MISS PART ONE OF THIS BLOG POST? GO HERE TO READ ABOUT MY DRIVE UP FROM LOS ANGELES TO SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON STATE, FIELDS SPRING STATE PARK, LAPWAI, IDAHO AND THE NEZ PERCE RESERVATION.
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| Okay, I get it - this is why they're called the Blue Mountains! |
Sunday 7/17 - Life's Rich Pageant
5:30 a.m. comes too fast – load up time for everyone. Sunrise through the trees is a little misty. It's gorgeous. I load myself into Michelle's van for the journey to Pendleton, OR. But why would you do that if you have a car, Amy? Welp, I loaned it to Michelle's honey, Stefan and his son so they could go to a family event in Yakima. The price: new windshield wipers (see the first part of this blog on the Need To Get Them), a tank of gas and... gourmet cheeses (didn't you see that coming?). We get coffee, then I help out with breakfast cleanup since no one signed up to do so and I'm all packed.
We peel out at 7am in Mich's van and take the scenic route south through the Blue Mountains. GORGEOUS. Eggsncheddar at the Red Horse in Joseph, OR – really upscale for a small town. Mich says NOTC did a residency in Enterprise, 6 miles away, some years back so she knows where everything is. Lots of roadkill on this highway, and I'm on deer watch…
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| We're gonna be late... and that's OKAY |
Gorgeous Northern Oregon, just south of the Columbia Gorge
Our show at the EOCI is really spectacular. I really had no preconceptions about what it would be like to do a performance here – none. And it was both weird and not weird. They were an absolutely wonderful audience. So much so that I suggest to Paul that we pre-jail all of the audiences before our shows. Val: "We could lure them in with
workshops... Amy: "Then close the door! Yes!" Clay Mazing is again amazing here... as he is in Syria, where he tours his Emergency Circus.
The Pipia Sisters are back. Fiona's bell/uke song is a huge hit – and totally adorable. And although the Minute Waltz is a success, Clay's intro gives me the idea to completely revamp its presentation - to do it as a prize fighter and have the emcee challenge me to sing a classical piano piece... which is so much like the improv group games I have done a million times that I have to laugh... |
| The NOTC crew in Pendleton, OR |
Mich and Ann and I head to Lewis and Clark Trail State Park in the van. It's outside of Dayton, WA, which I actually drove through on the way to Fields' Spring. Storm clouds over yellow fields are stunning as we pass through Waitsburg.
I'm reunited with my car - and it has killer new wipers that even have a warranty! And 3 kinds of cheese. Eben sees this and surreptitiously announces he also has smoked gouda. (Funny, he doesn’t seem high.) He hands it to me (to prove it?) and I rub all 4 cheeses on my tummy and start moaning in an exaggerated fashion. Then he says, “Hey, you know, I want that back.” I do a massive trunk repacking. Then we're all off to dinner, being provided by the welcoming committee in Dayton. And I'm gonna meet my host there!
It’s a HUGE spread and the folks here are wonderful. Lia is the first person we meet (“I am the stage ninja! I will strap mics to you and I have an all black outfit!"). And the super-enthusiastic Katie taps me on the shoulder and asks, "How would you like to stay out in the country with two beautiful, huge doggies and a mountain view? You can close the door if you don't want the dogs to sleep with you, and by the way, I need a ride home.”
SIGN ME UP!!!
There are way too many pies here (and no kids, unlike the last potluck, so we'll have a shot at them). Rod reveals his eating scheme: he sits somewhere different after each time through the buffet so his seconds and thirds are undetected. SOUNDS LIKE A GREAT PLAN! We feast on locally grown veggies like Walla Walla onions and organic local wheat breads.
Katie and Wes do indeed live in a paradise, 6 miles out of town. It really doesn't matter to me what the place I stay in looks like - it's meeting the hosts and sharing a meal for this brief time that's fun, whether it's a small home in a small town or a manse in the mountains. This one's quite nice. With a grand piano in the foyer. Katie tells me about the bears and cougars on the area. Deer are waiting for us on the lawn. Her two big dogs, Butterball and Marieke are big sweethearts. And kittehs Willie and Boots, who get underfoot all the time in the garage, are drooly and cute! Katie and I yak about NOTC until 11 over shots of vodka. I do some laundry. Zzzzzz.
