Posted by Kelanin on August 15, 2000 at 13:18:39:

the trip begins for me with my dad and my sister driving me to the train station in Bellingham. The fine people at Amtrak have a map tool on their site which oddly enough gives the right address, but puts a star on the map apparently at random. We foolishly tried to get to the star only to discover that the station was 15 minutes "down thatta way" according to the old guy we asked directions from at a gas station. And so I arrive safely at the Station with about 30 minutes to spare. Check in, get tix for the 4 legs of my train journey (2 there and 2 back). The train pulls out at 10:30am.

The train ride down to Seattle was uneventful. I listened to cd's I'd brought along since the movie on the overhead tv's was "The Incredible Shrinking Man" a so called classic from 1957 or so. Black and white and no doubt way ahead of its time in special effects *yawn*. At Seattle I had a 90 minute wait before my train to Portland left. I exchanged my small stash of Canadian currency at the Bank of America and made it even smaller. Bloody exchange rate. Got my boarding pass/seat assignment for the Seattle to Portland trip and started the next leg of my trip. Movie this leg.... "Beethoven's Third" oh the agony! More music from my cd collection.

The train pulls into the station in Portland about 15 minutes or so behind schedule. I walk off into the station and stand more or less in the middle of the waiting area. As I stand there, a guy walks by... I glance at his shirt and note that it is for Anime Expo 2000. This is Jarihn. I follow him out onto the train platform and call out "hey Freak!" knowing his roll, he turns and we shake hands. Jarihn's mom has made it clear that he isn't allowed to drive the 2 hours to Astoria with a stranger who may be an axe murderer. She needs to meet me first (as Jarihn says to me "be cause she can tell with ONE glance what kind of person you are, LOL") No objections to a home cooked meal. Dinner in mind, we start out from the train station. Jarihn had warned me before hand that he hasn't had his license for very long. I learn now that he hasn't driven downtown before (he sticks to the 'burbs). To his credit, he did a fine job and got us to his house without incident and in good time. The celphone in the car rings just as we turn onto his street - he chooses to ignore it and worry his parents for a few more minutes.

Steak, baked potatos, brocolli and foccasia bread. Who wouldn't like that? Dinner was good and talking with Jar's parents was fun. Jar's mom is surprised to learn I have kids, then shocked to learn how old they are, then amazed, then completely disbelieving. "You can't be 35! I don't believe you." she says. "I'm serious. Do you want to see my DL?" "You can't be serious. There is no way!" "Here, look, 1965. " Jarihn looks fit to die. His mom has made me show her my i.d. it was a funny moment. I guess I passed the axe murderer test because after dinner Jar and I get ready to head to Astoria but get roped into dropping his kid sister and her friend off at a fabric store. I will not dignify Jar's comment with a reply. Besides, she started it by licking the Catobus thing to stick it to the window. Jar? What *was* your sister doing in the backseat? The thing she did that I didn't get to see her do that had something to do with one of the anime vids you brought? Was she doing that thing with the headshake like in Mononoke? Anyway... having dropped the girls off, Jar and I head for Astoria. Not much to say about the trip out, we played music just loud enough that we had a hard time talking sometimes. Nice drive. Warrenton is evil though. And Astoria is.... bleh.

Sorry Caly, but your current town of residence is a blight on the face of the world. We drove what seemed like all the way through Astoria to get to Caly's. Her directions were pretty good other than using Farrell's as a landmark since it was dark and we almost missed it. Caly ushered us into the house and thanked us profusely for saving her from the upstairs neighbour who had been haunting her place for a couple hours. I noticed when I sat down at the computer that she was still logged in, and was very tempted to type "Kel and Jarihn just arrived.... oh my gosh Kel is SO sexy!" in the chat window, but I resisted. It didn't seem like very much later when the other cars arrived. DK and Mori first and then eventually (after a brief out-of-state experience) MA with Khel, Vel and noire. Noire pronounced MA evil but was unable to actually prove he was evil or even give solid examples. This is probably solid proof in and of itself that he is evil, since really evil people can hide it so well. Khel entertained us with a very animated tale of hunting with his father and brother. "What am I doing!? I can't outrun a deer!!" I followed that with my "Trees and their menace to Mankind" Oration. Noire is only a little obsessed with MA, Khel and my different accents. It wasn't too long before MA was glancing at the door and suggesting that he wanted to sleep, so he and I wandered off to the Comfort Inn where he had reserved, according to the night clerk, a "smoking queen" we looked at each other and had the clerk rephrase that. Nice room actually. 2 queensize beds, a little couch in a sitting area. MA travels in style. MA also snores like 5 men. He is one LOUD sleeper.

