S idewalk Tour: US Northwest '09
Skate Travel Journals
March - April 2009
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Sidewalk Tour 2009
Northwest: June 2009
June 14
Away from Curb: San Carlos CA
June 15
Sore Ride: Mission, SF CA
June 17
Travelin' Feelin: Scrmnto CA
June 18
Portland Exurb: Wst Linn OR
June 19
Assistants: Corvalis OR
June 21 1 PM
Blankenship: Wst Linn OR
June 21 3 PM
Old Village: Wst Linn OR
June 23 1 PM
Vineyard Hill: Wst Linn OR
June 23 2 PM
Vine Row Ext: Wst Linn OR
June 25 9 PM
Street Fair Daring: Ptlnd OR
June 25 1 PM
Oregon Stick: Wst Linn OR
June 26 2 PM
Skate Canvas: Ptlnd OR
June 26
Green Room: Ptlnd OR
June 28
Mtns in Mirror: Ptlnd OR
South: Mar-Apr 2009
March 26
Bus Sta Hill: Akron OH
March 27
Bushwhack II: Nashvll TN
March 28
Tornado Misses: Nashvll TN
March 29
Seeking Music: Nashvll TN
March 30
Bridge to Music: Nashvll TN
March 31
Vibrated Dn Beale: Memphs TN
April 1 11 AM
Sightfeeting: Memphs TN
April 1 2 PM
Vance St Sights: Memphs TN
April 1 9 PM
Vance St Bank: Memphs TN
April 2
Stax Pilgrimage: Mmphs TN
April 4
One More Chance: Nashvll TN
April 5
Weimaraners: Pducah KY
April 6 4 PM
Leaving Kentucky: Pduch KY
April 6 9 PM
Econohound Lodge: Pduch KY
April 7 7 AM
Early Roll: St. L MO
April 7 1 PM
Piano Roll Seance: St. L MO
April 8
Hound Hotel Nt 2: KC MO
April 8 6 PM
Bushwhack Finale: KC MO
April 9
Not Without Regret: KC MO
April 10
Over the Rockies: SLC UT
April 10 6 PM
Layover: Oakland CA
East: March 2009
March 12 5 PM
Plan A: Verrazano Bridge
March 12 8 PM
Plan B: Trenton, NJ
March 14
Uneasy Exurb: Wallghm, PA
March 16
Station Hill: Wallghm, PA
March 16 1 PM
Boardwalk Wind: Atl City, NJ
March 18
Wind Shift: Atl City, NJ
March 20
Wide Streets: Atl City, NJ
March 20
Boardwalk Sleet: Atl City, NJ
March 20
Inky Lake: Atl City, NJ
March 22
Drex Hill: Phila, PA
March 23
Penn Hills: Western PA
March 23 11 PM
Bushwhack: Pittsbg PA
March 24
Warhol Skate: Pittsbg PA
March 25
Dinosaur in Mist: Pittsbg PA
Oct 2008-Mar 2009
Oct 24
Finding the Rt: Queens-LIC, NY
Oct 27
First load bearing trip: LIC, NY
Nov 4
Election Day: LIC, Manh NY
Nov 28
Black Friday: LIC, Manh NY
Dec 2
Memento Crypt: LIC, NY
Dec 6
Tall Loads: LIC, NY
Dec 17
The Rainboard: LIC, NY
Dec 22
The Ice Sheet: LIC, NY
Jan 12
The Vacationer: LIC, NY
Feb 2
Poles & Bric a Brac: LIC, NY
Feb 9
Butcher Block: LIC, Manh NY
Feb 13
Wind Alert: LIC, Manh NY
Feb 18
Sleet Skate Shoot: Manh NY
Feb 19
Sleet Footage Hack: Manh NY
Feb 23
Familiar Load: LIC, Manh, NY
Feb 24
Crowd at Bay: LIC, Manh, NY
March 3
The Ice Sheet Returns: LIC, NY
March 6
One Man Band: LIC, Manh, NY
March 11
Villa Straylight: LIC, NY
June 14 to 28, 2009: Travel in Northwestern United States
Oregon and Northern California
Sidewalk topography defined by trees, Portland, OR
Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - Skateboard Archeological Dig
Remnants of Frederick Street Skate Park, Santa Cruz, CA
I stepped back in time today by riding in a 1970s skate park in Santa Cruz. It was almost like hunting around and digging in some archeological find.
