Trip to Oregon with Molly - Part 2 of 2, Holy Salem!
In the morning we were smoking, Tanya was always smoking, never giving herself a chance to come down from a high. A great many of her stories were about one drug or another, she seemed to do whatever she could get her hands on, fancying herself as a connoisseur and an expert for many. She didn't seem the strung out or dysfunctional type though, she seemed productive in her professional and personal lives.
Cooking was something Tanya loved, she proved good at it when she made us a big breakfast of omelettes and potatoes. After the meal we hopped on some bikes, looping around one park and then on to a river where we sat in the grass for a bit. We returned home for another meal, curry potatoes and kimchi, then relaxed in front of the computer watching some TV shows before passing out. It was a simple day after the trip up from Arizona.
The next day Molly and I hiked up to the butte, we found a bench to sip some beers and overlook a portion of Eugene. We hiked down and went to High Street Brewery where we met up with Tanya, we had a few pints and the tastiest tater tots I've ever had or heard about.
Afterwards Molly and I slipped into another bar, the back had about 20 deli style glass refrigerators loaded with beer from all over, you could take them to go or drink them in the bar, or just order what they had on tap. We got some brew on tap while we perused the selection, we took a load to go back home with and relaxed the night away.
We started the next day with a walk to Holy Donuts, on the walk I said "Holy Donuts!", which doesn't translate to text very well, but the emphasis in the way I said it stuck. The donuts were good too, Tanya agreed, and she claimed to be a donut expert.
Back at the house we drank some of the beers from the night before, Molly colored away on a sign that read "Salem", a fancy sign at that. Right above Salem she scribbled in "Holy", "Holy Salem!" we said, same as the donuts, the phrase would stick and be repeated at the most opportune times from that point on.
We went to the freeway entrance and began thumbing and flashing our colorful sign, it was a terrible spot though; cars had nowhere to pull over without halting traffic. Across the street there was a small group of pan handlers working the other side of the traffic. One of them came over to tell us just how bad the spot was, suggesting we walk up to another spot for better luck, which is what we were thinking of doing at that point anyhow.
Molly first had to pee, she walked over to the sandwich shop to do so, when she came back she was smiling and skipping. She'd found us a ride, some guy who'd just bought us a sandwich as it turned out, and half that sandwich ended up in our bellies. The guy was off work and decided to drive us up to Salem, just over an hour up the road.
He was an interesting guy, but his talk slowly shifted to church, "cruisin' for christ" was something he was involved in, something to do with bikes. He dropped us off in a shopping center just into Salem, Molly called her friend Wendy and let her know where we were. We figured we had a pinch of time to use before getting picked up, so we slipped into a shopping center bar and ordered some beers. Wendy joined us for another round or two, we talked with the bartender and some locals while playing $1 keno.
We spent the night at Wendy's in McMinnville, drinking wine, eating good pizza and loosely playing drinking games with a falic deck of cards. Lot's of laughs and fooling around at the end of the night, then finally passing out.
We started the day easy, drinking tea and relaxing, Molly made us a sign that said "Portland", we had Voodoo Donuts on our mind. We got to walking down the neighborhood and then down the main drag in the direction out of ton, the skies were gray, it had been raining off and on all morning, right now it was mostly off.
We didn't get a block before a woman shouted from her car across the street, "You guys going to Portland? Come on over!". We ran across the street and met the woman in the parking lot, her sister was in the passenger seat. We hopped in back, she said she was going part of the way. She was full of energy and happy to have picked us up, her sister looked drugged, mostly quiet in the passenger seat with a light grin on her face. "Don't worry Sundy, we'll get you a beer when we get there", said the driver to her sister.
As we drove along we all had some laughs, Molly was complimented on her teeth again, she couldn't stop laughing, appropriately in her "crazy" pants. They proceeded to give us a number of things as they either found them in the car or otherwise thought of them: matches, crayons in a plastic box, big flannel coats, a handful of change (which they made us use to buy english muffins), a silver necklace with a straw around it (which we had to promise to sell), toe nail clippers, a flashlight, cardboard (which was got from a stop we made at her husband's work), a condom, a lighter and some other odds and ends. It was a funny ride that kept us smiling.
We got dropped closer to Portland, the wind and rain had started to pick up now, but we had our new flannel jackets, even though they stank like all hell. We stood our thumbing for a bit until a car picked us up, a young guy heading towards Portland. We stopped at a gas station where the guy got papers and rolled us a joint for the ride, then dropped us off at Voodoo donuts feeling high. The cold rain and long line had us deciding to wait on donuts, opting for Powells Books as our first stop. As it turned out at this point, Wendy was going to be driving up to meet us in Portland, making our hitchhiking almost useless if not for the funny first ride and the joint from the second ride.
