OTIS AND THE BIKE RIDE

It's All Free

Thursday, August 16, 2007 - Day 56

Day two of traveling with the band. We left Seattle sometime around noon. I didn't get to see much of the city at all, but I'm really okay with that. There will be other times. I did go jogging through a big park by where we were staying. It was nice, with plenty of trails of all kinds, from paved to dirt to grassy. I'm sure it's an alright city, and I'm sure I will check it out one day, but I couldn't help but think about what people told me about Seattle and how that compares to what people told me about Portland. Whenever I talked to people about Portland that had been there or have lived there, mostly what people said was that it is a great city, great for biking, and that I would love it there. Most of the people I talk to about Seattle, mostly people who grew up there, just talk about how much they love Seattle. I thought that was interesting. People were right, though, I did love Portland. I think it's a great little city that's easy to navigate, incredibly bike-friendly, not too pretentious.

I didn't sleep too well last night, and I'm not sure why. The couch was comfortable enough. I just have a lot on my mind. Also, I didn't bike 70 miles today, so I'm not exhausted at all. It's rough not getting much exercise after days of intense riding. So I was pretty tired for the van ride down to Shelton. Luckily I was just able to relax in the back and figure out some really tough Full House puzzle games with Dre.

The casino/hotel in Shelton is nice. It a beautiful area surrounded by tree-covered hills. The building is not too flashy at all, with a log-cabin look to it. It's really nice on the inside as well. We have three hotel rooms, all free, and we even all each got a 20 dollar meal voucher. Kyle, Dre, Eric, and I were smart. We went to the cheaper of the restaurants in the hotel to get a few meals worth of food for our money. I got a whole pizza, six tacos, and a breakfast sandwich with my voucher. That's so much food. Suckers went to the fancy place where you can only get one meal.

The show was great, at least for the band. The crowd loved them from the very beginning. At one point Dustin even had them doing a call and response, the crowd drunkenly yelling some jibber jabber that Dustin was making up as he went. It was hilarious. The crowd was pretty pissed afterward, however, when they learned that Jonny Lang was not going on. His voice was too bad, and I guess he felt like he couldn't do the show. Some people were pissed. That was great for Dusty Rhodes, though. They sold a ton of merchandise. Everyone was so upset that Lang wasn't playing, but they loved the Rhodes kids, and were more than happy to buy up some CDs and shirts and DVDs. I didn't sign any autographs this time. Since there was no performance between their set and the merch sales, I figured most people would remember that I'm not in the band. That is giving some drunken people a lot of credit, though. I think some people still assumed I was in the band. I just sat by and observed, however.

After the show it was time to get drunk. Some drunken fans were talking to us as we loaded up the trailer, and they invited everyone up to their room, which was just down the hall from ours. It was two older guys, and one guy, Gary, said his wife would shit her pants if the band came over for a drink. Kyle decided that was something he had to see. I don't blame him. A good pants-shitting is always entertaining. So drink we did, or at least I did for sure. I'm sure other people were drinking as well, but maybe not in the volume of my excess. I drank some vodka that Dre and I picked up as well as some 100-proof stuff in Gary's room. I guess I had quite a bit. I don't remember much of the night, except wandering from room to room and at some point outside, mostly hanging with Dre. Nothing wrong with a night of unadultered drinking every now and then. I wonder if I made an ass of myself.

The hotel bed sure is comfortable.