One more day and we can call it. But first, day 13. Rohnert Park Motel 6 wasn't all that bad. The room was small, the bathroom was small, but the bed was fairly comfortable, even when sharing it with Simon. I feel like I slept pretty well, since the previous two nights, we didn't get in until 3:30 or so.
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| The intersection of Commerce and Freeway. |
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| Our glorious motel room 147. |
We got some coffee and then I went on a fingernail clipper hunt. I did bring a set, that I used a week ago on Sunday. When I busted them out to clip nails again, they fell apart. I walked to a nearby Safeway, but they were sold out. So I bought a couple of Fuji apples instead. I did find clippers at the Dollar Store nearby, but there's nowhere sadder than a Dollar Store, so rather than charging $1.00 to my debit card, I just left. I'll be home in two days, I can clip them then.
We hopped in the van and headed north towards Eureka. Along the way, we stopped for gas. Usually the routine is Peter pumps the gas, Simon uses the bathroom, Miles gets beer and I clean the windshield. Trouble is, I'm short and can't reach the center of the windshield, so there's always a dirty spot behind the rear view mirror.
The tour diet is starting to catch up to me. I feel decent, still regular, but we have not been eating the best quality of food (and it continued on day 13). This day started with coffee and a sausage and egg sandwich at Starbucks and the eating of garbage is what prompted the apple purchase earlier. That said, from the gas station, we hit up Costco as Simon ran out of clean underwear. And conveniently enough, there were $1.50 hot dogs + drinks, so of course, as a cost saving (but life shortening) measure, that's where we ate.
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| I love this color, but likely a $1000 (or more) option. |
On our way back to the freeway, Peter saw a thrift shop and we stopped. For some reason he wants a swede shirt as he can't find the one that he had. Next door to that thrift shop was a donut shop, so of course I went in. And they sold bubble tea. Which meant my bad eating day continued. I got a maple bar (and the person behind the counter threw in a few donut holes) and a strawberry bubble tea. Donuts were great, bubble tea was tasty enough, but the boba were substandard (not chewy enough).
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| I need to stop visiting donut shops. |
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| But I can't. |
Back on the road, we left Ukiah and continued north. I ended up falling asleep until I felt what I thought was a panic stop, but instead a quickly controlled stop on the highway to do a U turn as Peter saw a spot where they could jump in a river. We pulled off the road and Peter and Miles got changed into their suits. I followed along, walking under more redwoods, to a river a few hundred feet from the highway. They jumped in the river and I hung out for a bit, walking in the woods, taking some pictures.
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| Some mermaids. |
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| Didn't swim, did take off shirt. |
After the refreshing swim, we piled back in and headed north again, making yet another stop in some tiny little town called Rio Dell. Peter and Miles needed to pick up "refreshments" and I walked around some more. Peter texted from where he was and said they had free coffee and donuts. Of course I went there and experienced my first weed shop. They checked my ID and put it in their database and I continued my terrible food day with another donut and some hours-old coffee. Peter did what he needed to do and we met Miles and Simon back at the van and then bounced.
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| Rio Dell, blink and you'll miss it. |
Eureka was only about 20 minutes or so away, but we made two more stops once we got to town, still looking for a suede shirt. Neither stop (a western wear store and a hoarder's paradise masquerading as an army/navy surplus store) was successful, so we finally made it to the Siren's Song in downtown Eureka. We were met by a very enthusiastic sound guy, whose name I never got, but I'm told he called himself Gonzo. He talked incessantly about bands he'd seen and heard and ran sound for and people and clubs and it never stopped. Exhausting.
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| Bless this mess, OMG. |
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| Siren's Song, inside. |
We loaded in and had plenty of time to look around. I headed to the water and looked for something to eat and finally settled on a Mexican spot around the corner. I watched some of the Home Run Derby with Julio and consumed my burrito. It was a decent meal and I asked them to go light on the beans. I walked around more after that, headed to the historic part of town with some cool Victorian homes, and finally made it back to the club.
First up was a band called the California Poppies. A four piece that seemed to think they were a lot better than they were. I felt like they thought they were a group of good guys that played great feel-good rock. Instead, I thought they were just OK. The singing was pretty good, the drummer was solid, but the bassist was probably the dullest player I'd heard in a long time. Simply playing the bass, no creativity, no flourish, no nothing. Solid, but just barely.
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| Where I watched the first 2 bands. |
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| California Poppies. |
Next up was a duo called Blood Honey, featuring a woman on guitar and vocals and a man playing upright bass. She started the show singing acapella about loving herself and that it was OK. Though the message was positive and uplifting, it was a little cheesy. That said, it took a lot of courage for her to do that, so I give props for that. Her and the bassist were decent enough, but her guitar was out of tune and the songs were just meh. But I liked them a lot better than the CP as they weren't nearly as full of themselves.
We took the stage finally to about 8-9 people, 4 of which were people from the previous bands. We played our standard set and it was fine. We have gotten tight over the past few weeks and at this point, I'm just going through the motions, waiting for us to head north on our way home. I am having fun, but I'm ready to get back to normal, get to playing with Planets and the Sunsets. One more day and it's back up I-5 and I can't wait.
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| Home for the night. |
Quick notes:
- When we pull into some of these smaller towns, I've been enjoying reading up on them on Wikipedia. For example, in 2010, census showed that the little town of Rio Dell had 3 Asian people listed. I think it's higher now, but didn't stick around to check.
- The weed celebration of 7/10 is because if you flip 710 over, it looks like OIL, which apparently is a thing in weed culture.
- Eureka is a weird little town. I'm getting Olympia feelings. It's definitely rough around the edges, with little pockets of, "huh, that's cool." It seems to simply be a stop on the way to other places.
- After playing, I'm noticing the middle knuckle on my left pinky finger is sore and tight. The rest of my hands feel good so I don't know if it's due to playing or what. Arthritis??
- I am ready to stop eating tour food. But sometimes it boils down to having to eat cheaply, which means eating garbage. That said, next time I'd rather hit up some grocery stores, grab some less crappy stuff (protein bars, etc) in bulk, which go a long way.
- Planning on an overall recap when I get home. This is a reminder note for that.
