🇺🇸 Eugene - Grants Pass - 03.23.2025
Eugene>Grants Pass>CA
One Pacific storm that made for rainy driving from Seattle to Ukiah. I certainly don’t mind the rain… everything is an intense green and hiking the redwoods with sprinkles is a treat… but 780 miles of windshield wipers undulating in your face hour after hour is like a waterboard torture that slowly drives you mad. “Okay, Okay!!! I’ll talk! It was me that ate the last potato chip and didn’t say anything…” (whimpers) “you can’t kill a guy for that!”
“Pew, pew” (double tap gun fire).
I was anxious to return to SF so I didn’t linger long in Eugene, OR. I had a morning coffee in a vintage bus café. Super cool. The town seemed like it had a peaceful vibe… I’d like to spend more moments figuring out the joint.
A stop in Grants Pass for gas, In&out, and a gym break. It’s a small city of 40k but it’s the only thing going on in the region. I can’t figure out the vibe… i cane through two years ago in summer months and it had a bit of an unsavory edge. I could feel it. I was in a Safeway parking lot on a supply stop and this cat pulled up on an old Honda Cafe Racer motorbike, white dude with dreads… no helmet. I was ogling the motorcyle and the guy was just hovering. There was an air about it… looks like a drug deal meetup. I mean, I suspect, cuz I’ve seen one on TV show… never have I waited nervously in a rando parking lot for a sketchy unpunctual hustler for overpriced second rate recreational narcotics.
The Grants Pass motto is, “it’s the climate!” Whatever that means. The gym was nice and it has an In&Out Burger… and the nature landscapes are stunning. I’d hang around for a few if I had the time.
I made it to Eureka, CA and stayed in a shack with no bathroom in Arcata. Cary and his artist girlfriend live on the property. Interesting kids. Cary is a fisherman and lived in the Colorado mountains for a bit. They were both hogh AF… bit super nice and he had an extensive book collection. “I have that exact book…” pointing to a James Joyce novel. They said I could use their bathroom (behind a sheet) if needed… but just pee in the yard if I wanted. Fair enough. My shack was cozy… and had books… and was clean. I was there just to sleep. I had planned on boon-dock’g the entire way down to save somw duggets but car camping in the storm is less than fun.
Last stop in Ukiah, which I call Ukulele to amuse myself. I threw a couple of slap-tag ZendBird stickers, fill my tank, and drove fast towards San Fran…
#humboldtcounty
#bigfootcountry
