An uneventful day on the road but an interesting one off it ... let me explain.
I hugged the coast for reasons that we now understand and the weather was great ... there was low lying fog but no rain to speak of ... one other thing that Billy had said before I left last night was that, 'the lights were on, but nobody was home', in regard to some of my theories. After thinking about that all night I realized that he was talking about a lighthouse ... but the coast is dotted with lighthouses .... there may or may not be something here ...
I was able to avoid extended contact with transmission and wildlife until just below Tillamook when I could not avoid a number of pelicans.
Now pelicans are interesting in the sense that they can swim and that they have pouches under their bills ... this mean they can communicate with mammalian species underwater plus carry communiques in their pouches, but can also carry smaller species to and from various bodies of water.
Based on the flurry of activity I saw, I can only assume that I was seen and that that information was passed on .. so again the 'watcher' is roughly aware of my progress but is not aware of my exact position.
Now on to the more salient part of my day .... you remember Billy had mentioned 'Sharks' in Newport, Oregon. I made my way there just at twilight and I arrived at an opportune time ... the place was empty. I met the proprietor (who we will call Karen) and she seated me at the bar. I immediately stated that Billy had sent me ... she hesitated ... looked quickly to the left and right ... then realizing we were alone, simply said, 'cioppino', as she passed me a menu.
I initially didn't know what she had said but when I opened the menu, there on the top of the second page was something referred to as Shark's Cioppino .... ok, I was obviously supposed to order this so I did .... she then gave me a beer and said it was a Full Sail IPA .... alright what was the connection here ... Full Sail and cioppino .... and then I had it ... the first time I had had cioppino was in Santa Barbara and where I had it was at Brophy's .... and Brophy's had been recommended to me while on a harbor excursion .... yes .... under full sail.
So .... I now knew I had to travel to Santa Barbara .... half of this name conjuring up childhood memories of one of my favorite things .... Hanna Barbera ...
But that was not all ... there was one last clue ... it was suggested very strongly that I walk down the street to the Rogue Ales and buy a Cap'n Sig's Northwestern Ale ... which I of course did .. if Deadliest Catch is your type of TV you will be aware of Captain Sig Hansen and his vessel, the Northwestern ... the Captain is known for having the best safety record of the crab fleet ... what is the connection here ... and then of course I saw it ... I was going to have to return to the waters off Santa Barbara for some reason and I was going to have to find the boat/crew with the safest record ... but what the hell is out there and what am I after ...
There is one other thing ... just as I was leaving, Karen asked me if I had been up to the bridge as you leave town ... there is a great view from up there and the sunsets are great ... I got that immediately ... in Santa Barbera, I had to be out on the water at sunset and I had to be on the bridge of the boat ...
But it gets better ... at Rogue Ales just as I was leaving there, a waiter drops a container of salad dressing on the floor ... it explodes ... and yet he just walks away with it lying there .... I noticed that the spill looked like the continental USA and on the 'west coast' not too far from where I was; a knife was lying in what would be the Pacific pointing to a point on land .... I quickly noted that point and when I returned to the vehicle I immediately made reference to my Michelin maps and observed that the knife was pointing clearly at Ukiah, California ....
WTF .... and then I remembered that Ukiah was a Doobie Brothers song .... here's part of the lyrics to that song ... 'if they'd only slow down once, they might find something there' ... so there is something in Ukiah ... what can I do but play this out ... what choice do I have ....
To quote verse 101 from the Krome Koan,
'Legalize marijuana ... we'll need it with Palin as President'
The adventure is just beginning ...
Forever Man
PS - there is nobody in the Dooblie Brothers whose first name is Scooby ... there are a few band members who have smoked their surname ... more than once ... well, quite a few times ... well, frequently ... they are for Proposition 19 .... wait a minute .... is there something here ....
Check this out ...
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