To BC and Back

We crossed into Canada with little incident, and were so pleased to see the sun come out late in the morning over Thunderbird Stadium on the U.B.C. campus. The doors opened early, at 4 p.m., so we had little free time before the volunteers arrived at 3 for training. I was lucky enough to have Adrian, chair of the Vancouver chapter, and 3 other volunteers at the booth the whole afternoon.
It was our first stop highlighting the Snowrider project and Jack was interested in hearing about that, saying that we should bring it to Colorado (great idea!). Zach Gill and Jack came up to play a show in the VG, right next our booth, which was great for booth traffic. It was a beautiful night!



Unfortunately, when we crossed the border from Canada back to the U.S. at 2 a.m., things didn't go so well... We were caravaning in 4 buses - everyone on the tour was there except for the band, which had left earlier in the evening, Immigration made everyone get out of their bunks and line up like at the airport (and then wait all together in holding while they searched the buses). 4 on our bus didn't wake up easily and we were not allowed to go back and get them. Instead, the immigration police went on the bus and tried to kick down the door to the bunk area, cursing at the sleeping 4 to open the (bleeping) door if they ever wanted to get in the USA again. The cursing and berating continued and until all 4 were off the bus and in line with the rest of us. Nice welcome back to the ole U S of A, eh?

And Then: More Rain

We arrived at Columbia Meadows outside Portland to a steady rain that continued off and on until the show started. It even rained a bit on Jack when he came out to meet the volunteers, and the scene of him huddled under his raincoat was reminiscent of his first album cover. Right after, a double rainbow appeared over the field, and everybody was awestruck.

My volunteers were Drew, the legal intern for the Portland Chapter, and Pete, State Policy Coordinator for Sufrider in Oregon, so I was well covered at the booth. At one point they asked which venue had the "crunchiest" crowd (meaning the most enviro), and I have to say it was the Portland crowd. The venue was also very green, with a large sorting/recycling station handling the waste, and volunteers stationed at waste cans to make sure people put their waste into the right bin (compost or recycling or trash).
About 2 a.m., we drove to Vancouver, B.C., crossing the Canadian border about 7 a.m. and luckily only a couple people had to go into immigration to answer questions while the rest of us slept. Not so lucky on the way back that night.... see my next entry for more.

Portlandia

Yesterday I awoke on the bus to the flat, barren landscape of western Wyoming. We had been driving since 2 a.m. from Salt Lake City. Soon we would would see the Columbia River, and the landscape would change from dry yellow to pine forests and steep hills as we entered to the Columbia River Gorge, some of the beautiful scenery on earth. It was Elissa's birthday and when everyone was up, we had a bottle of champagne and sang Happy Birthday as the bus rolled along.

Left: Christine, Elissa and Fiona

After we reached Portland (where it was raining and has continued to rain), we set out to do laundry and explore the Pearl District. We found the country's first Icebreaker store. It is all NZ wool outdoor apparel (my sister knows that brand from living in NZ) and Elissa being from Patagonia was very interested in learning about the brand and the sustainability angle. We also visited the Patagonia store in the Ecotrust building, which is their biggest. Along the way we got our laundry done and sampled some of Portland's best local coffee (Stumptown Roasters). Even though we didn't get into Portland until 2 p.m., we packed in a lot and even fit in a nice (wet) run along the waterfront before taking Elissa out for a nice birthday dinner at The Farm, a small restaurant on the other side of the river serving all local organic fare.
Today we have a wet show in St. Helens, OR. I think I am getting used to the rain.....

Blast Furnace (aka SLC)

Okay, I thought Atlanta was hot. But at the USANA Amphitheater outside of Salt Lake City, we sizzled in the desert sun, not a cloud in sight. The running joke is that "it's a dry heat", which didn't make up for the Surfrider booth facing the sun for the entire afternoon with no shade provided by the VG tents due to the setup angle. It seems the the venue encounters the heat regularly as there were sprinkler stations and shaved ice at regular intervals.

My 3 volunteers were all longtime surfers living and working in SLC. They took up the challenge of talking to as many people as possible of the concert, and had the highest number since the first stop in Toronto. Other than the hot sweaty aspect of the booth, I think they all enjoyed working at the concert and being able to represent Surfrider.

Above: Walter, Mike, me and Roger after the sun dipped below the horizon

Red Rocks and Sun

As the day started, the weather at Red Rocks Amphitheater outside of Denver looked threatening. 60-70% chance of thunderstorms which meant high winds and rain. But despite this, the day went from cool and cloudy to light winds, then full sun and windless beautiful night, with a full moon peaking through the high clouds. If you have never been to Red Rocks, it is a unique venue, with stone ledge seats set into into a steep natural rock canyon. The venue is the smallest on the tour, seating only 9,500. It sold out in 3 1/2 minutes. Our Village Green was at the very very top, on a flat terrace with views of the valley and Denver in the distance, but the climb up and down the stairs to get there, then to the bottom where the buses were (in altitude no less), was a day long workout.