Molly and I wandered the book store, mostly the kids books and travel sections. After an hour or so of that we met Wendy on the street and hopped into her car where we shared the story of our ride getting all the random items we had. Wendy drove us to the Voodoo donuts on the other side of the water where there was no line, we each got a rich donut and chowed down.
We then went to a local brewery for a pint, then on to Rouge for another where we met up with Molly's other friend Denise. We hit one more bar after that, a trendy sort of place where we sat on couches in the back. We were enough beers deep that Molly decided this was the moment to text her mom and spill the beans about her hitchhiking, it didn't go to well. She started receiving disappointed text messages and a tear filled phone call. At least it was off her chest though, one less lie to maintain.
We drove home to Wendy's place, another night of drinks and cards. Molly did some break dancing she didn't quite remember the next day, Wendy and I tangled in the couch laughing at the scene.
I woke up late, showering off a night of much drinking and little sleep. I ate some leftover pizza while Molly was coloring away at yet another sign, I'm not even sure what that one said, going anywhere with her was fine by me.
Wendy had gone to work for the day, we lounged around until motivating ourselves to walk around the neighborhood under the pretenses of finding Molly a travel hat. We never did find a suitable hat, we came back to the house with little more than a toy bubble blowing rod from the grocery store.
We lounged some more, I napped back some sleep while Molly did school work. I woke and made some english muffins with pot butter I had, it smelled like it may have started going bad, Molly took one bite and turned it away, two for me.
Wendy came back saying she would have to go right back out to a dodgeball game she had to watch, she was a sports writer for the local scene. We almost went to join her, and hopefully the game, but remained home drinking lightly and watching Forrest Gump, Molly had never seen it. Wendy came back, the night continued with more movies and drinks as we goofed around.
The next day we met up again with Denise near Salem, the four of us went to Silver Falls where we went on a good hike around and behind big water falls, about 13 miles I believe. From there we went to Denise's place in Portland, lounging out tiredly for a bit before heading to a barbecue at a friend's place. Wendy and I played basketball in the driveway, we had beers and good food for a few hours meeting various people. An intriguing girl climbed a tall tree like a cat and sat for a bit as it swayed in the wind.
We headed to a bar down the road from Denise's place, shots of tequila came quickly and continued. I played shuffle board with Wendy for a bit, talked to Denise and some other for a while, then later found a drunker Molly and Wendy munching on a plate of mustard with french fries in it.
Molly was ready to go, I walked her and Wendy back to Denise's place, Molly disappeared into a room and passed out immediately. I spent some time with Wendy, afterwards feeling fired up and as if there was more night ahead of me. She remained on the couch, I found my shoes and was out the door again heading for the bar.
Once at the bar, people were spilling out, closing time had hit, I saw no one I recognized. I head back to Denise's to find her and a guy milling about outside, waiting on a ride to some one's house where the action was to continue. A car pulled up packed to the brim, Denise barely squeezed in, I waited with the guy she was with who was calling a cab for us. The cab never came, we talked for a while and to the passing drunks on the street, occasionally jumping on the road swing hanging from the tree over the street.
The cab finally came much later, but he was done with the night, my energy had dwindled a bit, plus I had no idea where I was going or how I'd pay to get there. I wandered back into the house, falling on to the couch and to sleep in one motion.
Denise hadn't come home that night, she hadn't drank in a long while due to some medicine I believe, so I'm sure she went all out. Molly, Wendy and I stopped by Voodoo Donut in the morning, but were drove away at the sight of the line. We found our way to the sunday market downtown where we did some wandering and got some food to munch on, then got on the road heading south.
Wendy decided to give us a ride the whole way to Eugene, rather then see us hitchhike in the rain. She dropped us off at Tanya's and turned right back around towards McMinnville. After a shower, Tanya was dividing up the last of her mushrooms. We each had our own pile, Tanya diced hers up as much as possible, mixing them with other food to cover the taste, Molly did the same. I ate mine straight away, spreading some with hummus just for kicks.
Molly and Tanya wanted to head to the store for some things before they kicked in, but I was feeling some effects much earlier than I'd expected, but didn't say much about, just stayed behind which seemed strange to them.
I found myself alone pacing, wide eyed and aware that I was freaking out the dog with uncontrollable howls of my own. The girls came back soaking wet carrying big grocery bags, eyes wide as well. They got dried off and we got to sitting on the floor on and in blankets. Tanya emerged from her room with papers and crayons, she then put Finding Nemo on the computer.