The city built a snake run and a couple of other concrete skate features located near the harbor, by Frederick Street. Much of it is filled in with dirt and grass covers it. I could find remnants of some banks or bowls in the weeds, but it was hard to tell what they originally were.
The snake run that remains is quite beautiful. It winds and ends up in a bowl with a nice bank. At the top is kind of a smooth lip, not a coping. You could board slide it but not grind it. The run is pretty skateable still, especially if you have soft wheels, but the concrete surface is very rough. What seems to have happened is that there was some kind of top surface that was smooth that has worn away. The surface underneath is rough concrete or asphalt.
It has some nostalgic value and isn't bad to skate, but for some serious trick or bank riding, it's not so good. It's too beat up. As a longboarder, I appreciated the rolling contours and actual banks as opposed to much of today's quick transitions and steep ramps ending with metal coping.
Sunday, June 14, 2009 - Boarding Way, Away from the Curb
6.14 San Carlos. Left Santa Cruz pretty early. While waiting I took a shot of the sign at the bus stop which I assume advises not to skateboard here unless you're gonna grind the curb; "no boarding away from curb." I crossed the mountains on the Hiway 17 bus. It was still before noon when I caught the Caltrain to San C. It was a really rowdy car. Several large young guys got on with a 12 pack of Bud Lite for each guy. They handed out beers and started in to getting hammered. One guy was yelling so loud into his cell phone that even with my fingers plugged into my ears, he was still too loud. He told, or maybe bragged to the conductor as he showed his ticket, that he had been on the very train that hit and killed some guy a while back. I thought "he probably threw himself in front of the train to get away from your cell yelling mouth."
Saw PK, L, and the kids. Played basketball in the cul de sac. With one ball which was slippery I couldn't hit. With the other, more grippy, I could shoot respectably. 10-year-old CK hit many, many buckets. A friendly, family basketball game in PK's family is always going to mean serious effort. I tried to pace myself but I think I made a few too many jumps, or quick, stabbing defensive moves, and by dinnertime my left thigh was sore.
Went to PK's band rehearsal last night and talked about music a lot. He has this important gig in LA coming up, a competition of bands, and he said he was nervous. I said that when playing rock it was ok to be tense but when playing jazz you have to be relaxed. In fact, you have to force yourself to relax. He said "Oh great, one of the songs has a jazz bossa groove". I said, "yep, you gotta make a big effort to relax". I guess that's a contradiction, the idea of making an effort to relax, or forced relaxation. But it's true because to get the feel of jazz or to make it swing, the playing cant be tense. It wont sound right. Also to play fast you have to be very slow and relaxed in the hands and wrists, and probably in the mind as well, another contradiction.
Monday, June 15, 2009 - Sore Ride in the Mission
6.15 SF, Mission district. I thought I was physically prepared for another skate tour, since I've been skating all over Santa Cruz and out to Capitola many times. Only thing lacking, that distance skating was not done with any load, and that's the difference from the Queens storage training. Then I constantly weighed myself down with a full backpack. Lately the most I've carried is my laptop or guitar.
Yesterday's Bball game definitely made an impact on my left hamstring and upper leg. Which is the worst for longboard riding under a load, because that front leg has to flex while I push with my right leg. The only thing good is at least it's not my knee that's sore, just my thigh, so I know that'll recover and work itself out soon.