Above: Red Rocks and the Village Green

I had 3 great volunteers, all Surfrider members living in the Denver area (2 are transplants from California). They were enthusiastic about being able to do something for Surfrider, since there are not many opportunities to get involved there. Jack came around to meet the volunteers (we had 9 non-profits represented!) and an hour after doors opened came and played a short set with Zach Gill and Adam Topol on a small stage in the Village Green. Visitors to the VG were rewarded! They are promoting Zach's solo album, but also trying to draw concert goers to the VG with the mini-concert.


Above: Me, Brendan, Shannon, Bart and Jack

After the show we boarded the bus bound for Salt Lake City. Unfortunately, because of the steepness of Red Rocks, all of the 6 semi trucks had to be unloaded and loaded by shuttle since they could not back up to the stage. It made for a late load out, and we are facing a late load in at SLC, which compresses the whole day. Looking forward to the day off in Portland tomorrow!

Rainy Kansas

What a day! We had a nice day off in Kansas City, which consisted of a nap, a run (in the rain), dinner, and a movie (Dark Night). Alicia and Aaron Bravo from San Diego flew in and joined us for dinner with Neil Halstead, his band, Rachel (tour manager for Rogue Wave) and the movie. Alicia and Aaron have connections to the Johnsons through Kashi, Kokua and Aaron's art and were able to get backstage passes for the show, which are not available to volunteers generally. It was great to have them at the booth since they are star RAP volunteers, but also they are the only friends from home to get a real look at life on tour (with its lack of glamor!) Aaron designed the special edition concert poster for the Raleigh show and when Jack came by the booth, he asked Aaron to autograph a copy for him, and then autographed one himself for Aaron. We felt lucky with the weather: despite torrential rains early in the day (after VG setup), the skies cleared and we had warm dry weather for the show. The crowd was markedly different at this show. While they were very loud and enthusiastic for the music, they were not very engaged by the VG and we talked to fewer people than in most prior shows. There were also many more smokers (odd thing), and more people declined to give their email addresses than any other show.


Above: David, Alicia, Jack and Aaron

Our bus left the venue at 2:30 a.m. and our diligent bus driver, R.T. took us in a beeline to Boulder, where heavy rain (again!) and cold greeted us. Elissa popped over to the new Patagonia store and got me a jacket, which is a life saver since I didn't bring anything for cold weather. Boulder is great! I walked around downtown, went to bookstores and coffee shops, then went for a run on the Boulder Creek Trail as far as I could make into the mountains before I decided that I had better turn around. We are again fortunate to be staying at the nicest hotel in town, the St. Julien, and I took advantage of the excellent spa for a much needed neck and shoulder massage. We do a lot of heavy lifting and pushing of equipment and cases, and my body is not used to it!


Above: Me and Elissa at the KC show

Tomorrow we have the show at Red Rocks Amphitheater, a small venue (9,450 capacity) that sold out immediately. It is supposed to have amazing natural acoustics, and be a great place to hear bands. Should be a great show! We have show immediately after that in Salt Lake City, so it's going to be a busy couple of days....

The Perfect Burrito

Hot-lanta they call it and I would have to agree. It was probably the hottest day yet and I think it made us all a bit loopy (at least Elissa and I were!) We spent the last half of teardown waxing rhapsodic about the perfect vinyl burrito (aka a folded tent canopy). We didn't have any perfect burritos tonight, but decided to take photos the next time we do have one so you all know what we are talking about. I am still the folding master but my apprentices, Elissa, Nicole and Abby (from Headcount) are getting pretty good. Stay tuned for some photos!

I had two volunteers tonight, Dave from Atlanta and Turner from the coast, and they were stoked to meet Jack before the show. There was a lot of awareness about Surfrider because of the large number of people from Florida who attended the show (where we have several Surfrider chapters).

Today is a continuation of the long bus ride from Atlanta that started at 1:30 a.m. to Kansas City. Aaron and Alicia Bravo, RAP volunteers from San Diego, are meeting me there and will be 2 of my volunteers for the KC show. Aaron designed the tour poster for Jack's Raleigh show and Alicia has worked with Jack's Kokua Foundation through her job at Kashi, so it's a perfect fit! We are planning to meet up tonight for some fun times in KC on our day off.

Elizabeth