I held an apple towards the beginning, given to me by one of the girls to eat I imagine, all I could do was massage it while I scanned the room and my thoughts. At one point I threw it back and forth with molly while she smiled, commenting on "that damn grin, he's had it on his face since I've met him!", talking to Tanya. I was overwhelmed with love for a few moments looking into her smiling eyes, I couldn't figure if I was supposed to kiss her, hug her or carry on, I did nothing but grin.
The trip overall was a strange one, stagnant. I remained quiet mostly, letting out "hmmms" and other such non-words. I could feel the energy of the room flowing, processing and provoking actions in the room with my thoughts and small movements in my toes and fingers. Molly pondered life in a repetitive way until it became a game of making everything into a philosophical game changer, "What if this crayon in the key to life?"
The trip winded down, despite a second helping. I wanted to entertain some of Molly's ponderings and get somewhere deeper, but doing so would surely be interrupted by Tanya before the conversation could transition out of "pointless mushroom ramblings". I caught many sideways looks and private comments from her about steering Molly the right way, but I had no interest in steering someone who's chosen path was already of interest to me. If anything I was hopping on board with Molly for her to steer me around for a bit, that's essentially what the trip through Oregon. Eventually we all faded to sleep here and there.
It began as an easy next day, smoking and watching TV shows. We ventured out to the store where Tanya picked up out a new bong, we christened it back at the house, then ventured out to get a pint of beer and more of the great tater tots.
We returned to Tanya's with some of her friends and embarked on one of the heavier smoking sessions of my life. Blunts, bongs and bowls were passed around in a circle continuously through the night. Another friend came with boxed beer, the first I've seen beer come in this form, but it was filled with a tasty brew called Hopasaurus Rex. I sipped on this and continued to smoke, Molly and I were noticeably weary. The group marched out to head for some bar, Molly and I stayed behind, her vanishing to the bedroom and me melting into the couch.
They returned just an hour later, I sat up for a short encore or the previous smoking session until the night had ended for all. The next day would mark the end of my trip with Molly, her flight would be leaving Eugene back to Phoenix and I'd be deciding where to head next. We'd had a great time, forming a loving friendship that would only get stronger in the weeks to come. We'd seen and heard amazing things, drank good beer and broken Molly into hitchhiking and the nomad lifestyle. I wasn't sure what would be next, but I was sure it would be good times, even if I was missing her for a stint.
Cooking was something Tanya loved, she proved good at it when she made us a big breakfast of omelettes and potatoes. After the meal we hopped on some bikes, looping around one park and then on to a river where we sat in the grass for a bit. We returned home for another meal, curry potatoes and kimchi, then relaxed in front of the computer watching some TV shows before passing out. It was a simple day after the trip up from Arizona.
The next day Molly and I hiked up to the butte, we found a bench to sip some beers and overlook a portion of Eugene. We hiked down and went to High Street Brewery where we met up with Tanya, we had a few pints and the tastiest tater tots I've ever had or heard about.
Afterwards Molly and I slipped into another bar, the back had about 20 deli style glass refrigerators loaded with beer from all over, you could take them to go or drink them in the bar, or just order what they had on tap. We got some brew on tap while we perused the selection, we took a load to go back home with and relaxed the night away.
We started the next day with a walk to Holy Donuts, on the walk I said "Holy Donuts!", which doesn't translate to text very well, but the emphasis in the way I said it stuck. The donuts were good too, Tanya agreed, and she claimed to be a donut expert.
Back at the house we drank some of the beers from the night before, Molly colored away on a sign that read "Salem", a fancy sign at that. Right above Salem she scribbled in "Holy", "Holy Salem!" we said, same as the donuts, the phrase would stick and be repeated at the most opportune times from that point on.
We went to the freeway entrance and began thumbing and flashing our colorful sign, it was a terrible spot though; cars had nowhere to pull over without halting traffic. Across the street there was a small group of pan handlers working the other side of the traffic. One of them came over to tell us just how bad the spot was, suggesting we walk up to another spot for better luck, which is what we were thinking of doing at that point anyhow.
Molly first had to pee, she walked over to the sandwich shop to do so, when she came back she was smiling and skipping. She'd found us a ride, some guy who'd just bought us a sandwich as it turned out, and half that sandwich ended up in our bellies. The guy was off work and decided to drive us up to Salem, just over an hour up the road.
