Wed. 9-25-02

Brett says his tonsils are worse & he wants to go to the hospital. Hopefully he won't change his mind.

**** the hospital here. We got there a little before- well, got there around 12:00-12:15. They got his paper work done & we waited some more. Oh- & a doc gave him a throat culture. Anyway, finally a doc comes out & brings us back to a room. He looks at us & all our luggage like we don't belong there. He has me wait outside as he prepares to give Brett a throat culture. "Have you ever had one?" he asks.
"About 20 minutes ago," says Brett.
Then the doc's like "Oh". & he leaves the room & tells me, "Okay, you can go in now." & mumbles something like, "but it's crowded as it is," or "There's little room already." Or some ****. So I go in & there's plenty of ******* room. The next hour & a half- close to 2 hours actually, we're waiting. No one comes. Finally some doc steps up & says "yr in no hurry right? We're just gettin' bombed." We're like ah... So soon I go out & ask if they take people in the order they arrive, & I guess they don't. He says "A sore throat is pretty low on the list. Sorry." I wanted to spit in his ugly face. We're dealing w/more than a sore throat. Brett might need his tonsils out right away. But anyway- I just said thanx & go back in to Brett. We decide to leave & by this time it's 3:00 & we still have a bike ride ahead of us. I'm way too pissed to just leave w/out saying anything- so I walk back in & tell (w/ tears) the lady at the front desk that we waited for 2 hours w/out any help from anyone & that it's more than just a sore throat & is there a hospital in Bandon? 'Cause we're on bikes & that's our next stop.

Anyway- enough of that bull****. We stuffed ourselves at a Mexican restaraunt & biked to Sunset Bay State Park & we're campin' out. Brett got us some Red Hook ESB- 6 pack- & some Mezcal con Gusano 100% Agave (Monte Alban). We're CHILLIN!

Tue. 9-24-02

We stayed at a campsite w/some Austrians. Got high on Vicodin & crashed. This mornin' Brett woke up & after lookin' at his tonsills, decided to call his mom. They were huge, red & puss was comin' out all over 'em. (They're still lookin' the same.) They talked for a while. Even discussing whether or not we'd need to return home & have them removed, because the doctors there (his mom was workin' at the hospital) were sayin' it was life or death. & Brett has no insurance here, so he's be $30,000 in debt if he got it done at some hospital here. We decide to bike to Coos Bay anyway because Brett doesn't want this to stop him. He says he doesn't care if he dies. & so I cry all mornin' until we leave because I don't want him to die & I know I can't change his mind. (I also went into the biff at the campsite & prayed over & over that Brett would be okay. I don't know why I didn't write this in my journal. I remember it very well)

So we biked today, about 30 miles (& Brett got a flat tire!). We stopped in Coos Bay & Brett bought us a pizza & I called & talked to my dad- who is now MARRIED! & now, although we got about 2 miles from the Sunset Bay campsite, I bought us a motel room again 'cause it's wet out tonight & I want Brett to get good sleep & to stay dry. Goodnight.

Mon. 9-23-02

We found a campsite & stayed for free again. It was about five miles south of Florence. We met some other bikers (from Vancouver) & a guy maned Lee. They were all real nice. My cramps had gotten real bad on the way to the campsite, but I didn't want to spend money on a motel again. So once we got to the site, I took a nice, long, hot shower. It made me feel a little better. That night Brett got a lot sicker though. He was burnin' up real bad & had the shakes. I think he thought he was gonna' die. & I was real worried about him. So we walked slowly to the showers & he took one in the girl's bathroom as I stood outside the stall. I tried to make him take a cold one, but he wouldn't. Afterwards while we were layin' in our sleeping bags again, I kept a cold hanky on his forehead that I put cold water on. It warmed up so fast! (slugster was all curled up on it in the mornin', like a little puppy! -eeeu!)

The next day we decided to get a motel & have a rest day. He definitely couldn't bike anywhere. We ended up back here in Florence. I bought him some warm food & a bunch of Gatorade & some vitamin c cough drops. We watched cartoons & then I walked all the way down the street on both sides & checked every single restaurant & none had soup w/out meat. Of course! All we wanted was soup! So I got some other **** instead. After a while his fever got real bad again, so we went to the doctor. It was right down the road! They drew blood, gave him a throat culture & gave him a shot in the ***. Some Penicillin & Vicodin. He was real happy about the Vicodin & when we got back to the motel, we took some & lay on the bed, watchin' some movie & feelin' good.

Anyway, he prob'ly has to get his tonsills out when he returns home. It's Monday mornin' now & we might take a bus to Coos Bay! Hopefully they have a bike rack. Oh- my dad got married yesterday! ****!! It's so weird to think! I'm SO happy for him!

Um, well, we had to bike because the bus (that we never saw) had no bike rack. So now we're in Reedsport & we tried to get free food at a place a guy on a bus once told us, but it didn't work. So now we're lookin' at a grocery store. I think we've only got 5 miles or so to a campground. Although it's still early.

Sat. 9-20-02

Yesterday we rode the bus to Yachats. But on the bus we had to transfer on, there was already a bike on the bike rack. Room for one more. The bus driver worried about puttin' 2 on the one rack w/ bungees, 'cause the man who made the thing was on the bus! But our other bus driver helped us & I prayed & all was good. I sang songs all the way here.