Didn’t sleep well although hella comfy. Woke up to 25 acres of gorgeous in the shadow of Nelly’s Nipple (local term!), a huge peak outside the livingroom window, which Katie says a neighbor climbed last year.10 bird feeders, lots of hummingbirds. Sweet, wetfaced doggies on the porch. It's a breathtaking drive thru pastel hills and sky yellows and blues to the sounds of a classical NPR station as I head back to the park for the morning meeting.
When something goes into the Borg, as I call it - the truck full of everyone's camping and show stuff - it will eventually come back out, even if it disappears for a while. (This will happen with my Brita filter water bottle today it will reappear later in the tour.) But today, when I retrieve the camping chair I had yet to use this year, but put in the U-Haul truck anyway in Fields Spring, and I discover that it isn’t actually my chair but someone else's, I have to laugh, for two reasons. 1) This specific chair has been sitting in my garage inside its matching cloth carrying case for 2 years (since I drove back from the 2014 Chautauqua), which means I packed the wrong chair from Montana, likely in the dark the night before I left the motel in Hot Springs. And 2) I AM THE CAMPING CHAIR BUCKSTOP (in charge of loading all of them for everyone when we pack up camp). I corral chairs with Jabali and Doug for the meeting. Park Ranger Clara is there – she covers this park AND Fields Spring and says today's events will be a big deal indeed. Head of State Parks Don Koch is coming to the workshops and potluck we're holding here. She has done so much for us. Carolyn’s Café in town donated cinnamon rolls to our kitchen… I’ll go there to thank them, have a coffee and catch up on blog writing. I'm exhausted, so I forego handbilling in town. Texts come in from LA while I'm there... did I get the check for a commissioned arrangement due August 13? Oh, right... I don't know and I haven't started it...
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| Clay and his latest sweetheart |
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| Miles IS the youngest juggler ever! |
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| Gary/David knows his stuff! |
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| My new, wise best friend |
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| Paul's new best friend |
State Parks Ahoy!
The potluck is HUGE, and the State Parks peeps are really happy. Clara, Dan Farber, Paul and Don Koch speak about the importance of supporting Washington State Parks (AMEN!) and increasing community awareness of their resources. We are all enthralled with The Owl. Its unblinking gaze, the eerie 180 degree turn of its neck, its haunting beauty. Doris Mager, also known as The Eagle Lady, has cared for this owl for many, many years. And it is possible to have this gorgeous, mesmerizing creature sit on your arm (while wearing a special glove) in exchange for a small donation to SOAR (Save Our American Raptors), which goes towards its care and feeding. The owl eats a LOT of mice over the course of a month!
Harmony does a gorgeous impromptu musical set under cover in the building we're using as a rainout/supplies shelter when the skies open up, briefly.
After everyone is gone, at the tail end of a spectacular sunset - and moonrise (below), we rehearse "My State Park Hideaway." Gonna be fun! I drive back to my host's place in the glow of the huge moon and find a two-deer welcoming committee on the lawn. Sigh.
Tuesday 7/19 - Night and Dayton
It's a great parade from Pietrzycki Park right back to itself. (And at no time can anyone actually pronounce its name.) Locals are lined up a block in from the main drag and are heartily revelrous as the band passes by with the giant Earthball and twirly people right behind. I take videos and pix for the NOTC archives and announce the free workshops and shows to the crowd, handing out flyers as I go.
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| Clay Mazing - REAL superhero! |
Our vaudeville show in Dayton High School is packed to the rafters - the AC is working serious overtime! Della's baconstriptease and the Cowboy Dog Band make their debuts. Val Snyder’s new tune “8 Dogs, 8 Banjos,” featuring Val, Clay, Fiona and Harry is a huge hit. The Minute Waltz setup works much better - I can now rouse the audience to root for me to get through the piece. :) "My State Park Hideaway" is a hit with the State Parks people even though it's a little rough its first time out, and I almost lose it when I spot Godfrey Daniels among the woodland creatures, having donned fox ears. I buy T-shirt for this new tour (same beautiful art as the poster). Then I take my last beautiful drive back to the house, talking to Alex under the stars while vigilantly watching for wildlife on the road.
