Day 6. Oregon Coast to Eugene.

Day 6.
As we were packing up in the pouring rain & our tent was empty, the wind took a liking to it, scooped it up & stole it, carrying our little house off the bank & into the middle of the briar patch.
We managed to steal it back relatively unscathed.
Lanny called from his upstairs window that he was going to Portland today, if we’d like to try the I5 instead of the coast road.
Paul took this as a sign from the All Knowing & we readily accepted his kind offer.
He gave us a couple of bikes to use to take to town & do what we needed while he was getting ready. We biked into seaside, Paul in his element on the roadside with double trailer loggers roaring by, while my stubble was standing on end.
We wrote to you guys & got a postcard, then headed back & were taken all the way to Corvallis.
Lanny, with his intelligent mind & wide reading, challenged regular thinking, belief & institutions. He inspired & challenged us both & broadened our thinking to go beyond mainstream ignorance.


We said our farewells, promising to stay in touch & as we were walking to the highway entrance, readying ourselves to write a sign & sit for hours, a car pulled up. Walking up, the driver had his head down, sorting something on the floor. We’ve had enough shattered hopes with people pulling over to check maps, or answer phones, or scratch themselves or squeeze timely pimples right next to us to make us ‘pullover shy’ & we weren’t hoping for much.
However, the wounded look in Mal’s eye as we looked back suggested he was a genuine ride provider.
Mal, one of the loudest talkers I’ve met, had just graduated & was in the mood for celebrating. As we swerved around the freeway, he told us about his trip from Montana with $1.20 in his pocket & how he made it all the way to Oregon. He believed strongly in karma, or the law of sowing & reaping & said he picked us up with the belief that one day, should he be in a similar spot again, someone will pick him up too.
He gave us $10, dropped us at a ramp about 20 miles out of Eugene telling us it’s legal to hike on the highway, so to head on out & try our luck.
With our ears ringing, we walked down the ramp & had no sooner put our bags down & Paul had relieved his nervous bladder onto the roadside, than he was back.

He told us that the chances of getting a ride were minimal due to our dress. “I struggle to get a ride the way I look, so you guys…I don’t mean to be rude, but in these parts, there’s no way you’re going to get a ride.”
So he took us all the way to Eugene, telling us of his boys - his son & his wife’s son who he has taken on as his own. He refused our offer of beer or gas money, telling us we needed it more & instead told us of his belief in love & the importance of being there for your kids.
Once in Eugene and after our second farewell to our high amperage benefactor, we went searching for food & a place to sleep.  Paul called out to a man on his bicycle who just so happened to run a homeless restaurant. He told us all about the eating for those in Eugene who don’t have a high income. Not just soup kitchens, but actual restaurants for the homeless.

The only difference is the bill never comes.
Our bill never came, even had there been a billing system however, as we were too late and everything was closed.
We walked to a large, bush covered hill, scrambled up it & found ourselves a peaceful spot, over looking the lights of the city where we could rest our weary bones.
I used moving air to help dry the tent to distract myself from my hunger pangs and to help provide a few less soggy home comforts.