11 a.m. MDT 11/10/05

No shit – the snow-capped mountains up ahead are called the Crazy Mountains. See pictures!

Aren't these mountains crazy?

5:03 p.m. PDT 11/13/05

We're on the road for Portland. The first night in Olympia we stayed with my old high school buddy Chris Knight. We got into town on Thursday night instead of Friday morning, as I had planned, since we only stopped for one meal in the 36-hour drive. When we got to Chris' one-bedroom apartment we drank some beers and cooked up a big batch of ramen noodles that we all had to eat off of plates due to Chris' lack of clean dishes. I think he was out of forks too. Whatever. Had a good time.

Woke up the next morning, Friday, showered and met up with some more friends.

We hitched up a couple cars and went to the liquor store, which was closed for Veterans Day. I'd always heard Washington had lame-o liquor laws. So we went to the grocery store and got some food to cook, some Schmidt beer (with a bear eating a fish on the can!) and some Sparks energy drink. Took the loot back to Chris' for drinking and smoking and listening to music.

The next day we cooked up the food and went downtown and walked around, got some coffee and checked out some record stores.

Finally, the time to get the gear and go to the show! It was at this place in the downtown area called the Yes Yes – a storefront art space with a big open room, a couple couches and a small P.A.

The view from the back at the Yes Yes in Olympia.

Small P.A.s always suck, by the way, and this one was no different. The mic I had to sing out of had a cord that was about six feet long. It never touched the ground, as the mixer it connected to was about five feet away from me that was controlled by a balding guy in a La-Z-Boy chair. Classy!

It was totally fun though. We played first and got a good reception. Especially since we knew so many people. The crowd started out small and grew to be pretty decent, especially by the end of the night. Just around the block from the Yes Yes was a movie marathon called All Freakin' Night that, apparently, is the town's biggest event of the year. It's part of their weeklong film festival and includes horror movies from midnight to 10 a.m. straight through. I figure that a lot of people who couldn't get into the movie night came to our show instead.

Met some nice people, including the LA band Sharp Ease. One of the dudes from the band gave us the lowdown on the LA scene and said he'd be back from tour and would try and make it to our show. Ironically, both of our bands are playing in Portland tonight at different venues. Suck-o.

After the show, we went back to Chris' to get stuff, then to Natika's to get stuff and then to Dave's to drink some more Sangria. And then to sleep. We also picked up some Jack in the Box.

Set out for Portland on Sunday after lounging around a bit.

The truck, which has held up great so far, is starting to have issues. We just stalled pretty bad while still in Olympia trying to get to Interstate 5 to get to Portland. Let's hope this beast holds up at LEAST until LA, but I wouldn't mind getting home to Chicago at the end of this, either.

Fee knows about cars, but he seems a bit baffled by the stalling. We seem fine when we're on the highway though, so cross your fingers!

11:40 a.m. PST 11/14/05

We're on I5 south towards San Francisco. Hopefully we'll get there by 10 p.m. Had to get a cheap-o motel room last night. That and gas put us dangerously low in the band money category. Hopefully we'll make it back at our Bay Area shows.

The show last night in Portland was pretty much a flop. The people who worked at the Ash Street Saloon were nice – especially the bartender – but there weren't too many people there. The headliner – the only local band on the bill called King Hen – cancelled that day due to "the flu." Then the opening band, from Eugene, OR, showed up saying their drummer quit the day before so they planned to do a short acoustic set. Amish Love Child they called themselves. Beatley country pop songs about the dude's cat being his friend and a brat. Another song was about how he likes old country but new country is killing him. Still another song was about how he only drinks Pabst Blue Ribbon when he's depressed and that's why the ribbon is blue. You get the picture.

Fee and Brian looking on during the opening band's set at the Ash Street Saloon in Portland.

The guys from the opening band left during our set and basically cut our audience in half – down to three people. Plus the three or so people at the bar. But one dude, Zack, bought a t-shirt with the last few bucks in his wallet stayed right up front by the stage to hoot and holler.

Though we didn't make shit from the door, the bar gave us free food and some parting shots and we were off. Got as cheap a motel room as possible about an hour south from Portland. We got into town in darkness and left in darkness, which sucks because I've always wanted to see what the place is like.

3:32 p.m. PDT 11/14/05

Forgot to mention that last night was supposed to be a "stand around" show for me so I didn't aggravate my back any more – I messed it up last month at a Chicago show. Instead of taking it easy last night, I totally wiped out by complete accident during Flatlung – our second song of the set. I'm sure the six people watching thought it was cool, but it didn't feel so good.

Also, I went to take a last-minute shit before we took the stage. The boys room didn't have a lock on the door, so I decided – what the heck – the only girl in here is the bartender. I'll just use the ladies room. Cool. It's clean and locks.

So I'm there doing my thing, trying to make it snappy, and the door handle jiggles. Then the person gives it a firm push and there I am face-to-face with a girl (not even the bartender!). I let out a very girly-sounding scream. She does the same and slams the door shut. Awesome. I immediately wipe and head to the stage. Very cool. I'm pretty sure the six or so people at the bar got a big kick out of it.

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