft sand to sleep on it was easily the most luxurious camp we have encountered yet. There were seals bobbing around in the surf




MOVIE CLIPS:

Short drive

Dippin'

Andrew

Stump
THE GOODS:

Redwoods @ Wikipedia

Pilgrimage to Black Butte

After San Fran we drove up the coast on the PCH until we got to Bodega Bay. There is a campground there on a spit of land that shelters the town from the open Pacific. Ranger Ted was kind enough to give us a campsite for free ($18.00 savings), and cheerfully announced that he did not have any other tattooed visitors in his campground. He was a cool guy but seemed a bit too carefree to be a ranger for the Forest Circus. The next morning we cut inland and headed for Weed, CA.

My friend North Bank Fred lives there. Fred is a freight rider that has settled down somewhat but is still in touch with the scene. He has the biggest archive online of anything and everything related to riding freight trains. A journey to Black Butte and Dunsmuir is a must for any rider, it's on par with making the hajj for a muslim. It must be done at least once.
On our way up into the sierras we stopped at Shasta Lake where we hopped in the lake to cool off. After a while of wandering around we found a rope swing hanging over the lake. This kept us occupied for some time. I jumped off it twice, the second time somewhat precarious in execution, I almost landed too close to shore, but got lucky.





Upon arrival in Weed, Fred took us out to the Black Butte siding where the hobo jungle is. The reception commenced with the three of us sitting in the jungle drinking White Port (or White Puke as the kids call it) and swapping stories. We camped there next to the tracks for two nights with a robust fire going and freights rolling by at night. This jungle is historic as it has been here since the 1910's at least. The old water tower at the siding is covered with old hobo monikers and after looking around the oldest one we found was from August 1931, marked by Lonesome Pete.

At night we went out and streaked our own monikers on the boxcars parked on the siding. The second night we got visitors rolling into camp around 10pm. It was Joey Alone and some girl he had picked up in St. Louis. They had just come from Toronto on CN down to Seattle and then on down to Eugene. Stuck in Eugene, they decided to hitchhike down to Dunsmuir, but got a ride to Weed instead. The conversation was cautious at first, but they both warmed up after they learned why we were there and that I also rode.

The second day at the Black Butte jungle we hiked up to the top of Black Butte itself, an endeavour that took us almost five hours total. It was totally worth it though, what's really crazy is that you can see Mt. Hood some 300 miles to the north in Oregon from the top...


after that we went and laid around in Siskiyou Lake to cool off.
There I encountered a kid with what appeared to be a broken arm. I asked what happened and he said I fell off a rope swing... I called his folks for him and they said they would come pick him up. Next day we took off for the coast again to see the redwoods of northern California.



MOVIE CLIPS:

Rope swing

Rope swing redux

Laying down the streaks

THE GOODS:

North Bank Fred

San Francisco

We rolled into San Fran pretty early in the morning ready to go tour the de Young museum. Weather was foggy and 55ºF, just perfect! (for me anyway). The exterior of the museum is comprised of what appears to be copper panels which have a gaussian application of holes and protruding shapes that make up a seemingly random pattern. The collection is quite varied with an emphasis on modern and contemporary arts. We saw many new acquisitions, as the museum seems to be very intent on displaying newer work. There seems to be less art from the 18th and early 19th century than anywhere else we have been.

The de Young is an awesome place, where it seems every detail has been worked out regarding funcionality. The design is very clean and sparse, but beautiful.
The main entrance is a broad walkway leading into a courtyard with a commissioned piece from Andy Goldsworthy. The piece actually starts out at the curb on the street and ends up at the main entrance doors. The work draws on San Francisco's location on a faultline prone to earthquakes. The crack in the walkway leads you in to the rest of the sculpture, very apropos for the bay area.
Link to artwork and images of the de Young
Later on we made our way to Vesuvio's, Jack Kerouac's old hangout. The bar is in North Beach, an area originally known as Little Italy. The neighborhood is now mainly restaurants and strip clubs. We made a bicycle ride over to Fishermans Wharf to check out the self cleaning toilets. Andrew wanted to stay in there for the duration of the cleaning cycle but it refused to run with him in there....

