Upon arriving at the Rainbow Gathering in Oregon, all parking areas anywhere near the entrance were completely full. I drove up the dirt roads for several miles until finally, I found a spot to park that wasn't already packed with cars. As the sun set on July 2, I pitched my tent right next to the place I had parked the car. The traditional Rainbow way is to park all cars in one area, then haul camping stuff into the gathering area, sometimes manually bringing many loads on foot for several miles to setup camps. In my case, this time, I was just dropping in for a couple days, so I decided to simply set my tent up next to the car on the far outskirts of the gathering, cook with the propane setup I had brought, and hike in and out each day to explore the main gathering area.
Since it was already getting dark on the night I arrived, all I managed to do before dark was pitch the tent, and then went to sleep.
The next morning (July 3), after waking up, I briefly met one of my sparsely scattered neighbors who happened to be a traveling musician, then set out to check out the main gathering area. Along my walk down the road toward the main entrance, a driver offered me and a couple other people walking on the road rides down. As they put it, when one has an open seat, offering a ride amounts to "basic human decency", especially under this hot sun.
This reminded me of what I like about the rainbow way: the idea that anyone with extra resources of any kind should help out others in need, nobody is a "stranger", we're all in this together, so why wouldn't we do what we can to help make each other's day go better?
Upon reaching the front gate, I stopped to rest and hang out with a small group who were carrying their supplies into the camp. They shared their smoke with me, and I offered to help them carry some items toward the main meadow. We walked together for a while, until they decided to stop and contemplate places to setup camp, and I continued toward the main meadow.
By the time I reached the main meadow, the scene was beautiful, but I was already feeling a bit worn out in regards to interacting with people. Thus, I sort of kept to myself for the most part, answered when others greeted, but didn't go out of my way to hang out with anybody. My introverted side was kicking in big time. What was I even doing here, around all these people, where shallow interactions were endless, but ultimately fairly meaningless, it seemed?
As the sun grew lower in the sky, I started to make my way back up the long road to my own camp. Made egg burritos dinner on my propane stove, which I might have shared if anyone else had been near, but in this neck of the woods, I was the only person around at the moment. Anyway, I was enjoying the solitude.
After a couple days of that, I was feeling ready to return to town. My super secret blockchain coding project was calling, and I wanted to go visit Portland, hang out in a coffee shop or two, and get more coding done!
On the way out of the gathering, with one open seat, I saw two people holding up signs looking for rides to Portland. I offered one of them a ride; the trip went smoothly as it could. They offered to fill my gas tank on the way, which I gladly accepted.
Once in Portland, I sent a message to an old friend who had offered me a couch to crash on while I passed through town. Then found myself wandering around the trails on Mt Tabor, loving the trees and thick greenery everywhere.
I was running dangerously low on U.S. money. Hoping to find some places that might accept crypto directly in exchange for some items I wanted, I posted a query to a local subreddit. The lack of any affirmative response whatsoever caused me to question again: If crypto is indeed so damn valuable (as I believe it is, and obviously others who are willing to exchange ever increasing amouts of old school fiat to get it), why is it still so damn hard to find anyone willing to accept it directly in exchange for simple goods and services? Isn't that the point of creating our own money, really? Not so we can gamble it on exchanges in hopes of getting back more USD than we paid in, but to use as a true medium for exchange? Otherwise, we're still just playing into the hands of the federal reserve, and all we've effectively done is create another new great big pyramid casino. sigh
Practical needs being what they are, I logged into coinbase, sent in a few litecoins, and resigned myself to making do with the $10 cash left in my wallet until the deposit would clear my account, which the coinbase interface claimed would take a week. The one bright spot: At least the price of litecoin had just hit a new high in relation to USD, so I would be getting a good deal for my litecoins.
The friend who had offered me hospitality, also invited me along with some friends to the local club scene. Even if the music is good, getting into the club scene in a place where everybody is a stranger can be damn tough, which is a big reason I so rarely "go out" to shows while on the road. But this night ended up being awesome; I got introduced a new group of friends and a little tour of the local scene. Dancing in strange spots feels so much better with a trustworthy group to help watch each other's backs, and I haven't danced like that in a while... and Portland does indeed have some lovely goth-style venues. Good music, good vibes.
The next day, more restless wandering and exploring. I endeavored to make the best of my cheapo clearance phone, which contains the only camera I currently own. It has this strange habit of randomly turning on odd color filters, which no apparent way to change the setting except when the thing randomly decides to shift the color palette, like so...
Over the Burnside Bridge....
After a couple days in Portland, on the morning I was preparing to head on out, I was glad to discover that the dollars from my sold litecoins hit my account a few days earlier than expected. I hit the ATM, followed by one of the pot shops, and was glad to at least be able to offer a joint to smoke with the people who had been helping me out ever since I arrived...
Then, it was on to the coast! (and now, the coffee shop where I sit typing this is about to close, so I'll wrap it up by posting a couple more silly pictures...)
Now I find myself in Longview, Washington, time to pack up and leave this coffee shop. And nhe journey goes on...