He was an interesting guy, but his talk slowly shifted to church, "cruisin' for christ" was something he was involved in, something to do with bikes. He dropped us off in a shopping center just into Salem, Molly called her friend Wendy and let her know where we were. We figured we had a pinch of time to use before getting picked up, so we slipped into a shopping center bar and ordered some beers. Wendy joined us for another round or two, we talked with the bartender and some locals while playing $1 keno.
We spent the night at Wendy's in McMinnville, drinking wine, eating good pizza and loosely playing drinking games with a falic deck of cards. Lot's of laughs and fooling around at the end of the night, then finally passing out.
We started the day easy, drinking tea and relaxing, Molly made us a sign that said "Portland", we had Voodoo Donuts on our mind. We got to walking down the neighborhood and then down the main drag in the direction out of ton, the skies were gray, it had been raining off and on all morning, right now it was mostly off.
We didn't get a block before a woman shouted from her car across the street, "You guys going to Portland? Come on over!". We ran across the street and met the woman in the parking lot, her sister was in the passenger seat. We hopped in back, she said she was going part of the way. She was full of energy and happy to have picked us up, her sister looked drugged, mostly quiet in the passenger seat with a light grin on her face. "Don't worry Sundy, we'll get you a beer when we get there", said the driver to her sister.
As we drove along we all had some laughs, Molly was complimented on her teeth again, she couldn't stop laughing, appropriately in her "crazy" pants. They proceeded to give us a number of things as they either found them in the car or otherwise thought of them: matches, crayons in a plastic box, big flannel coats, a handful of change (which they made us use to buy english muffins), a silver necklace with a straw around it (which we had to promise to sell), toe nail clippers, a flashlight, cardboard (which was got from a stop we made at her husband's work), a condom, a lighter and some other odds and ends. It was a funny ride that kept us smiling.
We got dropped closer to Portland, the wind and rain had started to pick up now, but we had our new flannel jackets, even though they stank like all hell. We stood our thumbing for a bit until a car picked us up, a young guy heading towards Portland. We stopped at a gas station where the guy got papers and rolled us a joint for the ride, then dropped us off at Voodoo donuts feeling high. The cold rain and long line had us deciding to wait on donuts, opting for Powells Books as our first stop. As it turned out at this point, Wendy was going to be driving up to meet us in Portland, making our hitchhiking almost useless if not for the funny first ride and the joint from the second ride.
Molly and I wandered the book store, mostly the kids books and travel sections. After an hour or so of that we met Wendy on the street and hopped into her car where we shared the story of our ride getting all the random items we had. Wendy drove us to the Voodoo donuts on the other side of the water where there was no line, we each got a rich donut and chowed down.
We then went to a local brewery for a pint, then on to Rouge for another where we met up with Molly's other friend Denise. We hit one more bar after that, a trendy sort of place where we sat on couches in the back. We were enough beers deep that Molly decided this was the moment to text her mom and spill the beans about her hitchhiking, it didn't go to well. She started receiving disappointed text messages and a tear filled phone call. At least it was off her chest though, one less lie to maintain.
We drove home to Wendy's place, another night of drinks and cards. Molly did some break dancing she didn't quite remember the next day, Wendy and I tangled in the couch laughing at the scene.
I woke up late, showering off a night of much drinking and little sleep. I ate some leftover pizza while Molly was coloring away at yet another sign, I'm not even sure what that one said, going anywhere with her was fine by me.
Wendy had gone to work for the day, we lounged around until motivating ourselves to walk around the neighborhood under the pretenses of finding Molly a travel hat. We never did find a suitable hat, we came back to the house with little more than a toy bubble blowing rod from the grocery store.
We lounged some more, I napped back some sleep while Molly did school work. I woke and made some english muffins with pot butter I had, it smelled like it may have started going bad, Molly took one bite and turned it away, two for me.
Wendy came back saying she would have to go right back out to a dodgeball game she had to watch, she was a sports writer for the local scene. We almost went to join her, and hopefully the game, but remained home drinking lightly and watching Forrest Gump, Molly had never seen it. Wendy came back, the night continued with more movies and drinks as we goofed around.
The next day we met up again with Denise near Salem, the four of us went to Silver Falls where we went on a good hike around and behind big water falls, about 13 miles I believe. From there we went to Denise's place in Portland, lounging out tiredly for a bit before heading to a barbecue at a friend's place. Wendy and I played basketball in the driveway, we had beers and good food for a few hours meeting various people. An intriguing girl climbed a tall tree like a cat and sat for a bit as it swayed in the wind.
We headed to a bar down the road from Denise's place, shots of tequila came quickly and continued. I played shuffle board with Wendy for a bit, talked to Denise and some other for a while, then later found a drunker Molly and Wendy munching on a plate of mustard with french fries in it.
