oregon trail
Hey hey!
A new day!
We drove the 860 miles to Portland overnight, with one stop for gas and one stop for a quick lunch. By the time we got there, it was afternoon and starting to get dark and cold. I stayed in the room for a bit and even took a nap. The hotel was... less than the best. It wasn't horrible... just way, way nastier than the places we've stayed at so far. The internet connection didn't work at all. That's why I'm writing this today. At the venue.
So anyway. I took a nap and decided to get out for a while. We weren't exactly downtown and I had no internet directions to rely on, so I used the little giveaway Portland attraction map to walk around a bit. Our crew sheet recommended a Japanese restaurant several blocks away, so I aimed in that direction. I probably walked about fifteen blocks or so and found a mall called Lloyd Center. A moped was parked outside. I took it as a sign. Lloyd Center was a three-story mall with an ice skating rink somewhere in the middle. Lots of high-schoolers cruising in their winter formal tuxes and dresses. I walked around the mall for a while and started getting hungry. Forward! On to sushi! HIked a few more blocks, passing several sushi places on the way. I passed one that I seriously regret trying called Sushi Land. It had the awesome rotating assembly line of sushi plates going around the middle with seats along the outside. Oh well. Kogi (the place I decided on) was a small, great restaurant with incredible eel and huge pieces of tamago (sweet egg). On the way home, I stopped back at the mall, considering watching a movie at the adjoining theater and ultimately bought a new graphic novel and went back to the hotel. I spent most of the cold walk home on the phone with Kayla. I would definitely like to visit Portland more in the future. The little I saw of it was pretty interesting. Lots of people on bikes, mopeds and I even spotted a guy on a Honda Metropolitan. I hear there are a lot of homeless kids in this city. I don't know if I see this as a bad thing. I really just wonder if it's voluntary homelessness or if they are truly down on their luck. Oregon, overall, pushes itself as an environmentally protective state, so I imagine Portland attracts a lot of hippies and such. The local paper had a lot of shows listed, not so many on the night I was here, but every day otherwise. Nashville just doesn't seem to draw the shows I want to see anymore. Maybe two a month that I would consider paying for tickets. Portland, on the other hand, had probably five different bigger-name shows that I'd like to see this week. Michael Showalter and Michael Ian Black were doing some sort of show at an arena downtown last night. I think those guys are hilarious and I couldn't imagine them ever finding an audience in Nashville.
At any rate, I ended up in the room around 10:30 last night, reading my new book and listening to music. Around midnight, I got hungry again and ran to the bus to get the half of an Arby's reuben I didn't finish at lunch. I expect that decision to haunt me for the rest of the day. The room was nice and warm by the time I finished my snack. I crawled into bed and fell asleep watching School of Rock on tv.
6 o'clock call this morning. Yeesh. 9:30 and we're set in video world. At least until the stage rolls in. Great group of stagehands. I've yet to meet anyone who understands cables, though. What is this world coming to?
I'm making some great connections while I'm doing this tour. I talked to my mom for a long time last night about the tour and life in general. I think Kayla and I made the right decision in taking this offer. It'll all pay off down the line.
More later. I plan on taking a nap at some point today.
A new day!
We drove the 860 miles to Portland overnight, with one stop for gas and one stop for a quick lunch. By the time we got there, it was afternoon and starting to get dark and cold. I stayed in the room for a bit and even took a nap. The hotel was... less than the best. It wasn't horrible... just way, way nastier than the places we've stayed at so far. The internet connection didn't work at all. That's why I'm writing this today. At the venue.
So anyway. I took a nap and decided to get out for a while. We weren't exactly downtown and I had no internet directions to rely on, so I used the little giveaway Portland attraction map to walk around a bit. Our crew sheet recommended a Japanese restaurant several blocks away, so I aimed in that direction. I probably walked about fifteen blocks or so and found a mall called Lloyd Center. A moped was parked outside. I took it as a sign. Lloyd Center was a three-story mall with an ice skating rink somewhere in the middle. Lots of high-schoolers cruising in their winter formal tuxes and dresses. I walked around the mall for a while and started getting hungry. Forward! On to sushi! HIked a few more blocks, passing several sushi places on the way. I passed one that I seriously regret trying called Sushi Land. It had the awesome rotating assembly line of sushi plates going around the middle with seats along the outside. Oh well. Kogi (the place I decided on) was a small, great restaurant with incredible eel and huge pieces of tamago (sweet egg). On the way home, I stopped back at the mall, considering watching a movie at the adjoining theater and ultimately bought a new graphic novel and went back to the hotel. I spent most of the cold walk home on the phone with Kayla. I would definitely like to visit Portland more in the future. The little I saw of it was pretty interesting. Lots of people on bikes, mopeds and I even spotted a guy on a Honda Metropolitan. I hear there are a lot of homeless kids in this city. I don't know if I see this as a bad thing. I really just wonder if it's voluntary homelessness or if they are truly down on their luck. Oregon, overall, pushes itself as an environmentally protective state, so I imagine Portland attracts a lot of hippies and such. The local paper had a lot of shows listed, not so many on the night I was here, but every day otherwise. Nashville just doesn't seem to draw the shows I want to see anymore. Maybe two a month that I would consider paying for tickets. Portland, on the other hand, had probably five different bigger-name shows that I'd like to see this week. Michael Showalter and Michael Ian Black were doing some sort of show at an arena downtown last night. I think those guys are hilarious and I couldn't imagine them ever finding an audience in Nashville.
At any rate, I ended up in the room around 10:30 last night, reading my new book and listening to music. Around midnight, I got hungry again and ran to the bus to get the half of an Arby's reuben I didn't finish at lunch. I expect that decision to haunt me for the rest of the day. The room was nice and warm by the time I finished my snack. I crawled into bed and fell asleep watching School of Rock on tv.
6 o'clock call this morning. Yeesh. 9:30 and we're set in video world. At least until the stage rolls in. Great group of stagehands. I've yet to meet anyone who understands cables, though. What is this world coming to?
I'm making some great connections while I'm doing this tour. I talked to my mom for a long time last night about the tour and life in general. I think Kayla and I made the right decision in taking this offer. It'll all pay off down the line.
More later. I plan on taking a nap at some point today.
posted by Josh at 9:23 AM
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