From the Caltrain station at 4th I worked my way toward the Mission, walking and skating mostly switch stance. Switch saved my leg a lot of pain. Used as the pushing leg, the left leg was fine. Trouble is I have to give up some control with my "wrong" leg forward. It was sketchy skating switch over the uneven sidewalks. The bumpy yellow grip grids near curbs really throws me off, they nearly hang the wheels unless you have some speed. Regular foot was bad too, aching to bend down for pushing.
On Folsom I came across a military transport vehicle that someone had made street legal. On the window was a sign proclaiming that he was going to drive it to the Burning Man festival and wanted women who were willing to dance on top of it out in the desert. He demanded "only real women respond, no fakers," a stipulation that I found hilarious.
The load I'm carrying is less than on the tour of the south. Then I had a bunch of papers, which are heavy, skate shoes, and a few more pieces of clothing and gear. The pack is lighter, but the pack itself is a little too big, heavy, and bulky. Maybe I can switch it somewhere on the trip. DM has a million backpacks I bet, and RK might even have one.
Skate tip: Learn to skate switch stance. It saves alot of general wear and tear on your standing leg, and you'll need it if you want to skate injured.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009 - That Ole Travlin' Feelin' Inside
6.16 11 PM Tuesday night. Overnight bus ride from San Francisco. Sacramento bus station. I remember this place well from my 2001 US tour when I had my big portable surfboard. Now it's a big skateboard and a guitar. I was layed over on the way down from Oregon and I'd had a long conversation with a very colorful character, a trucker named Robert. He was short, talkative, and told a story about all the people he'd befriended and offended in eastern Oregon on many truck runs through the area. He'd bought some kids some bikes, which caused a misunderstanding, like he was over generous or something. Aside from that I recall that he had an obsessive relationship with a very heavy woman who he also lavished gifts on, but who never gave him sex until one day he finally ignored her. He was a strange little guy, but hilarious, and I can picture him now, waiting on line to catch his bus. It's odd that he was even on the bus, but I think he'd quit his job, after years of trucking.
Farm buildings at foot of hills in southern Oregon
Seems like everyone on the bus has some disfunction. What excuse do you have for having no car? Some people are homeless or transient, carrying boxes or sock like shoulder bags onto the bus. Robert quit his job as a trucker. Some people are just out of prison and cant drive yet. I'm a skateboard rider who lived in New York. We all just pass through Sacramento on the way to the next stop but no eventual destination. The other thing I remember about the layover there in 01 is this financial conversation I had with an older man. he said he'd just bought some stock he liked, a well priced stock called Enron. I told him it looked like it was heading down and to make sure he put a stop loss order under it. Good advice, as good as any I've given.
Music note: Today I strung a guitar, the first time I ever restrung a classical guitar. It's pretty wierd, you tie the strings on below the bridge. I used a pair of needle nose pliers to help make the loops and I think I got it to look just like the example guitar I saw at the Noe Valley music store. It had nice loops at the bridge and even windings on the tuning pegs.
Detour Deli at bus depot in Roseburg, Oregon
6.17 6:30 AM Wednesday morning. Medford Oregon, rest stop. What is the running theme of this travel blog besides skateboarding? I meant for the sub subject to be music, but I think it's me getting sick. Ever since I left New York, just read the blog, look where I was sick-- sinus headaches in Atlantic City, stomach virus in Pittsburgh, diaharrea in Nashville and Memphis, fatigue and disorientation in Kansas City, upset stomach in Salt Lake City. Now, as soon as I got on the bus in SF, another gassy, upset stomach. Maybe it's the vibration of the seat that shakes it up. Or maybe the strain of bottling up instead of passing gas due to bus confinement. Or maybe it's another case of not being careful what I ate. In this case I wolfed down some of RK's spaghetti and sauce when maybe just a sandwich or something else really bland was what was called for.