MA and I miss the free continental breakfast because we sleep in and then end up watching Space: Above and Beyond on the Sci-Fi channel. We decided to head out and find a DVD player and breakfast (in that order) While procuring the DVD player (it was fun watching MA wheel and deal the price down) his cel goes off. Breakfast at the house? "Maybe.... " We decided that maybe doesn't cut it and ask for recommendations for a good place to eat. the Shark Rock cafe gets the vote and we eat our lunch before going back to Caly's.

Once at Caly's I joined in with Mori and Jar in playing N64 and got my butt kicked. After watching us play N64 for a time (MA joined in for a bit when we switched from Smash Bros. to the MarioCart game) the rest of our crew got bored and determined that it was time to see the one and only site Astoria has to offer the world... the Column. Freak Leader - Caly, Kel, Dk, Jar and Mori and Freak One - MA, noire, vel and Khel set off for the column, following the painted column signs on the road. Caly *is* a timid driver. I found out later that week that she has next to no depth perception, so her timid driving is just a side affect of not being able to judge the difference between those obvious opportunities to pull out and the certain death ones.

After the column came lunch at the Shark Rock (or dinner I guess) but I was still fairly full from lunch there (or was that breakfast?) so I ordered a really bad banana dessert. We wander around the town a bit (pretty much just following DK around) see the sea-lions, see the quaint shops of second goods, see that this town is a complete dud. We returned to the house with little time to spare before the concert and fair going freaks headed off to the fair and left Jarihn and I playing N64. I played a cool racing game and then went back to playing Smash Bros. while Jar was online. Eventually Jar joined me on Smash Bros. and took me to school (although it helped me a lot and I had fun, he clearly felt guilty for beating me down so badly.) The day ends when the fair freaks return and MA and I head back to the hotel. I am so tired that I fall asleep and do not even notice if MA snores.

MA and I succeed in making it down to the continental breakfast. Not bad fare. Over at Caly's things were quiet. Pretty much nothing happened all day until 4ish when we headed off to Cannon Beach to match the tide. After obtaining parking spots, we wandered down to the beach. As we stepped out onto the beach, it occurred to me that my kids were at that time flying over the Pacific on their way to New Zealand. This was one of the few times that it got to me that week and rather than following the others towards haystack rock, I walked towards the water and tried to compose myself. By the time I felt I could interact with the others and not burst into tears, MA, noire and Mori were most of the way across the rocks to the BIG rock. Navigating the rocks was a great way to distract myself. There were a few moments when I was fairly sure I was not going to be able to get to the Haystack without a soaker, but timing and patience (nods to Kheltan) paid off and I got there. Not a lot to see there, since all the cooler parts of the rock are off limits. Heading back was interesting mainly because the tide had started coming in and my original path in was slowly submerging. Managed to make it to the beach with out getting my feet wet. So there we stood, everyone except Caly and Jarihn who had disappeared (to attempt to fly his kite) DK used her telephoto lens and determined that Caly was to the south down the beach. Foolishly, we followed her. Eventually, we turned back and found them. Khel's Freak Out 2000 in the sand was truly a work of art. Many pictures ensue.

I have to say, I enjoyed stacking the rocks. I am satisfied with my 2 attempts and the heights I reached. I didn't see much of Mori tossing DK around because I was so focussed on my rock pile. For the record, untangling the kite string was very cathartic and satisfying and Jar, DK and I are better people for it. =oP

You know what I love doing when I am the passenger in someone's car. I love to whistle like a police car and see them twitch. I got Caly once, I got Mori and DK once (although they were also passengers, it was funny.) It's all about timing.

