Portland bound and it has begun

All is surreal. Goodbyes said and the warmth of friends and family in my heart. But now the snowball has been pushed over the hump and now rolls further down the hill growing slowly. The car ride to Portland was probably the fastest I've ever experienced. I can barely remember it happening.

Staying at Hannah's house in North Portland, in this classic Northwest evening of rain and red sunset, was an exercise in patience. It was a good idea to come to Portland, but we've learned that early preparation leaves idle bodies to desire movement. I wrote 12 people on couchsurfing project, hoping for the best after we realized our contact in Madrid only wanted to meet up for a drink instead of let us sleep on her floor. We'll see.

Later we ran by the local supermarket for beer, batteries, caramel cubes, and pizza.

Everything was consumed quickly, and before long Jeff had a friend from Tacoma come visit us. A genuine Sage from the hills, Joel blessed us with not only beautiful encouragement and stories from the road but an authentic Cuban cigar from a mansion he's been sleeping under. We sipped amazingly delicious beer on Hannah and Kathy's front stoop, smoke away the Cuban present and discussed everything from the sociopolitical conflicts that Americans live with to motorcycle dreams. Joel left us with smiles, warmed hearts and the envy that can only be positive from a salty sea dog that sunk toes in foreign soil. We'll breath what come tomorrow and see what kind of sleep we can get tonight. There's no stoppin this train folks.