It's a nice ride, really. Not crowded, and pretty quiet. A guy with a blasting Ipod, but I blocked it with the earplugs left from PK's rehearsal. No one coughing consumptively and no cell yellers, so it's a good pick as far as long overnight bus rides go. Or have gone on these tours.
Sidewalk tour upon arrival in Portland
Friday, June 19, 2009 - Skate Assistants at Last
Dog pull skating in the riverbank park, Corvallis
6.19 Got a chance to have someone shoot a couple pics of me skating. I'm going to a wedding event for my friend DM in Corvallis, Oregon. There was a great park by a lolling river, with overhanging trees, flowering bushes and manicured lawns. Evidence of skateboarding was subtle but there, like some worn benches and some wax on a ledgelike side wall. The path was wide and smooth. DM's eager dog was with us and pulled me easily down the path.
Pedestrian path
Cruising out of a parking lot
I set up a self time shot of an acid drop off a bench onto the path but never got it quite in mid air. The other thing I liked about the spot was the grass, which ran right along the path with a perfect seam. I could easily use the grass to slow down on, rolling just the outside set of wheels onto the lawn then banking off it back onto the path downhill.
Drops off bench in riverbank park
Later on we drove up into the woods and hills to my friend's soon-to-be inlaws' house. While walking around I noticed for the first time one of the wild turkeys I'd heard were common up here. Makes a fine lawn ornament.
Wild turkey in wooded neighborhood near Corvallis
Thursday, June 18, 2009 - Portland Exurb Skate
Green, blue, and white backdrop behind Albertson's lot
6.18 West Linn, exurbs of Portland. This is another one of those places where I go to visit and it may be fairly ordinary as far a vacation or travel destinations go, but it's skateboard heaven. Just outside my friend's door is this nice one way street and cul de sac, a really nice setup for a short hill carve. It reminded me a bit of the hill outside of the Akron bus station, set up with a steep and wide start, a straight run with a nice fast runout at the bottom. The one in Akron was really long, but it had more traffic, including buses.
Hill with driveways to kickturn in traverses
I shot a few pics walking up then a clip going down. There were a couple of features on the hill that I used to shape the ride and you can see them if you pay attention. At the top I made a traverse, a quick kick turn, another traverse or slow switch back which I ran all the way left into a driveway. That's something I'll do if I can, use a driveway or even some grass to the side to bank off and lose some speed. You can see I turned so far into the carve that you can see straight up the hill from my front hand (holding the camera) leading the turn. There were some girls on their porch, I hope I didn't impose. It was their neighbor's driveway. I ran the turn way up the driveway, kickturned backside (toeside), and dropped down the hill a ways. I made a mistake here going down the fall line with no uphill preturn. Because of that, the speed got a bit much, so I put a foot down and banged off some speed. I say banged off because I didn't really foot brake or scrape off the speed, I stepped down hard a couple of times. You can hear it as some clicking behind the wheel noise. That foot stomping took the speed down faster than scraping. I thought about doing the run over and skating it perfectly but I thought the mistake was kind of cool, that's more of the reality of spontaneously skating a hill with the camera on rather than practicing it and then shooting. After that brake were several linked turns. They seem to draw out more to the frontside (left). The left turns sound different too. Finally there's a runout to the cul de sac.
Later I skated the parking lot at Albertson's. There was a high green hill behind it and a beautiful blue and white patterned sky. The lot had several good slopes, excellent black asphalt, and some sloping curbs, one of which I mounted on a little transition and ran along several times, not quite grinding. This lot's curb was a red painted specimen of curbus slopeida bankus. It reminded me of the yellow painted curbs that were all over the lot at the truck stop in Nashville in my March 2009 South sidewalk tour.