Back at house, I snuggle the Willy kitty, who drools on me and purrs. One of the big dogs is sprawled on the bathroom floor like a rug, thwackytailing. Katie is snoring away on couch. I pack for the morning and wonder where I’ll be tomorrow night… byeeee, comfy tempurpedic world!
Wednesday 7/20 - Yakima/Fort Simcoe I
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| Horses horse away right next to our camp at Lewis and Clark Trail State Park. Seriously! |
I then buzz WalMart, Fred Meyer and Bi-Mart in search of a coffee carafe (no success) and spatulas (check) for the kitchen peeps and Dr. Brunner’s Soap for Linnea ("I can’t believe you don’t know
what that is, Amy! It's all-purpose hippie soap." "I am not a hippie, Linnea!") It's another gorgeous drive into the southern Yakima Valley and onto the Yakima Reservation lands. I note that the gas is much cheaper
here and vow to fill up before we leave... 
OLIVE EXPLOSION!
It’s 5:30pm and a welcome cool breeze starts to blow. Paul couldn't find me a host for this residency, so Park Ranger AJ, the first Yakama person to hold that position (more on this later) who coordinated our stay here with Paul shows me the white (and I do mean white) buildings up the slope from here to see if I'd like to stay in one. It's not the baby bat we find in one of them - that's cool - but a confluence of issues that lead me to conclude I can't stay up there, including its distance from the group. I haven't yet heard the full history of this place (which will give me the willies later) but get a weird, bad vibe. Also, bears and cougars are known to be in this park, there's no power or water, I'd have to walk to the bathrooms alone in the dark, etc. It's kind of AJ to offer, but I can't do it. I will camp for the first time!
I take Harry up on the offer of his extra tent and sleeping pads. Lillian and Eben help me set up the tent in 10 minutes. I leave most of my stuff in my car - especially the food! I can use it like a closet I will make many trips to and from. Peeps gradually arrive and the sun gradually sets.
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| "At last, my right arm is complete!" |
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| Holy shit, I'm camping! |
I visit with Joannie and Daniele in their camper to see how their drive was - slow and arduous, apparently. Plus she got some bad news today about a dear friend. I bring her a plate of dinner. Later, I trek across the great lawn near those creepy buildings with Isak, Shannon, Miles, Linnea and Carmen to the bathrooms - the one near our camp is having issues. The sun is down so we lead with our flashlights and phones, avoiding (read: dancing around) the giant sprinklers.
I’m initially pleased
about the setup inside the tent – it’s quiet and seems comfy on double sleeping pads (I texted Nancy and she said I could have hers, too) and I seem to have
everything I need. I wasn't planning on having to camp, but knowing what Chautauqua can be like, I brought bedding, bagging, and a battery-operated fan/light thing that I hang in the canopy of the tent. I start reading a very bad book and feel sleepy.. It’s cool all night, but I deteriorate psychically re: the bears, which surprises me... and all of the weird outside noises I am completely not used to - and am relieved but exhausted when the sun comes up and I get about 2 hours of sleep.
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| Hippity Hops in the Yakima Valley - wish I could bring some home for my hophead husband! |
It’s REALLY hot by 9:30 am.
Eben and I look at each other with the same thought: let’s go to Yakima for
some air-conditioned breakfast and to run errands – maybe even see a movie. Yelp leads us to the White House Café Bed & Breakfast which is only serving LUNCH when we get there at 10:30 ("Thanks,
Obama!") We actually end up at the Waffles Caffe - and I have the best omelette ever, despite the sign. "Watfle cf the month: RWB." RWB stands for red (strawberries), white (whipped cream) and blueberries. Why don't they call that sugar monstrosity the WMD?
Our personal/Chautauqua errand-running turns out to one-shop
stopping - we only find one item on the list at each place: the carafe, softball mitts for an upcoming game with the Quileutes, Linnea’s soap, my gym-type outfit for the Minute Waltz challenge, and mushrooms for Kara in the kitchen. We internet for an
hour at Starbucks near the Fred Meyer. I’m kinda concerned about having a house for my solo show in Port Townsend on
Sunday even though both local newspapers ran features on it based on the press releases I sent. PT is on the way to La Push, the next NOTC stop, so no harm no foul, but… it's a gamble. I newsgroup it up as much as possible. I laugh to Eben as we walk back to the car that I actually know exactly how to get back to the Park
from here. having done it!