Molly was ready to go, I walked her and Wendy back to Denise's place, Molly disappeared into a room and passed out immediately. I spent some time with Wendy, afterwards feeling fired up and as if there was more night ahead of me. She remained on the couch, I found my shoes and was out the door again heading for the bar.
Once at the bar, people were spilling out, closing time had hit, I saw no one I recognized. I head back to Denise's to find her and a guy milling about outside, waiting on a ride to some one's house where the action was to continue. A car pulled up packed to the brim, Denise barely squeezed in, I waited with the guy she was with who was calling a cab for us. The cab never came, we talked for a while and to the passing drunks on the street, occasionally jumping on the road swing hanging from the tree over the street.
The cab finally came much later, but he was done with the night, my energy had dwindled a bit, plus I had no idea where I was going or how I'd pay to get there. I wandered back into the house, falling on to the couch and to sleep in one motion.
Denise hadn't come home that night, she hadn't drank in a long while due to some medicine I believe, so I'm sure she went all out. Molly, Wendy and I stopped by Voodoo Donut in the morning, but were drove away at the sight of the line. We found our way to the sunday market downtown where we did some wandering and got some food to munch on, then got on the road heading south.
Wendy decided to give us a ride the whole way to Eugene, rather then see us hitchhike in the rain. She dropped us off at Tanya's and turned right back around towards McMinnville. After a shower, Tanya was dividing up the last of her mushrooms. We each had our own pile, Tanya diced hers up as much as possible, mixing them with other food to cover the taste, Molly did the same. I ate mine straight away, spreading some with hummus just for kicks.
Molly and Tanya wanted to head to the store for some things before they kicked in, but I was feeling some effects much earlier than I'd expected, but didn't say much about, just stayed behind which seemed strange to them.
I found myself alone pacing, wide eyed and aware that I was freaking out the dog with uncontrollable howls of my own. The girls came back soaking wet carrying big grocery bags, eyes wide as well. They got dried off and we got to sitting on the floor on and in blankets. Tanya emerged from her room with papers and crayons, she then put Finding Nemo on the computer.
I held an apple towards the beginning, given to me by one of the girls to eat I imagine, all I could do was massage it while I scanned the room and my thoughts. At one point I threw it back and forth with molly while she smiled, commenting on "that damn grin, he's had it on his face since I've met him!", talking to Tanya. I was overwhelmed with love for a few moments looking into her smiling eyes, I couldn't figure if I was supposed to kiss her, hug her or carry on, I did nothing but grin.
The trip overall was a strange one, stagnant. I remained quiet mostly, letting out "hmmms" and other such non-words. I could feel the energy of the room flowing, processing and provoking actions in the room with my thoughts and small movements in my toes and fingers. Molly pondered life in a repetitive way until it became a game of making everything into a philosophical game changer, "What if this crayon in the key to life?"
The trip winded down, despite a second helping. I wanted to entertain some of Molly's ponderings and get somewhere deeper, but doing so would surely be interrupted by Tanya before the conversation could transition out of "pointless mushroom ramblings". I caught many sideways looks and private comments from her about steering Molly the right way, but I had no interest in steering someone who's chosen path was already of interest to me. If anything I was hopping on board with Molly for her to steer me around for a bit, that's essentially what the trip through Oregon. Eventually we all faded to sleep here and there.
It began as an easy next day, smoking and watching TV shows. We ventured out to the store where Tanya picked up out a new bong, we christened it back at the house, then ventured out to get a pint of beer and more of the great tater tots.
We returned to Tanya's with some of her friends and embarked on one of the heavier smoking sessions of my life. Blunts, bongs and bowls were passed around in a circle continuously through the night. Another friend came with boxed beer, the first I've seen beer come in this form, but it was filled with a tasty brew called Hopasaurus Rex. I sipped on this and continued to smoke, Molly and I were noticeably weary. The group marched out to head for some bar, Molly and I stayed behind, her vanishing to the bedroom and me melting into the couch.
They returned just an hour later, I sat up for a short encore or the previous smoking session until the night had ended for all. The next day would mark the end of my trip with Molly, her flight would be leaving Eugene back to Phoenix and I'd be deciding where to head next. We'd had a great time, forming a loving friendship that would only get stronger in the weeks to come. We'd seen and heard amazing things, drank good beer and broken Molly into hitchhiking and the nomad lifestyle. I wasn't sure what would be next, but I was sure it would be good times, even if I was missing her for a stint.
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