2003-10-10 - 9:06 a.m.
We make it too late to Salt Lake City to eat at our favorite Mexican restaurant, The Red Iguana. We push on to Boise the next day to be there a day early. Once again thanks to Priceline we are in nice rooms at the Ramada. The Boise River flows behind the hotel with a walk that follows it for a few miles. In the morning I walk along the banks for a couple of miles. There’ll be no fishing, as I have no gear. The river is high and cloudy anyway. We’re playing at the Bourbon Street Saloon. It’s a smaller club attached to the “A” list club, the Big Easy. We have a decent sized crowd but it’s a little strange because we have to stop at 10 pm to let the disco open up next!
We have to drive all the way to Seattle the next day. It’s a long way and we pass by the site of the infamous bus breakdown and burning. Come with me now as I take you back in time…..
Last summer we were traveling in an old GMC line bus that had been converted. It was our first trip and we’d been having trouble from the beginning. One morning we had just entered eastern Oregon when our bus driver Steve thought he heard a strange noise coming from the engine compartment. We pulled into the nearest truckstop to have a look. We seemed to have lost a part and oil was leaking where the part theoretically should have been. An old geezer told us he knew someone who could help us. We followed him down into a little town on the banks of the Snake River called Huntington. Steve and a local mechanic stood at the back of the bus and stared at the engine. The mechanic was a real nice fella with a big ol’ wad of chewin’ tobacco in his mouth. He stood there awhile squinting and spitting and finally said, “ I can fashion you up some kind of cover for that. It’ll probably take awhile though.” It looked as if we would have to cancel our gig in Eugene that night. Right down the street were Nancy’s Hunting Cabins and we rented a few for the night. Mike and I went off in search of food and walked into a bar on the main drag. Actually it was the only drag. We sidled up to the bar and the barkeep gave us the once over and said,” You boys are with that bus that just got in town. News travels real fast around theses parts. If you need a gig ya’ll could play here. I’ll give you all you can eat and drink and I’ll call some folks to come down and hear ya.” And that was exactly what we did. That night we pushed back a bunch of tables and set up around a couple of mikes and my little monitor speaker and picked for what seemed like most of the town. Much fried food was served washed down by copious amounts of tap. We all had a blast! I got totally pissed and don’t remember getting in bed. The next morning the bus was done so we climbed in and headed off to Portland. I jumped up in my bunk nearly as inebriated as when I had gone to bed and quickly fell back to sleep. I’ve spent many years plying the nations highways in busses with the Blue Sparks From Hell. After a short time you get used to the droning of the engine and it’s easy to sleep while the bus is moving. However when the bus stops, and the engine's turned off you wake up immediately. It’s as if mother’s heartbeat has stopped and you wonder what’s wrong. This is what happened less than a ½ hour after we left Huntington. I am awake as soon as the engine stops. I hear Steve step out and walk towards the back of the buss. Suddenly he’s running back into the buss shouting, “EVERYBODY OUT, EVERYBODY OUT! THE BUS IS ON FIRE!!” I’m out of the bunk in a shot, pulling my pants on as I go, hopping on one leg and then the other. The rear axle of the bus, which is covered in grease, has caught on fire. Steve shoots the contents of three fire extinguishers between the rear tires as we unload the equipment from the bays in what seems like 5 minutes. People who have seen the smoke are pulling over to offer help, including a woman who saw us play last evening. Thankfully Steve gets the fire out before the wood flooring of the bus catches. It’s very close though. We couldn’t afford to miss another gig so we rented a u-haul and leaving Steve with the bus, all piled into the back for the long ride across Oregon to Portland.
And now back to the present…..
I love the view coming over the pass into the town of Pendleton! You can see for miles up the great Columbia River basin. We cross the big river into Washington State and continue on to Seattle. Off in the distance we spy Mt. St. Helens, half of it literally blown to pieces. We’re scheduled to play three shows with a great band from San Francisco called the Waybacks. The first of them is at a place called the Rainbow. The Waybacks go first and they rock the joint. They have a great fiddler named Cho-Jo. We’re a wee bit tired from the long drive but we rally and do a good show. Next stop, Portland.