AJ and his family, who live up on the hill here at the park, come to our camp for dinner as the heat slowly dissipates. Harry watches
Trump speak at the GOP Convention on his phone; I don't get why anyone would want the outside world...and especially that one... to invade this space, but.... After dinner, coffee with spices is served with orange slices. It is addictive! Donna, who we met on last year's tour in Alaska's inside passage, tells me about
her family history in Wrangell. I tell her and Lillian how I got hooked up with this
crew.
The
moon is again blood orange, hanging low in the sky to the north, peeking out from under the giant cloud blanket. Then it is dark, and before the sky truly blasts open, I pee on what I will now call the Racist Lawn. (FuIl disclosure: I tried to drive up to bathrooms using the back road, but the gate was locked!) A shower passes as overhead as I make sure the electronics in my tent are covered
under and over just in case, even though Harry said he and Ann slept in this
tent during the Oregon Country Fair this year and were totally dry when it poured. I’d
hoped for another calm night, but it is loud as a bowling alley for most of the wee hours - so even though I find it kind of funny and will be falling-down weary all day tomorrow, "alone in a tent through a huge thunderstorm" is added to my Never Before
list.
To be clear, I wasn’t scared of the storm – my electronics were fine, and the tent was indeed great. It was just really LOUD. Between the thunder, lightning and pounding rain, sleep was impossible until about 4:30, when it dissipated, despite my having mitigated the bed padding issues. It also wasn’t really that cold, so I was uncomfortable. So although Phina and Sophie said sweetly that they were thinking of me all night, we all laughed – because everyone was in the same boat with the storm... except the weirdos who SLEPT THRU IT.
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| Fort Simcoe Buildings... hmmm....grrrrr |
I’m not in the community show and don’t want to work outside in the heat as I am nearly dead from lack of sleep, but I want to see Toppenish and the Yakama Nation Museum. We end up arriving early at the Yakama Nation HQ, and the Museum Director gives us a private tour of the Museum. The cultural, geographical and natural aspects of the Yakama history are beautiful and inspiring. But the photos of the Fort Simcoe Indian School are beyond heartbreaking. Uniformed boys and girls in white dresses all
looking like they want to die, right on the grounds where we are staying – in front of those military buildings. It's the polar opposite of a goofy "class picture" we all have from our elementary schools. It was indoctrination on a massive scale. And for what? To kill their culture, make these young people into... what.... educated servants? This place is fascinating and upsetting and... I am still thinking about the people we met on these reservations as I write this a month later and the Dakota tribes are protesting the pipeline being built across their land.
The community show here at the elder home in the beautiful residential area of the HQ goes very well. I love how what we do transcends barriers - no matter the demographics of the audience, Chautauqua's vaudeville shows make them smile. Hell, they make ME smile. I talk to Alex while sitting on a bench in the parking lot as the performers pack up. Back in LA, he’s attending our pal Bill Berry’s
CD release show. I sang on the album and Alex shot a video for the title track. That world seems very far away right now.
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| Bizarreness in downtown Toppenish |
Eben
and I peel off to find lunch and “furnishings” in Toppenish – his have been
STOLEN from the camp laundry?!?! We have no luck, so I suggest we head to Union Gap Mall Road – the exit on I-82 I have passed a few times here - gotta be a mall there, right? I can’t stop yawning.,. We find a Kohl's, Eben gets his underwears. Then we buzz Famous Dave’s BBQ for a surprisingly great lunch. I fall
asleep in Eben's car on the way back to Fort Simcoe.
Members of the Yakama Warriors Association (decorated U.S. military veterans in the Yakama Nation), Dan Farber from Washington State Parks and Park Ranger AJ join us at the Mool
Mool - the bubbling springs at Fort Simcoe - later in the afternoon. This site was an important trading spot for the Yakama, so naturally it's where the U.S. built a fort to "keep the peace." Paul speaks of the connections being forged between these honored guests and of the importance of AJ's installation at the park. Most Chautauquans have by now read the military-centric narratives on display in the buildings behind us. It is important that the full story be presented and that the State Park land, which sits in the middle of Yakama territory, be redefined. Each warrior performs the song that represents their branch of the military. Then we all repair to another potluck at the NOTC camp.