Back at freak central, once the adventurous freaks had found their way home from the detour they chose to take, dinner was cooked. It was delicious. We watched some anime and then MA hooked up the DVD player and we watched Tombstone. Great movie and always more fun to watch with "true fans". The latest night of the week for MA and I.

We watched a lot of Sailor Stars today, it is pretty funny. Princess Mononoke is cooool. Gotta love the decapitations. Spent part of the day on a trip to Fred Meyer with Caly and DK to get the neccessary stuff for s'mores. Caly bought a camera, DK bought a CD and I bought some Rootbeer, the Jalapeno chips that eventually got left in Jarihn's car and a 4 pack of Guiness Draft for MA in gratitude for letting me share his hotel room. Back at the house... more anime. Very funny watching Khel try *one* chip and charge off to find ease from the burning of his tongue. DK took a nap outside having borrowed one of my quieter CD's. Dinner was tacos/wraps etc... good stuff. Eventually, we determined to set out for the beach for our bonfire. First stop, Sentry for firewood. Sadly, the good people at Sentry had lost the key to the wood hutch and so we had to go to Fred Meyer. We reach the beach after dark and having parked our cars head down the hill to where we will have our bonfire. While getting things organized we realize that Jarihn isn't with us... when did he wander off? He didn't? He never actually left the cars. He stood there and watched us leave just to see if we'd notice and if we would later think that he'd been with us down on the beach. He's wierd that way, but it makes for interesting conversations. Excellent work by MA and the others to get the fire started. We ate our s'mores we talked around the fire. We melted Jar's spongy ball thing. After a couple s'mores, I wandered down to the water and watched the moonlit waves crash against the shore. Oregon beaches are to die for. Not long after I'd wandered back to the group, the police bullhorned us that the parking lot was closed and we needed to move the cars or they would be towed. It's amazing how fast we doused the fire with kicked sand and got back up to the cars. Poor Caly face-planted while trying to get up the steep sandy hill and got a mouthful of sand. MA and didn't stick around too long once we were back at the house since we knew we would be getting up early to ensure I was able to head for Portland on time for my train.

After some harassment and nudging, those who are leaving get on the road by 9:30 am giving us 2 1/2 hours to get me to my train with sufficient time to check in and not be rushed. I bid Caly and MA farewell. and we head off in Jarihn's T-bird with the funky window. Freak One is kind enough to let us have the walkie talkie. Not a lot to say about the drive back. We listened to one of Jar's very cool anime soundtrack cd's most of the way and then switched to a CD-R of progressive house music I'd brought along. Mori slept most of the way. After a brief stop not too far from Jar's place so he could get some cash to pay back the lunch I'd bought him, we were on the highway again and encountering much slowness. Not knowing just how far it was to the station from where we were, I chose not to panic and trusted that Jarihn would get me there on time. He did exactly that (almost to the minute). Sadly, we lost Freak One on yet another bridge excursion and so I didn't get to bid my farewells. I was sad to have to leave everyone, I had an excellent time with them.

The train-ride from Portland to Seattle was interesting only because we had a stagette of 8 women in my car who were drinking vodka/orange liberally and were pretty happy by the time we arrived in Seattle. The movie was Mission to Mars and so I listened to my music again. Seattle lay-over was 90 minutes again. As luck would have it, the prettiest girl on the train ended up sitting across from me and I enjoyed the last leg of my journey immensely due to flirting with her. And then I was home and tired (but with a certain new email addy.) My participation in Freak Out 2000 comes to and end as I fall asleep in my own bed.

Huge thanx to Caly for hosting us. Massive thanx to Jarihn for being my wheels to and from Portland. Collosal thanx to MA for making it possible for me to afford the trip AND sleep in a bed each night. Group hugs to DK, Khel, Mori.,noire and vel for making it such a memorable week.
Thank you all.

---Kel!