Sunday, June 21, 2009 - Longship on Blankenship
6.21 Explored the roads, streets, and cul de sacs off Blankenship in my neighborhood in West Linn. That street sounds like a comic strip swearing, like "Dad Blankenship Darn It." The road I found was beautiful, lined with lawns, trees, and manicured shrubs or various shades of green. It was unusually long and only steep in one spot. I figured I'd have to footbrake in that part of the run. There were a couple of hazards: light but regular vehicle traffic and a loud collie type dog that looked capable of jumping its iron fenced yard. The road wasn't wide enough for my traverse and squashed S carve method, but there were some other braking possibilities, grassy edges, and some side streets to turn into. I looked at the driveways too but they all had lippy transitions and some had rocky gravel that would have meant trouble if the wheels didn't hit 'em just right.
Poor transitions into driveways
On the way up I looked at a church parking lot. There was a really cool double ramp curb which I skated over to and kicked back and forth in a mini half pipe run. In front of the curb was stencilled, of course, "no skateboarding."
Interesting curb and stencilled warning
Grassy gravelly edges I can use for braking
Nice banked entry to side street
I'd planned on turning off on a side street way down near the bottom but it turned out there was one at the top with a beautiful banked entry. In the shot you can see the bank below the 25 mph sign. On the first run down I spontaneously turned right and went over the bank, picking up speed before going down to the right on the side street. I spread my jacket like a drag chute and carved off the speed, but lost too much speed and had to push a bit uphill to a cul de sac. There were people puttering around their cars, washing them or stocking them for a sunday picnic. I was glad I had the quiet soft wheel setup again. I was out of place enough skating through their neighborhood on my big board, with long hair held in place with a black cap, taking pictures of their street, without also rolling loudly and scraping off speed with barking slides.
Exiting the side street
Setting up a beautiful ride from the left
I restarted the hill at the left out of the side street and easily carved it out to the bottom. The dog was never a factor.
Sunday, June 21, 2009 - Historical West Linn Village Skate
6.21 The road off Blankenship led to a road down to the village of West Linn. The road had a couple of nice features. One was that it had recently been paved and was super smooth, riding more like a concrete skatepark floor than an asphalt road. The pavement was so dark that when a car came up behind me I pulled all the way off and watched it go by, because I didn't think I'd be very visible, between the tree shadows of the late afternoon and the black surface. It was so easy to skate this stretch that I could pump it to accelerate or go deeper into the rail to slow down, with almost the same arc radius. Pretty cool.
Another thing I noticed were the reflectors that protruded from the center line. I thought they might hang me up, but I didn't ride over one to find out.
In the village I skated an area of sidewalk no more than fifty feet long that had a bunch of features. There was a funny rounded curb, which was almost a little bank, but pretty hard to just ride up on a longboard. I hit it at an angle up and down.
Next was a curvy section that wove through a handicapped access ramp bound by a rail and then around a tight almost hairpin curve surrounding some decorative trees. The curved sidewalk lined up with an old general store and fish tackle place which I shot from a couple of angles. The late sun made a big hot spot on the wall, but I think I finally got it exposed right.
Across the road from the general store there were some well preserved and beautifully restored old west wooden buildings. It was a wall formed from a row of old west facades, including a saloon.
General store and curving curbs
The last thing I skated was a parking area, completely curbed in from the traffic, that ran a long ways along the road. I shot the hills in the background, which were the same vineyards as in the shots from the Albertson's parking lot I posted a few days ago.
Curbed in parking area and distant hill
Tuesday, June 23, 2009 - Vineyard Hill Fast Corner
6.23 In my explorations on skateboard around West Linn I kept noticing the big hill behind town, in fact, it kept showing up in the background of several of my shots. Check out the last picture on the June 21 post. There is some very orderly greenery up there, and I discovered in a car trip to Corvallis that there are some vineyards on the hill. DM says they are mostly decorative, and not producing any great wine. Someone has definitely gone to some trouble, whatever the use, because the vineyard's texture and splashes of red color behind red brick retaining walls make the hill a jewel that overlooks the village.