San Fran, muey bueno! Water, steep hills, great food and self cleaning toilets, what more could you ask for? Eating lunch in Vesuvio's and then a ride around the city. Much fun. The hill climb on Hyde street was a great an challenge. I had to stop a few times but made it. We were then off to ride the Golden Gate Bridge. Not as challenging but very nice to have the sea breeze in your face. I kept thinking about if you were to fall off how long it would take until you would hit the water. I realize that yes you would most likely die but could you say your abc's on the way down? Don't know.


MOVIE CLIPS:

Leaving San Fran

Bike ride

On the Golden Gate

THE GOODS:

de Young

Vesuvio's

Self cleaning restroom

Andy Goldsworthy

Santa Cruz feels like home

Santa Cruz, 6286

At six the next morning we packed up and rolled on up the coast to Santa Cruz. We were just planning to get a cup of coffee, but ended up staying there for the entire day. The town is cool. Being the epicenter of surfing in North America there are lots of interesting people around. People in Santa Cruz are really friendly, and seem down to earth in a way I can relate to. After coffee we went to the local tourist trap, aka The Mystery Spot, where the laws of physics cease to apply and gravity is a dubious companion.
The Doubting Thomases that we are, we figured it was an illusion, but left the place not knowing exactly what to make of it. Later on we went out to the shore north of town and walked around on the beach. There, we found lots of fossils and also an object that may be whale puke (Ambergris), but we have not tested it yet.
Tomorrow we will go to San Francisco to tour de Young, the newly opened art museum in SF. Unfortunately SFMOMA will be closed on the day we are in SF.

THE GOODS:

The Mystery Spot

Whale Puke

Up the PCH

Pacific Palisades, 6266

Yesterday we went up to Pasadena to check out the Mendenhall Sobieski Gallery.
Andrew had previously seen the works of Michael Hussar and Mark Ryden there, so we think it a good place to see contemporary artists. This time the show was drawings by Ed Ruscha and Robert Williams, two southern California artists of renown in their respective realms. The show was quite good, showing the early breadth Ruscha, while allowing the viewer into Williams' conceptual character building process.
I struck up a conversation with the gallery owners about photography and ended up showing my portfolio there, although that was not the intention. They basically promised me a show there if we can come to an agreement on the content and the number of images to be shown. I'll keep this in mind for later in the year, like October perhaps. Done in Pasadena we rolled down the hill to Santa Monica and went looking for Bergamot Station, which we found after awhile. There are very many galleries there dealing mostly in up and coming artists it looks like. Unfortunately they were all closed.

From there we made our way to Pacific Palisades to stay with Andrew's family, Bob and Sally Breech. After frolicking in the jacuzzi and pool we were fed well and had great dinner conversation. With a belly full of steak and ice cream The thing really works!
Right now we are about to eat breakfast with Sally. The house here is really big and there are lots of original Frederic Remington sculptures about the house. In its own right it's a place to peruse some art. This is where we will begin our trek up the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway, California 1). After seeing Bob off to his physical checkup (at 87 he still drives his Crown Vic and is quite cheerful about it) we said goodbye to Sally and turned North.


Big Sur, 6276

The scenery out here on the coast is amazing as usual. So are the gas prices, they are well above the projected price in our fuel budget, but we're not complaining. We made a short stop at Oceano Dunes and flew the kite for a while and then went for a cruise on the bikes down on the waterline. Further up the coast, once you get past San Simeon (kingdom of William Randolph Hearst) the terrain rises abruptly out of the sea and the coast fog literally comes creeping up the cliffs, hillsides and roadway in tendrils as cinematic as they come. No special effects needed here.
Later on we tried to find camping, but only had so-so luck with that. There was an incredible place to camp on top of a cliff with tall trees around forming a pretty dense canopy that made you feel as though you were in a cathedral looking out over the Pacific. This site was occupied, and so we moved on.

The next one was full too, but the third one was ours after a brief but annoying mix-up about claiming the actual campsite. It was more like musical campfires. We ended up sharing the camp with a couple, but we never really saw them.



MOVIE CLIPS:

Flying the kite

Wish you were here

Oceano Dunes

THE GOODS:

Mendenhall Sobieski