It's over. The NBL tour that is, and it has been a wonderful journey with my friend Guy, travelling the west coast from Vancouver BC through to our final whistle stop in Portland Oregon. I find it hard to believe how fast the time has gone by, and that might be partly a result of my age, but I think a bigger part is the fact that we had fun on this journey, and that makes all the difference in the world.
At least I had fun, but I can't speak for Guy. However, he seemed to be laughing a lot along the way so I think he had a good time. Or perhaps it was the volume of ice cream that was made available that made the trip so easy.
We had a pretty decent sized crowd when Guy presented in Olympia at Traditions café.
However, the largest crowd by far was in Eugene, with an audience of about 150 people.
We had many hosts along the way, and one of my favourite places to stay was on the outskirts of Eugene at Patty and Deb's place in the woods.
I was very lucky to have the wwoofer's shack for a couple of nights here.
As well as doing presentations in front of crowds, Guy had the opportunity to do the occasional interview on radio as well, like here in Portland at K-BOO radio.
Portland was the last stop on the tour, and I had an unusual place to sleep compared to the other locations. Fortunately for me, it was the coolest place to be as the temperature in Portland was 100 degrees F. on the last day.
We had a free day, and with the temperature so high, we hightailed it to Cannon Beach which is about an hour and a half west of Portland, and about 30 or more degrees cooler.
There was time to take a stroll along the beach.
We left Portland the next morning very early with our scheduled flight to Phoenix at 5:20am, however it was late departing, and then it was a scramble to get to our gate in Phoenix for the short flight to Tucson. However, due to a light bulb malfunction on the emergency exit sign, that flight was also delayed.
We arrived at Tucson about two hours later than expected, picked up Guy's car there and drove the final distance to the Mud Hut, arriving about 5pm local time.
Arriving on a Sunday, meant that it was potluck dinner at the land trust about a mile up the road. Guy, Sheila, Mike and Karen and Mike's parents Mike and Lynn and I walked over and spent a lovely evening with good food and wonderful people.
It had been a very long day, so by the time we were back at the Mud Hut, we had a little more time to visit, before heading off to bed.
And so ends the NBL west coast tour. It has been such a wonderful experience, and I count myself very fortunate indeed to have had the opportunity to go along for the ride and help out my friend Guy.
Happy Trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer
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