I walked up the hill and was surprised at how much effort it took. It was really steep and gruelingly long. It took close to a half hour to mount the hill up to the flat crest. For the first time in a long time I was wearing a cotton shirt and not my synthetics and it made me feel sweaty and heavy. The hill didn't look skateable at all. The road was rough and traffic was heavy enough to make me not interested in the steep part of the hill. It probably would have taken all my remaining shoe leather to slow down. My boots soles are really worn by the way. I'm looking for a chance to resole, repair, or replace them.
Finally the hill leveled off and the single road up turned into a network of streets and cul de sacs, like in the lower hills, but these neighborhoods seemed a bit more ritzy, not surprising given their vantage point. First I walked up and traversed a steep hill and kept going up driveways. It was fun but I thought of it as a warmup and didn't skate seriously or shoot any pictures.
Near the road by the vineyard I finally found a hill worth skating and shooting. It was a steep and smooth section that curved and banked around a left turn and ran out straight. There was someone working in the garden or washing their car or something, and another guy mowing his lawn. I was pretty blatant about skating their street and taking pictures, but it was obvious that lots of people take pictures of the vineyard at that corner, as it faces the vines perfectly. I may have been the only photographer shooting the pavement and sidewalks on the hill.
Looking up the steep top part of the hill
Looking down the hill
I worked out a good line to skate the steep, the corner, and the flat. I only walked half way up, because it seemed like I'd just be traversing if I went any higher and there wasn't that much width. It was enough height to generate a lot of speed on the drop. I carved really hard the first two turns instead of traversing and then let it go around the corner. It was some of the fastest I've skated lately. There was no way not to go fast. I was carving into the runout and I felt on the edge of wobbling. I just concentrated as hard as I could and got my arms in a big wide stance. I had the wrist guard on, but if I'd come off the board I'm not sure I could have run it off. I skated the corner three times and really enjoyed the skating and the view of the vineyard across the fence and road beyond.
The runout
Clothing Tip: Again and again I find that cotton underperforms. It is only good when you want to have a little moisture in your shirt to cool you off. Those conditions do not come up that often. Usually you're going to either be too sweaty or too cold wearing it, at least on your upper body. I really noticed the cotton on the climb up the hill.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009 - Vine Row Extention Road
6.23 After the curved corner run I crossed the heavily trafficked street and got closer to the vineyard. The rows of vines ran straight up the hill away from my position below. I stood at the top of a street which, with a fence in between, abutted the rows in a neat parallel. It reminded me of the rows of trees that you find at the edge of the big mosques in Spain, as in Cordoba. The rows of pillars extend into rows of trees in a continuous line. It was a beautiful start to a skate run.
There was a side turnoff that went uphill and I wanted to turn up it and make a big climb and drop, sort of a big frontside carve and arc up the side hill and back onto the main street of the run. It wasn't as easy as I thought, because the street kind of dipped down then up, so I had too much speed coming up the side hill and couldn't make the turn without foot braking. The second time I tried it I got really close to the curb and drew out the arc. It was better but I still didn't get it quite right. There was a guy watering his lawn that I'm sure was watching me trying to get the maneuver right. After three runs from the top at the side street I gave up and just pumped and skated really fast into some carves.
Side turn where I couldn't get the carve maneuv' right
A red jeep was backing out of the driveway right at the corner which forced me to take the corner way to the left and kind of slowly. After the turn the street flattened out, but it was nice asphalt and I cruised along. There was a white barn at the end of the run which I shot without really stopping. I went up to a little parking lot and sort of tried to hot dog, kick turning slowly and walking the board. It seemed like a quiet place to do a trick or two in front of the barn, but somehow there was a car coming out of there so I felt a bit disappointed. Both the left turn and cul de sac ending had been messed up by cars and before that had been the clumsily skated turnoff hill.
This was a rare skate session that I really thought about stopping and interviewing people in the neighborhoods. Usually I am very focused on the session, trying to figure out the lines I'm going to skate, getting shots, and maybe trying to make two or three runs and not bother anyone. This time I was curious about the vineyard and the barn and it crossed my mind to do bring the residents into my project.
