turned around

I left the border fairly disappointed, but i wasn't going to let it bring me down, the weather was quite perfect and i decided to spend this time with my step brother in Portland after a quick stay in Seattle where I met Shelby and ate hot dogs and drank warm natural light on the roof of his apartment, I slept on his floor as his computer made strange noises that put me a ease. I took off in the morning and headed south on hiway 5 to get to southwest Portland in time to catch Dave, he got a parking pass that let me leave my car under his apartment. We ate thai food and saved the leftovers for later that night. We walked around and he showed me the places he dug in Portland. We were only in Powells for about ten minutes and we came out with nearly ten books, one I'm opening today is Island by Adlous Huxley. We shot pool and had beer at the bar that was connected to his apartment. We continued to tour Portland the next day and played mancala in the park with Sally and Aislyn. Met some of Daves friends that rode nice track bike to a barbecue where we ate chips and had beers, no real food until the host invited us to his apartment to show us his studio setup and asked if he could take our portrait with an old camera that he was getting used to. The camera made some fantastic pictures. We took Sally home but not before visiting a bar right next to her house, we played pool and ate free popcorn while Sally heckled our bad shots and smiled when we made impressive ones. We left her complaining about her cigarettes which had escaped her sometime in the night. I spent the next day reading by the waterfront on 4/20, a "holiday" that I chose not to celebrate this year, the smell of pot was noticeable as I walked through the park to find my spot on the rocks. I read until the Surface crew dropped Ian in Seattle at which point and took off to catch up with Ian and pick up on all that I had missed out in Whistler. The weather was apparently pretty poor in Whistler which made me feel better about the time I had spent under the eight degree sun that was beating on the NorthWest. We spent the night in Seattle again only now with the loud snores that came from Ian. Shelby recorded the snores to mp3 and we got to relive the experience as I made breakfast. Ian had never been to Portland and I wanted to make sure he spent some time there so we pointed the car South on hiway 5 once again. We walked around town to take in what was the warmest day yet. In the evening we went to another barbecue, we ate portabello mushrooms, grilled pineapple and plantains, and when the time was right Nigel, who looks similar to Devendra Banhart began to play Devendra Banhart songs as two others were working hard at keeping long skinny candles they'd found in a free box next door light which seemed to be quite the task. It was getting late and we were determined to get on the road and drive through the night to get to Salt Lake by the afternoon. We did just that and bounced to the Talkings Heads, Bob Dylan, and a large collection of newer artist as the sun rose and we switched shifts driving. We made good time and made it to Ian's car at the Surface office by noon. I'm going to step back and mention the show that I got lucky at the night before I left for the week long trip. I had just locked my bicycle up at the university and was going to find a place to buy tickets as I noticed some friends standing in a doorway with ten other students that looked anxious. I found out they were waiting to get on stage for Girl Talk, who I could hear warming up as people in the mud cheered "Girl Talk Girl Talk Girl Talk" I decided to stick with them and see if I could join the party on the stage. All went well and Greg played a fantastic show and ceremoniously kept the crowd moving to his groove. Wild times