Yesterday’s popup bluegrass concert was outstanding. Terribly young. And, of course, they all have day jobs in Appalachia. Bluegrass is alive and well. We fed them dinner. I hope we paid them well.
I was a total slug today. The only thing I did was decide on my April adventure. Since I waited until almost April to get serious about the trip, my choices are not as great as they would have been 6 months ago. I am currently in my self-imposed 24-hour cooling-off period before I make the reservations and pay the money.
And what is this adventure? Well, sort of a trial trip for the big 30-day northwest passage trip in late summer. A week-long run from Clarkston WA/Lewiston ID to Portland OR on the Snake and Columbia rivers. I read this review of The Sea Bird:
“Sea Bird is a utilitarian vessel, not a floating resort hotel. The ship has three decks, no casino and one restaurant venue. While all cabins have windows, no cabin is larger than 120 square feet. Bathrooms are teeny tiny, and the narrow twin beds are immovable, either in an L-shape or with a nightstand in between. The spa is one small room; the gym is a set of three outdoor cardio machines. At night, passengers can’t go to a show, sing karaoke or even watch TV in their cabins.”
I knew that this might be my kinda vessel. There are Zodiak trips, a jetboat run up Hell’s Canyon, little (I hope) hikes to waterfalls, visits to a couple of wineries. Seems like a good adventure. And a chance to check out my raingear. The challenge is getting to Lewiston, Idaho. Ending up in Portland I can always catch the train back home to keep the adventure alive a little longer. Amtrak’s Empire Builder is always an adventure in reliability.
Maybe this will all be sorted out and paid for by COB tomorrow.
Having dinner with the entire accidental asylum family tonight. All eight of us. We all look forward to our “everyone” dinners. We manage it 3 or 4 times a month. I really don’t know how I would survive here without my asylum family.
PS – Dinner was great. Both the food and the company.