Coming down the hill opposite the vineyard there was a wooden fence that pressed up very close to the sidewalk. Even though the sun was out, the fence made a dark and confining wall. The effect of skating along it was like surfing down a head high right on an overcast day.
Looking back uphill at the erie and square sidewalk wave
I walked all the way down the hill on the heavily trafficked street, almost a highway. I was on the shoulder to the left and looked down over the Albertson's parking lot and other lots where I'd skated over the past few days.
View of the shopping center where I'd skated a few times
Thursday, June 25, 2009 - Dont Skate Over an Oregon Stick
6.25 My friend DM took his son LM and dog M to exercise and bike at the West Linn park and I came along with my board. The parking lot was rough and didn't have much skateability. Off to one side however, were some bike paths that led into the woods. The trees were a small type of redwood or other straight trunked, tall tree. I waited for a guy and his dog to move down the path then skated it.
The path wasn't steep but incredibly smooth and fast. There was a hairpin turn at the end that was tough to make. I recorded a clip which got the feel of the hairpin, because you can hear where I crunched some leaves going around the hairpin, cutting the corner off a bit.
There were a lot of sticks and a few pebbles which meant possibilites of hanging up. The swerving in the clip is more to avoid sticks than to carve off speed. On the walk to photo the route I noticed a stick across the path that wasnt there when I skated it. Then on closer inspection I saw it was a type of slug. Unlike the banana slugs in Santa Cruz which are bright yellow and stand out whether in your way or not, this one was brown and clearly evolved to be camoflaged. Any fox or bird or other predator would think the slug was a stick. Not great camoflage to avoid getting run over by bikes, but a skateboarder will avoid you whether you are a slug or a stick.
Oregon variety of banana slug, stick camoflage
This skate course ended at the latrine
Outside the path a pair of big hawks circled but they were too far away to shoot with my cel camera.
I was preparing to leave West Linn and take the bus to Portland to visit my other friends in town. While driving around DM and I heard the news about the hospitalization of Michael Jackson. At first it seemed like another one of his many breakdowns which resulted in more patching up. But this time sounded far more ominous.
Thursday, June 25, 2009 - Street Fair Daring Deeds
Musicians share a drum
Spectres pass a floodlit bar
6.25 Evening. Down in Portland my friend K and S and their daughter took me to a street fair and counterculture event called Last Thursday. This differs from First Thursday, a more mainstream artsy street fair.
A gauzy stilt pair executes a flip as Winnebago dancers rock on
Some of the standout sights were a couple dancing on a Winnebago and rocking the whole rig. A group of stilt walking acrobats, shrouded in white, did some swing dance lifts and flips that endangered anybody within ten feet. A ragtime and zydeco band was formed around a beautiful upright bass and an upright piano so beat up I couldn't hear it until I got right next to it. Dancers flowed around to the complex rhythm.
Friday, June 26, 2009 - Sidewalk Green Room
6.26 In a very lush neighborhood in Portland. This was one of those days when views and shots presented themselves that perfectly explain what I was looking for on my sidewalk tours. Texture and terrain in the sidewalk, and scenery over them. Some sort of relationship to the parent sport of surfing is always nice, such as an overhanging roof and walls to the side, perhaps some reef like objects.
Going down these sidewalks I thought of Greg Noll's description of the Green Room that occurred when a big wave broke over him while standing up in a big barrel. These branches were so big, overhanging, and green that they were a sidewalk green room.
Due to the size of the trees the sidewalks were affected greatly by their growth. The roots created ripples, wavelets and currents in the sidewalk. Some of the humps and cracks were so big it required a kind of technical skating to ride over them, hopping or ollying the small curbs, gaps, and transitions they caused. One section of sidewalk I photographed was cut away and shaped to allow more lawn and room for the trunks and roots.