When we got here we checked out a motel that lady told us night be the cheapest, but the guy only had 2 bedrooms left- & they were 59 bucks. So we said thank u & started bikin' around lookin' for a spot to sleep. We couldn't. & so we decided, it was either head down 101 & look for a spot, or check out a motel again (the man had told us about another one to look at). It was gonna' be dark soon & we were a little frustrated or whatever, 'cause we didn't know what God was tellin' us to do. So we were tryin' to figure it out. Brett was mostly worried about our safety & I suddenly strongly felt like spendin' any amount of money didn't matter. So we decided to look at the Dublin House motel.

Brett walked in the office waiting patiently for the woman to finish dealing w/ the other people. & I sat outside, not so patiently. He waved me away, 'cause he wanted to say 1 person to get it cheapest. But a man who worked there, walked in & told the lady there were 2 of us (after Brett had said 1) while Brett was waitin' outside. They didn't think he heard them, so when he went back inside, the lady asked him again..."Okay, now did you say 1, or 2 people?"
Brett was like, "Well, there's 2 of us, but we sleep together, so I count it as one."
She said, "Okay. Well, I've got the perfect room for you." Starts tellin' him, stove, showers, fridge, t.v., kitchen, bathroom, bedroom. Brett's thinkin' damn! I'm not tryin' to spend a hundred bucks! She says, "40 bucks."
"Oh that'd be perfect," he says. "We didn't make it as far as we should've & I'm on a real tight budget."
So he pays & comes to get me, 'cause I'm hidin' behind the pool area.

The room was like a ******* small apartment! We got settled & went to the grocery store to get some food to cook. Hot food! :) Yay! On our way out (we got noodles, tortillas & bananas), Brett asked this girl where we could score some bud. She had rode the bus w/us. She had some. Her & her friend saw we didn't have much money & they'd smoke us up for free. We walked w/them to this girl's house & then walked w/a bunch of kids to some woods & smoked about 3 or 4 bowls of nugget. On the way there, we see some graffiti on the street & find out one of the girls we're w/did it. Brett was happy!

So we got high, said thanks & returned to cook our food. Brett got pretty sick during the night, but he took some IB Profen & he's a little better today. Oh! & we got free coffee to make at the motel! We bought some breakfast this morning, ate, checked out & now we're leaving the beach after playin' music. I think we're on our way again.

We've reached Florence. We biked about, well, almost 30 miles so far. The scenery was the best so far. All along the ocean. Cloudless sky. Sea lions below. Big grassy hills like Scotland. The Pacific sparkled like snow sometimes! Not THAT bad of a bike ride. At one point while we rested, I got my period. Kinda' sux. My cramps are just startin' now, but they ain't so bad, 'cause I haven't eatin' any sweets. But I did have coffee! Oh well. Brett's still sick & he has athlete's foot, but he still bikes 30 miles w/out a complaint. Unlike me!

Oregon, Thurs. 9-19-02

We're doin' our laundry finally! It's goin' on 11:00 am & we're in Pacific City, OR waitin' for a Mexican restaurant to open. We got here mostly by bus yesterday. But we also biked 15 miles or so. Once we stopped at a scenic overview & a few hippie kids our age gave us some real good weed, & a bunch of organic food. 2 bananas, orange, apple, carrot, & a vegan wrap. They were from Portland.

I called Lynz from Astoria & my dad from here. We slept for free again last night, under a patch of small pine trees on big sand dunes right by the ocean. We set out our beds & I go pee & come back & Brett has a box of veggie thins & a bottle of Chardonnay laid out. Yay! We smoke, drink & eat & when it's all dark go out on the sand dune & look out at the ocean & the huge rock that pierces through it. It was foggy & beautiful. Brett tells me about when he & Kit lived on the sailboat. Tells me about Augustino & how they learned to sail it. & how something drew him back home & he never went back (to Kit & the sailboat). Then he says sittin' on the bus today lookin' out the window was worth not goin' back. Just half the day was worth it. Anyway, Kit ended up gettin' rid of it & comin' back too. I tell him hey, yr on yr way back now. & he says, no, I'm not. I nod. & I know exactly what he means.

Then he told me about his grandpa who died & then we start talkin' about God. & soon go to bed & wake up to the Pacific Ocean again this morning at 8:30. Anyway- I guess we have to bike far again to reach the next bus. Hopefully no more than 50 miles! (Brett wrote) -The Mexican food was the best. (I paid cause Cristy is my special lover girlfriend super duper space cadet pal).

Part of a Journal Entry, Wed. 9-18-02

We biked almost 53 miles yesterday & I had 2 asthma attacks. But anyway, we checked out one campsite & it was too much, so we bought some food. Then we headed back down the street & stayed at a different campsite that also has showers & it's pretty much free, 'cause no one's on duty. We watched the sun go down over the ocean as we sat on a cliff eatin' p.j. sandwiches & drank milk. It got cold last night & it's chilly this mornin'. Maybe we just need to get in the sunshine. We're less than 50 miles from the Oregon border already! I think we're gonna' bike halfway today. Brett's a ******* freak. & I gave him a cold sore! HA HA. & I just went to get my coffee at the kinda' cafe where they play country music outta' their boom box & the woman who works there has a long cigarette hangin' outta' her mouth. & Brett played his sax, as some old people came outta' their homes to listen.