Amanda and I survived the three weeks on the road. We had lots of fun too. We visited the fraternity brothers in Grand Forks, North Dakota then toured around Northern Minnesota before circling back to Detroit Lakes, Minnesota for the 10,000 Lakes Music Festival. It was about what we excepted, maybe not what we had hoped but definitely fun by any standard. It was fun visiting with Dr. Peter Read and all my other friends. There was some pretty good music and we met lots of unique people.
After the festival we drove across the plains of South Dakota. Stopping in Murdo, South Dakota where I was impressed by the claim that it had the original General Lee car from the Dukes of Hazard show. That is until I mentioned this to my brother and he pointed out that they probably used hundreds of cars in the making of the shows, so getting a used one was probably not all that hard. That made it a little less impressive but the fond memories of Murdo shall live on! We stopped in Wall, South Dakota to visit Wall Drug where we drank the free ice water and marvel at how many people can be attracted by the signs along every Midwest highway. We drove to Mt Rushmore and drove past Crazy Horse and went into Jewel Cave before making it to Devil’s Tower just before dark. Then we took the long way to Yellowstone going south through Thermopolis and along Hwy 26. Lars and Kristen met us and we drove around and checked out all the neat geysers and natural wonders of Yellowstone. We saw lots of Buffalos too!
After camping at Yellowstone for two nights we drove to Billings, Montana where Lars raced his motorcycles in the Billings Hillclimb. He made it over once on the bike he built from scratch using a street bike engine in a modified dirt bike frame. But on his last run his bike tumbled down the hill a ways and got a little dinged up. But not unfixable. Then we hightailed it back to Portland returning home on August first.
Now it’s the end of August. Amanda has returned home to Buffalo, New York where she just started her last year of University. I have been working at the wreath shop office some and selling tie dye some at the Gresham Farmers Market. I am headed this weekend up to the Gorge in Washington to see the Dave Matthews Band and try to sell the rest of my inventory and cash in. Or at the least to have a really good time.
“I don’t need to fight to prove I’m right. I don’t need to be forgiven! Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yea!” -The Who
Category: Erik’s Life
Last week Amanda and I drove to the Oregon Coast and stayed in Yachats, Oregon. Sitting on the beach that night I asked Amanda to marry me. She said Yes! So now we are embarking on our engagement honeymoon. In about an hour we will leave on a three week roadtrip. The van is all packed and ready to go and we are washing out our last batch of tie dye right now. We are excited and happy as can be.
Next week my wonderful girlfriend Amanda will arrive in Oregon to visit me for the summer. The week of July 10th we are going to take off on a road trip in my van. We are planning to heading to Glacier National Park in Montana, then cruise along Highway 2 until we arrive in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Pete will be there along with lots of my other friends for the “Pi Kappa Phi Fix the House Weekend.”
After a weekend of partying and a bit of painting or something we are going to head to Detroit Lakes, Minnesota for the 10,000 Lakes Music Festival where Amanda and I are going to have a Tie Dye booth in the campground. After four days of selling and trying to become thousandaires we are planning on heading to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming of course seeing Mt Rushmore and the Devils Tower along the way. While visiting Yellowstone my brother Lars and his girlfriend Kristen are going to join us midweek for some camping then we are all going to head to Billings, Montana for the motorcycle hill climb that Lars is going to compete in. After that we are going to convoy back home with Lars, ending three weeks on the road.
But those are just the plans. And plans can always change……
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Cross Town Traffic…
So Friday night I was driving my van up to the liquor store a few blocks from my home to get some supplies for my brother Lars’ 21st birthday. I have my headlights on. I have my seatbelt on. I’m cruising along Washington Street heading east. It’s a one way road with four lanes. Traffic heading west is separated by a block of restaurants and businesses in between. I had a green light so I was ticking along at 35 MPH. So I’m there driving, I just passed 100th, going to turn left onto 102nd.
CAR!!!! HEAD ON!!!!! There was this small green car right in front of me. It turned out of the Hooters parking lot and turned right when it should have turned left. Even if it had turned left it would have been bad. But it turned right. Directly into me.
I don’t know what the car looked like. Who the people were. I didn’t have time to step on the brakes. To look in my mirrors. I didn’t think. My brain was not involved in my actions. I cranked the steering well hard right and swung around the car, missing it by mere centimeters. I was fully into the next lane of traffic, maybe even the one next to that too. Luckily there were no vehicles next to me.
There was no contact. I dodged the car. What the hell just happened??? I pulled over my van into a parking lot that was right there. I jumped out and ran to the street. I saw the car speed past me. It had corrected it’s course but was not going to pull over. So I ran back to my van while screaming a few choice words and giving the car the bird. I tore out of the parking lot and down the street after the car that had almost cost me my life. They were going fast and turned down a side street. I made the turn but they were a few cars ahead of me. There was a light up ahead and by the time I got there the light was red and there were cars in front of me. I saw the small green car drive around the bend ahead of me. And that was the last I saw of it.