Friday, June 26, 2009 - Public Square Skate Canvas
6.26 2 PM. My route took me downtown where I watched a skateboard competition. The theme of the competition was the manual, meaning that every trick was supposed to involve a two wheel balance on the skatboard. The two wheel requirement made all the tricks much more difficult. I thought the skating looked really technical, and less stunt driven. I guess the entertainment value was less than most street comps, but I appreciated the control the skaters showed in mastering the two wheel manual variations of standard tricks.
The layout of the competition was on a public square surrounded by sprawling tiered staircase. It was a variation on the sidewalk theme. The reddish toned sidewalks in Portland I'd seen when I first arrived were now spread out into a large expanse of brick red and pink open square. With the ramps in place, the square made up the canvas upon which skaters created a sort of Jackson Pollack style of drip, twirl, and splatter painting.
Sunday, June 28, 2009 - Mountains in the Mirror
6.28 Grueling bus ride so far. Absolutely full, not even one spare seat. Made it to Medford to the rest stop. I had a good banana muffin and not enough coffee to keep me awake, which is the right dose. Many things wrong. There is a kind of moldy smell, which could be certain passengers or the air system or maybe the bathroom, which smelled really bad and which could drift out over the whole bus. Many rude passengers, all right around me. A girl right behind me kept me awake with bouts of laughter, loud talking, and kicking my seat. A big guy next to me stuffed his bag on top of my guitar and changed his socks in the seat, leaning the feet into the aisle. The couple in front of me are watching episodes of "Friends" with Korean subtitles on a handheld and due to ear buds in both their ears, giggling loudly. The woman right next to me has her bags all over the floor so I cant put my feet anywhere but straight in front. She's sleeping, pretty much spilling onto my side. That's it for rude or annoying people next to and directly behind me. Further back, some woman is coughing repeatedly. Some guys in the back row were blasting ipods so loud the driver came back to tell them to lower it.
There was an unusual incident in southern Oregon. Right after Roseberg an old black guy asked to get off. He said "I wanna get off here." The driver said "you're in the middle of nowhere." And pitch dark too. But it didn't phase the old buzzard, he wanted to get off the bus, and did. Maybe he wanted to go to the bathroom, or maybe he wanted to walk. After a few minutes the driver got off to make sure he hadn't passed out under the wheels, then got back on and drove onward, lighter by one passenger.
Boat trailer and 4th of July flags, rest stop, Medford, Ca.
Temporary fireworks shop in tent, Medford, Ore.
RVs and fireworks tent, Medford, Ore.
Reboarding the bus, Medford, Ore.
In Central Point, which on the bus schedule is called the Medford Rest Stop the bus pulled into a parking lot, gas station, and food joints across the road from a temporary fireworks trailer and tent. The trailer and all the stores in the lot were festooned with 4th of July flags and other celebratory trappings. It was early but it was already getting hot.
In Weed, the first stop in northernmost California, there was a quaint bus station, the type of odd, small, completely non standard structure that you find every now and then if you travel by bus enough. Some outstanding bus stations I remember from my travels were the streamlined modern design in Akron, Ohio, and the absurdly small, antique station in Twin Falls, Idaho.
Bus depot in Weed, Ca.
The heat had really picked up in Redding. You can sense the heat radiating off the street and station walls in this photo. Redding is a hot part of California, because even though it's far north, it's in the valley and there's no nearby presence of mountain, river, or ocean as in much of California to cool it down.
Bus station in Redding, Ca.
Sidewalk in Redding, Ca.
I kept falling asleep in spite of the discomfort and noise. That worried me. There was probably not enough oxygen in the cabin to keep me awake. I woke up in front of Mt. Shasta. It was lit too strongly by the rising sun. I tried to get self portraits in the bus glass with the mountain behind.
Lake near Mt. Shasta, Ca.
Self portrait on bus, Mt. Shasta, Ca.