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| CHARGE! |
I take a spectacularly great shower in our camp shower (did I mention we have our own, and it's amazing?). Charge my devices at our "charging table." Eben, who has only watched from afar up til now, shakes his booty at the Beyonce dancers and everyone cracks up. It gets very cold and I am psyched because I know I will ACTUALLY sleep - I take half of an Ambien. In fact, I will be blissfully unaware of the bear that browses through camp this night; in the morning Paul will discover an entire apple tree branch on the ground, stripped of its fruit.
Saturday 7/23 - Reservations
I'm unsure what to say about this day. Couldn't put any words down about it after it happened, either. I don't write this blog in the moment so much as jot down phrases and incidents I know I will flesh out later. I didn't write anything down for this day. It was upsetting in expected and unexpected ways, and I felt guilty for things I haven't done, couldn't have prevented and can't change. I feel weird writing about it, too, in this era of calling out "white privilege," which despite the considerable obstacles in my personal life, I know that as a white person, I must own to an extent.
At an RV Park in Toppenish, about 180 displaced people had been camped for about 6 weeks. They'd lost their homes and were primarily unemployed. Entire families living in tents and cars. The tribe takes care of its own, so it gave these people a space in its RV Park as a temporary measure (now they are trying to decide what will happen in the winter - where can they go?). There are not a lot of trees - it's a concrete lot with some shelter buildings.
We did a parade around the camp to draw people to a shaded structure where workshops were held - mainly for kids. Then we gathered under a tree to hear one of the Yakama elder leaders speak. Most of the presentation was about the Congressional testimony of Nipo Strongheart from 100 years ago. Strongheart toured with the Chautauquas of the 1920s educating people about the plight of Native Americans. Sadly, many current issues the tribe is facing are reflected in this old, old testimony. And the racist, narrow-minded politics we see today in America echo in it as well.
The air seems to have left the park - ironic since we are outdoors. We do a mini-show that Paul and I emcee for about 15 people, which is followed by another potluck. Most of us do not eat, or if we do it's not a lot, because, well... there are kids here filling their plates with 5 burgers. Eben and I stop at a Mexican place in town instead of partaking, then head back to camp.
I feel deflated and useless. What the fuck did I do today? Did it matter? Yes, I made some people smile. I hope I brought them some joy. I know some of the acts in the show did. I feel stupid. Ineffective. And guilty that I get to leave that place and go back to my life in Los Angeles in about a week. I call Alex and try to explain the mixed emotions of the day but...
I go to Joannie for counsel. She is the wise woman of Chautauqua. She speaks of the importance of bearing witness to people's stories. It's like visiting someone who has a chronic or fatal illness. You cannot do ANYTHING to help them but you can be there, take it in, hear their pain, acknowledge them and tell them you care. And share their story with others. That has to be enough. And it has immense value and importance. I mentally get this but still feel very empty inside. I take another Ambien and sleep like a rock in the (thankfully) cold night.
Sunday 7/24 - To the Coast with MY OWN DEVICES
At an RV Park in Toppenish, about 180 displaced people had been camped for about 6 weeks. They'd lost their homes and were primarily unemployed. Entire families living in tents and cars. The tribe takes care of its own, so it gave these people a space in its RV Park as a temporary measure (now they are trying to decide what will happen in the winter - where can they go?). There are not a lot of trees - it's a concrete lot with some shelter buildings.
We did a parade around the camp to draw people to a shaded structure where workshops were held - mainly for kids. Then we gathered under a tree to hear one of the Yakama elder leaders speak. Most of the presentation was about the Congressional testimony of Nipo Strongheart from 100 years ago. Strongheart toured with the Chautauquas of the 1920s educating people about the plight of Native Americans. Sadly, many current issues the tribe is facing are reflected in this old, old testimony. And the racist, narrow-minded politics we see today in America echo in it as well.
The air seems to have left the park - ironic since we are outdoors. We do a mini-show that Paul and I emcee for about 15 people, which is followed by another potluck. Most of us do not eat, or if we do it's not a lot, because, well... there are kids here filling their plates with 5 burgers. Eben and I stop at a Mexican place in town instead of partaking, then head back to camp.
I feel deflated and useless. What the fuck did I do today? Did it matter? Yes, I made some people smile. I hope I brought them some joy. I know some of the acts in the show did. I feel stupid. Ineffective. And guilty that I get to leave that place and go back to my life in Los Angeles in about a week. I call Alex and try to explain the mixed emotions of the day but...
