It’s the first day of summer and we have a day off to drive up Highway 5 to Portland, Oregon. I’m a bit blue over leaving the comfort of the Bay Area but excited at playing our first-ever shows in the Pacific Northwest. The RV continues to stall out, which is especially treacherous on the winding, windy mountainous passes of Northern California and Southern Oregon.
I won’t blame you, readers, if you’re thinking “why don’t they just get the damned thing fixed and stop complaining!” Our excuse is that it’s difficult to find the time to commit to fix the van when you’re traveling around to shows and trying to maintain a busy promotional schedule in-between. We’ve brought it into several places who all think that they have solved the issue but, several miles out of town, there we are at the side of the road, waiting for it to restart. Making the best of a bad situation, we’ve composed a song in its honor: “Ti-OH-ga, shiny and new…….Ti-OH-ga, it will break down on you!” We amused ourselves by singing that in kind of a lounge-singer style, whenever the damned thing would backfire and coast to a stop.
Despite the issues, the drive is gorgeous, as anyone who has made the trip will tell you. We arrive in Portland in the rainy, late evening and we drop off Nic at his apartment then check into our home for two nights; the Eastside Lodge. I’ve been in touch with our label rep and she has some work planned for us tomorrow.
In 1990, it was a Thursday, but in 2020, it’s Father’s Day so I’ll cheat a little and follow this with one of my favorite songs by W.C. Goffrier. Tomorrow: More upheaval.
Calculating Route... 