Here is exhibit A regarding why I have this obsession:

This is Mount Hood reflected in Trillium Lake.

My Mom and Dad were here all the way from Mendham NJ, my hometown, so of course I had to take them on the “Mt Hood Loop” that I blogged about here. This time though, in deference to their delicate constitutions (ahem), I left the motorcycle at home. Not to mention the fact that riding three up would be awkward to say the least.

We drove up to Timberline Lodge, which is apparently Chipmunk Heaven:

There were thousands of these little guys running around.

Also amusing is that there is snow in September up on Mount Hood:

I guess these guys gotta keep the ol’ cat tracks mobile even in the summer. Kinda fun, that.

And here are Mom and Dad, drinking in the view. It is very tranquil at this location. Fabulous.

I took a nice photo of them actually facing the camera…with Mom’s camera. Maybe if I’m really nice she’ll send it to me and I can post it here.

Yep, that Harry Shearer.

Harry was at Mississippi Studios last night, supporting his lovely, talented and also very funny wife, whose name is Judith Owen.

I was there because I had heard that Harry was going to be opening for Judith, which turned out (rumors being what they are) to not be quite the case. He was there primarily to play bass as she sang and played keys, although we did get to hear two of his newest in the middle of the set.

The band that opened for them is called Brandon Chandler and the Revival, who were fabulous. Kind of an updated white boy Motown soul thing.

Judith is an amazing performer, and a lovely person. She has an incredibly versatile voice that just leaps and dazzles all over the place. Fabulous. One comment I will make by way of mild critique is that, musicianship and (FUCKING SPINAL TAP FUCKING MONTGOMERY C BURNS JESUS!) Harry Shearer aside, her concert felt like a therapy session! She as much as said that music is a form of therapy for her, and she was very blunt and forthright about the process that led to many of the songs. This made for great song stories, told in a very engaging and guffaw-inducing way…but…damn. My head kinda felt shrunk afterwards!

Anyways. I learnt me a few things last night:

One, Harry Shearer is not as tall as one might expect.

He is also very funny, warm and engaging. He was wiping away tears during one of Judith’s songs! How sweet is that?!

He has a new record of political satire coming out soon, called “Songs of the Bushmen”. Everyone in the administration gets the Harry Shearer treatment! Whee!

Also (VERY IMPORTANT), as Harry and Judith were leaving for Seattle, he divulged (drumroll please) that Tap will almost certainly be touring again! Can you believe that? What a hoot…I hope they come to Portland.

And now I will wrap this here blog up with (what is to me anyways) an amusing anecdote…

Judith opened the show saying that she always opens and closes her concerts with “total crap British pop songs”. In the case of last night, she used Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple to open, and Eye of the Tiger by Survivor to close. She actually does a very credible job of rescuing, re-purposing and breathing new life into both of those old chestnuts, believe it or not!

This of course opened the door for me to tell my Survivor story (click for a link to a previous blog on the subject) to both her and Harry after the show. I think they were amused, I know I was.

I mean, given the contents of Spinal Tap, and Survivor’s dubious place in the rock pantheon…and their current status playing smalltown summer festivals…do I need to draw you a picture?

Mike Doughty is well known as the front man for 90s indie band, Soul Coughing. He characterizes the demise of that band as “like leaving a bad marriage”…it seems he is a happier man these days. Given how much Fresh Pot coffee he consumed during his time here, he better be!

Alright, so there was no real connection between those two thoughts. But this is a blog, and blogs are supposed to be…well…bloggy.

Mike put on a great show. This tour is called “The Question Jar” tour – that means that there is a big glass jar on stage with pieces of paper available for audience members to scrawl various questions, thoughts and screeds. One of the first questions was “do you ever get sick of answering the same questions?” to which he replied, “never…seriously, they are never the same. The only one we see regularly is ‘boxers or briefs?’”

A pretty reserved guy, all around. (joke!):

Mike Doughty was joined on stage by a cellist/guitarist named Andrew “Scrap” Livingston:

Scrap was a great addition. In addition to being a great bassline anchor, he also did the question reading honors.

Highlights of the show included “27 Jennifers”, “Bustin’ Up A Starbucks” and his cover of that old chestnut, Kenny Rogers’ “The Gambler”. I have a couple more photos to share from the show, those will be up in the next couple of days.

Skål!

A totally unrelated aside: I’ve been listening to an internet radio station called Radio Paradise. Y’all should check it out. Last three tunes? Leonard Cohen, The Pixies, Neil Young backed by Pearl Jam. OMG, I’m in heaven!

Anyways, after camping in the Redwoods at Elk Prairie, we moved on the next night to Patrick’s Point. Fabulously beautiful park, very severe coastal scenery. Really pretty mediocre campsite…non-functioning showers…lots of noisy neighbors…ah well. It was lovely just the same.

We watched the sunset from the seastack rock formation that is the “actual” Patrick’s Point:

It was summer then, but not only does it never exceed 65 degrees in that region, also seems like it’s always windy there…thus the level of clothing:

During the night, we heard sea lions barking, so in the morning we went to try and find them. After bushwacking down to a cliff, we finally saw them….there they were, off the coast, hanging out on a rock outcropping. Just hanging out, barking. I guess that’s what you do if you’re a sea lion! They were still quite far away…this is the best I could do with my 300mm zoom.

One final image from our hike through the redwoods. And of course, I’m thinking of my cousin Suzie as I post this, who has a PhD in bugs. ( ! ) Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe these critters are called Banana Slugs. By gawd they are huge! This one was not the largest specimen we saw, but he (she?) was nearly as long as the span of my thumb to pinky.

Last picture post, I left you with a photo of Hecata Head Lighthouse. Here’s another, from a slightly different vantage point:

Next place we camped was called Elk Prairie Campground, which is near the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. Though I have no pictures of it, there was a billion year old redwood in our campsite. Cool. (Well ok maybe it wasn’t quite a billion years old…but it sure was huge.) There was also a creek running right behind where we pitched our tent. A peaceful way to fall asleep!

In the morning, we struck camp and headed out for a hike through the old growth redwood forest, which was the whole point of the trip in the first place. It was 5 miles out…up a ridge…through the forest…to the Pacific ocean…and 5 miles back…through the valley. On the face of it, that really doesn’t sound so bad…except that the outbound leg felt like it was all straight up…and that I was wearing old shoes and my feet hurt just getting “out”, forget about coming “back”! Took my camera (of course) and captured a few things worth sharing…what a beautiful hike!

This is what the Redwoods look like:

I know, it’s silly. Futile, really, to try and communicate these trees via these tiny little photos.

Here’s another attempt at giving you an appreciation for the scale:

Next time, I have some critter pictures!