I go to Joannie for counsel. She is the wise woman of Chautauqua. She speaks of the importance of bearing witness to people's stories. It's like visiting someone who has a chronic or fatal illness. You cannot do ANYTHING to help them but you can be there, take it in, hear their pain, acknowledge them and tell them you care. And share their story with others. That has to be enough. And it has immense value and importance. I mentally get this but still feel very empty inside. I take another Ambien and sleep like a rock in the (thankfully) cold night.
Sunday 7/24 - To the Coast with MY OWN DEVICES
Overheard at breakfast: Shine says to her daughter Annabella (4), "Sweetie, you had one job – to eat breakfast! Did you do that?" Annabella doesn't get it, and general laughter ensues. Clay tells a superhero underwear joke, which doesn't quite work. No one laughts. he turns to Karl. "I need some help with that punchline."
Phina is riding with me to Port Townsend, where I'm doing my show tonight. I'll stay Chez Pipia and we'll bring her dad Joey (NOTC's resident magician, or "delusionist") to join the tour on Monday. We stop for gas on the Rez before getting on the highway... and it's $2.16 per gallon!
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| Unexpected Gorgeousness en Route |
Stefan hands us a printed map before we leave. He's done that for all private vehicles on the tour. It kinda gels with what Google Maps is telling me. But eventually I lose a connection and just look at the piece of paper. Which leads us right through the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie Forest. WOW! Thank you, Stefan! Along the way, we yak about our massively different histories with NOTC - Phina literally grew up doing it every summer and this is my third tour. Phina, in her 20s now, is a seriously wonderful, confident performer, fully professionally trained, who I could easily see as the ingénue in a regional Shakespeare company. She's chosen to stay in Port Townsend, where she teaches and does editing and consultant work online. PT has no idea how lucky it is to have her. Miraculously, she falls asleep as I fire up my Bluetooth for a call with a collaborator in New York that could determine the future of our mutual project. Heading up the 101 out of Olympia, I "put on my big girl pants" and the discussion isn't as difficult as I'd expected, but doesn't altogether thrill me. Why isn't anything ever just... easy? Lately I feel that way a lot...
At the house in PT around 2, I do a major luggage reorganization in the livingroom. Joey's wife Jenny catches me counting underwear and laughs when I explain my elation at having enough to get back to LA without doing laundry! PT is a funky little town that I really dig. I played here with The Bobs at The Rose Theatre and The Upstage. In fact, I booked those shows for us. We did a festival up in Port Angeles, too - which prompted Matthew's young son to ask "Who's Wanda Fuca?" And I came out here once on my own, in this car, just to see the place, having driven up from LA for an extended Seattle stay involving The Moisture Festival and a recording week. There are deer on the lawn at dusk. Zorch and 3 other kittois say hello to me... I will sleep
down in Phina’s room this time… it's too hot upstairs.
I grab a market salad and head to the show at the Chameleon. And it's lovely that Joey's friend Elisa is there to help out with front of house. Considering it's summer in the Northwest, when everyone travels on weekends and wants to be outside, and the theatre is not downtown, I am very happy to have it 50% full for my first solo show here!
Bobs Superfan Mike asks if I am going to sing "Sandwich Man" as soon as I walk onstage. I am so flattered that I tell him yes... but I shoulda pretended to pull it out of thin air for him. One patron tells he cam because the article in the paper said I was like "Carole King meets Tom Lehrer," and indeed I was...
I repack for the next few days and sleeeeep, tunes from my show and Chautauqua running through my head together already.
Bobs Superfan Mike asks if I am going to sing "Sandwich Man" as soon as I walk onstage. I am so flattered that I tell him yes... but I shoulda pretended to pull it out of thin air for him. One patron tells he cam because the article in the paper said I was like "Carole King meets Tom Lehrer," and indeed I was...
I repack for the next few days and sleeeeep, tunes from my show and Chautauqua running through my head together already.