I don’t know what I would have done if I had caught up to them. Maybe it’s better they got away. What do you think they thought though? They were low to the ground in their little tiny car. They make the turn out of the parking lot and there is a huge white van racing towards them with Che Guevara staring them down from the hood.
Viva la Revolution!
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The Las Vegas Experience
I visited Las Vegas last week. I had mixed ideas going in what to expect. I have heard some family members and friends tell of how much fun they had there and how nice it was and others who thought it was dreadful. I must say I expected it to be pretty dreadful, but not only was it that, it was boring as well. And not just boring, a kind of special stale fake boring that was really just trying to dig its claws into peoples wallets and push them out the door while reminding them what a great experience they had.
Amanda and Erik in Las Vegas, Nevada.
So after one night Amanda and I headed south across Hoover Dam and to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. I had just been there in February with my brother but this time it was a little different. We stayed in the lodge there for two wonderful nights. It was a very nice time to visit because there was fresh snow along the upper walls of the canyons. It was just as cool as it was a month ago. Definitely one of the best places I have ever visited!
I have been making lots of tie dye recently, getting ready to sell-sell-sell this summer and hopefully become a thousandaire.
Peace.
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So here I am…
It’s March. I have just been hanging out mostly. Making some tie dye and hemp jewelry. Helping my dad fix up an apartment a little bit. Just being a lazy hippy pretty much. But it is nice. I guess this is what I worked so hard for last fall, right? Yes.
I went to the Grand Canyon a couple weeks ago. I went with my brother in his short bus. It was a great trip. Loads of driving, eating hamburgers and partying in the desert. We went to Nevada for a motorcycle hillclimb that my brother competed in and we figured we were going to be so close to the G.C. in Arizona that we should check it out. It is the coolest thing I have ever seen I think. Awesome views all over the place. I can see for miles and miles and miles and miles……..
I am headed to Las Vegas later this month with beautiful Amanda to attend her friend’s wedding. We are already planning a Grand Canyon trip so we can spend as much time away from Las Vegas as possible during our Las Vegas Vacation.
Peace, Love & Happiness…
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2006 Journey Planning…
(1/30/6)
I started off the New Year with a trip to Buffalo, New York to visit my girlfriend Amanda. I had a great time in New York and especially during our “vacation within a vacation” to Niagara Falls.
I am still conjuring up ideas for a one month trip to Northern Europe. That seems to suit my fancy at this point in planning things. Maybe March or May??
I am going to spend the rest of the winter and the spring making cool things to sell this summer. Hemp jewelry, tie dye bandanas, shirts and random other things, and lots of clay beads and salt & pepper shakers and jars too. Then over the summer travel around and do fun things.
Then in the Fall back to work at the wreath shop. We are all excited about how things went in ’05 and are looking forward to have an even better season this year.
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Another Very, Very Happy New Year!
It’s 2006! I’m done with wreath shop until next year. I just returned from a two week vacation visiting my girlfriend Amanda in Buffalo, New York. She taught my how to tie dye. So I am going to start tie dying and sell that along with my hemp jewelry this year. I am thinking of maybe going to Northern Europe later this spring. But who knows? Surely not me.
So things are very well for me now. I’m just relaxing in my home and making cool things.
Peace.
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2005 Journeys
Last spring I spent working with my dad and brother on the family tree nursery. Then on April 21st I set out in my new camping van towards the Midwest. I arrived in good ole GF, ND on April 22nd. I visited good friends and attended Pi Kappa Phi’s Roseball Formal on April 23rd. After spending a few days with my friends Dr. Read, B.J., Mr. Schell and Matt in GF I decided it was time to cruise down to Edina, Minnesota to visit my dear friend Jack Kennedy for a few days. I departed back to the west through South Dakota and visited Mt. Rushmore and the Jewel Cave. In Wyoming I visited the Devil’s Tower and then tried to drive to Yellowstone but when I arrived in Cody I found out the roads were still snowed in. So I diverted up through Montana and then through Idaho and into SE Washington on home to Troutdale, Oregon. A few days after I returned home I moved out on my own first to a house of my grandparents and then to my moms for a few weeks and then finally to my own home that my father sold me in South East Portland. It is very nice! I spent the summer remodeling the kitchen and bathroom with the help of my brother and father.
Over the summer I also sold hemp jewelry at the Gresham Farmers Market and also a few other places. I visited the Gorge Amphitheater in George, Washington lots and had lots of fun over the summer camping in my van. I also went to a few motorcycle hill climb events to watch my brother race.
Then we all worked really hard in the fall and the wreath shop went very well.
Categories
Fall Ahead…
So it’s December first. I’m a working away organizing the office for my parents Christmas Wreath Shop for another season. I’ve learned that the Christmas wreath business is ever changing…
My home remodeling went very well and the kitchen is all done and the bathroom is done minus some painting. It of course took much longer than I anticipated to finish the bathroom and I ended up working on it on and off until the beginning of October.
The scumbags who organized the Shakedown Music Festival and accepted my $500 Vending Fee have decided to wallow in their scumbagness and the two parties involved blame each other for the failure of the festival and refuse to return any of the vending fees to anyone.
I’ve got a few more weeks of work and then who knows???