Then We Were Four

After waking up at the Oregon State Beach Campground South of Newport, and breaking camp,  the men had lunch--fish tacos all around--with a few hands of penny-ante poker at the Cafe' Mundo.  Paul and Jocelyn had found this place on a previous visit and Paul wanted me to see it. It's a wild little place decorated by local artists and long on funk but short on grokking Mexican food, in my humble opinion.  It made me long for Taco Del Sol on Higgins Avenue in Missoula.  They know how I like my fish tacos. 

Jimmy Pardo at the Cafe' Mundo

As soon as he walked in the door, Jimmy spotted the stage and a million open mike night posters.  He asked the server if it was OK for him to get on stage and play his Uke (through his amp, of course.). Whether it was the nature of the place or the fact that the lunch rush hadn't started, she said 'yes' and before anyone knew it, he was on stage zoned out in his own groove.  I don't know what to call Jimmy's music.  It's kind of a jazz-funk-rock fusion deal, I guess.  He uses feed back and looping to give his sound a greater dimension.  He has pick-ups on the body of his hollow body Uke to allow him to play percussion while he plays, too.  And when he plays, Jimmy goes someplace very spiritual.  I guess that is why Paul likes to use his music to back his videos.  Keep an eye on this guy--his music is going to take him as far as he wants it to.


After we left Newport, we headed south toward Creswell near Eugene.  Jeff Tunnell had invited Paul to make a presentation at the hall next to his daughter's establishment, Heidi Tunnell Catering and Event Center.  The Event Center is next to Heidi's restaurant where they make delicious pizza in a custom-made wood fired pizza oven.  Over 45 interested folks showed up to hear Paul hold forth on his thoughts on the relative aspects of urban versus rural lifestyles and each's affect on the planet.  Anyone who has listened to Paul's podcasts knows they were in for stuff that would challenge their world view, and he didn't let them down.

Afterwards we get the Land Whale all snuggled in behind Jeff's barn on his farm outside of town. Jeff came aboard the Land Whale and joined us in a glass of wine (except Paul who does not partake) and good conversation.  Jeff was gracious to invite Paul and super about publicizing and promoting his talk--the fact that he allowed our band of gypsies to camp out at his place was going the extra mile.

The sad event of the day was Jimmy's departure to return to Portland.  He took all his gear (including his amp and Uke) and hung out his thumb while we motored on.  Later today we got word from Jimmy that the Universe had bestowed him with a cool ride with someone who was interested in having Jimmy do some music for him. While he was with us, he added a unique dimension as musician, philosopher, person on a quest, and wonderful smile.  Now we are Four.

After leaving Creswell, we headed South on into California.  The Land Whale had a hiccup and wouldn't start last night but just why remains a mystery.  We have a full charge on the battery and had it checked. We ruled out the solonoid and unless the new fan belt is sli[ping (and there is no sound to indicate that) I am putting my bet on gremlins.  We got as far as Lake Siskiyou Camp ground based on their advertisement of laundry and showers. 

Now I have clean clothes.  I always say, a drawer full of clean underwear is like money in the bank. I have showered and shaved and realized we were exactly halfway through the journey.  Two more weeks to go, and thousands of miles.  Tomorrow we head to a farm in northern California to look at some exciting alternative approaches to agriculture.