Monday 7/25 - My Beautiful Northwest
Since my trunk is packed to the lip with ME, we have to get all of Joey's stuff into the backseat... with Phina! Joey's set is prop-heavy, and he has these wonderful retro suitcases that look fabulous but aren't travel-friendly. We get everything in with inches to spare - but I have to laugh when I see a giant paper cutter bulging out of his backpack, between his legs in the passenger seat. Since the drive is only gonna be about 2.5 hours, maybe we can do arts and crafts in the front seat! We stop at a camping/sporting goods store in Sequim (Sequim! Pronounced "squim" - say it with me - Sequim!) for a few extra things, too. I'm thinking of so many late December trips with Alex to Lake Crescent Lodge, which we're about to pass, after my Triple Door shows with The Bobs, Decembrists and New Pornographers CDs playing as we rounded these foggy, dark green curves. Talk of cruise ship bookings, his show and deal in PT as Phina snoozes in backseat.
I am SO
HAPPY to be in foggy dark tallness, about 10 miles into the SR110 turnoff for La Push, at the Quileute Akalat Center. I sigh to see the U-Haul and bus atop the hill in the fog. A lovely cookout lunch is supplied outside, the workshops are held, and we're in a giant gym for the show. And despite a power outage (all over the region) that robs us of sound, it is a kickass show! Among the attendees,
Greg and Margie from that Portland house concert I did - they're sharing a house with Eben and Janet, who also joins us. I ask Eben to pare down the band for the "Minute Waltz" since I don't have a mike - which is a good call I'll decide to keep calling. The audience is very into it - the new bit with me dressed as a fighter is TOTALLY WORKING. I think this was my best performance of the piece, actually, which is odd considering how hard I had to work without sound. I run through the audience to high five them at the end.
My host here, the supercoordinator of the whole residency, bags on me. I'm prepared to ask Harry for the tent again, but Janet invites me to stay at the house they rented - they actually have an extra room!
Beautiful Bogachiel State Park is the site for workshops run by the local Parks people here. Christian Morganroth III shares stories of Quileute life on the Bogachiel river. I watch Meghan and Rio rehearse a really fun Dana Lyons tune, “Cows with Guns” - and I give them some comedic direction so they can show it to Paul and Harry tonight.
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| Kara really blends in here... |
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Shine looked so beautiful here
cooking in the afternoon sun...
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| State Park Story Hour |
The Potluck is lovely. A welcome chill blankets the park as the fog rolls in again and Eben, Janet and I head out. Since the power went out, all of the restaurants are closed in town. So we bring home stuff to cook from the market, Forks Outfitters. I make a huge salad for everyone. Greg is a huge punster so it's a great evening. We all yak about Alaska. I ignore the TV they've turned on (now it's the Democratic convention but I just can't...). The wifi is out here and my phone is having issues, but it is blissfully cold.
Tuesday 7/26 - La Push, La Push, La Beautiful Push
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| Foggy morning at La Push Beach.... mmmmm |
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| You came back, purple bottle! |
Sleeeeep. A Foggy
morning meeting at LaPush Beach. I am so grooving on this weather. Especially after being in the heat of central Washington. Fog, the ocean and tall green trees feel like someone's stroking the back of my head. Alex and I stayed out here once too - I can see the cabin as I drive in on WA110. I love the
rain rain rain. Our day will be up in Forks - where it won't be foggy all day - at several locations.
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| MOOOOOO... |
We do community shows at a rest
home, then a kids’ development center called (not a joke) Sunshine and Rainbows. And it... kind of is. :) I marvel at the truly opposite situations in which the show is a big hit - with much older people in a very small space and with children in a wide open field. It's so nice to see Joey MC, then work with kids in his act. Clay’s
acts (serenading single ladies at rest homes, doing rope tricks or immediately teaching people how to juggle - using beach balls) is always amazing. I’m not in the second show but always love to watch those.
We parade through Forks, and this time I ride
in the Shazambulance with Clay, whose megaphone is shorting out... which is also amusing. I am kind of relieved to not be doing a workshop today - there are so many great, more craft-related sessions that are offered, and it's difficult to get the needed number of participants for what I do (theatre games). So I stroll downtown, almost buying a
coat at a thrift store that I’ll see on Kara later. Can't help thinking the Forks folks must’ve had an
assful of the TWILIGHT stuff by now - both a boon and a pain in the butt.
