So, last I left off, I was unsure of our plans for the rest of the evening. What we did came from an idea from Jeremy's friend Chris. We went to a place called Kennedy's School, an old Catholic school from the World War II era that has since been converted into a hotel with multiple bars and other attractions. Before we went to the bars, we went into the Soaking Room. This seemed to be an old hangout where teachers perhaps killed time, but it now has a huge outdoor hot tub. We all went in and had a warm time despite the slight showers occurring in Portland. After we dried off, we went to the Boiler Room bar, perhaps the coolest bar I've ever been to, and shot pool for a couple hours before calling it a night. The best part about Kennedy's School was that so much of the old school was left in tact. Some of the bars still had chalk boards and old pictures from the original classrooms. It was a place like no other I've ever seen.
We slowly arose the next morning, packed up the van, said our goodbyes to Ted and Laura, and made our way south in hopes of reaching the Smith River before sundown. We endured another slight hiccup when our van suffered a second flat tire just before the Oregon/California border. After a couple hours and a couple hundred bucks, we were back on our way, keeping our fingers crossed that our remaining old tires stay strong. We reached Smith River just before sundown, found a campsite at the Panther Flat campgrounds, and even had time to take a dip in the cold river before nightfall. The following day, we realized just how amazing the Smith River really is. After some exploring, Daniel, Kristin, and I found a beautiful spot where the river bends. It had steep (but climb-able) rocky cliffs, and was deep enough to dive down low, even from the highest of heights. Jeremy and Dave found us and we spent nearly the whole day swimming in the river, jumping off any rock we could find, and enjoying one of our last days before this tour's end. I could not be happier that we stopped at the Smith River. Yesterday was my favorite day on the tour, by far.
Today is our final day on tour. We have a show tonight back at Six Rivers Brewery, and I think we are all a little anxious to get home. We arrived in Arcata earlier today, strolled downtown and around the Humboldt State campus, and just showed up to the Brewery. We go on at 8pm. I will be driving us home after the show tonight and will most likely be home tomorrow morning around 6 or 7am, barring no more flat tires! Wish us luck on the show and safe travels as we make our way home. I will see you all very soon. Thank you to everyone who has supported us through this tour! Thanks to all the fans and friends who came to see us play, all the email and messages from friends while we were away, and all the help and hospitality from our friends and family along the way. We will see you very soon!
-Martin