During the day, I have three separate conversations with Eben, Harry, Karl and Paul, who happens to be standing there when they happen, about the introduction for Noodlini's act (Karl). Which I find very weird. Each of them asks me to say the following line, which is crucial to his opening bit: "...and he holds the Guinness Book of World Records." (Noodlini then enters with a huge book that says "Guinness Book of World Records" on the front.) I say the phrase, in no way understanding why they think it's so hard to remember. Paul, who has been introducing Noodlini in the show, has some kind of mental block about it - he keeps saying the word Guinness up front for some reason - so I'm gonna do it. What's the big deal?
There's reliable wifi at the library, so I make an unsuccessful attempt to book an Airbnb in Red Bluff for Friday night. I'm gonna do the trip back in 3 days, not 4, and staying in Red Bluff will break it up the right way. I don't wanna do more than 7 or 8 hours per day any more. :) And as usual, I can't believe I'm leaving. This one was an emotional rollercoaster and I'm still not happy about heading home.
Dinner is provided for us by the wonderful folks at Rainforest Arts where the workshops were today and the show is tonight – and it's the second meal they provided today! Lotsa homemade casserole
things. THANKS,YOUSE GUYS!
The show is a great one to end on even though I flub some
lyrics. The State Parks number is great. Eben's last line, "I'm married to an Antelope!" gets a huge laugh. AND I WILL NEVER LIVE DOWN MY INTRO TO NOODLINI, in which I clearly and confidently begin to state, "... and the most impressive thing about Noodlini is that he carries the...aw, crap." at which point, Harry, Paul and Eben, who are sitting right in front of me, lose it. AS DO I.
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| HAPPY TRAILS, FORKS... AND ALL OF YOU WONDERPEEPS! |
Wednesday 7/27 - Packing it in Before Packing it in
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| OY |
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| I AM GOD |
When I get down to La Push, Eben is beside himself, having
completely forgotten that today was his traditional latke cookoff with Paul,
who is now claiming victory due to forfeiture via non-appearance! I accuse Paul of sorcery. But I have to admit that his latkes (with...sweet potatoes) are DAMNED GOOD.
After the meal and meeting, there's a brief band/singer rehearsal for the second "dance band" show tonight. A sweet doggie who has wandered over to our section of the beach from the RV area buzzes around the
kitchen... I copy all of the pix I have taken to Michelle's hard drive so she can have them for t
he archives.
he archives.
Hoh Hoh Hoh!
It's technically a day off, on which various options are available - and people with cars offer rides. I take Lilian and JRain to the Hoh Rain Forest, full of reverie about my trip there with Alex one fall. Our wonderful hike turns out to be the opposite experience of my memories, so I have to laugh – as it's midsummer, there are no
bright green or red mosses, no elks, no canopy of trees, it's 80 degrees, not 60, and fairly crowded. But the trees are still mammoth and
tall, and the river itself is absolutely gorgeous silty glacial! We dip in it.
Coffee at the espresso hut next to the Rainforest Arts Center, then back down the hill to La Push. As I've come to expect, it's at mile 10 that the fog rolls in, even if the top of the hill was sunny. We stop at the baseball game, and with two innings to go it's a 24/24 tie, Chautauqua v. Quileute! The cheerleaders, led by the ever-energetic Phina, spell out Chautauqua with an EH at the end. Fog completely envelops the field and the tie is never broken. Win/Win! Dinner back at camp is literally chill due to the fog, and the rock islands in the ocean are gone. One of the locals at the game told us that tourists often fall for the promise of what's called "sucker hole sky" - which is self-explanatory in the fog - but you know, all of a sudden there could be no fog at all. IT'S AMAZING. And this is why I love this place so much. Either way, the scenery is breathtaking. Alex calls while we're having dinner. I wish he could see this.
The second dance band show at the Akalat Center (NOW WITH ELECTRICAL POWER!) is much tighter. Hey, that rehearsing thing is real! Harmony takes over for me on "Sentimental Journey" - there will be another band gig next week when I'm gone. "Araby" sounds really nice. People are dancing and kids are chasing each other around the gym. It's really nice.
As we pack up, I start my round of goodbyes, taking final pix, etc. Joannie gives me the specially crafted card she made - she does one every year for each person. I keep mine in my studio. It CAN’T POSSIBLY be March when I see these nutjobs
again (for the Moisture Festival in Seattle)! I decline invitations to the campfire on the beach though - I've absolutely got to sleep before this long slog home.
